Texas Senate Bill 876 has been passed and will take effect on Sept. 1, 2015.
While I know that most of you don’t sit around and read the Texas Administrative Code, I wanted to make you aware of some things happening. For those of you interested, you can see the code in these two links.
I wanted to highlight a few changes most important to you as an insurance license holder (agent, adjuster, etc.) from Texas Department of Insurance.
Staggered Renewal System
Currently, your license expires every two years on the original issue date. Texas has now adopted a renewal system common in other states which ties your renewal to your birthday.
The new law states: If license is issued or renewed in an even-numbered year, the individual license holder’s birthday each even-numbered year is the renewal date. If license is issued or renewed in an odd-numbered year, the individual license holder’s birthday each odd-numbered year is the renewal date.
Simply put, your license will expire on your birthday every two years.
CE hours required for renewal will be reduced from 30 to 24 hours
This will make the requirements a bit easier to comply with. My understanding is that the requirements for ethics and classroom-equivalent hours are unchanged. Currently each license holder must take 2 hours of Ethics CE for each 2-year reporting period and at least half of their CE hours must be “Classroom” or “Classroom-Equivalent” hours.
You will not be able to renew your license unless you have the appropriate number of CE credits or pay a fine
Oddly enough, the Texas Department of Insurance would allow you in the past to renew your license if you were not CE compliant. You would be assessed a fine, but many were never even aware of the deficiency or the fine. Many licensees have gone back to look at the status of their license with TDI and find that they have fines going back two or more renewal periods. Time will tell how past fines will be handled.
The good news going forward is that you will have to address these issues when they happen and not years later.
For most, these changes are good news. While the new renewal dates may take a bit to get used to, TDI is always good at sending your renewal notice 90 days before your license expires. It is a good idea to verify that TDI has your current mailing address on file so that you won’t miss any important notices from them. To check your mailing address on record with TDI, you will need to contact them directly at 512-676-6500.
Remember, if you are deficient in your CE requirements and your renewal date is creeping up on you, 2021 Training has online CE courses to help you get your Continuing Education credits.