The Massachusetts Division of Insurance recently issued Bulletin 2011-12 giving all licensed resident insurance producers until December 31st of this year to complete their outstanding Continuing Education requirements in order to avoid the suspension of their license or monetary fines.
In Review of Continuing Education Compliance of Resident Insurance Producers Continuing Education Compliance Program, the DOI noted that as a licensed resident insurance provider (that means all you agents out there), you must comply with the Division of Insurance’s Continuing Education Requirements, pursuant to G.L. c.175 §177E and 211 CMR 50.00, unless otherwise exempt. These Continuing Education (CE) requirements state that all resident insurance providers:
- Complete a minimum of 60 hours of instruction within the first three years (36 months) of being issued your original license;
- Complete an additional 45 hours of instruction every three years after the initial period;
Prometrics, Inc., who handles the approval of CE courses offered by CE providers in Massachusetts and who maintains the CE records of resident insurance providers has informed the Division that a significant number of licensed resident insurers producers are deficient in their CE requirements. As a result, the Division of Insurance has issued this ultimatum: All licensed resident insurance providers have until December 31, 2011 to comply with any outstanding CE requirements they may have. The Division of Insurance has promised that during this time period it will take no action against any non-compliant licensees.
The Division of Insurance has authorized Prometrics to send out letters to all deficient producers. The letter will identify the total number of CE credits that a producer must complete by December 31, 2011 to become compliant with CE requirements in accordance with the DOI Bulletin.
The DOI also has calculated the outstanding CE credits for non-compliant resident insurance producers and has created two groups based on their CE compliance data:
- For licensees whose current three-year CE compliance period ends on or before June 30, 2011, the Division will require the licensee to complete the number of CE credits outstanding from the licensee’s most recent complete three-year CE compliance period.
- For licensees whose current three-year CE compliance period ends between July 1, 2011 and December 31, 2011, the Division will require the licensee to complete the number of CE credits outstanding from the current CE compliance period, as well as the immediately previous complete three-year CE compliance period.
The Division says, however, that regardless of the total number of CE credits owed, no non-compliant licensee will be required to complete more than 105 CE credits by December 31, 2011 as part of the DOI’s CE compliance program.
In January of 2012, the DOI will be reviewing the CE compliance records with regards to potential enforcement action. Agents should be aware, however, that the DOI will be considering a licensee’s total number of outstanding CE credits dating from January 1, 2004 until the present. After its review, the Division will then decide what type of action should be taken against those non-compliant producers. Note that under Massachusetts law, the Division of Insurance has the authority to suspend an individual’s producer license for any or all lines of authority until such time as the licensee has demonstrated that their CE requirements have been fulfilled. The Division also has the authority to impose monetary fines on non-compliant producers.
In order to help licensed resident insurance producers figure out what they need to do to be compliant, the Division created the following examples to illustrate what a non-compliant producer would need to accomplish by December 31, 2011 in order to comply with the Commonwealth’s CE requirements:
Calculation Examples
Example – Group One:
Mr. Smith’s most recently completed three-year CE compliance period runs from February 1, 2008 to January 31, 2011, and he has not completed any of the required 45 credits for this period. Mr. Smith also completed only 40 of the required 60 credits for the previous three-year CE compliance period, which ran from February 1, 2005 to January 31, 2008. Mr. Smith’s current three-year CE compliance period runs from February 1, 2011 to January 31, 2014.
Mr. Smith must complete a total of 45 CE credits by December 31, 2011, which represents the 45 CE credits he owes from the three-year CE compliance period that runs from February 1, 2008 to January 31, 2011. Mr. Smith has until January 31, 2014 to complete the 45 CE credits due during the three-year CE compliance period that runs from February 1, 2011 to January 31, 2014.
Example – Group Two:
Ms. Jones’ current three-year CE compliance period runs from August 1, 2008 to July 30, 2011, and she has completed only 20 of the required 45 CE credits for this period. Ms. Jones also completed only 15 of the required 45 credits for the previous three-year CE compliance period that ran from August 1, 2005 to July 30, 2008.
Ms. Jones must complete a total of 55 CE credits by December 31, 2011, which represents the 25 CE credits she owes from her current three-year CE compliance period that runs from August 1, 2008 to July 30, 2011, plus an additional 30 CE credits she owes from the immediately previous complete three-year CE compliance period that ran from August 1, 2005 to July 30, 2008. The Division’s CE compliance program provides Ms. Smith from July 30, 2011 to December 31, 2011 to complete the 25 CE credits due from her current three-year CE compliance period.
Click here to view the Division of Insurance’s Continuing Education Program materials for all licensed resident insurance producers.
