License Renewal and Continuing Education Relief During COVID-19 Emergency 

On November 23, 2020, Governor DeWine signed House Bill (HB) 404 that includes provisions intended to respond to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.  HB 404 provides a temporary extension of license expiration dates until July 1, 2021 for any license-holder who has a license expiration date between March 9, 2020 thru April 1, 2021.

In order to implement provisions required in HB 404, the following applies to any individual or business entity that holds an active license with the Ohio Department of Insurance.  This includes major line agents; limited line agents; title agents; title insurance marketing representatives; managing general agents; public insurance adjusters and agents; reinsurance intermediary brokers and managers; surety bail bond agents; surplus lines brokers; third party administrators; and viatical settlement brokers.

• License Expiration Date.  If a license expires between March 9, 2020 thru April 1, 2021, it will remain active beyond its assigned expiration date, but must be renewed by July 1, 2021. All late fees will be waived and license-holders do not need to take any actions to receive the temporary extension afforded by HB 404. In order to ensure that licenses are able to be renew during the extension, the Department will periodically adjust expiration dates within the Department’s computer system and the National Insurance Producer Registry (NIPR).  While the adjusted expiration dates may appear different than the time period given thru HB 404, that is only to ensure that your access to NIPR is continuously available.  The Department will continue to adjust the license expiration dates of affected licenses until the final date of July 1, 2021 is reached.  Effective July 2, 2021, licenses will become inactive if a renewal application was not submitted by July 1, 2021.

• Continuing Education Requirements.  Due to the extension of expiration dates, the deadline for completing continuing education requirements has also been extended to match the temporary license expiration date. Continuing education requirements must be completed prior to submission of a renewal application. 

Only current license-holders whose license expires between March 9, 2020 thru April 1, 2021 are affected by HB 404; unless specifically ordered otherwise, there is no change to the legal requirement to obtain a license or to comply with all other applicable laws and regulations during the state of emergency.

While license-holders have extra time to renew their licenses, the department encourages renewals to be completed soon than later to ensure timely processing. 

For updated information and FAQs on Insurance and COVID-19, click here.  If you have any questions please contact the Licensing Division at licensing@insurance.ohio.gov.

Thank you,

Ohio Department of Insurance