24 hours, 3 ethics
West Virginia requires 24 CE hours per two-year license term for resident producers holding one or more major lines of authority, with 3 of those hours in ethics. The remaining 21 hours can be in any approved subject within a line the producer holds.
A course may not be taken for credit more than once inside the same two-year license term. West Virginia requires CE compliance before the renewal will process — there is no completing it after the fact and keeping the license active without a penalty.
The 6-hour carryover
West Virginia allows up to 6 excess credit hours to carry forward into the next license term. It is a modest carryover compared with states that allow 12 or 24, but it still lets a producer who slightly over-completes reduce the next cycle's load by a course or two.
Excess ethics hours carry forward only as general credit, so a producer relying on carryover still has to complete a fresh 3-hour ethics course each cycle.
The telemarketing reduction
A West Virginia producer who sells insurance exclusively through telemarketing can reduce the CE requirement to a total of 6 hours per renewal period, of which 3 must still be ethics. To claim the reduction, the producer files an affidavit with the Insurance Commissioner attesting to the exclusively-telemarketing method of sale.
This is a West Virginia-specific carve-out. A producer who does any face-to-face or in-office sales does not qualify, and the affidavit is an active step the producer has to take each cycle rather than something the state applies automatically.
Birth-month renewal, reinstatement, and the waiver
The West Virginia license term ends on the last day of the licensee's birth month, every two years, and producers renew online through SIRCON once CE is met. A renewal fee received after the due date carries a penalty equal to double the unpaid renewal fee.
A producer who lets the license lapse may reinstate the same license within 12 months from the renewal due date without passing a written exam. A producer unable to comply because of military service or a documented long-term medical disability can request a waiver of the renewal procedures — including a waiver of any exam requirement or fine — from the Offices of the Insurance Commissioner.
How completions are reported, and what to keep
West Virginia-approved providers report completions to the Insurance Commissioner electronically, and the producer's CE record is what SIRCON checks before it will process the renewal. A telemarketing-only producer claiming the 6-hour reduction should confirm the affidavit is on file and the reduced requirement shows correctly, rather than assuming the standard 24-hour check will not flag the record.
A telemarketing-only producer should keep the exclusively-telemarketing affidavit on file alongside the course certificates for a few years, since the reduced 6-hour requirement is exactly the kind of record the Commissioner may ask a producer to substantiate. A producer on the full 24-hour requirement keeps the certificates for the same reason any state's producer does — to rebuild the record if a provider drops a course.
Non-resident producers
A non-resident licensed in West Virginia relies on their home state's CE requirement, provided the home state has one and the producer stays in good standing there. The 24-hour count, the 6-hour carryover, and the telemarketing reduction are resident rules.
Product-specific training tied to a West Virginia annuity or long-term care sale is separate from the general 24-hour count and should be confirmed against a current Offices of the Insurance Commissioner bulletin.
Worked example
A producer who works a genuinely telemarketing-only book files the exclusively-telemarketing affidavit with the Insurance Commissioner and completes 6 hours — 3 ethics and 3 general — for the cycle.
A colleague at the same agency who takes a handful of in-person appointments each year cannot file the affidavit; she owes the full 24 hours. She over-completes by 4 hours and carries 4 into the next cycle, though her next ethics course still has to be fresh.
The bottom line
West Virginia's 24-hour, 3-ethics count is standard, with a modest 6-hour carryover. The unusual feature is the telemarketing reduction to 6 hours — real for a genuinely telemarketing-only producer, but it requires an affidavit every cycle and does not apply to anyone doing in-person sales.
Most producers book a 3-hour ethics course plus 21 general hours in their licensed lines, complete everything before the birth-month deadline, and renew through SIRCON. If you over-complete, up to 6 hours carry to the next cycle as general credit only. If you genuinely sell only by phone, file the telemarketing affidavit with the Insurance Commissioner and confirm the reduced 6-hour requirement shows on the record before relying on it.
Primary and official sources used for this guide
West Virginia Offices of the Insurance Commissioner — Resident Insurance Producer Renewal RequirementsPrimary/official source for West Virginia's 24-hour requirement, the ethics carve-out, the birth-month cycle, and the CE-compliance-before-renewal rule.↗West Virginia Code § 33-12-9 — License Renewal, Reinstatement, and Continuing EducationThe West Virginia statute governing the 12-month reinstatement, the double-fee late penalty, the telemarketing reduction, and the military/hardship waiver.↗Source pages can change. Check the current text and effective date before relying on a threshold, waiting period, or required form.