|  The New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) has formally adopted a rule imposing new continuing education course requirements on insurance producers and adjusters. If your license is due to renew on or after next April 1, you must take the required coursework in order to renew.
The regulation, which DFS first proposed last July, will take effect on Nov. 12 and applies to licenses renewing on and after April 1, 2022. An agent or broker will be unable to renew a license unless their 15 hours of continuing education include:
- At least one hour of courses on the provisions of New York insurance law and regulations
- At least one hour of courses on ethics and professionalism
- At least one hour of courses on "implicit and explicit bias; equal access to justice; serving a diverse population; diversity and inclusion initiatives in the insurance industry; and sensitivity to cultural and other differences when interacting with clients, potential clients, or other members of the public."
- For all property-casualty licensed producers, at least one hour of courses on the sale of flood insurance through the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP)
- For producers who sell coverage through the NFIP, at least three hours of enhanced flood insurance instruction.
Big I New York submitted comments to DFS during the public comment period. The department rejected our request for a delay in making the change effective, stating that they believe they have delayed it long enough (they originally proposed a Jan. 1, 2022 effective date.) However, they responded to our questions by saying that courses on the financial services cybersecurity regulation and an agency management course that includes the law, ethics and diversity topics would satisfy the requirements.
Big I New York is taking steps to help you meet these new requirements. We already have approval for courses on New York law, ethics, and flood insurance, and we have submitted an outline for a course on diversity and inclusion for approval by DFS. We hope to receive approval for that course shortly. An "on demand" course on the cybersecurity regulation will be available soon. We are also in the process of updating our popular "15-in-1" CE program that enables producers to meet their 15 credit requirements in one shot. We expect to receive approval and make the new program available by year's end.
If your license is due to renew after next March 31, you should plan now to take the required courses in time for your renewal. Watch the education calendar on our website and our weekly education newsletter for course announcements.
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