Surplus Lines Broker Continuing Education
REQUIREMENTS FOR NON-RESIDENTS
A non-resident license holder is not required to complete Arizona insurance continuing education.
Arizona law provides that a non-resident licensed in good standing in the home state is not required to complete Arizona-approved continuing education courses to be eligible to renew the Arizona insurance license
- IF the home state has a continuing education requirement for its resident insurance producers (and all states do), and
- IF the home state recognizes insurance continuing education credits earned in Arizona by Arizona residents (and all states do).
A non-resident license holder may, however, need to satisfy LONG-TERM CARE TRAINING or FLOOD INSURANCE TRAINING requirements.
Notwithstanding the existence or absence of an insurance continuing education requirement, you are responsible for remaining abreast of, and complying with, applicable U.S. and Arizona laws, rules and regulations.
REQUIREMENTS FOR ARIZONA RESIDENTS
COMPLETE INSURANCE CONTINUING EDUCATION EARLY. Expect a delay between the time you complete a course and the time course completion is posted on a transcript or you receive a Certificate of Compliance. If the Department does not receive your complete license renewal application, including evidence of completing insurance continuing education, on or before the date your license expires, you will have to stop conducting insurance business and wait until the Department renews your license, and you will have to pay a $100 late renewal fee.
Complete 48 hours of Arizona-approved insurance continuing education during the license term, which must include at least six hours of ethics training UNLESS you are exempt from the insurance continuing education requirement.
You are only exempt from Arizona's insurance continuing education requirement if ALL THE FOLLOWING APPLY and continue to apply:
- You have been "continuously licensed" in Arizona as an insurance agent, broker or producer since January 1, 1995; and,
- You have not held a nonresident insurance producer license in another state at any time since January 1, 1995; and,
- You have never been the subject of an order of the director of insurance for a violation of Arizona insurance laws (ARS Title 20) that resulted in your license being suspended, revoked, denied or not renewed; or, that required you to cease and desist from unlawful activity; or, that required you to pay restitution or a civil penalty.
If you sell National Flood Insurance Program ("NFIP") insurance policies, you must fulfill training requirements established by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). You can obtain Arizona insurance continuing education credit if you complete NFIP training courses that are Arizona-approved insurance continuing education courses.
WHAT IS "ARIZONA-APPROVED INSURANCE CONTINUING EDUCATION"?
Prometric is Arizona's insurance continuing education administrator. They approve continuing education courses and course providers. When you complete a continuing education course, the course provider will provide information to Prometric that they, in turn, provide to us. ARS § 20-2904.
You can earn credit toward the Arizona insurance continuing education requirement by completing any course that has been approved for Arizona insurance continuing education that is offered by any Arizona-approved course provider. You can search for Arizona-approved courses and course providers on the Prometric "Arizona Licensees" web page (https://www.prometric.com/en-us/clients/CE/Pages/azceprod.aspx). Information on the Prometric site will tell you the total number of credit hours you will earn by completing each course, and will specify the number of ethics training hours, flood training hours or long-term care training hours you will earn by completing the course.
Arizona's insurance continuing education requirements provide you the opportunity to expand your knowledge of insurance.
- You can take any Arizona-approved insurance continuing education course you want, even if it is for a type of insurance you do not hold on your license. You could even use the training to help you study for an insurance exam, as long as the course and provider are approved for Arizona insurance continuing education.
- You can complete your insurance continuing education with any combination of classroom courses, web-based courses or other types of courses (as long as the courses are Arizona-approved and provided by an Arizona-approved course provider).
- You do not need to complete a minimum number of hours in any particular area of study except for ethics, flood (if applicable) or long-term care (if applicable).
- You can get Arizona insurance continuing education credit while satisfying another training requirement (like the long-term care partnership training requirement or flood insurance training requirement) as long as the course you take is an Arizona-approved insurance continuing education course offered by an Arizona-approved insurance continuing education provider.
HOW DO I COMPLETE ARIZONA INSURANCE CONTINUING EDUCATION?
