What is the continuing education requirement in ethics for agents in North Carolina?

Did you know the Venus flytrap is native to North Carolina? But this funky plant isn’t the only thing that can catch you unawares in the Tar Heel State. 

Keeping your North Carolina resident producer license in good standing is essential to maintaining all your nonresidential insurance licenses. And continuing education (CE) is central to that good standing. But it can be tricky to keep track of those CE requirements, and resident insurance producers have been known to get ensnared with regulatory actions. That’s why we’re here to help lay out the nitty gritty CE details that make North Carolina different. 

While we know our stuff when it comes to North Carolina’s regulatory requirements, you should always be sure to check out North Carolina’s Department of Insurance website yourself. Regulatory requirements have been known to change and even though we’re pros at staying on top of those changes, it’s always a good idea to go straight to the source.

What is the due date for North Carolina Insurance CE Credits? 

They say that nothing lasts forever, but when it comes to insurance producer licensing in North Carolina, that isn’t necessarily the case. Producer licenses are perpetual, eternal, everlasting. So long as producers update their CE every two years (in odd or even years based on the producer’s birth year) by the last day of the licensee’s birth month, they’ll have a lifelong active license.

The kicker here is, since licenses don’t expire, the state isn’t going to send producers a notice ahead of license expiration. That means producers need to be extra careful when it comes to maintaining CE requirements. 

Who’s exempt from North Carolina Insurance CE?

If you aren’t a resident producer in North Carolina, then you can disregard this article. As a member of the NAIC Continuing Education Reciprocity agreement, all nonresident producer licensees are exempt from North Carolina’s CE requirements so long as they’re up-to-date on their resident state’s requirements. The exception here is for nonresident adjusters, which we’ll explore below in the adjusters section. So, adjusters, stay tuned. 

Other than nonresident licensure, the only other exceptions to CE requirements is based on a licensees medical disability or active military service. In those instances, all CE requirements are waived, including for ethics and flood courses.

How many hours of CE are required for North Carolina insurance producers?

To keep up with CE in North Carolina, resident producers must complete 24 hours of CE of which three must be in ethics courses. 

North Carolina won’t allow you to repeat a course within the same cycle. That said, as an exception to most states, North Carolina will allow you to carry over an infinite number of CE credits. For instance, say you decide to go all in on CE one year, and you exceed the number of required CE credits for a single renewal period. Those credit hours will carry over to the next biennial compliance period. And, if you take extra ethics or flood credits, those will carry over as general credits. 

Licensees may also receive up to four hours of CE credits by participating in approved professional industry organization or national industry association meetings. 

To receive CE credit, licensees must complete a final exam of each course. The online certification exams are closed book and must be passed with a score of 70 percent or higher. If you don’t pass the exam on the first go, it can be retaken any number of times. 

Long-Term Care Partnership training requirements

If you’re a resident producer in North Carolina looking to sell, solicit, or negotiate long-term care insurance, you’ll first need to be licensed for accident and health/sickness and Medicare supplement/long-term care. Those licensees must then complete an initial eight hours of CE in long-term care partnerships, plus four hours of add-on CE credits every biennial renewal period. 

Flood training requirements

According to the requirements as set out by FEMA, producers must complete three hours of flood insurance training every four years to sell flood insurance. These credit hours can be included as part of their total CE requirements. 

Adjuster training requirements

Hold up adjusters. We know you’ve made it this far without much mention of regulatory requirements, but we’ve just saved the best for last. Resident adjusters need to complete 24 hours of CE credits biennially, three hours of which need to be in an approved ethics training course. 

Nonresident adjusters, however, have different CE requirements depending on the resident state of licensure or state with which the qualifying exam was taken. 

• If you qualified for licensure in North Carolina because you live in a state which licenses for the same type of adjuster license held in North Carolina, you must simply maintain good standing in your resident state. 
• If you qualified for licensure in North Carolina because you adopted a different state – not North Carolina – as your resident state by taking the licensing exam in that other state, then you simply need to be in good standing in the adopted resident state. 
• If you qualified for licensure in North Carolina by adopting North Carolina as your resident state, then you must comply with North Carolina’s CE requirements for adjusters. 

For more information about state-specific licensing requirements, or to find out how AgentSync can make it easier to operate across multiple states, check out our state pages.

North Carolina Insurance CE FAQs

Within 15 days of completion.

Your National Producer Number.

How many hours of continuing education is required for renewal in NC?

How many hours of continuing education are required each year in NC?

How many hours of continuing education in ethics must agent complete each licensing term?

How many hours of continuing education in ethics are required each compliance period?