Wisconsin Insurance Continuing Education

Resident Requirements 

In Wisconsin, completing state continuing education (CE) requirements is mandatory for the renewal of an intermediary individual (producer) license. 

Each resident producer licensed in any of the major lines will be required to complete 24 hours of CE approved by the Office of the Commissioner of Insurance (OCI). These lines include:

• Life
• Accident and health
• Property
• Casualty 
• Personal 
• Variable life
• Variable annuity
• Automobile (grandfathered limited line)

At least three of the 24 credit hours must be from ethics courses.

Rules for Non-Residents 

A non-resident producer who has satisfied the CE requirements of their home state is exempt from the Wisconsin CE requirement. This is conditional on the producer's home state CE requirements being substantially similar to those of Wisconsin.

Carryover of Excess CE 

Wisconsin does not allow any carryover of excess CE from one licensing period to the next.

Insurance License Term Renewal Requirements 

The licensing period for Wisconsin producers is two years. A license expires on the last day of the producer's birth month. The renewal year is based on the original licensure year, meaning producers originally licensed in an even year will renew on an even-numbered year, and producers originally licensed in an odd year will renew on an odd-numbered year.

Licenses are available to renew 60 days prior to the license renewal date. The OCI strongly recommends completing CE requirements at least 30 days prior to the license renewal date to allow for processing and submission to the National Insurance Producer Registry (NIPR). 

Rules for Taking the Exam 

A final, proctored exam is required for self-study courses in Wisconsin. For courses approved for three credit hours or less, the exam shall consist of a minimum of 25 questions. For courses approved for more than three credit hours, the exam shall consist of a minimum of 50 questions. A passing score of 70 percent or greater is required for all exams.

An approved proctor must be an impartial third party or currently licensed agent with no family or financial relationship to the producer.

Rules for Repeating a Course 

Within a single licensing period, no CE course may be repeated for credit. However, a course from a previous renewal cycle may be repeated during a subsequent renewal cycle.

Credit for Instructors 

An instructor of an approved CE course may receive the same number of credit hours as a person enrolled in the course. Instructors will receive credit hours for teaching a given course only once per licensing period.

Reporting Rules 

Providers are required to provide an original Certificate of Completion of CE to a producer within a reasonable period after completion of a CE course. A producer is required to keep a record of all courses completed by retaining all original certificates of completion for four years after the end of the year of attendance.

Providers are also required to submit to the OCI an electronic list of all course attendees with the number of credit hours satisfactorily completed. This list must be provided to the OCI within 10 days of the producer's completion of the CE course.

Insurance CE Requirement Exemptions 

There are several conditions under which a producer may be exempt from the Wisconsin CE Requirements.

• A resident producer holding only a limited line license is not required to complete the Wisconsin CE requirements.
• Non-resident producers who have met the CE requirements of their home state are not subject to Wisconsin's CE requirements. This is provided the home state requirements are substantially similar to the requirements in Wisconsin.
• A waiver of CE requirements may be obtained via an application for a good cause. Good cause includes long-term illness or incapacity, full-time service in the U.S. Armed Forces on active duty outside the state of Wisconsin during the majority of the licensing period, and other emergency situations deemed appropriate by the OCI. A waiver is only valid for the licensing period for which the application was made. A waiver application must be submitted and approved at least 90 days prior to the license renewal date.

Wisconsin Annuity Requirements

Annuity producers are subject to special requirements in the state of Wisconsin. Producers must complete a one-time four-hour annuity training course prior to the solicitation or sale of any annuity product. This training is mandatory for both resident and non-resident producers and applies to both individual and group sales.

An annuity suitability course must include these topics:

• The identification of the parties to an annuity
• How fixed, variable, and indexed annuity contract provisions affect consumers
• The application of income taxation of qualified and nonqualified annuities
• The primary use of annuities as well as appropriate sales practices, replacements, and disclosures

If the producer has satisfied a substantially similar training requirement in another state, they will be deemed compliant with Wisconsin's requirement.

Wisconsin Long-Term Care Training

Long-term care insurance producers are subject to special requirements in the state of Wisconsin. A producer may not sell, solicit, or negotiate long-term care insurance products unless they are licensed and appointed by an insurer. In addition, a producer must complete an initial one-time, eight credit hour training course of which two hours must be about Wisconsin-specific Medicaid and long-term care information.

Following the completion of the initial training, producers must complete four hours of long-term care insurance CE every licensing period, of which one hour must contain Wisconsin-specific Medicaid training.

Training must include these topics:

• Long-term care state and federal regulations
• Available long-term care services and providers
• Alternatives to the purchase of long-term care insurance
• Effects of inflation
• Insurance suitability standards and guidelines

A non-resident producer who has satisfied the long-term care training requirement in another state will be deemed to have fulfilled the Wisconsin requirement, except for the initial two hours and ongoing one hour of CE on Wisconsin-specific Medicaid and long-term care information training.

Wisconsin Flood Requirements 

All Wisconsin-licensed resident producers who sell federal flood insurance policies must comply with federal minimum training requirements. The minimum training requirement may be satisfied by completing a three-credit-hour course related to flood insurance and the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). The course must be approved for CE credit.