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Insurance Director McRaith postpones implementation of fee in conjunction with State Based Systems Administration of Producer Licensing.SBS Licensing System effective July 26, 2010.

In response to IIA of Illinois' strong opposition, Illinois Insurance Director Michael McRaith announced yesterday that the DOI will not be charging a fee associated with the transition of producer licensing functions from the DOI to State Based Systems (SBS) an affiliate of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), until an agreement has been reached with all affected parties.

Background: Several months ago the DOI announced that they, like many other states, would be utilizing SBS for all "backroom" licensing functions currently administered by the DOI. Subsequently, the DOI announced that it would charge continuing education providers $1.00 for every hour of CE filed with the department, which would pay for SBS administration. CE providers would then pass the fee onto producers utilizing their courses. The fee would raise approximately One Million dollars annually.

IIA of Illinois supported the move to SBS but voiced strong opposition to the additional fee. Currently, producer and agency licensing fees are deposited in the Producer Administration Fund, which funds the DOI. In essence, the DOI was freeing up staff for other duties and requiring the producer community to pay TWICE for administration of the Producer Licensing Act.

Fortunately, the Director announced on Monday, July 12th that until an agreement is reached, the DOI will NOT be charging the fee. However, SBS will be taking over administration of the producer licensing functions as of July 26, 2010.

IIA of Illinois supports this transition as it will provide many tangible benefits to resident producers and agencies.

Please see the  memo below from the DOI outlining the changes associated with SBS administration and please share it with everyone in your agency and your company partners. IIA of Illinois will keep you informed of any additional developments.

 Illinois Department of Insurance

PAT QUINN                 
Governor                 
MICHAEL T. McRAITH
Director

MEMORANDUM

TO:                  INSURANCE PRODUCERS AND INTERESTED PARTIES

FROM:            MICHAEL T. McRAITH

DATE:             JULY 12, 2010

RE:                  ILLINOIS IMPLEMENTS STATE BASED SYSTEMS (SBS) LICENSING SYSTEM

 On July 26, 2010, the Illinois Department of Insurance will implement the State-Based Systems (SBS) licensing system. 

SBS will allow producer licensing functions to be completed electronically through a web-based system.  Through SBS, an insurance producer will be able to register immediately, without paperwork delays, and at any time, on any day.

SBS permits real time access to a producer's licensing information, thereby eliminating the delays caused by regular mail and telephone calls or email correspondence.  In particular, producers will receive the following benefits from the Department's conversion to the SBS licensing system: 

  • Resident licensing original and renewal applications, non-resident original and renewal applications, address change requests and the attachment warehouse will be available to producers and other licensed entities on-line, all day, every day.
  • Temporary licenses will be processed online.
  • Approved license transactions will be loaded to SBS and viewable by the licensee online within minutes.
  • Licensees and licensing administrators will have fingertip access to electronically available information, including license printing, review of continuing education (CE) transcripts, and review of any portion of the licensee summary.  Licensees can also receive automatic email notifications from the Department, thus avoiding U.S. postal mailing expenses.
  • The public will have free online access to information describing the status of a producer's license.
  • Licensees will no longer have to use a Social Security number as a license identification number for CE courses, online log-ins, and course lists.
  • CE course review features will be available online so that producers are able to search for course availability.

 

Online Products for Continuing Education Providers

  • Real-time submission of CE/PLE course completions.
  • Online course applications.
  • Online provider applications. 
  • Access to continuing education transcripts. 
  • Access to updated address and contacts. 
  • In 2011, providers will be able to upload course schedules that will be available on-line for producers.  In addition, provider online registration, if available from the provider will be linked to each course for ease of registration.
     

Please note, during the time that SBS is being implemented, electronic and paper license applications and renewals through the National Insurance Producer Registry (NIPR) and the Department will be temporarily unavailable.  Electronic functionality will be unavailable beginning July 16, 2010, and will resume normal operations on July 26, 2010.  Individuals are encouraged to apply and renew licenses through NIPR after that date.  The Department has consistently supported the electronic initiative in producer licensing.  The transition to SBS will provide much improved service to licensees and improved uniformity among the states that have already adopted SBS for insurance regulation needs.

SBS was developed by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) to serve the regulatory needs of states, improve the efficiency of the producer licensing process, improve the uniformity of multi-state licensing, and better service producers.  SBS is being used by twenty states with several others soon to join.

For more information on the NAIC's State-Based Systems' approach to insurance regulatory tools, visit http://www.statebasedsystems.com/.