1.3 License Maintenance and Continuing Education

Renewal Cycle — Tied to Your Birth Month

A DC insurance producer license is issued on a biennial (two-year) basis. The critical DC-specific detail tested here is the renewal due date:

This birth-month anchor is different from "X days before expiration" framing used in some states — DC keys the deadline to the producer's own birth month so it is predictable year to year. Plan to finish CE well ahead of that date because CE must be completed before you renew, and credits are reported electronically by providers (allow processing time).

Continuing Education: 24 Hours, 3 Ethics

DC requires 24 hours of continuing education (CE) each two-year cycle for a major line of authority (Life, Accident & Health, Property, or Casualty).

CE Rules That Get Tested

• No carryover. Excess hours earned in one period do not roll into the next.
• No course repeats for credit within the same reporting period.
• Company-sponsored cap: no more than 50% of the requirement may come from company-sponsored courses.
• Dual-line producers (holding both Life & Health and Property & Casualty) still owe 24 total hours — not 48 — but must complete a minimum of 6 hours in each of the two groups.
• CE must be completed and recorded before renewal; failure to meet CE is grounds for non-renewal and discipline.

Exam tip: The 3-hour ethics requirement is mandatory and cannot be swapped for general electives. A classic distractor sets total CE at 16, 20, or 30 hours — the DC figure is 24.

The Renewal Process Step by Step

1. Complete 24 CE hours (incl. 3 ethics) before your birth-month deadline
2. Confirm providers have reported your credits electronically
3. Log into NIPR (nipr.com) and open the DC renewal
4. Submit the renewal application and pay the renewal fee
5. Verify the license shows active status

If You Miss the Deadline

Required Reporting to DISB

A producer has an ongoing duty to keep DISB current. Under the Producer Licensing Act, you must report — generally within 30 days — changes such as:

• Change of legal name
• Change of business or residence address (and, for non-residents, home-state changes)
• Administrative actions taken against you by another state, jurisdiction, or financial regulator
• Criminal prosecutions (charges or convictions), filed with a copy of the relevant documents

Failure to report is itself a violation that can support discipline.

Appointments

Disciplinary Authority

DISB may discipline a producer for, among other grounds: violating insurance law, fraud or dishonesty, misappropriating premium (commingling/conversion), misrepresentation or twisting, failing to maintain CE, a disqualifying criminal conviction, or having a license revoked in another jurisdiction.

Non-Resident Maintenance

A non-resident DC license rides on the home-state license: keep the home-state resident license active and in good standing. If your home-state license lapses or is revoked, your DC non-resident license is jeopardized as well.

Worked Example: Counting CE Correctly

Consider Devon, who holds only a DC Life & Health license and whose birthday is in September. His license renews biennially at the end of September. During the two-year period he completes 22 elective hours and 3 ethics hours — 25 total. Two facts decide his fate. First, the 3 ethics hours are satisfied, so that mandatory subset is met. Second, although he has 25 hours, only 24 are required and nothing carries over — the extra hour is simply lost. He renews through NIPR before September 30.

Now imagine half of those 24 hours came from courses sponsored by his own carrier: that would be exactly 12 hours, which is at or below the 50% company-sponsored ceiling, so it is allowed. Push it to 14 company-sponsored hours and he would be non-compliant.

Common Maintenance Traps

• Believing CE can be completed after renewal — it cannot; credits must post first.
• Assuming a dual-line producer owes 48 hours — the total stays 24, just split with a 6-hour-per-group floor.
• Forgetting that reporting obligations (name, address, administrative actions, criminal charges) are continuous, not tied to renewal — failing to report within roughly 30 days is itself a violation.
• Thinking the producer files appointments — the insurer files them, and the insurer reports terminations, including the reason when termination is for cause.

Exam tip: Distinguish suspension (temporary) from revocation (permanent). Misappropriating client premium — commingling it with personal funds or converting it — is among the fastest routes to revocation plus restitution and possible criminal referral.