The Need for California Insurance Continuing Education Requirements

The insurance and financial industries are very regulated industries. The professionals working in these industries are dealing with people’s money and assets on a day to day basis. Insurance agents play a large part of this industry. Agents have many rules and regulations they must abide by when selling policies to their clients. Their clients trust the agent with their family’s future well being. This alone is a large part of why there are so many laws and regulations one must follow. Ethics is a key component. The agent must always try to do what’s best for their client. They must sell them the right policies that will be most beneficial for them.

Because many agents have been licensed for many years they must complete certain CE requirements. Continuing education will allow the producer to stay current with industry trends, new laws, and new products available to their clients. If an agent has had their license for 30 years and didn’t keep up with all of these they would be selling their clients outdated products and possibly breaking the law.

Every state has different requirements when it comes to insurance continuing education. For example the state of California requires all new agents to complete at least 25 hours of continuing education each of their first four years of selling insurance. But, after the four year mark they only have to complete 30 hours of insurance CE every two years. They want to make sure the newly licensed insurance agents keep up to date with the California insurance continuing education requirements.

California however does allow open book exams. Some states require a monitor or even some courses to be completed in a classroom. This is good news for insurance agents in CA. They are able to read through the book then look up the answers to the questions on the exam once they are done.

California also has a long-term care requirement. Any agent selling long-term care must complete at least eight hours of long-term care continuing education every two years. This helps them stay up to speed on any new rules and regulations created the prior year.

The renewal period is a little different in California. Agents must complete their required CE hours by the last day of the license issuance month every two years. So in this case, it has nothing to do with their birthday. If you need help looking up your hours or have questions on what courses to take please contact an approved provider as they will be happy to assist you.