Colorado Insurance CE Requirements: Your Complete Guide to 24 Hours

Colorado requires every licensed insurance producer to complete 24 hours of continuing education every two years before renewing their license. That number is straightforward. What trips producers up is not the total hours — it is the category restrictions, the mandatory topic-specific prerequisites that sit alongside the biennial CE, the carryover rules, the classroom requirements that some producers discover only at renewal, and the CE exemptions that do not apply to as many people as candidates assume. This post maps every CE rule in Colorado so that you can plan a two-year CE schedule that satisfies every requirement the first time, without surprises at renewal.

The License Renewal Cycle

Colorado insurance licenses expire on the last day of your birth month, biennially, based on the year your license was originally issued:

Licensed in an even-numbered year → license expires in even years (e.g., 2026, 2028, 2030)

Licensed in an odd-numbered year → license expires in odd years (e.g., 2025, 2027, 2029)

For a new license, the first renewal date may be anywhere from 24 to 35 months from the issue date, depending on where in your birth-month cycle you were licensed. After the first renewal, cycles are consistently two years ending on the last day of your birth month.

No grace period exists. Your CE must be completed and reported to the state before submitting your renewal application. The state will not process a renewal with unmet CE. If your license expires because CE was not completed or the renewal was not submitted on time, your license enters reinstatement status — you may not transact insurance during the lapsed period.

Renewal reminder: Colorado sends a renewal reminder by email approximately 90 days before your expiration date. Do not rely on this as your CE tracking system. Verify your CE transcript through Sircon at any time to confirm what has been reported.

The 24-Hour Breakdown

The 24 hours are not a free-choice block. They are divided into three mandatory categories:

The 18-Hour Major Lines Requirement

Of your 24 required hours, 18 must be in the line(s) of authority for which you are licensed. Specifically:

A Life licensee must complete 18 hours of Life-approved CE

A Property licensee must complete 18 hours of Property-approved CE

An Accident & Health licensee must complete 18 hours of A&H-approved CE

A Casualty licensee must complete 18 hours of Casualty-approved CE

A Personal Lines licensee must complete 18 hours of Personal Lines-approved CE

Dual-line and multi-line producers: If you hold more than one line of authority — for example, both Life and A&H, or both Property and Casualty — you still complete only 24 total hours, not 24 hours per line. The 18 major lines hours may be split between your lines or concentrated in one line, at your discretion. There is no requirement to complete a minimum number of hours in each line when you hold multiple lines. The only constraint is that the 18 hours must come from courses approved for at least one of your licensed lines.

What does not count toward the 18 major lines hours: Ethics courses (those count toward the 3-hour ethics requirement), homeowners courses (those count toward the 3-hour homeowners requirement for Property/Personal Lines licensees, discussed below), and courses approved only for lines you do not hold.

The 3-Hour Ethics Requirement

Three of your 24 hours must be completed in an approved ethics course. This requirement is not waivable and cannot be substituted with major lines content. A course approved for ethics credit will be clearly identified as such by your CE provider.

Carryover of extra ethics hours: If you complete more than 3 ethics hours in a biennial period, the excess ethics hours apply to the miscellaneous category (not to the major lines category). You cannot use excess ethics credit to reduce your 18 major lines obligation.

The 3-Hour Miscellaneous Requirement

The remaining 3 hours may be completed in any approved CE course — any line, any subject, including additional ethics or homeowners CE. This is the most flexible portion of your CE requirement.

The Property and Personal Lines Homeowners Requirement

This is the Colorado CE rule most commonly discovered at renewal rather than at the start of the cycle. Producers licensed for Property or Personal Lines must complete 3 hours of homeowners CE during each biennial period in addition to satisfying the standard 24-hour requirement.

Wait — is that 27 hours total? No. The homeowners CE counts toward your 24 hours. The 3 homeowners hours apply to your 18 major lines category (since homeowners is a Property/Personal Lines topic). The total remains 24 hours, but 3 of your 18 major lines hours must specifically be in homeowners courses — not just any Property or Personal Lines content.

