Prospective Continuing Education Providers

The following information should be carefully reviewed before you submit your online application through SBS (with the appropriate fee) for approval as a provider of continuing education courses in Alabama.

Allow 60 days for review and processing of your application.

Summary of Regulations

The following requirements were set forth by the Alabama Department of Insurance hereinafter referred to as the "Department" pursuant to Act No. 2006-299, and Departmental Regulation 110. In 2008, all producers and service representatives, hereinafter referred to generally as "licensees", who do not qualify for an exemption under this act are required to complete continuing education classes annually (twelve (12) hours (of which 1.5 should be in ethics) for producers and six (6) hours (of which 1 should be in ethics) for service representatives).

Beginning in 2009, all producers and service representatives, hereinafter referred to generally as "licensees", who do not qualify for an exemption under this act are required to complete continuing education classes biennially (twenty-four (24) hours (of which 3 should be in ethics) for producers and twelve (12) hours (of which 1.5 should be in ethics) for service representatives). The continuing education courses keep licensees proficient to conduct insurance business in the state of Alabama. The courses are an integral part of qualifying the licensee for the annual renewal of their license. The following stipulations apply for licensees holding the following license types.

Licenses must now be renewed online and renewal notices will be mailed to all producers and service representatives licensed in the state of Alabama and are required to complete continuing education courses for license renewal. These notices will be mailed 45 days prior to the first day of licensee's birth month. All producers and service representatives will be required to renew their license by the last day of their birth month with the applicable fees.
NOTE: In 2007 and 2008, a producer or service representative employed by another producer or insurer to work only in the office of the employer who is not licensed as a non-resident in any other state must complete six (6) hours (of which 1 should be in ethics) of continuing education requirements prior to license renewal. Beginning in 2009, a producer or service representative employed by another producer or insurer to work only in the office of the employer who is not licensed as a non-resident in any other state must complete twelve (12) hours (of which 1.5 should be in ethics) of continuing education requirements prior to license renewal.
Up to 24 hours of excess approved continuing education credits earned during one reporting period may be carried forward to the next reporting period.
No producer or service representative may receive credit for any approved course more than once in any reporting period.
Producers and service representatives who have been licensed for less than twelve (12) months at the time of their first renewal are not required to complete continuing education credits and may claim an exemption.
Continuing Education Course Providers' initial application fee is $300; and each year thereafter, every provider shall pay an annual renewal fee of $100 for the continuation of the authority in this state. The renewal period begins October 1 and ends December 31. If renewal process is not completed by December 31, your certificate and all courses will expire . Upon expiration, you will be required to complete a new provider application and new course application(s) online along with applicable fees.
Course approval filing fee for approved Course Providers shall be $50.00 for each education course or program to be offered in this state. Once approved, no additional fee shall be required for a particular course or program unless there is a substantive change in the material.
Course Providers must maintain attendance records, course outlines and course completion records of participants for five (5) years following each course offering. The Department of Insurance will periodically conduct audits of provider's records. Any provider who cannot furnish the requested records when audited shall be subject to suspension or revocation.
Providers are responsible for advertising where and when a course offering will be held. Do not advertise before a course has been approved. Failure on the part of a Course Provider to hold a course may result in suspension and/or revocation of the provider's authority, if the course is not rescheduled or the fees refunded to the participants.

Continuing Education

Section I - Course Provider:

The Course Provider must meet the criteria defined by Code of Alabama, 1975, Chapter 27-8A and Departmental Regulation 110. Each Course Provider must apply annually for the continued authority to offer education courses in the state of Alabama.

The Course Provider is responsible for ensuring that each participant satisfactorily completing a course is furnished with a Certificate of Completion. You may use one of your own design as long as the information listed on the Certificate is information needed to input roster. The Course Provider shall maintain attendance records, course outlines and course completion records of participants for five (5) years following each Course Offering. Any provider who cannot furnish the requested records when audited shall be subject to suspension or revocation.

The provider must input CE course completion reports or rosters to SBS (Click Here) within 10 days of completion. Click here for set of instructions.
CE course completion reports must be formatted correctly and information must be accurate.
Remember you must use either the producer license number without the "A" for small manual rosters or the producer's NPN (National Producer Number) for larger rosters.

Click Here for Correct Formatting Instructions

All Course Providers, study materials, and certifications are subject to audit by the Department or designated representatives of the Department at any time. An audit may be conducted through class schedules and records of the course or through actual attendance of class presentations at any time and without warning. Courses or Course Providers may be disqualified at the discretion of the Commissioner of Insurance.

Each licensee taking the course must be issued a certificate, to include the instructor, assuming that the instructor is a licensee. The Department will periodically request that producers send us copies of their certificates for auditing purposes so it is important that you instruct the class participants to keep these certificates in a safe place in the event that they are audited.

Course Providers that are deemed to meet the Commissioner's standard to teach continuing education courses are:

Statewide Producers Associations
Insurance Trade Associations
Institutions of Higher Learning
Bona Fide Educational School
Authorized Insurers
Providers of Independent Programs of Instruction
Providers who have previously been approved for the prelicensing courses

Providers may submit a course outline for approval only after having been approved as a Course Provider. Course Providers are responsible for their own advertisements.

