20 CSR 700-3.200 - Continuing Education
(1)
Definitions. As used in this rule, unless the context clearly indicates
otherwise, the following terms mean:
(A)
Approved course-An educational presentation offered in a class, seminar,
self-study, or other forms of instruction involving insurance fundamentals,
insurance related law, insurance policies, claims and coverages, or other areas
that have been approved by the director as expanding skills and knowledge in
the lines of insurance for which the licensee is licensed, but not including
subject matter relating to prospecting, motivation, sales/marketing techniques,
psychology, recruiting, office skills or management training, and subjects not
related to the insurance license;
(B) CEC-Continuing education credit for
licensed insurance producers;
(C)
Classroom-Course activities or information occurring in real time at a specific
time, date, and place, and delivered via Internet or in person, such as, but
not limited to, a seminar/workshop, webinar, virtual class, or teleconference.
Student attendance is based on personally identifiable information (e.g.,
username, password, email, government-issued identification, signature) and
student participation or interaction with course activities. Credit for
classroom courses is based on attendance and activity, not
examination;
(D) Continuing
Education Certification Summary-A form provided by the director and completed
by the licensee which documents compliance with the continuing education
requirements in section
375.020, RSMo;
(E) Continuing Education Provider Application
for Course Approval-A form provided by the director and completed by the course
provider which requests approval of a continuing education course from the
director;
(F) Teleconference
course-A type of course featuring the live exchange of information among
several persons who are remote from one another but linked by
telecommunications and featuring audio, video, and/or data-sharing and offering
opportunities for learner/instructor/facilitator interaction. Such a
synchronous program of study has a specific start time and end time that
validates student attendance through personally-identifiable information (e.g.,
username, password, email) and interactivity. Credit for teleconference courses
is based on attendance and activity, not examination;
(G) Credit hour-Constitutes fifty (50)
minutes of uninterrupted instruction pertaining to an approved course. Partial
hours of credit are not allowed;
(H) Director-The director of the Department
of Commerce and Insurance, or the director's designee;
(I) Licensee-A person who is licensed by the
department as an insurance producer;
(J) Local agent group-Any group of producers
that reside or are domiciled in the state of Missouri and who are members of a
recognized producers' association or insurance trade association;
(K) Other profession-A profession, other than
that of insurance producer, which is regulated through licensure by the state
of Missouri, for which the insurance producer is currently licensed, and which
requires the licensee to complete a specified number of hours of continuing
education requirements in order to maintain a license;
(L) Self-study course-Course activities or
information delivered outside of real time (recorded or otherwise similarly
accessible) and available at any time, such as, but not limited to,
correspondence, online training, video, audio, CD, or DVD. Student attendance
is verified based on identity (e.g., username, password, email, signature) and
successful completion of an examination. Self-study courses do not require
interaction with instructors; and
(M) Continuing Education Exemption
Certificate-A form provided by the director and completed by persons that claim
an exemption from the continuing education requirements under section
375.020.8, RSMo.
(2) Of
those hours of continuing education described by section 375.020.1, RSMo,
insurance producers licensed in any of the lines of authority designated in
sections 375.018.1(1) through (6), RSMo, must complete three (3) hours of
instruction covering ethics, Missouri law, and producer duties and obligations
to the department during any two-(2-) year licensure period. Courses on ethics,
laws, and duties must be approved as such by the director to be eligible for
meeting this requirement.
(3)
Courses by Approved Professional Organizations. In addition to those programs
of instruction designated in section 375.020.2, RSMo, as meeting the director's
standards for continuing education requirements, courses taken as part of the
following programs of study, or courses approved by the enumerated professional
organizations, are deemed to meet the same:
(A) Certified Financial Planner (CFP) awarded
by the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc.;
(B) Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC)
awarded by the American College, Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania;
(C) Personal Financial Specialist (PFS)
awarded by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants;
(D) Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) awarded
by the Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts;
(E) Chartered Investment Counselor (CIC)
awarded by the Investment Counsel Association of America, Inc.;
(F) Certified Investment Management
Consultant (CIMC) awarded by the Institute for Certified Investment Management
Consultants;
(G) Certified
Investment Management Analyst (CIMA) awarded by the Investment Management
Consultants Association; and
(H)
Missouri Bar Association-approved continuing legal education relating to
insurance.
(4) CEC hours
may be earned through the following:
(A)
Classroom instruction with a maximum credit of sixteen (16) CEC hours per
course;
(B) A course leading to a
professional designation when the licensee receives a passing grade. Maximum
credit is sixteen (16) CEC hours per course. If the licensee does not receive a
passing grade, they may receive credit pursuant to the requirements of
subsection (4)(A);
(C) Self-Study
Courses. The licensee must pass an exam to receive credit. The maximum
allowable credit for self-study courses is sixteen (16) CEC hours per course.
