California Insurance Continuing Education State Requirements

On this page, you will find all of the state-specific information for Insurance CE in the state of California.

California Department of Insurance

Consumer Hotline: 1-800-927-4357 (HELP)

1-800-482-4833 (TTY)

Licensing Hotline: 1-800-967-9331

California Low Cost Automobile Program: 1-866-602-8861

Send an email: https://cdiapps.insurance.ca.gov/contactus/default.aspx

Website: http://www.insurance.ca.gov/

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Headquarters Offices:

Sacramento Office

300 Capitol Mall, Suite 1700

Sacramento, CA 95814

San Francisco Office

45 Fremont Street, 23rd Floor

San Francisco, CA 94105

Los Angeles Office

300 South Spring Street, South Tower

Los Angeles, CA 90013

Annuity Requirements

Licensees who solicit individuals for annuities sales must complete 8-hour California-specific annuities course. After completing this training, producers must complete 4 hours of training on California annuities every license renewal period thereafter. This requirement is part of and not in addition to the regular continuing education requirements.

Long-Term Care Training

Accident and health agents who solicit individuals for the sale of Long-Term Care (LTC) Insurance must complete an eight-hour LTC course prior to selling LTC insurance. Additionally, newly licensed agents must complete eight (8) hours of LTC training every year for the first four years that they are licensed (without duplicating a course during the same license term). Beginning in the fifth year that they are licensed, licensees are required to complete eight hours of LTC training every two-year license term.

Agents who will be involved in the sale or marketing of long-term care insurance policies certified by the California Partnership for Long-Term Care, are required to complete eight (8) hours of general long-term care continuing education (CE) and 8 hours of classroom only CE specifically on the California Partnership for Long-Term Care prior to the marketing of any Partnership certified policies/certificates. After the initial education requirement has been met, agents are required to repeat eight (8) hours of classroom training on the Partnership each two-year license approval period.

Flood Requirements

This state has issued a notice reminding licensees who sell flood insurance of their requirement to comply with the minimum 3 hours of training requirements established by FEMA and the National Flood Insurance Program.

All Other State Requirements

Resident Requirements

Life and/or Accident/Health agents must complete 24 hours biennially, including 3 hours of ethics

Fire & Casualty broker-agents must complete a minimum of 24 hours during the two-year license period including 3 hours in ethics.

All licensed agents and adjusters who have an ethics requirement are required to complete 3 hours of ethics.

Personal lines licensees must complete a minimum of 24 hours during the two-year license period including 3 hours in ethics.

Approved courses must be completed for the license of insurance held by the licensee.

This state has issued a notice reminding licensees who sell flood insurance of their requirement to comply with the minimum training requirements established by FEMA and the National Flood Insurance Program.

Variable Contracts is a sub-line or authority attached to the Life license line. Also requires FINRA registration.

Homeowners Valuation Training: California Property/Casualty broker-agents who sell homeowners insurance must complete an approved course on Homeowners Valuation prior to transacting homeowners insurance. This training is a one-time requirement.

Non-Resident Requirements

Licensed non-resident producers who comply with the continuing education requirements of their resident state are exempt from the California continuing education requirement. However, non-residents are required to comply with the annuities and the LTC training requirements.

Course Repetition

Course repetition is not permitted within the compliance/renewal period.

Course Requirements

Bio data/security questions - This state requires the use of bio-data questions to confirm you are in fact the intended user and that it was you that completed the course. To successfully complete the course, these questions must be answered correctly when asked.

Forced progression - This state requires the user to successfully complete each page of the online course before being allowed to proceed to the next.

Exam Rules

Online certification exams are closed book. Course materials are not available while the exam is in progress. The final exam must be passed with a score of 70% or higher to receive CE credit. If the exam is not passed on the first attempt, students have an unlimited number of retakes.

Period Requirements

Renewal date is the last day of the license issuance month, biennially. Personal Lines renewal is 12/31 biennially.

Carryover Criteria Requirements

Carryover of CE hours is permitted. Excess credits in ethics may not be carried over.

Reporting Requirements

Sponsors have 30 days from course completion to report credits. Need license number to report.

State Reporting Fees: The CA Department of Insurance requires a course reporting fee of $.65 per credit hour (online, self-study and classroom courses). This state reporting fee will be automatically charged to you (on the last credit card used in your account) each time you complete an online, self-study, or classroom course.

Exemptions

Experience

Any person who is 70 years of age or older, and has been licensed in good standing for 30 continuous years is exempt from completing continuing education to renew his/her Life and/or Fire & Casualty license.

However, the licensee must still satisfy the California LTC requirement to sell long-term care insurance, as well as the annuities training in order to sell annuity products.

Professional Designation

Credit earned in order to satisfy the following programs may be applied for insurance CE credit:

Any part of the Life Underwriter Training Council Fellow (LUTCF) program totaling 30 hours for the life-only license and the accident and health license.
Any part of the Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU) curriculum totaling 30 hours for the life-only license and the accident and health license.
Any part of the Accredited Advisor in Insurance (AAI) program totaling 25 hours for the fire casualty broker-agent license may be applied for insurance CE credit.
Any part of the Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU) program totaling 30 hours for the fire casualty broker-agent license.
Any part of the Certified Insurance Counselor (CIC) program totaling 25 hours for the life-only or accident health agent license and the fire casualty broker-agent license.
Any part of the Certified Employee Benefit Specialists (CEBS) program totaling 25 hours for the life-only license and the accident and health license.
Any part of the Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC) program totaling 30 hours for the life-only license.
Any part of the Certified Financial Planner (CFP) program totaling 30 hours for the life-only license.
Any part of the Fellow, Life Management Institute (FLMI) program totaling 30 hours for the life-only license and the accident and health license.
Any part of the Health Insurance Associate (HIA) program totaling 25 hours for the accident and health license.
Any part of the Registered Employee Benefits Consultant (REBC) program totaling 30 hours for the accident and health license.
Any part of the Registered Health Underwriter (RHU) program totaling 30 hours for the accident and health license.
Any part of the Associate in Risk Management (ARM) program totaling 30 hours for the fire casualty broker-agent license.

Acceptable Training Methods

Correspondence (Print)
Company Seminars
Classroom
CBT/CD-ROM (Computer-Based Training)
Online (Internet Delivery)

Notice

This information is based on state laws and regulations and is subject to change. Kaplan Financial Education makes every effort to make sure this information is current and accurate, however, Kaplan Financial Education is not engaged in rendering legal or professional advice and shall not be held responsible for inaccuracies contained herein.