Delaware Insurance Continuing Education

Resident Requirements

Resident licensees must complete a minimum of 24 credit hours of Department-approved subjects during each two-year reporting period, three credits of which must be in ethics subjects. Courses may be completed in an in-person classroom setting or at your own pace online. There are no category restrictions for completing the remaining 21 credits, and licensees may complete requirements by taking any Department-approved courses.

Additional guidelines to CE exist for several lines of work, including:

• Long-term care: Three of these 24 credit hours must include training in product knowledge, laws, rules, and regulations (commonly referred to as LTC courses).
• Homeowners coverage: A two-hour continuing education course related to flood insurance and the National Flood Insurance Program is required as a part of the 24-credit requirement. This course includes topics reviewing how to read and use flood maps, policies and products available, and rules for rating and handling claims. 
• Annuity insurance producers: A one-time, four-hour annuity best interest course is required to sell, solicit, or negotiate an annuity product. This is in addition to the 24 Continuing Education credits required for renewal.
• Resident adjusters or fraternal producers: Only 12 hours of approved continuing education credits are required per two-year period, three of which must be in ethics subjects.

Rules for Non-Residents

Non-resident licensees in compliance with CE requirements of their home state are exempt from meeting Delaware requirements. If the licensee?s home state does not require continuing education, the non-resident is still exempt. However, the licensee is responsible to claim this exemption following the guidelines for renewal periods. Those who fail to claim this exemption must satisfy the Delaware resident requirements above.

Carryover of Excess CE

Licensees are encouraged to complete additional CE training. Up to five of these supplemental credit hours can be carried over to the following biennial renewal period. These carryover credits exclude ethics and special credit requirements. Excess ethics, LTC, and flood insurance courses will carry over as general credit to the next biennial period.

Insurance License Term Renewal Requirements

The renewal term for licensees is dependent on an individual?s resident status.

For residents, each biennial renewal period ends on the last day of February of even-numbered years. For non-residents, this period ends on the last day of February of odd-numbered years. In both cases, the beginning of the period in which you can renew starts December 1st.

Resident licensees will receive a transcript of their current accepted credits at least 90 days prior to the end of their renewal period. The licensee is responsible for reviewing this transcript for accuracy and reporting any discrepancies to the Department by providing course completion certificates.

All licensees must renew their license online within this term period at the National Insurance Producer Registry?s website once CE requirements are met. Non-residents who must meet the Delaware resident renewal requirements should submit a hard copy of the renewal form directly to the Delaware Department of Insurance. The license renewal fee is $100.

Given acceptable cause, such as illness or natural disaster, the Department may grant extensions for up to 12 months. A request for an extension must be received at least 30 days prior to the end of the renewal period, and an awarded extension does not change requirements for the following biennial renewal.

Rules for Taking the Exam

Certification exams are open-book and do not require a proctor. Students may access and refer to course material throughout the exam. A score of 70 percent or higher is required to receive the CE credit, and unlimited retakes are permitted until a passing score is achieved.

Rules for Repeating a Course

Repeating a course is not allowed within an individual renewal period.

Credit for Instructors

CE course instructors are eligible to receive the same credit as the students enrolled in the course taught.

Reporting Rules

Required CE credits must be reported within 20 days of completion, which should be submitted to the state directly by the course provider.

It is recommended that you complete all continuing education at least 30 days prior to the expiration date of your license, in order to give the CE provider sufficient time to report successful completion to the Delaware Department of Insurance. However, CE courses can be completed at any time within the current license term.

A $1.00 per credit hour reporting fee will be automatically charged to the licensee by the Delaware Department of Insurance, using the credit card information currently on file with the Department.

Insurance CE Requirement Exemptions 

Some licensees are exempt from CE reporting requirements, including:

• Non-residents in compliance with their home state requirements
• Newly licensed individuals who got their licenses within the past two-year period
• Resident adjusters licensed solely for surety and/or marine and transportation 
• Limited lines producers licensed for life insurance or annuity products used solely to fund a pre-need arranged funeral program
• Licensed limited lines producers who write consumer credit, title, crop/hail, surety, and car rental insurance policies 

In addition, some licensees may be eligible for partial exemptions:

• Producers with 25 or more consecutive years of license compliance are awarded an automatic waiver for 12 credits in each two-year reporting period
• Delaware adjusters, public adjusters, and fraternal agents with 25 or more consecutive years of license compliance are awarded an automatic waiver for six credits in each biennium

These partial exemptions may not, however, be applied to the ethics credit requirement.

Annuity Insurance Requirements

'A producer who has completed an annuity training course approved by the Department of Insurance prior to August 1, 2021 shall, within six (6) months after August 1, 2021, complete either:

• 5.2.6.1 A new four (4) credit training course approved by the Department of Insurance after August 1, 2021; or
• 5.2.6.2 An additional one-time one (1) credit training course approved by the Department of Insurance and provided by the Department of Insurance-approved education provider on appropriate sales practices, replacement and disclosure requirements under this amended regulation.

The satisfaction of the training requirements of another State that are substantially similar to the provisions of this subsection shall be deemed to satisfy the training requirements of this subsection in this State.

5.2.10 The satisfaction of the components of the training requirements of any course or courses with components substantially similar to the provisions of this subsection shall be deemed to satisfy the training requirements of this subsection in this State.'

Long-Term Care Training Requirements

Delaware health producers must also complete specific training to sell, solicit, or negotiate long term care policies. The three-hour LTC course can be credited toward the 24-hour renewal requirement for residents.

This requirement doesn?t explicitly need to be met prior to solicitation of the product, but must be completed during the two-year reporting period in which the long term care policy was formed. 

This three-hour requirement covers subjects including:

• The history of long term care
• How to build an LTC policy
• The difference between tax-qualified and non-tax-qualified plans 
• Alternatives that exist for individual clients