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    (Section scheduled to be repealed on January 1, 2027)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.)