Why this requirement exists: Colorado's catastrophic hail history and wildfire exposure have made homeowners insurance coverage adequacy a consumer protection priority for the Division of Insurance. The biennial homeowners CE specifically covers replacement cost valuation, coverage adequacy assessments, and the implications of underinsurance — knowledge directly relevant to Colorado producers selling homeowners policies in one of the most challenging residential property markets in the country.

Who must complete it: Any producer holding a Property line of authority or a Personal Lines line of authority. If you hold both Property and Casualty but not Personal Lines, the homeowners requirement applies to your Property authority. If you hold only Casualty (not Property or Personal Lines), the homeowners requirement does not apply.

Specialty Training Requirements: Separate from Biennial CE but Applicable Toward It

Colorado has four specialty training requirements that must be completed before selling specific products. These are distinct from the biennial CE cycle in that they are one-time or ongoing product-specific prerequisites — but critically, the hours completed for these requirements count toward your 24-hour biennial CE total.

1. Annuity Best Interest Training — One-Time 4 Hours

Who must complete it: Any producer licensed for Life or Variable Products who intends to sell, solicit, or negotiate annuity products. When: Must be completed before the first annuity sale. Effective November 1, 2022 for all producers newly licensed on or after that date. Hours: 4 hours, one-time. Reciprocity: NAIC Annuity Best Interest training completed in any other state satisfies Colorado's requirement. Counts toward CE: Yes — the 4 hours apply toward your 24-hour biennial requirement, typically in the major lines category.

2. LTC Partnership Training — Initial 16 Hours + Ongoing 5 Hours Every 2 Years

Who must complete it: Any producer who intends to sell long-term care insurance in Colorado. Initial requirement: 16 hours total:

8 hours of general LTC content — may be completed online, self-study, or in a classroom

8 hours of LTC Partnership-specific content — must be completed in a classroom or webinar setting (not self-study) Ongoing requirement: After completing the initial 16-hour training, producers must complete 5 hours of LTC refresher CE every 2 calendar years from the initial completion date. The 5-hour ongoing requirement must also be completed in a classroom or webinar setting — not online self-study. Counts toward CE: Yes — both the initial training and the ongoing refresher hours count toward your biennial 24-hour requirement. Non-resident producers: Must verify with their carriers whether the LTC partnership training from their home state satisfies Colorado's requirement. A single 8-hour course from a Partnership state alone does not suffice for Colorado's 8-hour partnership component.

3. NFIP Flood Training — One-Time 3 Hours

Who must complete it: Any producer who intends to sell, solicit, or negotiate flood insurance products (NFIP policies). Hours: 3 hours, one-time. Counts toward CE: Yes — the 3 hours count toward your biennial 24-hour requirement. Note: This is a prerequisite before selling any NFIP flood policy. Producers who sell Property or Personal Lines coverage frequently encounter clients who need flood insurance — the one-time 3-hour training is a low-barrier prerequisite that most active P&C producers should complete early in their career.

4. Claims-Made Policy Training — One-Time 2 Hours

Who must complete it: Any producer who intends to sell, solicit, or negotiate claims-made liability policies (professional liability, E&O, D&O, and similar claims-made forms). Hours: 2 hours, one-time. Counts toward CE: Yes — counts toward the biennial 24-hour requirement.

CE Carryover Rules

Up to 12 CE hours earned in the final 120 days (4 months) of your current biennial period may carry forward into your next period. Carryover hours count as general credit in the new period — they do not retain their original category designation.

What this means practically: If you complete 36 hours of CE in your current biennial period and 14 of those hours were earned in the final 120 days, you may carry forward up to 12 of those hours into your next cycle. The remaining 2 hours (36 total − 24 required = 12 excess, but only up to 12 can carry forward) are simply excess credit that does not transfer.

Ethics hours that carry forward: Ethics hours completed in the final 120 days that carry over convert to general/miscellaneous credit in the new period — they do not count as ethics credit in the new period. You must still complete 3 fresh ethics hours in the new biennial cycle.

Timing implication: If you finish your required 24 hours and have several months remaining in your period, completing additional CE in the final 120 days is a productive investment — those extra hours become a head start on your next cycle's requirement.

