CE Providers General Information/Guidelines

• General Information
• General Rules
• Approvable/Disapproval Course Material
• Course Submittal
• Course Hours
• Content Outline
• Changing Course Content/Dates/Locations/Cancellations
• Appeals
• NAIC Reciprocal Course Filings
• Self Study Courses
• Continuing Education (CE) Requirements by License Type/Line of Authority  
• Continuing Education Carry-Over Credits

General Information

Any individual, insurance company, insurance trade association, insurance producer association, accredited college, or insurance education institution may submit continuing education courses for approval by the Commissioner. Course information must be submitted on the Continuing Education Provider Course Application that may be printed from this website here. A completed application shall be submitted to the Indiana Department of Insurance, c/o CE Coordinator, 311 West Washington Street, Indianapolis, Indiana 46204-2787. Upon a course approval providers are to subscribe to Sircon Services. Providers must subscribe to Sircon Services in order to enter course dates and locations as well as to download course completion certificates for producers. Downloading of course completions into Sircon must be completed within 14 days of course completion.

Questions can be directed to Brooke Walters, CE Coordinator, at 317-232-5858 or brwalters@idoi.IN.gov.

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General Rules:

The application form, content outline and fee shall be submitted at least thirty (30) days before the date of the continuing education course. A detailed business resume or biography for each instructor must be included with the course application.

• A provider may advertise a continuing education course after submission to the department but before its approval. However, the provider must clearly indicate in any advertisement of the course that course approval is pending.
• A nonrefundable processing fee in the amount of forty dollars ($40) per course, or a yearly fee in the amount of five hundred dollars ($500) for all new courses, shall be submitted to the department along with a completed application form. Sircon can not be used for this special fee.
• Classroom and Self-Study courses may be approved. Videotaped, Internet, and satellite broadcast programs may also be approved for continuing education credit. See link to Methods of Delivery.
• Each educational segment within a convention program or an association annual meeting shall be submitted individually for continuing education credit.
• Providers must staff entrances and exits of meeting sites and provide a sign in/sign out system to take attendance and monitor individuals who leave the meeting or seminar. Individuals who arrive late (more than 15 minutes) or remain away from the meeting or seminar for extended period of time shall not be given credit.
• Applications for continuing education course approval shall be presented to an Education Advisory Council which meets the second Thursday of every month. The Education Advisory Council shall review each application and make a recommendation to the Commissioner on whether the course should be approved and the number of credit hours to be awarded. The department shall notify the provider in writing when the Commissioner approves or disapproves a continuing education course.
• Course filings must be received by IDOI no later than the first Friday of the month in order to be reviewed by the Education Advisory Council in that month.
• Course approval is valid for two (2) years from the date of the Commissioner's approval. Thereafter, the course must be resubmitted for renewal.
• Recruiting or soliciting producers during an approved CE course is not permitted.
• Additional rules for self-study courses are provided below.

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Approval Course Material:

The following subjects will mostly qualify for credit:

The following subjects most likely will not qualify for credit:

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Course Submittal:

One original application form, fee, and detailed course outline that shows the hours and minutes for each topic must be submitted at least thirty (30) days before the date of the continuing education course. A detailed business resume or biography for each instructor must be included with the course application. If the application is being submitted by a secondary provider a copy of the authorization agreement must be provided. The applicant's federal taxpayer ID number must be on the application. DO NOT use your social security number if you do not have a federal taxpayer ID number.

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Course Hours:

One (1) CE credit is 50 minutes of class room instruction and a 10 minute break.

• One (1) credit hour is the minimum that will be approved for classroom or self-study.
• Half-hour increments will be accepted after the initial first hour.
• Time designated by the provider as break time may not be considered when computing course credit hours.
• Eight (8) hours of classroom is the maximum credit per day.
• No partial credit is to be given to students who do not complete the course as approved.
• A licensed producer instructing the complete course may receive the same credit as issued to students taking the course. This is permitted only one time during the renewal period.
• There are no carryover credits.

