How to Get a License to Sell Car Insurance

A licensed insurance representative for car insurance brings income every year from renewals. Often the initial commission is lower than that of life insurance, but the renewal commission is the same as the initial premium. As you build your business, the renewals from the past policy holders makes your income grow with no additional effort from you. As prices increase on insurance premiums, you also get an increase in income because the commission is a percentage of price.

Instructions

1. Find the website for your state's Department of Insurance. Some of the states still do all the paperwork to license representatives, but the trend to outsource is growing. The National Insurance Producers Registry does the work for 23 states and provides all the information you'll need for your state's exact requirements. The website information is in the resource area. The same website has links to the Department of Insurance for every state.

2. Enroll in a study course. Many states require pretest hours of study before you take the test. Even if your state doesn't require the hours, you'll need to learn the material for an insurance test on property and casualty insurance for your state. The test consists of one part on the products and one section on the underlying laws that govern the insurance. If you're required to take pretest hours, the state has specific instructional schools that you take either online or in person.

3. Pay for the classes and attend. If you take a self-study online course or a live course, you'll find that there's a pretest exam at the end to see if you're ready for the test. Even if the minimum for the licensing test is 70, a pretest score of 90 is best. This means that you know the material well enough that even if you find the wording on the test difficult, you'll pass it.

4. Take the test. You'll have to schedule the test; most of the states have an online location. If you don' pass the test you can take it again, but it costs every time you take it. Sometimes there's a waiting period before you can take it. If your state requires pretest hours, take your certificate with you to the test site. They won't let you in without it. Some tests are on computer, and you know your score immediately. Other states offer only paper tests and you must wait for the results.

5. Get a fingerprint card. You'll need the local police to fingerprint you. There's a charge not only for the police to do that but also one for the cost of checking the fingerprints for criminal activity. Most likely the local police will accept only cash.

6. Print the application for a license off the website and mail the application with the fingerprint card and the fees.

7. Check the state website or NIPR for your license approval. Most states no longer issue a paper license but require that you print a copy of your license shown at their site.

Resources

• NIPR