Arkansas Insurance Continuing Education

Resident Requirements

All licensed insurance professionals in the state of Arkansas must renew their licenses every two years. You may only renew your license if you have completed the minimum number of continuing education (CE) hours.

Producers must complete at least 24 hours of CE, including at least three hours of ethics training, within the two-year renewal period. This requirement applies to you if you sell:

• Accident and health or illness insurance
• Casualty insurance
• Life insurance
• Personal line insurance
• Property insurance
• Variable products

Adjusters must complete and report 24 hours of CE, including at least three hours of ethics, for every two-year license term.

Acceptable methods of education include:

• Self-study
• Online coursework (delivery via internet connection)
• Computer-based training (via software received by you as the student)
• In-person coursework
• Print correspondence
• Employer-sponsored seminars

Rules for Non-Residents

If you are a non-resident adjuster in Arkansas, you may be considered compliant provided that one of the following applies:

• You are licensed and in good standing in a resident state that has a CE requirement for resident adjusters
• You are licensed and in good standing as a non-resident adjuster in a state that has a CE requirement for non-resident adjusters
• You are licensed and in good standing as a non-resident adjuster in Arkansas, and you have completed Arkansas?s CE requirements through a state-approved provider

There are no additional CE requirements for adjusters or producers in Arkansas.

Carryover of Excess CE

If you complete more CE than you need to renew your license, you may carry excess hours into the next license term. You may carry over up to the minimum requirement. For example, if you have 25 excess hours, you may only carry over 24 into the next term.

You may only carry over hours to the next license term. Any hours not used to complete that term will expire when the term ends. Should you accrue additional course hours over and above the 24-hour minimum during this subsequent term, you may only carry over newly completed hours.

Ethics hours carry over as general hours. You will still need to complete three or more hours in the next license term, even if you carry over the full allotted 24 hours.

Insurance License Term Renewal Requirements

You must complete your required hours by your date of birth in the relicensing year. Licensees born in an even-numbered year, such as 1962 or 1994, must renew every even-numbered year. Likewise, those born in odd-numbered years (e.g. 1973, 1987) must renew every odd-numbered year.

Before you apply to renew your license, you must have all of the relevant CE credit hours posted. If you do not complete your renewal by your birth date in your renewal year, your license will automatically expire. 

Rules for Taking the Exam

All course completion exams are closed-book. You may not access any official course material or outside information while you are taking the exam.

All exams must be proctored. Proctors must be objective third parties, meaning that they cannot have any financial or familial relationship with you as the test-taker. The state of Arkansas will not accept any test results if no proctor was present.

To receive credit for a CE course, you must pass a final exam with a score of 70% or higher. You may retake the exam an unlimited number of times if you do not pass.

Rules for Repeating a Course

You may only repeat a course if two years have passed since the date when you last completed that course.

Credit for Instructors

State-approved instructors that teach approved courses or lectures at approved meetings or seminars qualify for two hours of CE credit for each hour spent teaching or lecturing.

Reporting Rules

Providers must report completed CE courses within 10 days of the course end date. When providers report on behalf of an agent, the provider must include the agent's license number with the report. 

There is a course reporting fee of $1.00 per credit hour. The fee applies to online, self-study, and classroom courses. 

Insurance CE Requirement Exemptions

Certain individuals are exempt from Arkansas CE requirements. If you are newly licensed, you are exempt from CE requirements for your first license period only. After you complete your first renewal, you must submit CE before your birth date each applicable year.

Similarly, if you have held your Arkansas license less than a year after renewal, or if you are in your first full year of licensure after relocating to Arkansas, you are not required to complete CE for that year.

More experienced licensees may also be exempt from CE requirements. For example, if you received your initial license before July 1, 2003, you qualify for an exemption if one or both of the following applies:

• You are 60 years old or older, or
• You have held active licensure for at least 15 consecutive years

If either of these circumstances applies to you, you must request an exemption with the Arkansas Insurance Commissioner to receive the exemption.

Should you not fit into any of these categories, you may still qualify for an exemption if you:

• Are a nonresident licensee and are in good standing with your home state
• Hold a limited or restricted license
• Hold a limited lines license that does not require you to pass an exam
• Serve as a third-party administrator and do not solicit business
• Serve as a licensed insurance consultant
• Have been called to active duty in the U.S. military

If you move to another state while your exemption is in effect and later return to Arkansas, you may request that the Commissioner reinstate your exemption. This is only possible if you retain licensure in Arkansas continuously since you first qualified for an exemption.

Arkansas Flood Requirements

Insurance licensees must complete at least three hours of training before selling flood insurance in Arkansas. Training programs must be flood-specific, related to the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), and approved as CE credit by the Arkansas Insurance Department. 

This is a one-time training requirement set by the NFIP and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. All licensed insurers who sell flood insurance must prove on request that licensed and appointed producers are compliant with this requirement.

Arkansas Long-Term Care Requirements

Insurance producers must complete specific training to sell, solicit, or otherwise negotiate long-term insurance. These producers must be licensed for accident and health or sickness or life insurance, and must also complete one eight-hour training course before beginning to provide long-term insurance.

After completing the eight-hour training course, long-term care insurance producers must complete four CE hours specific to long-term care every licensing period. 

Arkansas Annuity Requirements

Insurance producers who are authorized to sell annuity type insurance are required to complete Annuity Best Interest Training by July 1st 2021.