1. The credit hours for a self-study course
will be determined by the following method:
A.
Workbooks or other printed material-Fifteen (15) pages will equal one (1)
credit hour; and
B. Computer based
courses or Internet courses will be calculated as: three (3) screens
(constituting at least 750 words) will equal one (1) printed page and
forty-five (45) screens will equal one (1) credit hour.
2. The exam is to have at least twenty-five
(25) questions and the examinee will be awarded one (1) credit hour for every
twenty-five (25) questions.
3. Open
book examinations, and other testing formats in which a licensee is allowed
access to books, notes, or any other reference material or information that
would give or assist them with the answers to the examination questions, are
not eligible for credit; and
(D) Subject to approval by the director, an
insurance producer may receive four (4) CEC hours per each biennial reporting
period for active participation as a member in a professional insurance
association. Active participation in more than one (1) professional insurance
association will not entitle a producer to more than four (4) CEC hours per
each biennial reporting period.
1. For
purposes of section 375.029, RSMo, and this
subsection, "professional insurance association" means an association that has
been in existence for at least five (5) years and was formed for purposes other
than providing continuing education.
2. The four (4) CEC hours will be credited
upon the timely electronic filing with the director by the professional
insurance association of the following:
A.
Membership listings in accordance with the department's or its designee's
filing procedures;
B. A
certification that the insurance producers identified in the membership
listings actively participated in the professional insurance association as an
individual member or employee of a business entity producer member during the
biennial reporting period for which hours are requested to be credited and
attended a local, regional, state, or national meeting, conference, or class
held by the professional insurance association during that reporting period;
and
C. A copy of the professional
insurance association's articles of association, articles of incorporation,
constitution, bylaws, or other organization documents filed in its state of
registration, unless previously provided to the director in accordance with
this subparagraph. Once a professional insurance association files its
organization documents with the director in accordance with this subparagraph,
the professional insurance association will not need to file these documents
again for subsequent reporting periods.
3. The four (4) CEC hours may also be
credited upon an insurance producer's completion and timely filing with the
director of a written statement on a form acceptable to the director which
includes the following:
A. The insurance
producer's certification that he or she actively participated in a professional
insurance association as an individual member or employee of a business entity
producer member during the biennial reporting period for which hours are
claimed;
B. The professional
insurance association's certification that the insurance producer actively
participated in the professional insurance association as an individual member
or employee of a business entity producer member during the biennial reporting
period for which hours are claimed and attended a local, regional, state, or
national meeting, conference, or class held by the professional insurance
association during that reporting period; and
C. A copy of the professional insurance
association's articles of association, articles of incorporation, constitution,
bylaws, or other organization documents filed in its state of
registration.
(5) A provider of classroom instruction, a
course leading to a professional designation, or a self-study course may seek
approval from the director by completing the form "Continuing Education
Provider Application for Course Approval," which can be accessed at the
department's website at http://www.insurance.mo.gov. Credit
will not be given to licensees for attending courses prior to the course
approval date.
(6) All course
providers shall provide to any insurance producer who earns CEC hours after
completing an approved course information identifying the course approval
number, provider name, course title, date completed, type of CEC hours, and
number of CEC hours earned.
(7)
Insurance producers may submit at the time of their biennial license renewal
the form a "Continuing Education Certification Summary" to the director to show
compliance with section
375.020, RSMo. The form can be
accessed at the department's website at
http://www.insurance.mo.gov.
(8) Within thirty (30) days of the date a
classroom course or teleconference course is completed, the provider shall
notify the director of the credit hours earned by each participating licensee
in an electronic format that can be accessed at the department's website at
http://www.insurance.mo.gov.
(9) A licensee may not repeat a course for
credit during the same renewal period.
(10) Courses that were taken prior to the
date of the Missouri license will not be allowable for credit as continuing
education. Also, courses taken for a specific line type prior to adding that
line will not be allowed for credit.
(11) At any time, the department may examine
the continuing education provider's approved courses and records for such
courses, or an insurance producer's continuing education records.
(12) Any life insurance producer claiming an
exemption from the continuing education requirements under section 375.020.8,
RSMo must file a "Continuing Education Exemption Certificate" form with the
director at the time of biennial license renewal. The "Continuing Education
Exemption Certificate" form can be accessed at the department's website at
http://www.insurance.mo.gov.
Notes
State regulations are updated quarterly; we currently have two versions available. Below is a comparison between our most recent version and the prior quarterly release. More comparison features will be added as we have more versions to compare.
No prior version found.