Public Act 102-0766
 
HB4324 EnrolledLRB102 23347 BMS 32513 b

    AN ACT concerning regulation.
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
 
    Section 5. The Illinois Insurance Code is amended by
changing Section 500-35 as follows:
 
    (215 ILCS 5/500-35)
    (Section scheduled to be repealed on January 1, 2027)
    Sec. 500-35. License.
    (a) Unless denied a license pursuant to Section 500-70,
persons who have met the requirements of Sections 500-25 and
500-30 shall be issued a 2-year insurance producer license. An
insurance producer may receive qualification for a license in
one or more of the following lines of authority:
        (1) Life: insurance coverage on human lives including
    benefits of endowment and annuities, and may include
    benefits in the event of death or dismemberment by
    accident and benefits for disability income.
        (2) Variable life and variable annuity products:
    insurance coverage provided under variable life insurance
    contracts and variable annuities.
        (3) Accident and health or sickness: insurance
    coverage for sickness, bodily injury, or accidental death
    and may include benefits for disability income.
        (4) Property: insurance coverage for the direct or
    consequential loss or damage to property of every kind.
        (5) Casualty: insurance coverage against legal
    liability, including that for death, injury, or disability
    or damage to real or personal property.
        (6) Personal lines: property and casualty insurance
    coverage sold to individuals and families for primarily
    noncommercial purposes.
        (7) Any other line of insurance permitted under State
    laws or rules.
    (b) An insurance producer license shall remain in effect
unless revoked or suspended as long as the fee set forth in
Section 500-135 is paid and education requirements for
resident individual producers are met by the due date.
        (1) Before each license renewal, an insurance producer
    must satisfactorily complete at least 24 hours of course
    study or participation in a professional insurance
    association under paragraph (3) of this subsection in
    accordance with rules prescribed by the Director. Three of
    the 24 hours of course study must consist of classroom or
    webinar ethics instruction. The Director may not approve a
    course of study unless the course provides for classroom,
    seminar, webinar, or self-study instruction methods. A
    course given in a combination instruction method of
    classroom, seminar, webinar, or self-study shall be deemed
    to be a self-study course unless the classroom, seminar,
    or webinar certified hours meets or exceeds two-thirds of
    total hours certified for the course. The self-study
    material used in the combination course must be directly
    related to and complement the classroom portion of the
    course in order to be considered for credit. An
    instruction method other than classroom or seminar shall
    be considered as self-study methodology. Self-study credit
    hours require the successful completion of an examination
    covering the self-study material. The examination may not
    be self-evaluated. However, if the self-study material is
    completed through the use of an approved computerized
    interactive format whereby the computer validates the
    successful completion of the self-study material, no
    additional examination is required. The self-study credit
    hours contained in a certified course shall be considered
    classroom hours when at least two-thirds of the hours are
    given as classroom or seminar instruction.
        (2) An insurance producer license automatically
    terminates when an insurance producer fails to
    successfully meet the requirements of item (1) of
    subsection (b) of this Section. The producer must complete
    the course in advance of the renewal date to allow the
    education provider time to report the credit to the
    Department.
        (3) An insurance producer's active participation in a
    State or national professional insurance association may
    be approved by the Director for up to 4 hours of continuing
    education credit per biennial reporting period. Credit
    shall be provided on an hour-for-hour basis. These hours
    shall be verified and submitted by the association on
    behalf of the insurance producer and credited upon timely
    filing with the Director or his or her designee on a
    biennial basis. Any association submitting continuing
    education credit hours on behalf of insurance producers
    must be registered as an education provider under Section
    500-135. Credit granted under these provisions shall not
    be used to satisfy ethics education requirements. Active
    participation in a State or national professional
    insurance association is defined by one of the following
    methods:
            (A) service on a board of directors of a State or
        national chapter of the association;
            (B) service on a formal committee of a State or
        national chapter of the association; or
            (C) service on a formal subcommittee or task force
        of a State or national chapter of the association.
    (c) A provider of a pre-licensing or continuing education
course required by Section 500-30 and this Section must pay a
registration fee and a course certification fee for each
course being certified as provided by Section 500-135.
    (d) An individual insurance producer who allows his or her
license to lapse may, within 12 months after the due date of
the renewal fee, be issued a license without the necessity of
passing a written examination. However, a penalty in the
amount of double the unpaid renewal fee shall be required
after the due date.
    (e) A licensed insurance producer who is unable to comply
with license renewal procedures due to military service may
request a waiver of those procedures.
    (f) The license must contain the licensee's name, address,
and personal identification number, the date of issuance, the
lines of authority, the expiration date, and any other
information the Director deems necessary.
    (g) Licensees must inform the Director by any means
acceptable to the Director of a change of address within 30
days after the change.
    (h) In order to assist in the performance of the
Director's duties, the Director may contract with a
non-governmental entity including the National Association of
Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), or any affiliates or
subsidiaries that the NAIC oversees, to perform any
ministerial functions, including collection of fees, related
to producer licensing that the Director and the
non-governmental entity may deem appropriate.
(Source: P.A. 100-876, eff. 8-14-18.)