Important restriction: You may not repeat the same course within 2 calendar years of its original completion date for credit. Attempting to satisfy CE requirements by retaking the same courses repeatedly is prohibited.

Certificate Retention Requirement

Colorado requires producers to retain a copy of each CE certificate of completion for 5 years. CE providers report completions to Sircon directly — you do not submit certificates to the state — but you must maintain your own records as documentation in the event of a compliance audit or inquiry from the Division of Insurance.

Practical advice: Keep digital copies organized by renewal cycle in a clearly labeled folder. Sircon provides a CE transcript tool where you can verify what has been reported, but your retained certificates are your primary documentation if a course completion fails to report correctly.

CE Reporting and the 30-Day Processing Window

CE providers report course completions to Sircon directly, typically within 24–48 hours of completion for online courses and within a few days for classroom courses. The Colorado DOI's system may take up to 30 days to fully process and reflect new completions on your official transcript.

This creates a practical risk: if you complete CE requirements within the final 30 days before your license expiration date, the completions may not appear in the state's system in time to allow renewal processing. The Division of Insurance recommends completing all CE requirements well in advance — most CE professionals advise finishing at least 60 days before your expiration date. This buffer allows time for provider reporting, state processing, and any corrections if a course does not appear on your transcript.

Do not wait until the last minute. The most avoidable renewal failure in Colorado is completing CE on time but having the renewal rejected because the completions had not yet processed when the renewal application was submitted.

Non-Resident CE Requirements

Non-resident producers licensed in Colorado who satisfy their home state's CE requirements are generally deemed compliant with Colorado's CE requirements — Colorado does not impose duplicate CE on non-resident licensees beyond what their home state requires.

Exception: LTC training. Non-resident producers must still comply with Colorado's LTC training requirements if they sell LTC products in Colorado. Colorado's LTC requirements may differ from the home state's requirements, and a single 8-hour course from a Partnership state does not automatically satisfy Colorado's 8-hour partnership-specific component.

Continuation fee: Non-resident producers must pay a biennial continuation fee to the Colorado Division of Insurance regardless of whether they are completing Colorado CE. Failure to pay the continuation fee results in license lapse even if CE is technically current through home state compliance.

Renewal process for non-residents: Non-residents renew through NIPR or Sircon. The renewal fee is $40 per line for non-resident producer renewal (compared to $27/line for residents).

CE Exemptions

The following producers are exempt from the standard 24-hour biennial CE requirement:

Newly licensed producers — exempt until their second renewal cycle. A producer licensed for the first time does not need to complete CE before their first renewal. CE requirements begin at the second renewal cycle.

Limited line producers licensed only for: Travel ticket/Limited Insurance Representative/HMO or Nonprofit Hospital Surgical Medical; Bail bonding; Title; Limited lines credit; Crop hail.

What the exemption does not cover: The specialty training prerequisites (annuity, LTC, NFIP, claims-made) are not waived by the new licensee exemption. A newly licensed producer who sells annuities from day one must complete the Annuity Best Interest training before that first annuity sale, even if they are otherwise exempt from biennial CE until their second renewal cycle.

Completing and Reporting Your CE

CE courses may be completed through three delivery formats, all of which are acceptable for most Colorado CE obligations:

Online self-study: Self-paced online courses completed at any time; must include a final exam; most producers use this format for the majority of their 24 hours. Completion is reported by the provider to Sircon, typically within 24–48 hours.

Classroom or live webinar: Instructor-led courses delivered in a physical classroom or via live webinar at a scheduled time; attendance and participation required for the full duration; no final exam required. This format is mandatory for the LTC Partnership 8-hour initial training and the 5-hour LTC ongoing refresher. It is not required for other CE categories unless the course is specifically designated as classroom-only.

Self-study with proctor (some formats): Certain self-study formats require a closed-book exam without a monitor — permitted for some course types. Check with your provider for specific format requirements.

