Requirements

North Carolina Insurance Continuing Education Requirements

Continuing Education Compliance Date and Number of Hours
Each licensee is required to complete 24 hours of CE by his/her biennial CE compliance date, which is based on the licensee’s month and either an odd or even year of birth. All licensees are required to complete 3 hours of Ethics by 12/31/2009 and each biennial compliance period thereafter.

Who is required to meet continuing education requirements?
Resident agents and adjusters and certain non-resident adjusters with North Carolina CE requirements (see question #3) who hold one or more of the following licenses: Property, Casualty, Personal Lines, Life, Accident/Health/Sickness and Variable Life/Variable Annuity products and adjuster (company/independent, public and self-employed) are required to take continuing education courses.

Are any agents exempt from the requirements?
Effective October 1, 2010: Pursuant to 11 NCAC 06A.0802(i) only a licensed insurance producer who is unable to comply with continuing education requirements due to military service or long-term medical disability may request a waiver for continuing education requirements. A long-term medical disability means that it is certified on an annual basis by an attending physician to the licensee. The Commissioner shall grant an exemption from Continuing Education requirements for up to one year if the producer submits the following:

(1) deployment orders from the United States Department of Defense; or (2) a notarized statement from a licensed physician stating the producer is unable to do the work he/she is licensed to do.  See the Request for Medical or Military Waiver form posted at www.prometric.com or contact Prometric for details.

Effective October 1, 2010, “experience” exemptions have been eliminated. A licensee who was granted an “experience” exemption from CE prior to October 1, 2010 will be grandfathered (i.e., continue to be exempt from the general continuing education requirements) as long as the licensee certifies to the Commissioner that he:

1. is age 65 or older;

2. has been continuously licensed in the line of insurance for an least 25 years; and

3. either:

(A) holds a professional designation specified in 11 NCAC 06A.0803; or

(B) certifies to the Commissioner annually that the licensee is an inactive agent who neither solicits applications for insurance nor takes part in the day to day operation of an agency

While licensees who received an “experience” exemption prior to October 1, 2010 continue to be exempt from the general continuing education requirements, they must continue to meet their mandatory flood and/or ethics requirements.

License Renewal Date
Your CE Compliance date is determined by your month and either an even or odd year of birth. The Compliance Date is the last day of the month in which you were born.

Type of courses accepted for CE Credit
Independent self study courses or classroom.

Carryover Requirements
Any hours taken in excess of the CE requirement will continue to carry over from one biennial period to the next. Excess Flood and Ethics credit hours can only carry over as General credit hours.

Course Repetition
Credit will not be awarded for the exact same courses repeated in a single reporting period.

Final Exam
Students are required to pass a final, proctored examination in order to complete their self-study courses. They must be monitored by a disinterested 3rd party.