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Content Outline:

Each course must have a detailed content outline. Each topic and sub-topic being taught must be stated separately on the outline with hours and or minutes scheduled for each. A submittal with a brief list of subjects covered without detail and time frames will not be accepted. Each break must be stated on the outline. Time designated by the provider as break time may not be considered when computing course credit hours.

Changing Course Content/Dates/Locations/Cancellations:

Once approved, the course can not deviate from the approved outline. A new application with a revised outline and hours, and course application fee must be submitted and approved.

All additional dates/locations/times must be reported to the Sircon database prior to the course presentation. The system will deny credit should the dates/times/location not match the scheduled offerings.

Cancellations must be reported to the CE Coordinator.

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Appeals of Continuing Education Courses:

In the event a provider objects to the number of hours assigned to a continuing education course or the Commissioner through the Education Advisory Council disapproves a course, the provider may appeal the Commissioner's decision. The appeal shall be made in writing to the Commissioner within thirty (30) days after the Education Advisory Council's decision. The Commissioner, in consultation with the Education Advisory Council, shall consider any appeal filed by a provider. The decision of the Commissioner shall be a final administrative order. Submit the appeal to the Indiana Department of Insurance, c/o CE Coordinator, 311 West Washington Street, Indianapolis, Indiana 46204-2787.

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Self-Study Courses:

A self-study course means study material in a textbook, computer based software, or internet format designed for individual study by a licensee which requires a closed book, proctored examination. The provider must submit all the course material that the license will receive for the department to review such as:

• Material that is current, relevant, accurate and includes valid reference materials, graphics, and interactivity such as a self-study textbook.
• Clearly defined objectives and course completion criteria.
• Specific instructions to register navigate and complete coursework.
• Course materials that are in Word or PDF format.
• Internet courses must include the provider's test security procedures.
• Computer based examinations shall not include prompts designated to aid the student in answering questions.
• Written procedures for requesting and receiving the CE course completion certificate by submitting the Indiana Affidavit of Personal Responsibility and Exam Completion.

Audio tapes are not an acceptable self-study format.

In addition to the requirements stated in 760 IAC 1-50, self-study courses are subject to the following requirements. Failure to comply with the requirements of this section may result in disciplinary action by the department under IC 27-1-15.6-12.

• All examination questions must be multiple choice. There must be four options for each question. True or false questions are not accepted.
• There must be a bank of questions with three different exams.
• A computer based course that includes a computer based examination must be designed to prevent the student from skipping the education materials before taking the examination.
• The number of questions required by credit hour:
  25 questions are required for 1 to 8 hours of credit
  50 questions are required for 8 to 12 hours of credit
  75 questions are required for 13 or more hours of credit
• A producer must correctly answer seventy percent (70%) of the examination questions in order to pass the self-study course and receive any continuing education credit.
• When taking a self study examination, the producer shall do all of the following:
  1.  Sign an affidavit, supplied by the provider that states the producer did not use outside help, such as an open textbook or another individual, in taking the examination. [LINK TO IDOI AFFIDAVIT OF PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY TEMPLATE]
  2.  A second producer must sign the affidavit verifying that the second producer witnessed the first producer's examination and no outside help was used. A producer who takes the examination at a testing center that administers tests for professional designations may have a representative of the testing center sign the affidavit rather than a licensed producer.
  3.  The signed affidavit must be returned to the provider. The provider shall retain the original affidavit for four (4) years.
• The provider shall grade the examination and mail the results to the producer no later than fourteen (14) days after the date upon which the producer mailed the completed examination to the provider.
• The acceptable procedure to determine appropriate credit hours for textbooks, workbooks, and other printed material is based on 44 lines per page, 12 or more words per line, and 10 pages. One (1) credit hour is equal to 5,280 words. Thirty two (32) lines per page would require 14 pages to equal one (1) credit hour. No credit is given for appendices, glossaries or chapter questions.

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