Florida Insurance Licensing State Requirements

COVID-19 Updates:

Effective 4/17/2020:

• Per CFO Directive 2020-07, Florida will begin issuing the following resident temporary licenses:
  • Temporary Life and Variable Annuity Contracts (T2-14)
  • Temporary Health (T2-40)
  • Temporary Personal Lines (T20-44)
• This Order applies to resident licenses only, temporary non-resident licenses will not be issued. Qualifications for non-resident licenses remain the same. For the temporary licenses, passing the state licensing exam is NOT required. ALL other qualifications for the licenses are required, including fingerprints, pre-licensing courses, etc.
• The temporary license application can only be submitted through the applicant's individual MyProfile account. If applicant intends to obtain the permanent version of the license, make sure to apply for both temporary and permanent licenses on the same application. This will save the applicant an additional $50 application fee, plus ensure the permanent license is issued once the test centers re-open, and the applicant passes the state examination.
• If applicant ultimately wants a permanent 2-15 Life, Health and Variable Annuity license, they should apply for the temporary T2-14 and T2-40 licenses AND the permanent 2-15 license on the same application. A 2-20 General Lines pre-licensing course may be used to obtain the T20-44 Temporary Personal Lines license. Temporary General Lines licenses will NOT be issued. These temporary licenses will not show on the PDB, but will be displayed on the Department's Licensee Search. Appointments are still required. Appointments can be submitted through the Department's eAppoint system. Temporary licenses will expire six (6) months after the issuance date, or upon issuance of a permanent license, whichever occurs first.
• Permanent licenses still remain available for these license types IF the applicant qualifies via one of the avenues which exempts the state licensing exam (i.e. transfer, certain designations, college degree and required college courses, etc). In order to continue operating efficiently, we strongly encourage individuals to utilize the state's Upload Documents feature through their MyProfile account to submit application deficiency documents, instead of emailing them to the state. If the option to upload documents isn't available in someone's account, it will appear within 3 hours after submitting a new license application in the state's system. Note: if an application is submitted through the NIPR, the option will appear once the application reaches their system, typically the day after the application is submitted to the NIPR.

How to Get Your Florida Insurance License

1. Complete an Insurance Prelicensing Course

• Life (including Annuities & Variable Contracts): 40 Hours
• Health: 40 Hours
• Health & Life (including Annuities & Variable Contracts): 60 Hours
• General Lines (Property & Casualty): 200 Hours
• Personal Lines: 60 Hours

• Classroom
• Online
• Self-study (Proctor requirements explained in “Online Course Requirements” below)

• Forced progression: This requires the user to successfully complete each page of the online course before being allowed to proceed to the next.

• Proctor: For correspondence self-study (i.e., textbook) courses only, in order for a certificate of completion to be earned and issued, the certification exam must be monitored by a disinterested third party (someone other than a relative, friend, or business associate).

2. Pass Your Florida Licensing Exam

Exam Provider: Pearson VUE

• To obtain a Licensing Information Bulletin, go to the Pearson VUE website at http://www.pearsonvue.com/fl/insurance/.
• To schedule an exam, contact Pearson VUE at http://www.pearsonvue.com or 888-274-2020.
• New examination candidate handbook: http://www.asisvcs.com/publications/pdf/121000.pdf 

A license can only be issued to an applicant who not only earned a passing score but has also completed the application for licensure and has been approved, has paid both the application fee and the license fee, and has submitted fingerprints.

Pearson VUE handles the entire examination process, including the examination fees. The cost of an examination is $42 per exam. Applicants do not need to apply with the Florida Department of Insurance and become authorized before taking the exam, except bail bond applicants. All applicants, including bail bond applicants, will schedule and pay for their examination on Pearson VUE’s website. Effective October 1, 2012, a new Florida law established a limit of five (5) exam attempts for the same exam type during a twelve-month period. Individuals who have reached the five exam limit are not permitted to sit for their next exam attempt until the one-year time window only contains four exams. 

NOTE: A passing score is valid for one (1) year from the date that the score was earned. If you fail to complete the licensing processing within the one (1) year timeframe, you will be required to retake and pass the examination.

• Government-issued Driver’s License 
• U.S. Dept. of State Driver’s License 
• U.S. Learner’s Permit (plastic card only with photo and signature) 
• National/State/Country Identification Card 
• Passport 
• Passport Cards 
• Military ID 
• Military ID for spouses and dependents 
• Alien Registration Card (Green Card, Permanent Resident Visa) 

• Studying is not allowed in the test center. 
• Visitors, children, family or friends are not allowed in the test center. 
• No personal items are allowed in the testing room. Personal items include but are not limited to: cellular phones, hand-held computers/personal digital assistants (PDAs) or other electronic devices, pagers, watches, wallets, purses, firearms or other weapons, hats, bags, coats, books, and/or notes, pens or pencils. 
• Candidates must store all personal items in a secure area as indicated by the administrator, or return items to their vehicle. All electronic devices must be turned off before storing them in a locker. The test center is not responsible for lost, stolen, or misplaced personal items. 
• The exams do not require a calculator, but candidates may request a calculator from the test center staff if they wish. Personal calculators will not be permitted in the test center.  
• Dictionaries, books, papers (including scratch paper), and reference materials are not permitted in the examination room (unless permitted by the exam sponsor), and candidates are strongly urged not to bring such materials to the test center. Upon entering and being seated in the testing room, the test administrator will provide the candidate with materials to make notes or calculations and any other items specified by the exam sponsor. The candidate may not write on these items before the exam begins or remove these items from the testing room. 
• Eating, drinking, chewing gum, smoking, and/or making noise that creates a disturbance for other candidates is prohibited during the exam. 
• Break policies are established by the exam sponsor. Most sponsors allow unscheduled breaks. To request an unscheduled break, the candidate must raise their hand to get the administrator’s attention. The exam clock will not stop while the candidate is taking a break. 
• Candidates must leave the testing room for all breaks. However, candidates are not permitted to leave the floor or building for any reason during this time, unless specified by the administrator and the exam sponsor. If a candidate is discovered to have left the floor or building they will not be permitted to proceed with the examination and may forfeit the exam fees. 
• While taking a break, candidates are permitted to access personal items that are being stored during the exam only if necessary— for example, personal medication that must be taken at a specific time. However, a candidate must receive permission from the administrator prior to accessing personal items that have been stored. Candidates are not allowed access to other items, including but not limited to, cellular phones, PDAs, exam notes, and study guides, unless the exam sponsor specifically permits this. 
• Any candidate discovered causing a disturbance of any kind or engaging in any kind of misconduct—giving or receiving help; using notes, books, or other aids; taking part in an act of impersonation; or removing examination materials or notes from the examination room—will be summarily dismissed from the examination and will be reported to the state licensing agency. Decisions regarding disciplinary measures are the responsibility of the state licensing agency.

3. Get Fingerprinted

4. Apply for a Florida Insurance License

5. Plan to Complete Required Insurance Continuing Education (CE) Credits