ILLINOIS INSURANCE PRODUCER CONTINUING EDUCATION

Yes. Real Estate Institute offers continuing education programs that are approved by the IL Department of Insurance and have been specifically designed to satisfy license renewal requirements.

We are Provider #102877.

Illinois insurance producers are required to complete 24 credit hours of continuing education during each 2-year license renewal period. 3 of the 24 hours must consist of "instructor-led ethics training."

We are providing producers with a convenient way to complete the continuing education requirements on time and at a special price. You can take advantage of a money-saving offer by enrolling in two courses required at the same time, using the one book that we provided.  We have additional discounted packages that include the live ethics requirement as well.

The Illinois Department of Insurance requires a mandatory reporting fee for all insurance continuing education courses. The fee is currently $1.00 per credit hour.

We require insurance producers to pay this department-mandated fee upon course enrollment. State fees are subject to change without notice. In the event of a fee increase, we will contact you upon course completion to collect the required payment.

We encourage students to complete courses promptly to avoid fee increases.

Yes. Upon request, we will check to see if you have any credit hours on file with the state. We will then make sure you enroll for the correct number of courses to satisfy your requirement.  In order for us to do so, we will need your full name, NPN and the last 4 digits of your social security number.

When you renew your license, the state will take out 24 credit hours at the time of renewal, additional credit hours will "roll over" to your next license renewal period.

Note that the state will only allow you to roll over up to 12 credit hours. You lose any additional credit hours that are on file when you renew your license. Hours rolled over to the next license renewal period will count toward the general credit requirement. Ethics credit must be earned during each two-year renewal period.

The continuing education rules for Illinois insurance producers allow licensees to take courses on any topic approved by the Illinois Department of Insurance. It does not matter whether you are licensed specifically as a producer of Life, Property, Accident/Health, Casualty or Fire and Motor Vehicle insurance. You may take any of our insurance continuing education courses to earn your continuing education credit.

Note that a licensee is not allowed to repeat the same course within a two-year renewal period. Our records will indicate which of our courses you have taken.

No. Although we will promptly report your course completion(s), we are required to submit this data to the state's data processing vendor, State Based Systems. Once they receive the records from our school, they must transfer those records to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), who accepts your license renewal application. The Department of Insurance recommends that you allow 30 days for State Based Systems to process and transfer your continuing education records to the NAIC.

Note that the Department of Insurance requires all licensees to pay a late renewal fee if the NAIC does not receive an on-time renewal application... even if continuing education was completed on time.

No. If you pay by check, we cannot process your enrollment and answer sheet until your check arrives at the school. You can complete by fax if you pay with a credit/debit card or have prepaid.

Courses include an open-book exam. The state requires you to score 70% or higher to pass. Most people pass the exam without difficulty. If you do fail the exam, you will be permitted one additional attempt to pass an alternate exam (at no additional charge).

Yes. We report to the Department of Insurance daily, Monday through Friday.  Upon completion of our course(s), you will also receive a certificate of completion for your records.

Although we promptly submit this data, we strongly recommend you to complete all your education at least 10 days prior to your renewal deadline to avoid your license expiring and having to pay any late fees to reinstate it.

Possibly. We do not always renew an older course with the Department of Insurance. If you have had one of our books for a while, check our program catalog or contact us to be certain it is still available for credit.

That is fine. You can pass the book along. Our special combination book has an additional enrollment form and answer sheet on the back cover that they may use. If you prefer, you may also photocopy the in-book answer sheet or the back cover.

Just make sure the book you are using is still being offered by our school.  You can check our program catalog or contact us to confirm.

School policies, including our refund policy, can be viewed here.

An annuity is a long-term contractual arrangement in which someone gives money to an insurance company and is expected to get it back in either a lump sum or a series of scheduled installments.

No. This is a one-time training requirement.

Note that annuity training requirements vary state by state, so producers licensed to sell insurance in multiple states may need to consider additional or different requirements.

Yes. Insurance producers must complete this training prior to selling annuity products. Our 4-Hour NAIC Annuity Suitability Training course is approved by the Illinois Department of Insurance to satisfy this requirement.

Click to learn more about our state-approved course.

The annuity training requirement came about because the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) hopes to ensure that all annuity producers understand new requirements designed to protect consumers and that products are represented accurately.

Producers who complete Real Estate Institute's state-approved 4-Hour NAIC Annuity Suitability Training course will earn 4 hours of continuing education that will count toward the overall two-year license renewal requirement.

Producers who complete an annuity training course for a state with substantially similar requirements might not need to take an additional training course.

Unlike continuing education that is required before your biennial license renewal, annuity training compliance is not tracked by the state. It's up to companies that offer annuity products to track the compliance of producers who sell those products.

Producers who complete a state-approved annuity training course (like the one we offer) will have their course completion noted in their state continuing education transcript.

No. These producers are not specifically exempt. However, producers who already completed a 4-hour annuity training course that satisfies the requirements in Illinois may not be required to complete additional education.

Yes. Producers are exempt from the training requirement if they only sell:

• annuities within an employer pension plan that is covered by the Employment Retirement Income Security Act.
• annuities within an employer-sponsored plan described by sections 401(a), 401(k), 403(b), 408(k), or 408(p) of the Internal Revenue Code.
• annuities funding a government or church plan defined in Section 414 of the Internal Revenue Code, a government or church welfare plan or a deferred compensation plan of a state or local government or tax-exempt organization under Section 457 of the Internal Revenue Code.
• annuities funding a nonqualified deferred compensation arrangement established or maintained by an employer or plan sponsor.
• annuities funding settlements of or assumptions of liabilities associated with personal injury litigation or any dispute or claim resolution process.
• annuities used to fund formal prepaid funeral contracts.

Yes. All Illinois insurance producers must complete 3 hours of ethics training during each license renewal period.

We offer classes in a variety of locations throughout the Chicago area. Weekday and Saturday classes are available. Click here to view our full schedule of upcoming classes and webinars.

Yes, the Illinois Department of Insurance now allows insurance producers to earn ethics continuing education credit by attending live webinars or in-person classes.

Note: Ethics webinars are only approved for insurance producers.  Public Adjusters must attend and in-person ethics class.

You may log in on a desktop, laptop, tablet or mobile device.  You must have a stable, high-speed Internet connection and a modern web browser. Google Chrome is the preferred browser.  

If you are using a computer or laptop, you must have a built-in or external speaker system.

No. The law requires that the training be completed in a live classroom setting or by live webinar.

Yes, a special training and continuing education requirement affects all resident producers who sell or solicit any type of long-term care insurance. Our Long Term Care (Partnership) course is approved by the Illinois Department of Insurance to satisfy the initial LTC continuing education requirement.

Click to learn more about our state-approved course.

Yes. Producers are required to complete at least 4 hours of additional training during each subsequent license period. Click to learn more about our state-approved course that satisfies this requirement.

Yes. An 8-hour LTC training course can be used to satisfy the 4-hour CE requirement. As with all other CE courses, the licensee may not repeat the course within the same license renewal period.

Producers who miss their 4-hour LTC deadline can have their status reinstated by completing the 4-hour training within one year after their deadline. If they miss this one-year window, producers who want their LTC status reinstated must complete an 8-hour training program again.