Florida Insurance Licensing State Requirements
Florida Department of Financial Services
COVID-19 Updates:
Effective 11/10/2020: Florida will cease accepting applications for temporary licenses as of the close of business November 10, 2020. Questions may be addressed to AgentLicensing@MyFloridaCFO.com.
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
Prelicensing Education Hour Requirements
- 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
Acceptable Methods of Education
- Classroom
- Online
- Self-study (Proctor requirements explained in “Online Course Requirements” below)
Online Course Requirements
- 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).
Prelicensing Education Exemptions
General Lines (Property & Casualty) and Personal Lines applicants who have been designated as a CPCU® and have been engaged in the insurance business within the past four years. Applicant must provide an original letter from the American Institute for Property and Liability Underwriters certifying this fact.
2. Pass Your Florida Licensing Exam
Applicants should retain original certificate for their records.
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
Florida applicants can now register to take their licensing examinations remotely via Pearson VUE's OnVUE online proctored exam. Please visit the following page for more information - https://home.pearsonvue.com/fl/insurance/onvue.
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.
After completing my prelicensing, how should I prepare for exam day?
- 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)
Other items to note for exam day:
- 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.
What is the exam like?
How is the exam scored?
How long is the exam?
Exam Series | License Line | Exam Time | Total Questions |
InsFL-ALJ16 | FLA All Lines Adjuster (0620, (0720) | 2 Hours | 100 Score, 10 Pretest |
InsFL-PubAdj20 | FLA Public All Lines Adjuster (0320, 7320) | 2 Hours | 100 Scored, 10 Pretest |
12-FL-LSA | FL Bail Bond/Limited Surety | 1 Hour | 60 Scored, 5 Pretest |
InsFL-PC06 | FLA General Lines Agent (0220) | 3 Hours | 160 Scored, 15 Pretest |
InsFL-Health02 | FLA Health Agent (0240) | 2 Hours | 85 Scored, 15 Pretest |
InsFL-LHA05 | FLA Health and Life and Annuity (incl. Var. Contracts) Agent (0215) | 2 Hours 45 Minutes | 150 Scored, 15 Pretest |
InsFL-Life01 | FLA Life and Annuity (incl. Variable Contracts) (0214) | 2 Hours | 85 Scored, 15 Pretest |
InsFL-Pers55 | FLA Personal Lines Agent (2044) | 1 Hour | 40 Scored, 10 Pretest |
InsFL-Surplus82 | FLA Surplus LInes Agent (0120, 9120) | 1 Hour | 40 Scored, 10 Pretest |
InsFL-Title31 | FLA Title Agent (0410, 9413) | 1 Hour 30 Minutes | 70 Scored, 5 Pretest |