Montana: Insurance Continuing Education

Open skies and mountainous terrain aren’t all that make Montana glorious. There’s also the state’s insurance continuing education (CE) regulations to keep insurance producers wise to the best ways to serve their clients and the public.

Like all states, failure to stay current with Montana’s CE requirements can put your Montana resident insurance license in jeopardy, which in turn would put your nonresident state licenses in jeopardy, as well. Obviously, that’s not what you want, so read on to learn about the general regulations of the Treasure State and how to best comply.

We’re a bunch of insurance nerds at the AgentSync, but you’re responsible for your own compliance. That means, if you have questions or need to be sure you’re following state regs, you should hit up the Montana insurance website.

What is the due date for Montana Insurance CE Credits? 

In Montana, your CE has to be reported and received by the last day of your birth month every two years, based on whether you were born in an odd or even year. This is also your license renewal deadline.

Your first renewal date must be between two and four years from your initial licensing.

If you’re confused, Montana will remind you about your obligations and upcoming renewals 90 days in advance.

Who’s exempt from Montana Insurance CE?

Nonresident producers are considered good to go as long as they’re up on the requirements of their resident state. Nonresident adjusters or limited lines agents, however, will need to look closely to see if they must fulfill Montana’s CE requirements if their own resident states doesn’t have CE requirements for their license type.

How many hours of CE are required for Montana insurance producers?

Generally, anyone holding an insurance producer or adjuster license will need to complete at least 24 credit hours of CE per biennial renewal, with at least three of those hours in ethics.

Every license holder in Montana must take at least one hour of CE each cycle covering Montana’s changes to insurance law and administrative compliance. No matter what line of authority or line of business you have, your CE credits will need to include this credit hour.

Like most other states, Montana is a member of the NAIC Continuing Education Reciprocity agreement, so producers have a broad catalog of courses to choose from, as well as being able to double-dip for credits such as those required to earn a professional designation like Certified Financial Planner or Chartered Life Underwriter.

However, Montana doesn’t allow you to take a course for credit more than once in a renewal cycle, nor does it allow you to carry over course credits into the next renewal cycle. The state has a few more specifics that apply to certain lines of authority or lines of business:

• Producers licensed only in surety bail bonds, prepaid legal insurance, or limited lines credit must complete only five CE hours per cycle in the subjects of credit life, credit disability, insurance law, or ethics. This includes the Montana insurance law and administration credit.
• Viatical settlement brokers must complete CE that covers the subjects of life insurance, viaticals, and ethics.
• Those who have a life insurance license and who want to sell annuities must take a one-time, four-hour certification training, which Montana considers reciprocal from other states with similar trainings. For producers who have taken previous versions of the training, they will be considered up to date if they take a one-time, one-hour update course approved by the Montana Commissioner of Securities and Insurance.
• Similarly, producers who hope to sell long-term care insurance must complete a one-time, eight-hour course, and stay current on four hours of CE each CE renewal cycle. As long as the course is an approved Montana CE course, this long-term care insurance training will count toward CE. Montana also considers this an instance where similar courses in other states are reciprocally recognized. 
• Montana law specifically states that insurance carriers are on the hook for ensuring their producers are compliant with annuity and long-term care training.

For more information about state-specific licensing requirements, or to find out how AgentSync can make it easier to operate across multiple states, check out our state pages.

Montana Insurance CE FAQs