Insurance License Training

HOW TO BECOME AN INSURANCE AGENT

First, you would need to determine what type of insurance agent license you would like to obtain. Would you like to sell Life, Accident, & Health insurance policies or Property & Casualty insurance policies? Becoming licensed in the Life, Accident & Health insurance field would allow an agent to sell many types of life, disability, and heath insurance policies as well as financial services products. A Property & Casualty insurance agent license would allow a licensee to sell policies to cover homes, automobiles, commercial property, flood insurance, jewelry, professional liability coverage, watercrafts, RVs, and more.

The requirements to become an Insurance Agent or Producer vary from state to state however, some of the general rules apply in most all states.

Some of the requirements are:

• An individual must be at least 18 years of age;
• Reside in the state where they are seeking a license; and
• Be appointed as an agent by a licensed insurer.

Many states require that an insurance license candidate attend and pass an approved pre licensing course to receive the course completion certificate that acts as your “ticket” into the state insurance exam. Other states allow students to purchase a course and study on their own before taking the state insurance exam. And still others have no pre licensing education requirement at all.

Additional requirements are that an agent:

• May only write a percentage of "controlled business" on himself, his relatives or employees only, and shall be trustworthy and competent. This requirement is to ensure that a person does not acquire an insurance license for the sole purpose of insuring himself and his family.
• An insurance agent represents the insurer (insurance company) and must not place any business with any insurer not admitted to do business in the state.
• An agent may not accept business from a broker or agent who is not licensed in the state.
• To become licensed in a state other than the state where the agent resides, he/she must apply for a "non-resident agent" license. All non-resident licensees must first have a resident license in his or her home state before a non-resident license will be issued.