If you’re thinking about becoming an insurance agent in Connecticut, the first step you’ll need to take in order to kickstart your career is to obtain a Connecticut insurance license.

In this guide, we’ll walk you through the step-by-step process of how to become an insurance agent in Connecticut, as well as what to do once you get licensed.

Connecticut Insurance License

In order to get your Connecticut insurance license, you’ll need to complete the following five steps:

1. Figure Out Which Insurance License You’ll Need
2. Complete a Pre-Licensing Education Course
3. Pass the Relevant Connecticut Insurance License Exam(s)
4. Submit Your Insurance License Application

Below we have explored each step in more detail.

Step 1: Decide Which Insurance Licenses You Need

The first step will be deciding what type of insurance policies you’ll want to sell — at least at the start of your career.

This is because the type of insurance policies you’re hoping to sell will dictate the type of license you’ll need. For example, you’d need a Property & Casualty (P&C) license to be able to sell auto, home, or business insurance.

Here’s a list of all the different types of insurance agent licenses that are available in the state of Connecticut:

• Life, Accident & Health (L&H)
• Property & Casualty (P&C)
• Personal Lines Property & Casualty
• Limited Lines
• Surplus Lines
• Funeral Insurance

While there are a large number of different licenses to choose from, the vast majority of insurance agents will either obtain a Property and Casualty (P&C) or a Life and Health license.

In fact, many agents actually opt to go for both of these licenses as it allows them to offer clients a much wider range of the most common insurance products.

However, if you already know you want to specialize in one particular type of policy, you’ll of course only have to focus on the specific license that’s relevant to this insurance type.

It’s worth noting at this point that if you’re looking to work as an insurance adjuster, you’ll need to obtain a separate license — which you can find more information about in our Connecticut Adjuster License overview.

Step 2: Complete a Connecticut Pre-Licensing Education Course

The next step you’ll need to take toward becoming a licensed insurance agent in Connecticut is completing a pre-licensing education course.

These courses are designed to provide you with the foundational knowledge necessary for your chosen line of insurance and prepare you for the state licensing exam.

The specific training requirements vary depending on whether you are pursuing a single line or multiple lines of authority:

• Single Lines of Authority: If you are focusing on a single line of insurance, such as Life, Accident Health or Sickness, Casualty, or Personal Lines, you will be required to complete 20 hours of pre-licensing education per line
• Multiple Lines of Authority: For those looking to obtain a license in multiple lines, such as Life, Accident and Health or Sickness and Property and Casualty, the training requirement will total 40 hours, covering all applicable lines

It should be noted that these courses are accepted in classroom, self-study, or online formats, which is meant to accommodate various learning styles and schedules.

Due to the sheer number of pre-licensing education courses available, it’s normal to feel a little overwhelmed when deciding which one is right for you. To avoid this, we typically recommend making a decision based on the following factors:

• The course’s flexibility (e.g., does it allow flexible learning, does it require completing within a short time-window, etc.)
• The course’s price: This one is obvious; our only tip here is to not go too low, as from our experience you tend to get what you pay for when it comes to these
• The course’s reputation: How reliable is each provider? The last thing you want is insufficient and/or incomplete resources before your exam

If you want more information before getting started, you can also have a look at our in-depth overview of the five best pre-license education courses in 2024.

Step 3: Pass the Relevant Connecticut Insurance License Exam(s)

After completing your pre-licensing education course, you will need to take (and pass) the relevant Connecticut insurance license exam.

We say “relevant” because this will depend on the line you wish to specialize in; for example, if you’re planning to become a Life and Health insurance agent, you will need to pass the Life, Accident & Health or Sickness exam, which consists of 80 scored questions.

You will have 2 hours and 30 minutes to complete this examination, which — like all licensing examinations in Connecticut — is administered by Pearson VUE.

It should be noted that all licensing exams in Connecticut require a passing score of 70%; the only exception to this is the Bail Bonds exam — where a higher threshold of 80% is required.

Keep in mind that you can sit for more than one exam at a time (e.g., if you want to apply for both a P&C and a life and health insurance license).

Even so, we recommend avoiding this route; this is because passing your exam is hard enough as is, and there is arguably little to gain and a lot to lose with the added risk of confusing separate line material.

We found that the best approach is to study for one at a time, averaging between two to six weeks of study time per exam — depending on whether you are studying full time or part-time, as well as on how comfortable you are at taking proctored exams.

It should be noted that candidates taking an online examination are permitted two attempts per exam; all subsequent attempts (if applicable) will need to be taken in person at a Pearson VUE testing center.

For more information, you can have a look at our Connecticut Insurance License Exam guide.

Step 4: Submit Your Insurance License Application

After passing the exam, you will need to wait one to two days for your results to be confirmed before you can apply for your insurance agent license.

Once your exam results are processed, you will be able to proceed with your license application by visiting www.nipr.com and selecting the “Apply for a License” option.

Keep in mind that in addition to passing the exam, you will be required to meet the following criteria in order to qualify:

• Be at least 18 years of age
• Be financially responsible and of good moral character

The application fee you will need to pay will depend on the type of insurance license you’re applying for.

For example, the application fee for an individual Producer’s license is $140, while a Certified Insurance Consultant license has a processing fee of $300.

Note: Any misdemeanors or felonies may affect the outcome of your licensing efforts. If you’re worried about this, you can contact the Connecticut Department of Insurance by phone or email for more guidance on this topic.

Step 5: Application Review

And that’s it! After satisfying all the other requirements and submitting a license application to the Connecticut Department of Insurance all that’s left to do is wait.

If everything on your application has been filled out correctly, your license should be issued within three to five weeks — which is the amount of time it typically takes for a license application to be reviewed.

It’s important to be aware that the issuance of your insurance license can take a bit longer than this if there are any items that need to be looked over. However, the state will likely get in touch with you to give some context if they run into any issues.

In any case, the state will send you an email regarding the status of your license once this review has been completed, so keep an eye out for that!

After Getting Your Connecticut Insurance License

Once you’ve successfully passed your exams and your licensing application has been approved, you’ll officially become a licensed insurance agent in Connecticut.

At this point, there are four main steps that we recommend new insurance agents to take:

1. Obtain Any Relevant Securities Licenses: If you’re planning on selling advanced life insurance products, you’ll need to pass the Securities Industry Essentials (SIE) exam and obtain the relevant securities licenses (e.g., Series 6, 7, and 63).
2. Choose a Means of Selling: You’ll have to decide whether you’d prefer working as a captive agent employed by one company, or running your own business as an independent agent.
3. Develop Your Marketing Approach: To succeed as an insurance agent, you’ll need to adopt a marketing approach that’s effective for you. Finding and sticking to a niche, as well organizing all client appointments for the start of your week, are two great ways to do this.
4. Keep Your License Valid:To keep your insurance license active, you will be required to complete 24 hours of continuing education (CE) every two years. These hours must include at least three credit hours which relate to Connecticut insurance law, regulations, or ethics.

Keep in mind that you are limited to earning eight hours of continuing education per day, regardless of the number of courses you attend.

Note: Please note that your insurance agent license will need to be renewed every two years, with a standard renewal fee of $160. If the renewal is late, an additional $160 fee will apply, bringing the total to $320 for late renewals.

Connecticut Insurance Department Contact Information

Mailing Address:

P.O. Box 816
Hartford, Connecticut 06142-0816

Physical Address:
153 Market Street
7th Floor, Hartford, Connecticut 06103

Phone: (860) 297-3800

Email: cid.licensing@ct.gov

Website: https://portal.ct.gov/cid/licensing

License Search: Connecticut Insurance License Search and Lookup