Kentucky Insurance Continuing Education

Resident Requirements

In Kentucky, completing state Continuing Education (CE) requirements is a prerequisite for the renewal of an insurance license. This applies to any resident renewing an AGENT (Producer) license for every major line of authority (life, health, property, casualty, variable life, variable annuity, and personal).

Producers are required to complete a total of 24 credit hours within each two-year CE period. At least three credit hours per CE period must be from an approved ethics course. At least six credit hours must be related to a line of authority for which the producer is actively licensed. Both ethics credit hours and line of authority credit hours count towards the 24 total hour requirement.

Any individual who holds multiple licenses that require CE will have their credit hours apply to both licenses.

All CE credit hours must be obtained from a Kentucky-approved independent or insurer provider. Credit hours may be completed in a classroom or through correspondence/self-study. Courses completed in another state must be filed by the course provider with the state of Kentucky using the NAIC Uniform Continuing Education Reciprocal Course approval application prior to credit hours being granted.

Rules for Non-Residents

Non-resident producers holding non-resident licenses who have satisfied the continuing education requirements of their home state are exempt from completing further CE. This is contingent on the requirements of your home state being substantially similar to the requirements of Kentucky.

Carryover of Excess CE

Up to 12 CE credit hours may carry over from one CE period to the next. However, they will always carry over as general hours, regardless of the original course content. This means that specific requirements such as ethics hours or hours for a specific line of authority will not count towards those requirements if carried over into a subsequent CE period.

Insurance License Term Renewal Requirements

The licensing period for Kentucky producers is two years. The CE period begins on the first day of the month following the producer's birth month and expires on the last day of the producer's birth month two years later. The renewal year is based on the producer's birth year, meaning producers born in an odd-numbered year will renew on the next odd-numbered year following their original licensure and every odd-numbered year after that. Producers born in an even-numbered year renew every even-numbered year.

At least 30 days prior to the renewal date, the Kentucky Department of Insurance will make available to the producer a list of the licenses to be renewed. All CE must be completed prior to the license expiration date.

Rules for Taking the Exam

While there is no final exam requirement for CE in Kentucky, any final exam required as part of a CE course must be completed successfully in order to receive CE credit hours for that course.

Rules for Repeating a Course

CE credit hours for a given approved course can only be earned once per CE period. However, a course may be re-taken for credit hours in subsequent CE periods.

Credit for Instructors

An instructor of any approved CE course qualifies for the same number of credit hours as would be granted to a producer taking and satisfactorily completing that same course. Credit may be claimed for each course taught only once per CE period.

Reporting Rules

Providers of self-study courses are required to submit verification of the CE credit hours earned through their eServices account. 

If a producer is unable to verify that a course has been submitted to the Department of Insurance (DOI), they are required to submit Form CE-301 Certificate of Completion within 30 days of their successful completion of the course. The original form must be mailed to the DOI. Both parties (producer and DOI) must retain a copy of the certificate in their files for at least 5 years.

Insurance CE Requirement Exemptions

There are several conditions under which a producer may be exempt from the Kentucky CE requirement. 

• Non-resident producers who have received their Kentucky license via reciprocity and who have met the CE requirements of their home state are exempt from the Kentucky CE requirement
•  Producers engaged solely in the following limited lines of authority are exempt from the CE requirement: 
  • Limited Line Credit
  • Limited Line Crop
  • Limited Line Travel
  • Limited Line Surety
• Producers who have not yet held their license for a full year prior to the end of their applicable renewal period are exempt from CE for that first renewal date.
• Producers who are keeping their license solely for receiving renewals or deferred commissions are exempt from the CE requirement. To qualify, a producer must have filed a supporting Affidavit for Exemption from Continuing Education (Form 304) with the DOI and received a waiver from CE requirements.

Kentucky Annuity Requirements

Kentucky is presently in the process of updating its rules surrounding annuity transactions.

The most recent regulations stated that annuity producers are subject to special requirements in the state of Kentucky. All producers who hold a resident or non-resident license were required to complete a one-time four credit hour CE course on Annuity Suitability Training prior to selling or soliciting annuity products. The producer must also hold a Lifeline of authority. 

Kentucky Long-Term Care Insurance Training Requirements

Long-term care insurance producers are subject to special requirements in the state of Kentucky. A producer may not sell, solicit, or negotiate long-term care insurance unless they hold a Life or Health line of authority, or they become authorized to sell, solicit, or negotiate policies issued under Kentucky's LTC Insurance Partnership Program. A producer must also complete a one-time 8-hour initial training course, and complete a further four credit hours of CE in long-term care insurance every two years in accordance with their renewal cycle as dictated by their birth year.

Training courses will consist of topics related to long-term care insurance, long-term care services, and Kentucky's LTC Insurance Partnership Program.