KANSAS
INSURANCE DEPARTMENT
Proposed
Regulation K.A.R. 40-7-20a
K.A.R. 40-7-20a. Agents; brokers; continuing education;
approval of courses; requirements. (a)
Definitions. For the purposes of this regulation, the following
definitions shall apply:
(1) “Coordinator”
means an individual who is responsible for monitoring continuing education
offerings;.
(2) “correspondence
Self-study courses” means courses that are primarily delivered or
conducted in other than a classroom setting or with on-site instruction and are
designed to be completed independently by the student;.
(3) “Course”
means a series of lectures or lessons which that deals with a
particular subject following a prearranged agenda or study plan and which
that may culminate in a written examination;.
(4) “Instructor”
means an individual lecturing in a continuing education offering;.
(5) “Licensee,”
“licensed agent” or and “agent” means mean a
natural person licensed by this state as an agent or broker;.
(6) “Person”
means a natural person, firm, institution, partnership, corporation, or
association; and.
(7) “Provider”
or and “providing organization” means mean a person
or firm offering or providing insurance education.
(b) General
requirements.
(1) Only
courses which that impart substantive and procedural
knowledge relating to insurance and are beneficial to the insuring public subsequent
to after initial licensing shall be approved for credit. Approved
courses shall be classified as life, health, and variable contracts
courses,; property and casualty courses,; general or
courses,; ethics courses,; or general management
courses. Credit earned from general courses, or ethics
courses, or general management courses shall be acceptable in meeting
the requirements for the property and casualty insurance or the life and
health insurance license classifications.
(2) Courses
of the following types shall not meet the basic criteria for approvable courses
described in paragraph (1) of this section subsection:
(A) Courses
designed to prepare students for a license examination;
(B) courses
in mechanical office or business skills, including typing, speed
reading, or and the use of calculators or other machines or
equipment; and
(C) courses
in sales promotion, including meetings held in conjunction with the general
business of the licensee; and.
(D) courses
which are primarily intended to impart knowledge of specific products of
specific companies if the courses relate to the sales promotion or marketing of
one or more of the products discussed.
(3)(A) A
Each licensee shall attend a course in its entirety in order to receive
full credit.
(B) Upon
completion of each approved courses course, a the
student shall receive credit for the number of hours approved for the course,
which will generally shall be equivalent to one hour of credit
for each hour of instruction.
(C) If
the number of credit hours for which a course is approved is fewer than the
total number of hours of the course presentation, the student shall attend the
entire course in order to receive credit for the number of approved hours.
(D) The
number of approved hours shall not include time spent on introductions, breaks,
or other activities not directly related to approved educational information or
material.
(E) Neither
a student nor an instructor shall earn full credit for attending or instructing
any subsequent offering of the same course in the current biennium biennial
license period after attending or teaching such the course.
(4) Course
examinations shall not be required for approval of continuing education courses
except correspondence self-study courses.
(5) Each
provider shall submit proposed courses to the commissioner or the
commissioner's designee for pre-approval preapproval at least 30
days before the date on which the course is to be held, except as provided in
K.S.A. 1995 Supp. 40-240f(f)(6) 40-4903(f)(5) and amendments thereto.
(6) An
advertisement shall not state or imply that a course has been approved by the
commissioner or the commissioner's designee unless written confirmation of such
this approval has been received by the provider.
(7) If
approval has been granted for the initial offering of a course, approval for
subsequent offerings not disclosed in the initial submission may be granted
obtained by providing written notification to the commissioner or the
commissioner's designee at least 30 days before the date the program is to be
held, indicating that no change has been made in the course and
specifying the additional times and places the course will be presented.
(8) The
provider shall submit all fees required for individual course approval with the
course submission. If the provider elects to pay the prescribed fee for all
courses, the provider shall pay the fee annually and shall submit the fee with
the first course submission each year. Subsequent course submissions shall
include documentation of prior fee payment.
(9) Each
course of study, except correspondence self-study courses, shall
be conducted in a classroom or other facility which that
comfortably accommodates the faculty and the number of students enrolled. The
provider may limit the number of students enrolled in a course.
(10)(A) Each successfully completed course
leading to a nationally or regionally recognized designation shall receive
credit as approved by the commissioner or the commissioner's designee. A
listing of all courses approved as nationally or regionally recognized
insurance education programs or otherwise including approved credit hours shall
be available to the public upon request.
