Claire-ification

QUESTION:

One of my employees is moving across our state line (from Pennsylvania into Maryland). With the pandemic, most staff is working from home. Can he keep his resident license in our state or not?

ANSWER:

This question calls for a two-prong answer:

How do you determine the “home state” or “resident state” for purposes of licensing?

Our three states (Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Delaware) all mirror the Model Act and allow licensees to choose between their principal place of residence and their principal place of business when selecting the home state. So, in your example, your producer doesn’t need to change his resident license and can continue to work for your Pennsylvania agency with a Pennsylvania resident license even if he now resides in Maryland.

Does working remotely for an out-of-state agency change your “principal place of business”?

No, it does not. We verified with our three states’ insurance regulators that they had a consistent approach to this situation, and they all unequivocally stated that a worker who is working remotely from an out-of-state home location would still be considered to have his or her principal place of business where the agency is located.

In addition, here are two things to remember when dealing with a resident “home state”:

The license “home state” will drive where the Continuing Education (CE) credits must be taken (or at least where the courses have been approved for CE so that the credits can be assigned to the correct state).

Some states have a different definition of “home state,” so it’s always important to check both states’ licensing laws if you’re dealing with an employee with a license outside our three-state footprint.

This document is not a legal opinion and should not be relied upon as such. The intent of this document is to provide a general background regarding the topic or topics discussed, not to provide legal advice. Producers and agencies should consult an attorney regarding specific situations and specific questions with respect to the topic or topics covered in this document. Neither the Insurance Agents & Brokers nor any of its employees shall be responsible for any errors or omissions regarding any statements made in this document, nor any errors or omissions regarding any statutes, regulations, court rules, and/or any other government documents cited in this document.