Why Insurance Agents Need Insurance Continuing Education

| Sunday, July 17, 2011
By Ed Hulse


Your national and state government enacts changes to laws constantly. These rules may apply to the coverage that you have on your car, home, or other death benefits. When your agent speaks with you they must keep up to date on what rules have changed and how they will affect their customers. The only way to do so is to take insurance continuing education courses. They can only speak with you correctly if they know what the laws are regulations are. This must be done on a yearly basis so that they can continue to sell policies. Those that do not may lose their license.

Who determines what minimum requirements are needed by agents? This is decided on by each individual state. They also detail what courses need to be taken as well as the minimum number of total credits that must be attained. The insurance commissioner and board of insurance agents look at what topics are of current interest and make classes available that students can take.

When a person sells coverage they receive personal data and information from each of their clients. This can be used in a negative manner. The insurance board wants to make sure that this does not happen so they require an ethics course to be taken by each person every year. They feel that this will help to deter agents from making bad decisions whether they realize they are making them or not. Even if you do not know something is wrong is no excuse. An agent can lose their credentials regardless of this fact.

If you are not a new agent you were accustomed to taking your course requirements in a classroom at school. As technology has grown and learning providers have created lessons and plans online one can take classes over the internet. The cost to complete the training is much cheaper as you do not have to pay for transportation costs, or the school's overhead. You can take as many classes as you want as fast or slow as you are able. You are not subject to a time frame for completion other than the state mandated yearly date.

If you do a search online you can probably find many places that will offer you courses to complete your necessary license requirements. However, you need to know whether or not they are accredited to teach you. You should check with your state and all other locations where you hold a license to see if they qualify. You do not want to waste money.

Some states do have exemptions for those agents that meet certain criteria. This often means many required years of service. If you are of a certain age you may also qualify. If you plan on staying in this field it is important to understand what the requirements are for getting exempted.

Do not let your license expire. This happens when you do not complete the training courses needed for credits each year. You can default on policy commissions and income. Many companies provide bonuses and incentive trips for their top sellers. As an agent that cannot sell policies you will not be able to participate. You will need to take all the basic courses over again. This can take time which you may not have.

If you decide to become an agent it will be a requirement to have insurance continuing education courses to sustain your license and credentials. You can choose how you want to take your classes. They can be taken online or in a classroom. The allotted courses needed are pre-determined by the state where your license is held.



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