License Renewal Requirements

The new continuing education rules for renewal of your insurance license were effective November 1, 2006. The previous system which renewed all licenses on February 15, 2007 is now gone. Your license renewal date will now be determined by your birth month and whether you were originally licensed in an odd or even year.

The year you were originally licensed is shown on your current license.

I'm including a self explanatory chart to show you when your license will be renewed, how many Continuing Education (CE) credits you will need and if you need three hours of Ethics education before you can renew. The Ethics requirement does not apply to anyone who renews in 2007 but is mandatory beginning with the 2008 license renewals. You will receive a renewal notice and instructions from the Insurance Department 60 days in advance of your renewal date.

If your license renews at the end of your birth month in 2007, you will need 24 CE credits and no mandatory Ethics credits. If your license renews at the end of your birth month in 2008, you will need 36 CE credits and 3 of those must be Ethics credits. Over time, everyone will be required to have the same 24 credits (including 3 Ethics credits) every two years at the end of their birth month. The seemingly different numbers now are merely necessary to get everyone on the birthday month system and off the current biennial system.

Requirements

Example #1: If your birth month is March and your current license shows you were originally licensed in an odd year, you will renew on March 31, 2007. You need 24 CE credits before renewal but do not need Ethics credits at this time.

Example #2: If your birth month is June and your current license shows you were originally licensed in an even year, you will renew on June 30, 2008. You need 36 CE credits before renewal and 3 of those must be Ethics credits.

*original licenses must be valid for at least 21 months, otherwise, they roll forward one additional year.

For additional information, please refer to the excellent Q&A document on the Insurance Commissioners web site at http://www.oci.wi.gov/agentlic/cont_edu.htm.

If you desire to read the complete text of the new rule, which includes the CE changes and other procedural changes, please visit http://www.oci.wi.gov/rules/0600fn06.pdf.

Agents should continue to check the status of their CE credits by viewing the Check CE Credits page. It is very important that you do not wait until the last minute to complete your CE requirements. There is no grace period and license suspension is immediate if your CE requirements are not completed properly.

PIAW has Ethics classes scheduled in March and November of 2007. CIC and CISR classes will have Ethics credits in selected institutes. PIAW will also be offering Ethics and other CE on-line as soon as the courses are approved by the Insurance Department. Check the Coming Events section of the magazine and watch for mailings or visit the web site to view the education calendar.

As always, PIA is here to serve our members.