Senate Bill 37 Amends Agent Licensing and Renewal Requirements

The Kansas Insurance Department has been reaching out to agencies and agents and getting unreachable responses. So we want to take this opportunity to make sure you are aware of some of the provisions of SB 37 (the producer licensing bill) that will affect your agency and staff in the months to come.

The most notable change is regarding the new continuing education hours required for insurance agents. As of January 1, 2022, insurance agents in Kansas will be required to take 18 hours of CE on a biennial basis, that is, every two years. The 18 hours represents a six-hour decrease for those agents who held both a Life & Health and a Property & Casualty license. The requirement is a six-hour increase for those agents who previously held one license.

Another significant change concerns the AG-11 form. While the form is no longer needed to track the addition or deletion of licensed agents, the form must be used to keep your agency's information current.

The only information that can be submitted on the AG-11 form is

any changes in an agency's legal or mailing address,
email address,
name change,
DBA name change,
or a change of Designated Responsible Licensed Producer (DRLP).

As 2022 will start an agency renewal process with the Kansas Insurance Department, it is crucial to make sure your agency's email and mailing address are current. Beginning in 2022, agencies will have to renew their agency license on a biennial basis. Each agency's license will renew at the end of the month the agency was initially granted a license. For instance, if XYZ Agency was granted a license in April 1980, it will need to renew its license by April 30, 2022, to remain active.

Take the time now to be sure your agency's information filed with the Kansas Insurance Department is up to date, as well as with NIPR.

Lastly, due to the conversion of all producer licensing from the Kansas system over to NIPR, agents will be unable to renew individual licenses for the first ten days of January. Suppose your agent license renews on or before January 15, 2022. In that case, we encourage you to renew your license before January 1 since there will be a gap when licenses cannot be renewed.