Education Requirements

There are two kinds of education requirements that apply to producer licensing. One is pre-licensing education and one is continuing education.

The Insurance Department spells out rigorous requirements for providers of both types of education requirement. If you have any doubt about the provider of a particular course, you can always ask to see a copy of their approval documents from the department. They should show you their approval as an "insurance education program" (provider) as well as approvals of any course offerings you are interested in.

Pre licensing courses: classroom requirement

Pre licensing course providers that charge tuition are required to furnish individuals with information on passing rates by their students taking the state's licensing examinations during the previous six-month period.

The provider is required to issue a certificate to each student who has successfully completed a pre licensing education course. To receive a certificate, the student must have at least a 70 percent minimum passing grade in the program. An applicant must present the certificate in order to take the state's official licensing examination.

The producer pre-licensing course requirements (classroom time) consist of:

Waiver of course and/or examination requirement

Some individuals may be exempted from the pre-licensing education and examination requirements. These include:

• people holding certain professional designations (CPCU for property casualty, health and surplus lines authorities; and CLU for life and health authorities); and
• people who had to surrender their license due to public employment (provided the employment was insurance related and they re-apply within one year after returning to private life).

The department may also waive the pre-licensing course requirements:

• for authorities held in another state currently or within one year of application;
• for veterans who have an approved veterans education course;
• for authorities where the applicant has completed an equivalent college course;
• for title only, where the applicant is an attorney admitted to the New Jersey bar.

Applications for waivers should be made on a form provided by the department and submitted to the Supervisor of Insurance Education, along with any required documentation. If you obtain a waiver of pre-licensing education requirements, you are responsible for preparing for the state licensing exam on your own.

Waivers are good for only 30 days from the date of issuance. They can be re-issued or renewed, upon good cause shown, for one additional 30-day period. This means that upon obtaining a waiver you need to act quickly to take the licensing exam or proceed to apply for your license, as the case may be. [11:17-3.2]

Continuing education

Starting with licenses that renew on and after April 30, 1995, no resident producer can renew a license without completing 48 continuing education (CE) credits during the previous four-year license period. (Attorneys licensed only for title insurance are exempt.)

At least once a year you will receive an accounting of the number of CE credits you have completed, including the courses you have taken and the number of CE credits you must still complete. This accounting is sent out by the Insurance Department's CE vendor, Assessment Systems Inc. (ASI)

If you believe that the accounting you receive is inaccurate, you should contact the provider of the CE course that is missing or incorrectly valued, and ask them to file a corrected report.

At least four months prior to your license renewal date, you will get a statement indicating whether, based on current records, you have met the CE requirement. It is your responsibility to contact the provider of any course that is not included and request them to file a corrected report.

For most course work taken in fulfillment of CE requirements, producers do not get involved directly in submitting proof of attendance. Rather this reporting is done by the CE course provider. Producers are issued certificates for their records, verifying their attendance in case there is a mistake in reporting by the provider.

An exception to this procedure is made when reporting completed parts of the CPCU and CLU designations, and when reporting course work taken from an accredited college or university. For college course work, producers should use the department's form entitled "Individual Request for Continuing Education Credit for College Courses," and attach:

• the course description from the college catalog; and
• the transcript showing successful completion and semester hours granted.

CICs' compliance procedure

People who have obtained their Certified Insurance Counselor (CIC) designation from the Society of Certified Insurance Counselors can satisfy their New Jersey CE requirement by fulfilling the Society's requirements for maintaining their CIC.

After CIC designees attend an institute, the Society will send them documentation which proves they have met their professional designation update obligations. The individual then sends the document to the department where the information is recorded. A portion of the document is returned for the individual's records.

Since the person who is maintaining a CIC designation is sending documentation directly to the department rather than the department's vendor, Assessment Systems Inc. (ASI), CIC seminars will not appear on an ASI report. However, compliance with CIC maintenance requirements will keep the person in full compliance with New Jersey's CE requirements.

CE pitfalls to avoid

You can avoid some pitfalls in complying with New Jersey's CE requirement by following these guidelines:

1. Check your course numbers. Don't take a CE course with the same Insurance Department assigned code number twice. Be sure to record the course title, number of CE credits and the course code each time you take a course.

New Jersey's banking system will accept a course code only once during any given four-year licensing period. If you take courses with identical course codes twice in four years, you won't get credit for one of them.

2. Avoid procrastinating. Note that all CE credits should actually be accumulated at least six months prior to your license renewal. The Department of Banking and Insurance will start checking for accumulated CE credits several months prior to the producer's renewal date. If the producer has accumulated at least 48 credits at this point, the license will renew.

Producers who do not have 48 credits accumulated when the department starts the license renewal process, but who attend additional seminars prior to the expiration date, will be scheduled for an appointment at the department to provide for the manual processing of their credits.

A significant processing fee will be charged for this procedure. To calculate your own target dates.

Producers who do not achieve the credits before their renewal date must cease all insurance transactions as of the expiration date of their license. If they "late renew" during the next year, they must:

• show proof of obtaining 48 credits;
• send a notarized statement that no business was conducted while the license was lapsed (or consent to be fined for each transaction conducted);
• pay a manual processing fee;
• pay the late renewal penalty; and
• pay the license fee.

For those who do not comply within the one-year lapse period, pre-licensing courses and examination requirements will apply in order to achieve re-licensing.

3. Be consistent! Use your full name, exactly as it appears on your license, when registering for a CE course. If there is any difference whatsoever, ASI will not get a "match" from your CE provider's report of your attendance, and you will have problems verifying your CE compliance. [11:17-3.4]