(B) Any
agent attending at least 80 but less than 100 percent of regularly scheduled
classroom sessions for any single course may receive full educational credit if
the course is filed as a formal classroom course. Such This
credit may be earned to the extent that adequate records are maintained and
appropriate certification of such attendance is provided by the course
instructor.
(11)(A)
The amount of credit received by an agent for a correspondence self-study
course shall be based upon successful completion of the course and an
independently monitored examination subject to the number of hours assigned by
the commissioner or the commissioner's designee.
(B) Examination
monitors shall not be affiliated in any way with the providing organization or
the licensee and shall be subject to approval by the commissioner or the
commissioner's designee. Any examinations Each examination
utilized or to be utilized shall be included in the material submitted for
course approval. No examination shall be approved unless the commissioner is
satisfied that security procedures protecting the integrity of the examination
can be maintained. If security is compromised, no credit shall be
granted.
(C) Any
Each provider of correspondence self-study courses shall
clearly disclose to any agent wishing to receive credit in
(c) Any
Each licensee or provider found to have falsified a continuing education
report to the commissioner shall be subject to suspension or revocation of the
licensee's or provider's insurance license in accordance with K.S.A. 40-246
40-4909 and amendments thereto, or a penalty as prescribed in
K.S.A. 40-254 and amendments thereto, or termination of approval as a
provider.
(d) Course
requirements.
(1) Each
course of study shall have a coordinator who is responsible for supervising the
course and assuring ensuring compliance with the statutes and
regulations governing the offering of insurance continuing education courses.
(2)(A) As
required by K.S.A. 1995 Supp. 40-240f(f)(5), Each provider and each
providing organizations organization shall maintain accurate
records relating to course offerings, instructors, and student
attendance. If the coordinator leaves the employ of the provider or otherwise
ceases to monitor continuing education offerings, the records shall be
transferred to the replacement coordinator or an officer of the provider. If a
provider ceases operations, the coordinator shall maintain the records or
provide a custodian of the records acceptable to the commissioner. In order to
be acceptable, a custodian shall agree to make copies of student records
available to students free of charge or at a reasonable fee. The commissioner
shall not act as custodian of the records shall not be the commissioner,
under any circumstances.
(B) Each provider shall provide students with course completion certificates, on a form prescribed or approved by the commissioner, within 30 days after completion of the course. A provider may require payment of the course tuition as a condition for receiving the course completion certificate.
(3) Each
instructor shall possess at least one of the following qualifications:
(A) Three
years of Recent experience in the subject area being taught;
(B) a
college degree related to the subject area being taught; or
(C) two
years of recent experience in the subject area being taught and 60 classroom
hours of acceptable course work in the subject area being taught; or
(D) an appropriate professional
designation in the area being taught.
(4) Each
instructor shall perform the following:
(A) Comply
with all laws and regulations pertaining to insurance continuing education;
(B) provide
the students with current and accurate information;
(C) maintain
an atmosphere conducive to learning in a classroom; and
(D) provide
assistance to the students and respond to questions relating to course
material.
(5) Each
provider, coordinator, and instructor shall notify the commissioner
within 10 days after the occurrence of any of the following:
(A) A
felony or misdemeanor conviction or disciplinary action taken against a
provider or against an insurance or other occupational license held by the
coordinator or instructor; and
(B) any
change of information contained in an application for course approval.
(e) Licensee
reporting requirement.
(1) Each licensee shall report
continuing education credit shall be reported by the licensee on forms
and in a manner prescribed by the commissioner. Each course shall be completed
or attended during the reporting period for which the credit hours are to be
applied.
(2) Any
Each request for an extension permitted by K.S.A. 1995 Supp. 40-240f(e)(6)
40-4903(j) and amendments thereto shall be submitted in writing not
later than the reporting deadline and shall include an explanation and
independent verification of the hardship.
(Authorized by K.S.A. 40-103 and K.S.A. 2004 Supp. 40-4916; implementing K.S.A. 1995
Supp. 40-240f 2004 Supp. 40-4903; effective May 15, 1989; amended,
T-40-8-28-90, Aug. 30, 1990; amended Oct. 15, 1990; amended Feb. 8, 1993;
amended April 11, 1997; amended P-___________.)