Maryland Insurance License Exam

Written by: Ethan Peyton

Last updated:

Passing your Maryland insurance license exam is a pivotal part of becoming a licensed insurance agent in the state of Maryland.

In this guide, we’ll break down the general information that you need to know in order to pass your exam, outline the differences between each examination line, and offer tips on both: how to prepare for your Maryland insurance licensing exam, and on what to do after you pass.

Recommended: Over 81% of our readers use Kaplan’s online courses — which come with a 93% pass rate — when preparing for their insurance license exam(s). For comprehensive study packages, StateRequirement recommends:

4.5 out of 5 starsKaplan Education Company

Maryland Insurance Exam Basics

General Information

The state of Maryland uses Prometric to administer its insurance agent licensing. This means you can register and book all of your licensing examinations through the Prometric website. Your test can be carried out online or in person.

Each major insurance line examination includes both general and state-specific material.

The general questions test your federal insurance product and agent knowledge, and the state-specific questions test you on the Maryland insurance regulations and laws that you will need to know in order to operate as an insurance agent.

Score Explanation

As soon as you complete your exam, your score will be shown on screen. A score report will also be emailed to you.

You need a score of 70% or higher in order to pass your insurance license exam(s) in Maryland.

If you failed one portion of a two-part exam, you will be able to re-sit the failed portion only, as long as you do so within six months of your exam.

Note: You will need to wait four days in order to register for a re-examination in Maryland.

Cost

Your Maryland insurance license exam cost will depend on the number of examinations that you take:

Examination

Cost 

Time Allowed

Life

$60

105 minutes

Accident and Health or Sickness

$60

105 minutes

Life and Accident and Health Or Sickness Combo

$60

150 minutes

Property

$60

105 minutes

Casualty

$60

105 minutes

Property and Casualty Combo

$60

150 minutes

Note: You should focus on one exam at a time. This will likely increase the amount of time and effort you can allocate to each examination and should allow you to feel more prepared when you sit your exam.

Recommended Course

Over 81% of our readers use Kaplan’s online courses — which come with a 93% pass rate — when preparing for their insurance license exam(s). For comprehensive study packages, StateRequirement recommends:

4.5 out of 5 starsKaplan Education Company

Maryland Life and Health Insurance Exam

Below you can find the content outline offered by Prometric.

We recommend using it as a checklist when working through your pre-license education course. This way, you’ll be absolutely sure that you haven’t missed any topic that you will be tested on later on.

Life and Accident and Health or Sickness Content Outline

130 scored questions, plus 10 pretest questions.

I. Insurance Regulation

  1. Licensing
  2. State regulation
  3. State Insurance Requirements (Specific to Life Insurance)
  4. Providers (Specific to Accident and Health Insurance)
  5. Plan requirements (Specific to Accident and Health Insurance)
  6. Insurance for Senior Citizens and Special Needs Individuals

II. General Insurance

  1. Concepts
  2. Insurers
  3. Producers and general rules of agency
  4. Contracts
  5. Federal regulation
  6. Industry Associations

III. Life Insurance Basics

  1. Insurable interest
  2. Personal uses of life insurance
  3. Viatical/Life Settlements
  4. Determining amount of personal life insurance
  5. Business uses of life insurance
  6. Classes of life insurance policies
  7. Premiums
  8. Producer responsibilities
  9. Individual underwriting by the insurer

IV. Life Insurance Policies

  1. Term life insurance
  2. Whole life insurance
  3. Flexible premium policies
  4. Specialized policies
  5. Group life insurance
  6. Credit life insurance (individual versus group)

V. Life Insurance Policy Provisions, Options and Riders

  1. Standard provisions 
  2. Beneficiaries
  3. Settlement options
  4. Nonforfeiture options
  5. Policy loans 
  6. Dividend options
  7. Disability riders
  8. Accelerated benefit provision/rider
  9. Riders covering additional insureds
  10. Riders affecting the death benefit amount

VI. Annuities

  1. Annuity principles and concepts
  2. Immediate versus deferred annuities
  3. Annuity (benefit) payment options
  4. Annuity products
  5. Uses of annuities

