Montana Insurance Continuing Education

Resident Requirements

Residents of Montana who want to renew their insurance license need to meet the state's continuing education (CE) requirements. All licensed Montana residents need to complete the required CE hours in order to renew their licenses before the end of the two-year period unless they meet exemption requirements. 

All insurance producers and adjusters must complete a minimum of 24 hours of insurance CE every year, including at least 3 hours dedicated to ethics and one hour dedicated to legislative changes. Producers whose licenses only cover limited lines of credit are only required to complete five hours of insurance CE and at least one hour of legislative changes per two-year term. 

Rules for Non-Residents

Non-residents are exempt from Montana's CE hour requirements. However, every non-resident producer and adjuster in Montana must complete a summary report form explaining their compliance with their home state's CE requirements.

If the non-resident's home state does not have any CE requirements, the non-resident is held to Montana's CE requirements and must submit proof of course completion for the basic requirements of the state. 

Producers from states without long-term care insurance CE requirements will be required to complete those courses in Montana to sell those products. 

Carryover of Excess CE

In Montana, while excess CE hours benefit adjusters and producers, no hours from one two-year licensed period can be carried over into the next term.

Insurance License Term Renewal Requirements

The state of Montana renews licenses every two years. Montana sets licenses to expire based on the producer or adjuster's birth month. The first renewal occurs on the first day of the individual's birth month. Individuals born in odd-numbered years renew their licenses during odd-numbered years, and those born in even-numbered years renew them in even-numbered years.

In order for their licenses to be renewed, insurance adjusters and producers do not need to submit a specific form. The state automatically renews licenses up to 90 days prior to the license renewal date. This only occurs if the licensee has completed all of their CE requirements. 

All CE requirements must be submitted to the state and approved before the renewal process occurs. As some reporting processes have delays, it is important for the licensee to complete their CE hours well in advance of the first day of their birth month in renewal years. 

Rules for Taking the Exam

All Montana insurance licensees must take their CE exams as closed-book tests. No outside materials or information are permitted during the tests. Montana requires that all CE exams must be passed with a minimum of 70 percent correct. Failed exams may be retaken an unlimited number of times in order to receive credit for the course. 

Montana CE course tests must be proctored by an unbiased third party. This person may not be a family member or someone who has a financial interest in the student's success. 

Rules for Repeating a Course

Insurance licensees may not repeat a given course during a single two-year licensing period. However, once the licensed person has had their license renewed, they can retake the course for credit towards their next license renewal. 

Credit for Instructors

Montana insurance continuing education course instructors are still required to meet any CE requirements for their own licenses. Instructors receive credit for the courses they teach. An instructor receives twice the CE hour credit of their students for any given course. Any given course may not be counted towards a renewal more than once during a specific renewal period.

Reporting Rules

The state of Montana requires CE course providers to submit completed course hours on behalf of the producers and adjusters who take their courses. Licensees do not need to manually submit their own CE hours. However, CE course providers can submit hours anywhere from the day of course completion to a month afterward, so licensees should confirm when hours have been submitted.

The status of completed CE hours can be checked on the National Association of Insurance Commissioners website.

Adjusters and producers should maintain their own records of their completed courses. The state of Montana recommends that insurance producers retain copies of their course completion certificates for at least three years after the date of completion. 

Insurance CE Requirement Exemptions

There are several groups that are exempt from Montana's CE requirements. These groups are:

• Any licensee who currently holds a temporary license
• Any licensee who has been explicitly exempted from these requirements by the Montana insurance commissioner

All other producers and adjusters in Montana must complete the state CE requirements in order for their licenses to automatically renew. 

Montana Annuity Insurance Requirements

In order to sell, negotiate, or solicit any annuity products, Montana producers need to complete a one-time annuity training course that is at least four hours long. Montana producers may not handle any annuity product before they complete this initial training course. However, non-residents who have received this training in their home state can count it towards their Montana requirements. 

Montana Long-Term Care Training Requirements

Any adjuster or producer licensed to sell long-term care products is required to complete two types of training requirements in Montana. The first of these requirements is an eight-hour-long initial training course covering the fundamentals of long-term care policies. 

The second requirement is a regular CE requirement of an additional four-hour CE course covering long-term care policies. This course does not apply to the standard 24 hours of CE requirements. 

This long-term care training is federally mandated and covers subjects including:

• The purpose and function of long-term care products
• Types and varieties of long-term care products 
• An explanation of qualified partnerships and how they interact with other forms of long-term care policies

All producers must meet these long-term care training requirements if they wish to sell long-term care products. This includes producers who are otherwise exempt from CE requirements per federal law. However, if a producer has completed the course in another state, it can be accepted for credit in Montana.

Montana Flood Insurance Training Requirements

Licensees who intend to sell flood insurance must follow national guidelines. In order to sell flood insurance, the individual must complete a one-time minimum of three training hours as outlined by the National Flood Insurance Program and FEMA. This may be completed in any state in which the producer is licensed.