Frequently Asked Questions

There are three simple steps to obtaining an IRMI certification.

1. Complete the core curriculum, consisting of 5 online courses, within 60 months of starting the program.
2. Complete 6 hours of continuing education (CE) credit within 12 months of obtaining the certification and every 12 months thereafter (through 1 online course, IRMI conference, or approved educational event).
3. Comply with all other IRMI certification terms and conditions.

Please refer to the IRMI Certification Terms and Conditions. If you need additional assistance, please feel free to contact WebCE at [email protected].

Yes, if you start a new IRMI certification and complete a core course, you can also count that course toward another certification's continuing education (CE) requirement for renewal. You can also complete a renewal course and use it toward multiple IRMI certifications. With the reciprocity discount program, you pay full price for the course once and then a discounted rate for each additional certification you wish to renew. This allows you to earn additional credentials, renew existing certifications, and save money.

IRMI certification program curricula are intended to be on a basic-to-intermediate level, but the courses do cover complex insurance topics and assume you have basic knowledge of insurance terminology and fundamentals. Therefore, the core curriculum will be more challenging to someone who has no insurance background than it will be for someone who does. A person who has limited insurance knowledge can successfully complete the courses by carefully studying the core curriculum texts and paying attention to any concepts with which they struggle when taking the final exams. If you do not pass an exam the first time, these concepts can be the focus of additional study before retaking the exam.

Many people charged with purchasing their company's insurance feel helpless and lost when dealing with their insurance representatives. Once you have obtained an IRMI certification, you'll know the language and the key issues to address in your insurance program. The ongoing continuing education (CE) program will hone your knowledge and equip you to be a far better steward of your firm's insurance and risk management program. You'll have the confidence and knowledge to make the right risk management and insurance purchasing decisions, to avoid onerous risk and insurance provisions in your contracts, and to negotiate the best deals for your company.

Continuous learning is important for all business professionals, particularly those who work in a field that changes as rapidly as insurance. The core curriculum will be a great review of insurance and risk management for a specific industry or line of coverage. Completing the core courses will help you maintain confidence that your knowledge is up to date. The ongoing continuing education (CE) program will then help you stay on top of the trends and developments affecting your important accounts. And if you are an agent or broker in need of state insurance CE credit, obtaining an IRMI certification allows you to leverage your CE effort into a meaningful professional certification as well.

When you obtain an IRMI certification, you make a statement to your clients that you are committed to serving them and have the knowledge to do it well. Your enhanced credibility along with the confidence you'll gain as a result of your new knowledge will improve your ability to sell insurance and negotiate intelligently on your clients' behalf with underwriters or adjusters.

Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU), Certified Insurance Counselor (CIC), and Associate in Risk Management (ARM) are all excellent educational programs for risk and insurance professionals. IRMI certifications are not intended to compete with or be a substitute for these or other insurance industry designations. The IRMI certification curriculum is less rigorous and less time consuming than the CPCU, CIC, or ARM program. The CPCU and ARM programs require passing multiple exams for courses that cover the equivalent of a college semester's material in each. The CIC program requires completing five 2 ½-day seminars, each of which is followed by a 2-hour essay-style final exam. While an IRMI certification program is not as rigorous as these other programs, its specialized focus on the complex insurance needs of a specific industry make it a worthwhile investment for people who hold one or more of these designations as well as for people who do not.

We do not waive any of the IRMI certification core courses for those who hold degrees or other certifications for two reasons. First, each IRMI certification program is uniquely focused on the needs of a specific industry or the nuances of a specific line of coverage. Other more general programs do not include this unique focus, and we feel that allowing them to offset the core courses could detract from the credibility of the certification program. Second, we designed the IRMI certification programs in a manner to allow easy and efficient administration. By keeping our overhead costs quite low, we can offer the courses at very competitive prices. Implementing a system for cross-crediting other educational programs and verifying that applicants indeed hold those certifications would increase our expenses and require us to charge more for the program. While we do not waive IRMI certification core courses, we do allow credit for certain other educational programs in meeting the ongoing continuing education (CE) requirement.