VII. Federal Tax Considerations for Life Insurance and Annuities

  1. Taxation of personal life insurance
  2. Modified endowment contracts (MECs)
  3. Taxation of non-qualified annuities
  4. Taxation of individual retirement accounts (IRAs)
  5. Rollovers and transfers (IRAs and qualified plans)
  6. Section 1035 exchanges

VIII. Qualified Plans

  1. General requirements
  2. Federal tax considerations
  3. Plan types, characteristics and purchasers

IX. Health Insurance Basics

  1. Definitions of perils
  2. Principal types of losses and benefits
  3. Classes of health insurance policies
  4. Limited policies
  5. Common exclusions from coverage
  6. Producer responsibilities in individual health insurance
  7. Individual underwriting by the insurer
  8. Considerations in replacing health insurance

X. Individual Health Insurance Policy General Provisions

  1. Uniform required provisions
  2. Uniform optional provisions
  3. Other general provisions

XI. Disability Income and Related Insurance

  1. Qualifying for disability benefits
  2. Individual disability income insurance
  3. Unique aspects of individual disability underwriting
  4. Group disability income insurance
  5. Business disability insurance
  6. Social Security disability
  7. Workers compensation

XII. Medical Plans

  1. Medical plan concepts
  2. Types of providers and plans
  3. Cost containment in health care delivery
  4. HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) requirements
  5. Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) and Health Reimbursement Accounts (HRAs)
  6. Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act

XIII. Group Health Insurance

  1. Characteristics of group insurance
  2. Defined groups
  3. Marketing considerations
  4. Employer group health insurance
  5. Small employer medical plans

XIV. Dental Insurance

  1. Types of dental treatment
  2. Indemnity plans
  3. Employer group dental expense

XV. Insurance for Senior Citizens and Special Needs Individuals

  1. Medicare
  2. Medicare supplement insurance
  3. Other options for individuals with Medicare
  4. Long-term care (LTC) policies
  5. Interaction with Other Coverage

XVI. Federal Tax Considerations for Health Insurance

  1. Personally-owned health insurance
  2. Employer group health insurance
  3. Medical expense coverage for sole proprietors and partners
  4. Business disability insurance 
  5. Health Savings Accounts (HSAs), Health Reimbursement Accounts (HRAs), and Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs)

We recommend reading our in-depth How to Pass the Life Insurance Exam guide for a better overview.

Maryland Property and Casualty License Exam

Below you can find the content outline offered by Prometric.

You should use this outline as a checklist when working through your pre-license education course in order to ensure that you haven’t missed any topic that you will be tested on later on.

Property and Casualty Producer Content Outline

120 scored questions, plus 10 pretest questions.

I. Insurance Regulation

  1. Licensing
  2. State regulation
  3. Federal regulation
  4. Maryland laws, regulations, and required provisions
  5. Maryland auto insurance policy
  6. Workers compensation laws

II. General Insurance

  1. Concepts
  2. Insurers
  3. Producers and general rules of agency
  4. Contracts

III. Property and Casualty Insurance Basics

  1. Principles and concepts
  2. Policy structure
  3. Common policy provisions

IV. Dwelling Policy

  1. Characteristics and purpose
  2. Coverage forms — Perils insured against
  3. Property coverages
  4. General exclusions
  5. Conditions
  6. Selected endorsements
  7. Personal liability supplement

V. Homeowners Policy

  1. Coverage forms
  2. Definitions
  3. Section I — Property coverages
  4. Section II — Liability coverages
  5. Perils insured against
  6. Additional Coverages
  7. Exclusions
  8. Conditions
  9. Selected endorsements

VI. Auto Insurance

  1. Maryland auto insurance policy 
  2. Personal Auto Policy
  3. Commercial auto

VII. Commercial Package Policy (CPP)

  1. Components of a commercial policy
  2. Commercial general liability
  3. Commercial property
  4. Commercial inland marine
  5. Boiler and Machinery
  6. Farm coverage
  7. Commercial Crime

VIII. Businessowners Policy

  1. Characteristics and purpose
  2. Businessowners Section I — Property
  3. Businessowners Section II — Liability
  4. Businessowners Section III — Common Policy Conditions
  5. Selected endorsements

IX. Workers Compensation Insurance

  1. General Requirements
  2. Workers compensation and employers liability insurance policy
  3. Premium computation
  4. Other sources of coverage

X. Other Coverages and Options

  1. Umbrella/excess liability policies
  2. Specialty liability insurance
  3. Surplus lines
  4. Surety bonds
  5. Aviation insurance
  6. Ocean marine insurance
  7. National Flood Insurance Program
  8. Other policies
  9. Residual markets

We recommend reading our Property and Casualty Insurance exam article for a more in-depth overview.

