§ 36-6217. Term of license - Continuing education - Rules - Renewals of license - Provider fee.

A.  All licenses issued pursuant to the provisions of the Insurance Adjusters Licensing Act shall continue in force not longer than twenty-four (24) months.  The renewal dates for the licenses may be staggered throughout the year by notifying licensees in writing of the expiration and renewal date being assigned to the licensees by the Insurance Commissioner and by making appropriate adjustments in the biennial licensing fee.

B.  Any licensee applying for renewal of a license as an adjuster shall have completed not less than twenty-four (24) clock hours of continuing insurance education, of which three (3) hours shall be in ethics, within the previous twenty-four (24) months prior to renewal of the license.  The Insurance Commissioner shall approve courses and providers of continuing education for insurance adjusters as required by this section.

The Insurance Department may use one or more of the following to review and provide a nonbinding recommendation to the Insurance Commissioner on approval or disapproval of courses and providers of continuing education:

1.  Employees of the Insurance Commissioner;

2.  A continuing education advisory committee.  The continuing education advisory committee is separate and distinct from the Advisory Board established by Section 6221 of this title;

3.  An independent service whose normal business activities include the review and approval of continuing education courses and providers.  The Commissioner may negotiate agreements with such independent service to review documents and other materials submitted for approval of courses and providers and present the Commissioner with its nonbinding recommendation.  The Commissioner may require such independent service to collect the fee charged by the independent service for reviewing materials provided for review directly from the course providers.

C.  An adjuster who, during the time period prior to renewal, participates in an approved professional designation program shall be deemed to have met the biennial requirement for continuing education.  Each course in the curriculum for the program shall total a minimum of twenty-four (24) hours.  Each approved professional designation program included in this section shall be reviewed for quality and compliance every three (3) years in accordance with standardized criteria promulgated by rule.  Continuation of approved status is contingent upon the findings of the review.  The list of professional designation programs approved under this subsection shall be made available to producers and providers annually.

D.  The Insurance Department may promulgate rules providing that courses or programs offered by professional associations shall qualify for presumptive continuing education credit approval.  The rules shall include standardized criteria for reviewing the professional associations' mission, membership, and other relevant information, and shall provide a procedure for the Department to disallow a presumptively approved course.  Professional association courses approved in accordance with this subsection shall be reviewed every three (3) years to determine whether they continue to qualify for continuing education credit.

E.  The active service of a licensed adjuster as a member of a continuing education advisory committee, as described in paragraph 2 of subsection B of this section, shall be deemed to qualify for continuing education credit on an hour-for-hour basis.

F.  1.  Each provider of continuing education shall, after approval by the Commissioner, submit an annual fee.  A fee may be assessed for each course submission at the time it is first submitted for review and upon submission for renewal at expiration.  Annual fees and course submission fees shall be set forth as a rule by the Commissioner.  The fees are payable to the Insurance Commissioner and shall be deposited in the State Insurance Commissioner Revolving Fund, created in Section 307.3 of this title, for the purposes of fulfilling and accomplishing the conditions and purposes of the Oklahoma Producer Licensing Act and the Insurance Adjusters Licensing Act.  Public-funded educational institutions, federal agencies, nonprofit organizations, not-for-profit organizations and Oklahoma state agencies shall be exempt from this subsection.

2.  The Commissioner may assess a civil penalty, after notice and opportunity for hearing, against a continuing education provider who fails to comply with the requirements of the Insurance Adjusters Licensing Act, of not less than One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) nor more than Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00), for each occurrence.  The civil penalty may be enforced in the same manner in which civil judgments may be enforced.

G.  Subject to the right of the Commissioner to suspend, revoke, or refuse to renew a license of an adjuster, any such license may be renewed by filing on the form prescribed by the Commissioner on or before the expiration date a written request by or on behalf of the licensee for such renewal and proof of completion of the continuing education requirement set forth in subsection B of this section, accompanied by payment of the renewal fee.

H.  If the request, proof of compliance with the continuing education requirement and fee for renewal of a license as an adjuster are filed with the Commissioner prior to the expiration of the existing license, the licensee may continue to act pursuant to said license, unless revoked or suspended prior to the expiration date, until the issuance of a renewal license or until the expiration of ten (10) days after the Commissioner has refused to renew the license and has mailed notice of said refusal to the licensee.  Any request for renewal filed after the date of expiration may be considered by the Commissioner as an application for a new license.

Added by Laws 1973, c. 178, § 17.  Amended by Laws 1983, c. 129, § 16, eff. Nov. 1, 1983; Laws 1985, c. 258, § 10, eff. Nov. 1, 1985; Laws 1994, c. 376, § 1; Laws 1995, c. 164, § 1, eff. Nov. 1, 1995; Laws 2000, c. 353, § 46, eff. Nov. 1, 2000; Laws 2001, c. 33, § 34, eff. July 1, 2001; Laws 2007, c. 125, § 29, eff. July 1, 2007; Laws 2008, c. 184, § 25, eff. July 1, 2008; Laws 2009, c. 176, § 48, eff. Nov. 1, 2009; Laws 2010, c. 355, § 2, eff. Nov. 1, 2010; Laws 2011, c. 278, § 34, eff. Nov. 1, 2011; Laws 2012, c. 11, § 10, emerg. eff. April 4, 2012; Laws 2012, c. 44, § 14, eff. Nov. 1, 2012; Laws 2013, c. 269, § 14, eff. Nov. 1, 2013.

Note

NOTE:  Laws 2011, c. 242, § 10 repealed by Laws 2012, c. 11, § 11, emerg. eff. April 4, 2012.  Laws 2011, c. 293, § 10 repealed by Laws 2012, C. 11, § 12, emerg. eff. April 4, 2012.