To check your CE transcript: Log in to Sircon, select "Look up education courses/credits," then "Continuing Education Transcript Inquiry," then select Colorado and enter your license number and last name. Your transcript shows all hours reported by approved providers. Verify your transcript before submitting your renewal application — do not assume courses have been reported correctly without checking.

To renew your license: Once CE requirements are verified as complete on your Sircon transcript, renew online through Sircon. Pay the $27/line renewal fee by the last day of your birth month in your renewal year. Submit only when CE is confirmed as reported — the renewal application will be rejected if CE is deficient.

Frequently Asked Questions

I hold both Life and Property licenses. Do I need to complete 24 hours in Life AND 24 hours in Property, or just 24 total?

Just 24 total hours. Colorado does not double the CE requirement for multi-line producers. However, the 18 major lines hours must come from courses approved for at least one of your licensed lines. You can satisfy this by completing 18 hours in Life-approved courses, 18 hours in Property-approved courses, or any combination that totals 18 hours from courses approved for either line. The most practical approach for Life and Property producers is to confirm that the specific courses you enroll in are approved for your lines — CE providers typically list which lines each course satisfies. If you hold Property, remember the homeowners CE requirement: 3 of your 18 major lines hours must be in homeowners-specific courses.

I completed my CE in the final week before my expiration date. Can I still renew on time?

This depends on whether your provider reports your completions and the state processes them before your expiration date. Provider reporting typically occurs within 24–48 hours of online course completion. Colorado's DOI system can take up to 30 days to fully process new completions. If your courses are reported promptly and the state's system processes them before midnight on your expiration date, your renewal can proceed. But this is a high-risk scenario with no margin for processing delays, provider reporting delays, or any technical issue with Sircon. Complete CE at least 60 days before your expiration. The one week before expiration is not a strategy — it is a gamble with your license.

I sold a few annuities early in my career before completing the Annuity Best Interest training. What is the consequence?

Selling, soliciting, or negotiating annuity products in Colorado without completing the required 4-hour Annuity Best Interest training is a violation of Colorado Division of Insurance requirements. Consequences can include license suspension, civil penalties, and a formal finding of a regulatory violation on your license record. If you believe this may have occurred, the appropriate course of action is to complete the training immediately, document the completion, and consult with a Colorado insurance attorney about whether voluntary disclosure to the Division is advisable given your specific circumstances. Going forward, the Annuity Best Interest training must be completed before any future annuity sales.

Does CE completed in another state count toward my Colorado CE requirement?

For resident producers, no — Colorado CE must be completed through courses approved by the Colorado Division of Insurance. Courses approved in other states are not automatically approved in Colorado, though many national CE providers offer courses approved in multiple states simultaneously. When enrolling in CE, verify that the course is specifically approved for Colorado credit in your licensed line. For non-resident producers, Colorado deems your home state CE requirements satisfied if your home state has a substantially similar requirement and you are compliant — you are not required to take Colorado-specific CE as a non-resident, except for LTC training if you sell LTC in Colorado.

What happens if I discover a CE course I completed 8 months ago was not reported to my transcript?

Contact your CE provider immediately and request that they report the completion to Sircon. Providers are responsible for reporting completions and can resubmit if a technical error caused a missed report. Keep your CE completion certificates for this exact reason — your certificate is your documentation that you completed the course even if reporting failed. If a provider cannot be reached or has closed, contact the Colorado Division of Insurance at (303) 894-7499 with your documentation. Resolution before your renewal deadline is possible, but the process takes time — do not discover unreported completions in the final days before your expiration date. Verify your Sircon transcript 60–90 days before your renewal deadline to identify and resolve any reporting gaps while you still have time.

Colorado's CE framework is straightforward to navigate when you understand it from the start of your biennial cycle rather than discovering its specifics at renewal. Twenty-four hours over two years is a modest ongoing obligation. The specialty training prerequisites, the homeowners CE rule for P&C producers, the carryover timing, and the processing window are the details that distinguish producers who renew cleanly from those who encounter avoidable complications.

Visit JustInsurance to enroll today and complete your Colorado CE requirements with state-approved courses that report directly to Sircon and count toward every applicable category.