§ 2132 — Continuing education

§ 2132. Continuing education. (a) This section shall apply to resident\nand non-resident persons licensed pursuant to this article with respect\nto:\n (1) life insurance, annuity contracts, variable annuity contracts and\nvariable life insurance;\n (2) sickness, accident and health insurance;\n (3) all lines of property and casualty insurance;\n (4) life settlements; and\n (5) title insurance.\n (b) This section shall not apply to:\n (1) those persons holding licenses for which an examination is not\nrequired by the laws of this state;\n (2) any limited licensees or any other licensees as the superintendent\nmay exempt subject to any continuing education requirements deemed\nappropriate by the superintendent;\n (3) for purposes of the continuing education requirements for life\nsettlements, an insurance producer with a life line of authority who is\nacting as a life settlement broker pursuant to section two thousand one\nhundred thirty-seven of this article; or\n (4) for purposes of a title insurance agent license, an attorney\nlicensed to practice law in this state, provided that such attorney is\nin good standing with the New York state office of court administration.\n (c) Resident and non-resident persons licensed pursuant to this\narticle and not exempt under subsection (b) of this section, and any\nperson previously so licensed whose license was not in effect on the\neffective date of this section and who has subsequently been relicensed\npursuant to the provisions of this article, shall biennially\nsatisfactorily complete such courses or programs of instruction as may\nbe approved by the superintendent, as follows:\n (1) Any person holding a license issued pursuant to this article and\nnot exempt under subsection (b) of this section shall, during each full\nbiennial licensing period, satisfactorily complete courses or programs\nof instruction or attend seminars as may be approved by the\nsuperintendent equivalent to fifteen credit hours of instruction.\n (2) During the same calendar year biennial licensing period, a\nlicensee may use accumulated continuing education credits to meet the\nrequirements of similar classes of licenses, as follows: (A) subsection\n(a) of section two thousand one hundred three and section two thousand\none hundred seven of this article with respect to life insurance\nconsultants; or (B) subsection (b) of section two thousand one hundred\nthree, section two thousand one hundred four, section two thousand one\nhundred seven of this article with respect to general insurance\nconsultants, and section two thousand one hundred eight of this article\nwith respect to public adjusters.\n (3) Excess credit hours accumulated during any biennial licensing\nperiod shall not carry forward to the next biennial licensing period for\nthat same class of license.\n (d) (1) The courses or programs of instruction successfully completed,\nwhich shall be deemed to meet the superintendent's standards for\ncontinuing education requirements, shall be:\n (A) courses, programs of instruction or seminars, approved as to\nmethod and content by the superintendent, covering portions of the\nprincipal branches of insurance related to the kinds of insurance\ncovered by that license, and given by a degree conferring college or\nuniversity whose curriculum is registered with the state education\ndepartment at the time the person takes the course, whether such course\nbe given as part of such curriculum or separately, or by any other\ninstitution, agents' association, trade association or insurer, which\nmaintains equivalent standards of instruction and which shall have been\napproved for such purpose by the superintendent.\n (B) continuing education as required by the state in which a\nnon-resident licensee, as defined by section two thousand one hundred\none of this article, resides and maintains an insurance office, provided\nthe superintendent deems them equivalent to New York continuing\neducation requirements. If the state in which the non-resident licensee\nresides and maintains an office has no continuing education\nrequirements, or the superintendent does not deem them equivalent, the\nlicensee must satisfy New York continuing education requirements.\n (2) The number of credit hours assigned to each of the courses or\nprograms of instruction set forth in paragraph one of this subsection\nshall be determined by the superintendent.\n (e) Notwithstanding paragraph one of subsection (d) of this section,\nno course, program of instruction, or seminar developed or sponsored by\nany insurer, shall be deemed to meet the superintendent's standards of\ncontinuing education requirements, unless such insurer is authorized to\nwrite that class of insurance in this state.\n (f) A person who teaches any approved course of instruction or who\nlectures at any approved seminar, and who is subject to this section,\nshall be granted the same number of credit hours as would be granted to\na person taking and successfully completing such course, seminar or\nprogram, provided that such credit hours shall be credited only once per\napproved course during any biennial licensing period.\n (g) Every person subject to this section shall furnish, in a form\nsatisfactory to the superintendent, certification attesting to the\ncourse or programs of instruction taken and successfully completed by\nsuch person pursuant to subsection (d) of this section.\n (h) (1) Any person failing to meet the requirements imposed by this\nsection shall not be eligible to renew the license.\n (2) Any person whose license was not renewed shall not be eligible to\nbecome relicensed during the next biennial licensing period until that\nperson has demonstrated to the satisfaction of the superintendent that\ncontinuing education requirements for the last biennial licensing period\nwere met.\n (3) Any person whose license was not renewed pursuant to paragraph one\nof this subsection, who accumulates sufficient credit hours for the\nprior licensing period to qualify for relicensing in the biennial period\nfollowing such non-renewal, may not apply those same credit hours toward\nthe continuing education requirements for the current biennial licensing\nperiod.\n (i) (1) Any entity eligible to provide courses, programs of\ninstruction, or seminars in accordance with subsection (d) of this\nsection, must file for approval by the superintendent on a biennial\nbasis, to conform with its area of instruction, a provider organization\napplication and a course submission application for each course, program\nand seminar.\n (2) The provider organization application shall include the names of\nall instructors to be used during the contract period, and instructors\nmay be added during the period by notifying the superintendent and\npaying the appropriate filing fee.\n (3) The completed applications shall be returned in a timely manner,\nas specified by the superintendent, with a non-refundable filing fee of\ntwo hundred dollars per organization, fifty dollars per course, program\nand seminar, and fifty dollars per instructor.\n (4) Approval of the application shall be at the discretion of the\nsuperintendent.\n (j) Each licensee shall pay a biennial fee of ten dollars per license,\nfor continuing education certificate filing and recording charges, to\nthe superintendent or, at the discretion of the superintendent, directly\nto an organization under contract to provide continuing education\nadministrative services.\n (k)(1) For any biennial licensing period, a firm, association or\ncorporation that is a licensee subject to this section shall be deemed\nto satisfy the continuing education requirements in this section with\nrespect to that license provided that, as of the date of the biennial\nrenewal date of the licensee's license, every sub-licensee of the\nlicensee either:\n (i) satisfies the continuing education requirements in subsection (c)\nof this section; or\n (ii) has an individual license under this article with the same lines\nof authority for which the individual is a sublicensee of the licensee.\n (2) The superintendent may issue such rules and regulations as the\nsuperintendent deems necessary to implement the terms of this\nsubsection.\n