How Do I Maintain My Insurance License in Texas?
You worked hard to earn your Texas insurance agent license. Whether you deal in property & casualty, life & health, or other lines, you want to be able to continue to do your work legally in the state of Texas — and you want to avoid fines. That’s why it’s important to stay on top of renewing your Texas insurance license before its expiration by completing a Texas insurance continuing educaiton class.
How, exactly, do you do that? We’ve built this guide to walk you through the steps you need to take to keep your license current, including completing the required continuing education hours.
How many continuing education hours do I need to maintain my Texas insurance license?
The Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) requires most types of Texas insurance agents to complete 24 hours of continuing education to renew their license before expiration. Since your license needs renewing every two years, that means you need to take 24 hours biennially. Also, note that two of the 24 hours you complete need to be in ethics and consumer protection.
There are some exceptions, though. Agents of limited lines, small value life, and county mutual insurance only need to complete 10 hours per renewal term.
To find out exactly how many hours you need, head to the TDI’s agents and adjusters page. Click your license type, then click “Continuing education credits” from the “Manage your license” box on the top-right of the page. That will direct you to the specific continuing education requirements of your license type.
Watch out for fines
Stay on top of your hours. It’s not just impossible to renew your license without completing the required continuing education. You also accrue fines, and those can add up. For every hour of continuing education that you don’t complete before your license expiration date, the state charges a $50 fine (up to $500 per license if your license expired after June 1, 2018).
Save yourself the money and hassle and complete your continuing education hours in advance. The state recommends that you finish your hours 30 days before your license expires to ensure your continuing education provider has time to submit your transcripts and the state has time to process them.
If you’re not sure how many hours you’ve completed, you can use the transcript inquiry tool from Sircon — Texas’s continuing education partner — to check.
What are classroom and classroom-equivalent Texas insurance license continuing education hours?
When you look at the continuing education requirements for Texas insurance agents, you’ll see some language dictating that you take classroom or classroom equivalent courses. But don’t worry. You don’t actually need to spend your weekends in a classroom to meet these requirements.
The TDI has approved certain continuing education providers to offer classroom-equivalent courses online. When you choose this option, you get the flexibility to complete your required hours at your own convenience.
Once I finish my hours, how do I renew my Texas insurance license?
You have a few options for your Texas insurance lincese renewal. If your renewal is due today, you have to use the Sircon renewal platform and pay their fee of $8.25. If you have five days until your renewal, you can choose the slightly cheaper National Insurance Producer Registry and pay their $5 processing fee.
But if you want to avoid extra expense, plan to submit your renewal at least 15 days before it’s due. When you do, you can use the Texas Department of Insurance renewal portal, which doesn’t have any processing fees.
Whichever path you choose, it costs $50 to renew your license.
If you still have questions about the renewal process, we recommend checking out the TDI’s FAQ page. It’s pretty robust and can help clear up any remaining queries. But we hope this guide gave you everything you need to know to maintain your Texas insurance license.