Yes, IRMI certification programs focus on the application of coverage in standard US property and casualty insurance forms. However, it could be quite helpful to a non-US resident if your firm or your clients have projects in the United States. Unfortunately, the IRMI Learning Center cannot process non-US addresses. Please call WebCE at (877) 488–9313 between 8:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. Monday–Friday central time to place your order. Courses and exams will be available to you online.

Depending on your current level of knowledge in the subject matter, an IRMI certification course will typically take from 6 to 10 hours to complete. The average length of a course is about 100 printed pages. The text includes a few practice questions following each chapter, which you may answer at your option. After reading the course, you take the final exam, which is composed of multiple-choice questions. The number of questions presented is dependent on your state's continuing education (CE) requirements if you choose to receive insurance CE credit and generally will be 50 multiple-choice questions. If you don't request CE credit, the exam will be 50 questions. If you do not pass the final exam the first time, you may study the material again and retake the exam.

The final exam for each course contains questions randomly selected from a test bank. The number of questions varies according to state insurance continuing education (CE) requirements, but there will be no more than 50. You must correctly answer 70 percent of the exam questions to pass a course. If you fail to do so, you review the course again and take another test that is randomly generated from the question bank.

You must correctly answer 70 percent of the multiple-choice questions on the final exam to successfully complete an IRMI certification course. Keep in mind that you can retake the exam if you fail to pass it. If you have not requested continuing education (CE) credit, there is no limit to the number of times you may take the exam. If you request CE credit, the number of retakes may be limited by your state.

The five core courses for each certification have been approved for insurance continuing education (CE) credit in all 50 states. Reaccreditation courses will be filed as they are introduced. The amount of credit provided ranges between 4 and 12 hours, depending on the course and state. To learn how much credit is available in your state, please go to the IRMI Learning Center, click on "Course Catalog," navigate to the certification, choose the course(s) you wish to take, and indicate the state for which you need CE credit. You'll also need to select a license type for most states. The number of approved credit hours for that state will be displayed.

As a holder of an IRMI certification, you are granted a license to display it in connection with your name. The most common format is to place a comma after your name, followed by the certification abbreviation. Alternatively, you may spell out the certification name in connection with your name; the most common approach for this is on letterhead or brochures. You may display it following your name on your business cards, marketing literature, or letterhead. You can also share your achievement and provide verification of your specialized knowledge with your IRMI Certification Digital Badge. IRMI has partnered with Credly, the largest and most connected digital credential network with best-in-class security and privacy features. After earning your credentials, you can display your digital badge on your LinkedIn profile, in your email signature, and on a variety of social media and digital platforms. IRMI also provides a Digital Marketing tool kit that you may request upon completion of your certification. The tool kit contains social media graphics, a press release, and other tools you can use to promote your IRMI certification.

The objectives of the IRMI certification programs are to (1) assure that certification holders understand the fundamental insurance needs of companies in a specific industry, (2) demonstrate certification holders' commitment to the industry, and (3) provide certification holders with the means to stay abreast of risk and insurance developments and trends. The core curriculum satisfies only the first of these three objectives, and the ongoing continuing education (CE) requirement is necessary for the program to achieve the other two. We do not intend for this requirement to be onerous. You may satisfy it through just one additional online course, by attending an IRMI conference, or by attending an approved seminar or conference.

You will receive emails several months before your certification expires to remind you of the need to renew your certification by taking additional courses or attending approved educational events. It is your responsibility to keep your email address updated in the IRMI Learning Center to ensure you receive these emails.

Generally, yes. Sponsors of seminars, webinars, and conferences must request approval from IRMI for a program to qualify for the certification continuing education (CE) requirement. To qualify, a program's content must be substantially directed to relevant risk, insurance, surety, financial, or legal topics. If you attend a seminar or conference that has not been preapproved, you may still get credit. Submit information about the seminar or conference to [email protected] and request that it be reviewed for credit.