How to Pass the Maryland Insurance Exam

Passing your Maryland insurance exam ultimately comes down to your mindset and degree of preparation.

We have composed a few helpful exam tips and tricks that should help you perform as well as you can during your exam day.

Get a Pre-License Course

Getting a pre-license course can go a long way in helping you get accustomed to the prolific amount of content that you will have to memorize. It is also a legal requirement in the state of Maryland.

We recommend Kaplan’s course because it offers a variety of helpful features, including:

  • Online exam simulations
  • Live online training
  • Printable study guides
  • End of chapter reviews

For more information, we recommend reading our Kaplan Insurance Course Review.

Make Enough Time to Study

Not leaving enough time to prepare is one of the easiest ways to ensure that you do not pass your exam on your first attempt.

Remember, there are zero questions on your exam that are based on common sense or critical thinking. All questions are purely factual, and so will relate to how well you understand and remember the content that you have learned.

We recommend allocating around one to two weeks to prepare for your exam, as this should allow you to go through all of the material at least twice.

Control Test Anxiety

Even though you cannot control whether you get exam anxiety or not, you can take a few steps when preparing to limit its effect on your performance:

  • Establish a consistent pretest routine — Acclimate yourself to exam conditions by following a specific routine on each practice exam at home. This should help you feel less anxious during your exam day.
  • Get plenty of sleep — Lack of sleep can exacerbate your anxiety and increase your self-doubt. Make sure you are consistently getting a good night’s sleep in the week leading up to your exam.
  • Study effectively — This sounds obvious, but make sure you are actually tailoring your studying to the exam that you are taking. Remember, there are no critical thinking or common sense questions involved.
  • Arrive early — If you are planning to sit your exam in person, we recommend you arrive at least 30 minutes before it’s due to start in order to get used to your surroundings and have time to check in with your center’s administrator.

For a more in-depth overview of how you can prepare for your Maryland insurance exam, we recommend reading our How to Pass the Insurance Exam article.

Getting Your Maryland Insurance License

Your next steps will depend on whether you actually passed your exam, as well as on whether you plan to get licensed for any additional lines.

You can apply for your license up to six months after you complete your exam, so if you would like to attempt passing additional insurance line exams before filing your licensing application, you are totally free to do that.

After you have passed your insurance licensing exam, you will need to:

  • Complete a fingerprint and background check
  • File your licensing application
  • Wait for your application to be reviewed

Have a look at our How to Become an Insurance Agent in Maryland review for more information on all the steps that you will need to take after passing your insurance exam.

Maryland Insurance Administration Contact Information

Mailing Address:

200 Saint Paul Place, Suite 2700
Baltimore, Maryland 21202

Phone: (410) 468-2347

Fax: (410) 468-2399

Email: ProducerLicensing.mia@maryland.gov

Website: http://insurance.maryland.gov/

License Search: Maryland Insurance License Search and Lookup

Maryland Insurance Exams FAQ

How often do I have to renew my license?

You will need to renew your insurance license every two years in order to continue operating as a legitimate insurance agent in Maryland. For more information, see our guide on How to Renew Your Insurance License in Maryland.

How long is the Maryland insurance exam?

This will depend on the insurance exam you are taking. The combo exams (e.g., Property and Casualty, etc.) are 150 minutes long each. The Life, Accident & Health or Sickness, Property, and Casualty exams are all 105 minutes long.

How many times can you take the Maryland insurance exam?

There is no limit to the number of times you can retake an insurance exam in Maryland. Having said that, you will need to wait until four days after your exam before registering for a re-examination. If you failed one part of a two-part exam, you will be able to re-sit the failed part only, as long as you do so within 6 months of your exam.

How many questions are on the Maryland insurance exam?

This will depend on the exam you are taking. The Property and Casualty exam consists of 120 questions. The Life and Accident and Health or Sickness exam, on the other hand, consists of 130 questions. Single-line exams are shorter (e.g., 80 questions for the Casualty exam, etc.).

Ready for more?

Start Studying

Learn More