Good afternoon insurance folk! We have a couple of new things coming your way in today’s edition of the PIB, and here’s the first one! Several months ago, the State of Washington announced that all producers that wish to sell flood insurance must take a state-approved FEMA-based flood insurance training course. In that blog post, I said that I would inform you as to when Oregon made this a requirement.
Well, guess what? Oregon has joined the FEMA flood training ranks! Here are the highlights:
- The requirement is effective as of 10/01/2007.
- If you are currently P&C licensed, you do not immediately have to find a course on flood insurance in order to keep selling the product. All producers that are currently P&C licensed have until their renewal to take the course. This means that you may continue to sell flood coverages (Write-Your-Own or NFIP) until your renewal. In order to continue selling once your renewal hits, you must have taken an approved flood course as part of your continuing education.
- For new licensees, you cannot sell flood coverage until you have taken the course.
ProSchools will not offer a flood insurance training course at this time. There are several approved providers scattered throughout the Internet that can provide the training. However, remember the old “caveat emptor” (buyer beware): Make sure that the course you take is actually a FEMA based flood course and meets the requirements for this purpose! There are providers that offer a flood training course, but it may not meet the requirements as to course topics covered. FEMA has published a syllabus and course content outline that must be followed.
Click HERE for the official FEMA content outline requirements.
Oregon has published the official rules; click HERE for Oregon’s information.
Good luck, and please let me know if you have any questions!