40% of Agents in South Carolina Could Lose Licenses May 1

May 1, 2010 is the deadline for agents licensed in South Carolina to complete their first-ever producer license renewal process and become compliant with their ongoing continuing education requirements.

Compliance requirements include the completion of 24 hours of continuing education, the payment of a $15.00 recordkeeping fee to the firm Prometric, and the completion of the online producer license renewal process that includes a $25.00 license renewal fee.

Insurance Director Scott Richardson said that notices outlining the compliance requirements have been sent to all insurance agents licensed in South Carolina yet many agents have not yet acted.

“Our records indicate that more than 40 percent of both resident and nonresident agents have yet to renew their license, complied with CE requirements or both,” Richardson said. “Their licenses will lapse if they have not complied by the May 1, 2010 deadline. They will be unlicensed and unable to transact the business of insurance.”

Richardson’s department has held three-hour educational seminars outlining the licensing changes as well as legislative changes in brokers’ license requirements, sharing of commissions and company appointment procedures throughout the state over the past three months. Seminars have been held in Greenville, Rock Hill, Columbia, Hilton Head, Charleston, Myrtle Beach and Florence.

The seminars have been sponsored by the Department of Insurance and the following organizations: Independent Agents and Brokers of South Carolina (IIABSC), National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors – South Carolina Chapter (NAIFA – South Carolina), Professional Insurance Agents of South Carolina (PIA of SC), South Carolina Association of Auto Insurance Agents (SCAAIA), and the South Carolina Association of Health Underwriters (SCAHU).

One final session will be held Friday, April 16 in Columbia at the IIABSC headquarters, 800 Gracern Road.

Source: South Carolina Department of Insurance. For more information, visit the Department’s website, www.doi.sc.gov.

Topics Agencies South Carolina