Go to the Voucher/Completer Code Redemption page in the IRMI Learning Center and enter your voucher number to report your attendance and pay the reaccreditation fee. You will need the Voucher/Completer Code number printed on the Certificate of Completion or in the email the program sponsor provided to you. The fee for this reaccreditation option pays the costs of administering this part of the IRMI certification program.

Any continuing education (CE) credit earned by taking certification courses or attending an educational event may be used to meet the renewal requirement for the 12-month period in which the credit is earned. We are sorry, but we cannot roll CE credit into a future period.

You usually can receive credit under other programs. For example, completing a certification course will probably count toward continuing education (CE) requirements for the Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU) designation. Obtaining an IRMI certification also may satisfy the requirement of completing a nonassociation, industry educational program/designation to earn the Certified Insurance Industry Professional (CIIP) certification from the International Association of Insurance Professionals (IAIP).

If you fail to meet the continuing education (CE) requirement, you lose the certification and the right to use it in connection with your name. Once you lose the certification in this manner, you must complete the core curriculum again to regain it. We will email you at the email address on record in the IRMI Learning Center in the event you lose your certification because you failed to meet the experience requirement. However, it is your responsibility to keep up with your CE status, and failure to receive the email does not make it permissible to use the certification after it expires. In other words, your license to use the IRMI certification trademark expires 12 months after you earn the right to use the certification unless you renew it by meeting the CE requirement during that time. Thereafter, you must complete the CE requirement every 12 months. IRMI also reserves the right to revoke the certification for anyone who does the following: *is convicted of a felony; *is convicted of any state or federal crime related to insurance; *has an insurance license revoked due to violation of a state insurance code; or *displays a pattern of unethical, illegal, or immoral behavior that reflects negatively on the certification. In the event IRMI revokes your certification, IRMI will email notification and send a registered letter to the email address and postal address on record in the IRMI Learning Center. Your license to use the certification expires 3 business days after the registered letter is mailed whether or not you receive the letter. (It is your responsibility to maintain current contact information in the IRMI Learning Center.) IRMI certifications are registered federal trademarks of IRMI and are protected under the law. Anyone who uses these trademarks without permission is subject to severe financial penalty. Please contact IRMI to report any suspected violations in the use of this trademark.

IRMI has affiliated with WebCE.com, LLC, a nationwide supplier of state-of-the-art, self-paced continuing education (CE) courses to host the IRMI Learning Center and provide you with customer support. We chose WebCE because the firm is the premier provider of Internet-based CE courses providing more than 1 million insurance CE courses each year. Their online delivery system provides courses that are self-paced, allowing you to take breaks and go back to the point where you left off in the course when you are ready to continue. WebCE is the official CE provider for your courses, and this will be reflected on your certificate of completion. WebCE ships all course materials, validates completed tests, issues certificates, does the billing, and provides customer support. Should you have specific questions about or problems with your service, contact WebCE directly.

All course materials are copyrighted by IRMI, WebCE, or other WebCE business affiliates. (The copyright holder is printed or displayed with each course.) Purchase of a course includes a license for one person to use the course materials. This person may view the course online, save it on a single computer for their personal viewing, or print a copy for their personal use. Absent specific written permission from the applicable copyright holder, it is not permissible to distribute files containing course materials or printed versions of course materials to individuals who have not purchased the courses. For example, you should never email a PDF file of a course to someone else. It is also not permissible to make the course materials available to others over a computer network, intranet, Internet, or any other storage, transmittal, or retrieval system. Please follow these guidelines and contact IRMI if your business needs require some other form of use. Violation of this license could subject you or your employer to substantial statutory remedies under federal law (e.g., $10,000 per violation) and possible liability for actual damages and punitive damages.