Vermont Annuity Best Interest Requirement

July 8, 2024 Annuities, Vermont

Vermont has adopted the new Annuity Best Interest training requirement for all licensed life producers. Effective July 5, 2024, Regulation I-2023-01 Suitability in Annuity Transactions applies to all Vermont insurance producers who transact annuity products. Following the NAIC standards and similar rules already in place in most states, this requirement is intended to ensure that producers act in the best interest of the consumer at the time an annuity recommendation is made and to require insurers to establish and maintain a system to supervise recommendations so that the insurance needs and financial objectives of consumers at the time of the transaction are effectively addressed.

Required Training

The topics that must be part of the training course are set out in the regulation and shall include information on:

  • The types of annuities and various classifications of annuities;
  • Identification of the parties to an annuity;
  • How product specific annuity contract features affect consumers;
  • The application of income taxation of qualified and nonqualified annuities;
  • The primary uses of annuities; and
  • Appropriate standards of conduct, sales practices, replacement and disclosure requirements.

New Vermont Annuity Best Interest Training Requirement

A producer shall not solicit the sale of an annuity product unless the producer has adequate knowledge of the product to recommend the annuity and the producer is in compliance with the insurer’s standards for product training. Producers who hold a life insurance line of authority and who desire to sell annuities shall not engage in the sale of annuities until the annuity training course required under this new rule has been completed.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who needs to complete the new training?

All producers who engage in the sale of annuities in the state must complete the Vermont annuity best interest required training.

When is the training due for producers already certified to sell anuity products in Vermont?

Producers who hold a life insurance line of authority as of July 5, 2024 have six months to complete the required training. Those producers who already took an Annuity Suitability program (those who are currently certified to sell annuities in Vermont) need to complete:

1-Hour Annuity Best Interest course by January 5, 2025

OR

4-Hour Annuity Best Interest course after July 5, 2024

When is the training due for producers NOT already certified to sell annuity products in Vermont?

Producers who hold a life insurance line of authority on, or before, July 5, 2024 have until January 1, 2025 to complete the 4-Hour Annuity Best Interest course.

Producers licensed after July 5, 2024 must complete the 4-Hour Annuity Best Interest course prior to the sale of any annuity products.

When is the training due for NEW producers who want to sell annuity products in Vermont?

Any producer licensed after July 5, 2024 who wishes to engage in the sale of annuities in Vermont must complete the required 4 hours of training before the sale, solicitation or negotiation of an annuity product in Vermont.

What if a producer does not complete the required training?

Any producer failing to complete the training by their required deadline must immediately cease selling annuities until the training is completed.

Will a producer get CE credit for taking the new annuity best interest training?

Yes, courses must be taken through an approved continuing education provider. The course approval should indicate a course category of “Annuity”. These courses are approved for insurance continuing education towards your license renewal and it is the education providers responsibility to post these credits to your transcript. InsuranceStudy intends to have both courses available in our catalog at https://www.insurancestudy.com/courses/vermont-insurance-continuing-education. Courses will be available upon approval by the Vermont Department of Insurance.

How does a producer show that they have met the new annuity best interest training requirement?

The producer may be asked by the insurer to provide a certificate of completion of the training course in order to satisfy the insurer’s responsibility under the Regulation. Certificates of Completion are provided by InsuranceStudy at the completion of your course and can be downloaded at any time from your course dashboard.

ClearCert CertifiedAdditionally, InsuranceStudy is an approved ClearCert provider and all course completions will be reported to ClearCert so that carriers may verify a producer’s certification status at any time. It is the insurer’s responsibility to verify that the producer has completed the training.