Becoming a Licensed Insurance Agent

The first thing you want to do is decide what type or types of insurance you’d like to specialize in. In the industry, these are referred to as “lines of authority.” Here’s a rundown of the most common:

Another option is becoming an adjuster, which is the business of investigating and adjusting claims on an insurance policy. Insurance adjusters also solicit for the adjustment business.

In a number of cases, you don’t have to pick just one line of authority. Individuals often combine certain lines, such as property and casualty insurance.

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After you’ve decided what kind of insurance agent you want to be, the next step is to understand the basic requirements:

Now that you have a basic idea of what you need to do, it’s time to decide whether you want to sell insurance in your home state or some other state. (You can sell in more than one state, but you must abide by the rules for each.) As you saw in Step 2, each state regulates its own insurance licensing process, and each state’s regulations or rules are slightly different, so this is why deciding on where is so important.

Each state's website will also tell you what kind of continuing education you need to keep or renew your license.