Section II - Course Approval:

The Course Provider must submit a detailed course summary in explicit outline form online to SBS . In addition to the outline, if the proposed course is self-study, the provider must also submit all the course material (including attachments) that the licensee will receive for department review. Self-study and online courses must include an appropriate testing instrument requiring a grade of seventy (70) percent or higher to successfully complete the course. The examination must be administered by an impartial third-party proctor, who must sign an affidavit attesting to the fact that the student received no outside assistance in the completion of the final examination. The proctor cannot be a friend, relative, or co-worker of the licensee, nor anyone with a financial interest in the success of the licensee taking the examination. Proctors that can be approved by the Department are professionals such as an attorney, minister, accountant, librarian, or a teacher from a local high school or college. The outline should state a description of the course content, including a time frame for each major topic area to be covered in the course. If the content of an approved course should change, the provider must resubmit the course along with a new course outline and time frame for approval. Courses can be approved for classroom instruction, seminar, self-study (correspondence), and/or online in whole credit-hour increments only.

*NOTE: The Course application fee is not refundable.

Provider understands that the following are examples of subjects that most likely will qualify for Alabama's continuing education requirements:

Fundamentals/principles of property insurance
Fundamentals/principles of casualty insurance
Fundamentals/principles of life insurance
Fundamentals/principles of health insurance
Estate planning/taxation (may not be for personal benefit)
Ethics in insurance
Legal, legislative, and regulatory matters in insurance
Insurance policy contents
Proper use of insurance products
Insurance rating
Accounting/actuarial considerations in insurance
Principles or risk management
Provisions/differences in insurance policy contracts
Computer training programs in an area directly related to the insurance industry
Personal finance or tax courses teaching the producer ways to help his/her clients with their personal finances and taxes
Any part of the Life Underwriter Training Council (LUTC) Life Course Curriculum
Any part of the American College's Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU) diploma curriculum
Any part of the Insurance Institute of America's program in general insurance
Any part of the American Institute for Property and Liability Underwriters' Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU) professional designation program
Any part of the Certified Insurance Counselor (CIC) program
Any insurance-related course approved by the Commissioner taught by an accredited college or university per semester credit hour granted -- 16 hours; per quarter credit hour granted -- 12 hours
Any course or program of instruction or seminar developed and/or sponsored by any school, college, university, bona fide educational school, authorized insurer, recognized state insurance producers' association, or insurance trade association, shall, subject to the approval of the Commissioner, qualify for the equivalency of the number of classroom hours assigned thereto by the Commissioner
Any correspondence course approved by the Commissioner shall qualify for the equivalency of the number of classroom hours assigned by the Commissioner, provided the course has been authorized, developed, or sanctioned by a school, authorized insurer, recognized state insurance producers association or insurance trade association. Correspondence courses must include a written examination requiring a grade of 70 percent to successfully complete the course. The examination must be administered by an impartial third-party proctor, who must sign an affidavit attesting to the fact that the student received no outside assistance in the completion of the final examination.

Provider understands that the following are examples of subjects that most likely will NOT qualify for Alabama's prelicensing or continuing education requirements:

Prospecting
Motivation
Sales
Psychology
Recruiting
Basic non-insurance related computer training
Office skills or management training
Time management
Telephone skills
Health/Stress/Exercise courses
Personal finance or tax courses intended for the producer instead of his/her clients
Personal or interpersonal communication skills

Section III - Instructor:

The Course Provider agrees to monitor the activities of instructors.

Each Course Provider is responsible for the actions of their instructors. Anyone teaching an approved course of instruction or lecturing at an approved seminar, shall qualify for the same number of classroom hours as would be granted to a person taking and successfully completing such a course or seminar. The instructor, if also a licensee, should be issued a Certificate of Completion and entered on the roster for the Course Offering.

Section IV - Definitions:

Course

A course is an organized, outline body of information intended to convey knowledge to the licensee (producer & service representative).

Course Provider

A Course Provider is an entity that has been approved by the Department to offer education courses to licensees who are required to earn continuing education credits for the renewal of their insurance license as required by this state.

Course Offering

The occurrence of a Course being taught.

Credit Hour

A unit of measure of at least fifty (50) minutes of participation in an approved course. This unit of measure shall apply to any classroom or correspondence course or program and/or seminar of instruction approved by the Commissioner. Not more than ten (10) minutes of any sixty-minute period may be used for breaks, roll-taking, or administrative instructions. The Department or its designated representative will assign the total credit hours for an approved course.

Commissioner

The Alabama Commissioner of Insurance.

Department

The Alabama Department of Insurance.

Self-study Course

A self-study (correspondence) and/or online course shall qualify for the equivalency of the number or credit hours assigned thereto by the Commissioner. Such self-study courses must be authorized, developed, established or sanctioned by a school, college, university, bona fide educational school, provider of independent programs of instructions, authorized insurer, recognized state insurance producers association or insurance trade association. To be approved, a self-study course must include an appropriate testing instrument requiring a grade of seventy (70) percent or higher to successfully complete the course. The examination must be administered by an impartial third-party proctor, who must sign an affidavit attesting to the fact that the student received no outside assistance in the completion of the final examination.

Licensee

Producers and service representatives.

November 07, 2009