COMPLETE INSURANCE CONTINUING EDUCATION EARLY. When you renew your license, you must provide, as part of your renewal application, evidence that you completed the insurance continuing education requirement. You must expect a delay between the time you complete a course and the time evidence of your course completion is posted on a transcript or provided to you in the form of a Certificate of Compliance. If the Department does not receive your complete license renewal application, including evidence of completing insurance continuing education, on or before the date your license expires, you will have to stop conducting insurance business and wait until the Department renews your license, and you will have to pay a $100 late renewal fee.
- Find an Arizona-approved continuing education course with the following steps:
- Visit Prometric's "Arizona Licensees" page.
- Click on the "CE Services Online" link in the left column.
- In the left column, click on the "Approved Course List" link. The web site will display a page that enables you to create a list of courses by course title, course type (classroom or self-study), credit type (general, ethics, flood, long-term care, crop) or range of credit hours.
- When you click the "Search" button, the web site will search Prometric's database of courses and will display the list of courses that match the criteria you entered. Scroll down to view the list.
- Call the course provider or visit their web site to find out the prices of courses, when courses are available, and other information you may need concerning their courses.
- Complete your courses.
- For classroom instruction, you must attend the entire course to get credit for completing the course.
- For self-study courses, you must pass an open-book or closed-book exam (at the discretion of the provider) monitored by the provider director or a person appointed by the provider director who is either an Arizona-licensed insurance producer or a person in the business of administering education or examinations.
- After you complete your course,
- Make sure the continuing education provider gives you a course completion certificate (aka "certificate of compliance" per ARS § 20-2902(B)), which is your proof that you completed the course
- If you submit a license renewal application on paper, include originals of the course completion certificates. ARS § 20-2902(B).
- Keep copies of your course completion certificates until the second renewal period after the period for which the continuing education credits were earned. ARS § 20-2903(A).
- Make sure the course provider has reported your course completion to Prometric by obtaining a continuing education transcript.
OBTAINING A CONTINUING EDUCATION TRANSCRIPT
View your course completion transcript or someone else's course completion transcript. Prometric only has information that course providers have reported. If you completed a course that does not appear on the transcript, contact your course provider and encourage them to report to Prometric.
On the Look Up Transcript Credits page:
- Step 1: Select the "Online Services, including continuing education transcript look-ups and a list of approved CE courses, may be accessed by clicking here”" option
- Step 2: Select "Continuing Education Transcript Inquiry" and select "Arizona."
- Step 3: Enter your License # and Last Name, and click the "Submit" button
RENEWING A LICENSE WITHOUT A CONTINUING EDUCATION TRANSCRIPT
You must allow time for your course provider and Prometric to post information about course completions.
If you need to renew your license before your course completions are posted in your transcript:
- Submit a renewal application using the National Insurance Producer Registry (NIPR) and send or deliver signed originals of your insurance continuing education certificates of completion (which must show the Arizona state seal in the upper left corner)
OR
- Submit your printed renewal application with signed originals of your insurance continuing education certificates of completion (which must show the Arizona state seal in the upper left corner), any other required materials and nonrefundable fees...
- By mail (must arrive in our office on or before the expiration date of your license) or,
- In person during our Licensing Counter business hours.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Question: Why must I have been continuously licensed since January 1, 1995, to be able to avoid taking Arizona insurance CE?
Answer: Because Arizona law, and specifically ARS § 20-2902(A)(2), exempts a person who has been licensed since January 1, 1995, from the Arizona insurance continuing education requirement. If you have not been continuously licensed since January 1, 1995, you do not qualify for the exemption under the law.
Question: I hold insurance-related certifications, accreditations or other professional credentials. Am I required to complete Arizona insurance continuing education?
Answer: Arizona law does not provide any exceptions based on certifications, accreditations, memberships in professional organizations or other professional credentials.
Question: Do I have to complete insurance continuing education courses that relate to the lines of authority that I hold on my Arizona insurance license?
Answer: No. In fact, if you are thinking about applying for additional license authority and want to complete courses to help you learn subject matter for an insurance examination, you may be able to earn insurance continuing education credit while completing courses that will help you prepare for the insurance license examination for the additional license authority. You just need to complete Arizona-approved courses that are offered by Arizona-approved course providers (and you can only get credit one time for a particular course you complete during your license term).