Good morning, PIBBERs! For those of you that are studying for your Illinois insurance license, we have some news for you. The Illinois Department of Insurance has changed the pre-license rules in several different ways that affect anyone in the middle of preparing for their insurance examination. Please read on for details.
Effective January 1, 2010, Illinois is changing up pre-license completion requirements in terms of
- The required number of hours pre-license students must complete;
- How you can actually complete your required pre-license training;
- When the test can actually be taken, and;
- Continuing education rules
Let’s take these one by one:
1. Illinois has joined forces and “signed-on” to the Producer Licensing Model Act (PLMA) which was enacted into law with the passage of the Graham-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999. This piece of legislation is intended to get insurance producers on the same page in terms of licensing and state-to-state licensing reciprocity. Specifically, Illinois now requires that pre-license students complete 20 hours of education for each major line of insurance. So, for those students getting a Property and Casualty license, you will need to complete 40 total hours of education as an example.
2. There are changes to the methods by which a person can get their pre-license training. As of 1/1/2010, all pre-license candidates will be required to have 37.5% of their training within a classroom environment. So, for the math-impaired, 7.5 hours of your 20-hour per line requirement must be spent in a classroom training situation. For specific clarification of this new rule, visit the Illinois Insurance Department’s website.
- Important Note–> ProSchools does NOT currently meet this new legal requirement. For those of you currently enrolled in a pre-licensing program in Illinois through ProSchools, you must complete your training online and take your exam NO LATER THAN 12/31/2009! If you do not complete your education and testing by this date, you will be required to attend a 7.5 hour lecture class (15 hours for multiple line students) in order to then take your exam. We are in the process of meeting the new requirements, however since we were given a very short time period by the state of Illinois as to notice of this new law, we’re a bit behind the ball. Trust me- there are many online providers who were given the shaft here. Thank you, Illinois politics and your former governor. If you have concerns, please post a comment and I will respond.
3. Nothing has changed as to where and when you can take your exam; the only “changes” were to the educational requirements effective 1/1/2010.
4. All Illinois insurance producers are now required to complete 24-hours of continuing education every licensing period. Within the 24-hour requirement, producers must complete a 3-hour Ethics training course. Ahhhh, things- they are ‘a changin’!
Please let me know if you have any further questions or need clarification…I’d be happy to help!