Is Online Insurance Continuing Education a Good Option?

Personnel in the professional services industries are often required to meet their licensing requirements by periodically completing a required amount of training. Insurance professionals maintain their skill set and remain up to date with the latest regulations and best practices through Insurance Continuing Education (CE) training. This is required in order to maintain a professional license, although the specific requirements vary somewhat from state to state.

In general, states require a certain number of Insurance Continuing Education credits be earned every two years. Providers of insurance CE training must themselves be certified to provide such classes by the state in which the insurance agents they train are licensed.

The insurance professional now has a couple of options in regards to how they receive their training. In the past training followed a traditional approach; a classroom setting in which a lecture is given and an exam taken. Once the exam is passed the results are sent to the states insurance licensing board to be recorded. When the trainee has completed sufficient credits by the deadline, they receive their license renewal for another two years.

Classroom training has its merits. Agents and adjusters can meet one another, compare notes, and network. Points in the lectures can be clarified through discussion and Q&A. Most of us are familiar with the classroom environment and are comfortable learning in this way; however, there are several significant disadvantages to the classroom training approach:

The training cost is relatively high because it involves travel and meals, use of rented space, and hiring a professional trainer.

The insurance field is very competitive and time spent away from the office may result in lost opportunity for new business.

Typically, upon completing the program, the insurance professional is required to report the training credits to the state licensing board, which represents a further loss of time.

The insurance professional is required to report their training credits to the state insurance board themselves, potentially resulting in lost time away from work.

Online Insurance continuing education training offers an option that counters many of the shortcomings of classroom training.

The cost of online training is considerably lower than that of a traditional classroom; there are no incidental costs other than that of maintaining an internet connection.

The trainee can access learning modules at any time when it is convenient. Work day productivity is not interrupted.

Students can move through the lessons at their own pace or revisit previous modules to reinforce a concept.

Insurance professionals who are licensed to work in several states can fulfill their CE requirements at one time and place.

Insurance professionals who are licensed in more than one state can receive their accreditation all at once.

Many insurance CE providers report achieved training credits to the licensing board automatically, in the states where this is allowed.

Individual insurance CE deadlines are mailed to the license holder as a reminder to complete their licensing requirements before the deadline occurs.

Insurance companies that sign up for a corporate-level training program can monitor the licensing requirements and status of each of their licensed employees who are enrolled.

Online insurance CE courses are generally delivered through presentation slides that are displayed in the users web browser. Virtually all computer users today know how to use a web browser. No specialized computer skills are required.

Some online insurance CE providers offer multimedia support. Finding a provider that can provide audio training in addition to the slide presentations can be beneficial in that these audio lessons can be downloaded to a CD or MP3 player and listened to while driving.

If you are an insurance professional and are considering using an online provider to complete your insurance CE, you may be able to find special deals that offer unlimited courses for a fixed price. This can save you a lot of time and money, not to mention the convenience of being able to study at the location and time of your choosing.