N.J. Admin. Code § 11:17-3.6 - Continuing education

(a) No resident individual insurance producer licensed with life, accident, and health or sickness, property, casualty, surplus lines, title, variable life and variable annuity, or personal lines authority shall be renewed unless the renewal applicant demonstrates that he or she has completed 24 credit hours of approved continuing education courses during the previous licensing term, including three credit hours related to professional ethics per licensing term, one credit hour of which may be substituted with a credit hour related to insurance fraud.

1. With respect only to the first renewal following the initial issuance or initial renewal of a license on or after January 1, 2007, no resident individual insurance producer with property or personal lines authority who writes flood insurance shall be renewed unless the renewal applicant demonstrates that, as part of their total continuing education obligation as set forth above, he or she has completed a three credit hour approved continuing education course related to flood insurance and the National Flood Insurance Program during the previous license term.

2. Prelicensing education courses may not be utilized to fulfill continuing education credits.

3. Producers may only receive credit for the successful completion of any single approved continuing education course one time during the licensing term.

4. Resident individual insurance producers who complete in excess of 24 credit hours during one licensing term may carry over up to 12 credits to the next renewal term. These credit hours may only be carried over once. Credit hours earned in ethics may not be carried over.

(b) For a contact course, a credit hour shall provide no less than 50 minutes of instruction. Breaks, announcements and time not spent in instruction shall not be included in calculating credit hours requested. For self-study courses, credit hours include time for reading and study, which the Department has approved as reasonable to successfully pass the final examination. Time taking the examination is not counted towards approved credit hours. Each continuing education course submitted for approval shall be in whole credit hours and shall contain at least one hour of instruction or time spent for reading and study. No continuing education course will be approved for more than 24 credit hours, regardless of the actual number of hours of instruction, reading or study.

(c) Self-study courses shall be considered for approval if the program of instruction culminates in a monitored examination of the subject presented. A monitored examination is not required for an interactive, online program that the Department determines has sufficient internal testing to validate the student's full comprehension of the material presented.

(d) Producers satisfying credit requirements in a state other than New Jersey will be considered to have satisfied New Jersey's continuing education requirements if the home state recognizes the satisfaction of its continuing education requirements imposed upon New Jersey producers on the same basis.

(e) Producers who fulfill the continuing education requirements for a professional insurance designation approved by the Department shall be awarded 12 credit hours for each full year of the license period preceding renewal for which these requirements were fulfilled. Application to obtain such approval shall be made on a form approved by the Department and accompanied by an official document or transcript from the organization awarding such designation.

(f) Approved insurance education providers shall submit courses for approval by the Department at least 30 days prior to the date the course is to begin. This 30-day requirement may be waived upon a showing by the program of unusual circumstances that require immediate action:

1. A request for continuing education credit certification shall be made on a form prescribed by the Department which shall contain the following information:

i. The name, code number and contact information of the approved insurance education provider submitting the course;

ii. An outline of the course including the time allowed for each topic;

iii. A copy of the table of contents for any textbooks used;

iv. For self-study courses that are not interactive, online courses:

(1) A copy of a sample competency examination, including answers;

(2) The amount of time allowed for the exam;

(3) A statement of how the integrity of the exam will be maintained; and

(4) A statement of how the exam will be monitored to assure the enrolled licensee takes the exam;

v. For interactive, online courses:

(1) Online access with instructions for the Department to review the course;

(2) Evidence of the internal testing included with the course; and

(3) Details of how access shall be controlled to assure the enrolled licensee completes the course;

vi. The number of hours proposed for the course; and

vii. Such other information as may, in the opinion of the Department, be necessary to evaluate the course for certification of continuing education credits.

2. If a continuing education course has been approved for use in the resident state of an insurance education provider and the resident state accepts courses approved by New Jersey for its resident insurance providers, the Department shall approve such courses unless the content is prohibited under (f)4 below. The insurance education provider shall submit evidence of such approval with the information required in (f)1 above.

3. Effective January 1, 2007, each request for approval of a continuing education course shall be charged a processing fee of $ 20.00. The Commissioner may determine the billing and collection format for periodic collection of course processing fees from providers.

4. The Department shall notify the insurance education provider of approval or disapproval of courses submitted for continuing education credits. In the event of disagreement with the decision, the insurance education director may, within 30 days of receipt of notice from the Department, supply the Department with a written request for reevaluation supported by reasons for disagreement with the decision and such additional information as may be appropriate. The Department shall promptly reevaluate the course and advise the insurance education director of the result of the reevaluation.

5. Approval shall be considered for courses that include information on types of insurance products, insurance practices, ethics, insurance fraud, insurance taxation, relevant state or national laws, claims or underwriting practices or procedures or other topics directly related to the business of insurance. Approval shall not be granted for credit hours for course content dealing in whole or in part with sales training, motivation or personal enrichment, or computer or business skills not specifically related to insurance, nor shall primarily social activities be considered in computing course length.

6. Effective January 1, 2007, courses approved pursuant to this subsection shall be approved for a period of time that shall expire at the time that the education provider's approval expires pursuant to N.J.A.C. 11:17-3.1(e)3. If the provider wishes to continue to use the course following expiration, it must submit a request to renew the approval of the course in a format prescribed by the Department and pay a renewal fee of $ 10.00. The Commissioner may determine the billing and collection format for periodic collection of course approval renewal processing fees from providers.

(g) The insurance education director or authorized personnel for an approved insurance education provider shall report the names and producer or public adjuster license reference number, as applicable, of those persons completing each continuing education course within 15 days of course completion or certification of continuing education credits, whichever is later, either in hard copy or through electronic submission. The instructor teaching the course will receive twice the credit hours as received by the persons completing the course for the purpose of securing continuing education credit. Instructors may only receive credit once for teaching any one approved course once during each license cycle. The report shall be made to the Department, or its designee, in a format prescribed by the Department, and shall include the following information:

1. The insurance education provider name and school code;

2. The name and code number of the continuing education course and date completed; and

3. The number of continuing education credits as certified by the Department.

(h) Producers who request continuing education credit for successful completion of an insurance course from an accredited college or university or for successful completion of a course of study and examination for a course leading to attainment of an approved professional insurance designation shall submit to the Department, in a format prescribed by the Department, the request together with a transcript or other documentation certifying completion of the course and credits awarded.

(i) Producers are responsible for verifying their compliance with continuing education credits by viewing the online producer transcript available on the website of the Department's continuing education recordkeeping vendor. Access information for viewing the continuing education transcript is available at the Department's website at www.njdobi.org.

(j) If the resident producer considers his or her online producer transcript in (i) above to be inaccurate, he or she shall promptly request the insurance education provider of the approved education program to file with the Department, or its designee, an appropriate corrected report.

(k) In the event the producer asserts that credit has not been recorded for a certified continuing education course completed prior to the renewal of the producer's license, it shall be the sole responsibility of the producer to request the insurance education provider of the approved program where the course was taken to file with the Department, or its designee, a supplemental report of continuing education credits.

(l) Attorneys who are licensed for title insurance only shall submit to the Department, at least three months but not more than one year prior to renewal, a certificate of good standing issued by the Clerk of the Supreme Court of New Jersey accompanied by a completed form prescribed by the Department, which provides the attorney's name, producer reference number, date of birth, Social Security number, and license expiration date.

Notes

N.J. Admin. Code § 11:17-3.6

Amended by 48 N.J.R. 2152(a), effective 10/17/2016 Amended by 55 N.J.R. 1297(b), effective 6/19/2023