A California life agent must satisfy the continuing education (CE) requirement of:

Why D is correct

Under CIC Section 1749.3(a), a life agent must satisfactorily complete 24 hours of commissioner-approved instruction prior to renewal of the license, of which three hours must be in ethics. On and after March 1, 2023, the three-hour ethics course must include one hour of study on insurance fraud. These hours may be completed at any time prior to renewal of the license. The 12-hour prelicensing ethics course required before initial licensing is a separate requirement and is not the continuing education obligation that applies to renewal.

Why the other options are wrong

• B) Twelve hours with one hour of ethics describes the prelicensing ethics course, not the continuing education requirement that applies when the agent renews the license. This statement does not survive the statutory analysis presented above and is therefore wrong.
• C) The CE requirement is 24 hours per two-year renewal cycle, not 24 hours per year, and the ethics component is three hours, not six. The correct answer follows from the controlling authority, which this option does not follow.
• A) The requirement is 24 hours over two years, not 12 hours per year, and ethics is a three-hour component of the program, not the entire program. This common misconception is exactly what the governing rule rejects, so the option is incorrect.

Memory hook

CE for renewal: 24 hours, 3 in ethics, 1 of those on fraud. Two-year ticket, three-part ethics.