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Continuing Education Requirements
Continuing education (CE) rules apply to persons holding the following types of licenses
- General Property & Casualty (formerly Local Recording Agent and Solicitor)
- Insurance Service Representative
- General Life, Accident, Health & HMO
- Adjuster
- Managing General Agent
Special Requirements for Annuities
All Licensees must complete a four-hour annuity certification course before they begin selling or soliciting annuities. Anyone with a longevity exemption (20 years continuously licensed) is not exempt from this requirement.
If the original certification course is completed within the first twelve months of the license cycle, a certified four hour annuity continuing education course must be completed during the second twelve months of the license cycle. Licensees must continue to complete a certified four hour annuity continuing education course every twelve months, calculated from the date of the license renewal. Anyone with a longevity exemption is exempt from the continuing education requirement
Special Requirements for Medicare Related Products
Licensees must complete an eight-hour Medicare related products certification course before they begin selling or soliciting Medicare related products and must complete a certified four hour Medicare related products continuing education course during each license cycle.
Anyone with a longevity exemption (20 years continuously licensed) is not exempt from either the certification or the continuing education requirements.
When proof is required
Acknowledgment of compliance with CE requirements, or proof of exemption from the requirements, is required each time
one of these licenses is renewed. All of the licenses listed above are renewed every two years.
Penalty for non-compliance
Failure to comply may subject the licensee to a fine, or suspension, revocation or cancellation of license.
Exemptions
An agent who has been licensed for 20 consecutive years is exempt from the continuing education requirement upon request.
The exemption does not apply to the education requirements for licensees selling Medicare related products. A request for exemption
form is available from TDI. The request should include a history of licensure with dates, license types (life, LRA, solicitor)
and TDI file numbers. Appointment cards or other information from insurance companies may suffice if the dates and numbers
are incomplete. An agent that reaches the 20-year threshold within the first year of the two-year renewal period will receive
notification of exemption for the entire period. An agent that reaches the 20-year threshold during the second year of the
two-year renewal period should take at least 15 hours of continuing education during the first year and submit the exemption
request at the beginning of the second year. In this case, the agent will receive notification of exemption effective for
the second year only.
CE credit hour requirements
All licensees are required to obtain at least 30 hours of continuing education credit in each two-year period between
renewals. All Texas license holders subject to continuing education requirements must complete two hours of approved ethics
courses. Licensees who sell annuities must complete a four-hour certified annuity course every twelve months calculated from the date of the license renewal. Licensees who sell Medicare related products must complete a four-hour certified Medicare products course prior to renewal of the license. The two-hour ethics course, the annuity course and the Medicare products course are part of, and not in addition to, the 30-hour CE requirement. Also, a minimum of 15
hours of the required 30 must be obtained through classroom or classroom equivalent courses.
Certificate of completion
Record keeping is the responsibility of the agent. The course provider sends nothing to the TDI license division. The
provider monitors the agent's attendance, records the agent's name and mailing address, and furnishes certification directly
to the agent after the course has been completed. The certificates received from each course should be kept in a safe place
for four years as TDI may audit these records at any time.
State or national association CE credit
The State and National Insurance Association Credit rule permits agents
who (1) are members of a state or national insurance association (such
as IIAT), or (2) hold a national designation certification (such as
ACSR, CIC or CPCU) to accumulate up to four hours of self-study CE
credit by:
- Reviewing educational materials provided by the national
designation sponsor or state or national insurance association.
Education material is defined in the rule as "printed or electronic
materials with content intended to enhance the recipient's knowledge of
insurance-related topics." Examples: bulletins, newsletters (such as
IIAT's "Texas Agent" and "Personal Lines Report"), magazines (such as
IIABA's "Independent Agent"), and electronic resources (such as IIAT's
InfoCentral). The maximum CE credit available for this activity is two
hours.
- Attending educational presentations sponsored by the national
designation sponsor or state or national association. Educational
presentation is defined in the rule as "a live presentation allowing for
questions or discussion given to a group of three or more licensees and
that provides information intended to enhance the recipient's knowledge
of insurance-related topics." Examples: presentations at IIAT's Joe
Vincent seminar, annual conference, committee meetings, or board
meetings.
To claim CE credit under this rule, the agent should file form LHL 617
(Request for Association Credit Accepted by TDI), available for
downloading from the TDI web site at
www.tdi.state.tx.us/forms/form11.html. Send it to the address on the
form for recognition of credit in the current renewal cycle. TDI staff
will record the credit hours in the CE database maintained for TDI by
Sircon/Pearson Vue.
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