Rhode Island Insurance License Exam

Written by: Ethan Peyton

Last updated:

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

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 Rhode Island insurance licensing exam, and on what to do after you pass.

Recommended: Over 81% of our readers use ExamFX’s online courses — which come with a money-back guarantee — when preparing for their insurance license exam(s). For comprehensive study packages, StateRequirement recommends:

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Rhode Island Insurance Exam Basics

General Information

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

Each major insurance line examination is made up of bullet-point questions, and includes both general and state-specific material.

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

Score Explanation

Insurance licensing exams are not scored in the most obvious manner.

Each licensing examination has multiple versions (known as forms), which are made up of different questions. This means that your exam can be easier or more difficult than someone else’s, even if you’re being tested on the same line, on the same day.

A statistical procedure known as equating is used to ensure that any differences in form difficulty are accounted for so that no one faces an unfair advantage or disadvantage.

Example

Imagine that you have two forms of a Life, Accident & Health exam.

On Form X, the Rhode Island Department of Business Regulation determines that correctly answering 30 questions demonstrates that you have the minimum knowledge necessary to pass your exam and become a licensed agent.

On Form Y, however, the same level of understanding is demonstrated by answering 25 questions correctly. In this scenario, you would need 30 correct answers to pass on Form X, whereas you would need 25 correct answers to pass on Form Y.

Raw scores are converted into scaled scores that can range anywhere between 0 and 100. To avoid any misuse of score information, numerical scores are only reported to failing candidates. 

Candidates who pass all parts of the examination will receive a score report that reads “pass”; no numerical score will be reported. The score report will also include information on how to apply for a license.

Cost

Your Rhode Island insurance license exam cost will depend on the number of examinations that you take, as well as on whether you decide to take your exams online or in-person:

ExaminationIn-Person Exam FeesOnline Exam FeesTime Allowed
Life Producer$80$50120 Minutes 
Accident & Health Producer$80$50120 Minutes
Property Producer$80$50120 Minutes
Casualty Producer$80$50120 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 ExamFX’s online courses — which come with a money-back guarantee — when preparing for their insurance license exam(s). For comprehensive study packages, StateRequirement recommends:

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Rhode Island Life and Health Insurance Exam

Below you can find the content outline offered by Pearson VUE.

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 General Knowledge Content Outline

50 scorable questions, plus 10 pretest questions.

I. Types of Policies

A. Traditional whole life products
B. Interest/market-sensitive/adjustable life products
C. Term life
D. Annuities
E. Combination plans and variations

II. Policy Riders, Provisions, Options, and Exclusions

A. Policy riders
B. Policy provisions and options
C. Policy exclusions

III. Completing the Application, Underwriting, and Delivering the Policies

A. Completing the application
B. Underwriting
C. Delivering the policy
D. Contract law

IV. Retirement, and Other Insurance Concepts

A. Third-party ownership
B. Life settlements
C. Group life insurance
D. Retirement plans
E. Life insurance needs analysis/suitability
F. Social Security benefits
G. Tax treatment of insurance premiums, proceeds, and dividends

Life State Specific Content Outline

30 scorable questions, plus 10 pretest questions.

I. Rhode Island Laws, Rules, and Regulations Common to Life, Accident and Health Insurance

A. Commissioner/Director
B. Definitions
C. Licensing
D. Marketing practices
E. Fiduciary responsibilities
F. Life and Health Guaranty Association
G. Privacy of Consumer Information

II. Rhode Island Laws, Rules, and Regulations Pertinent to Life Insurance and Annuities Only

A. Marketing methods and practices
B. Policy clauses and provisions
C. Interest on life insurance proceeds
D. Insurable interest
E. Unintentional policy lapse

Accident & Health General Knowledge Content Outline

50 scorable questions plus 5 pretest questions.

I. Types of Polices

A. Disability income
B. Accidental death and dismemberment
C. Medical expense insurance
D. Medicare supplement policies
E. Group insurance
F. Individual/Group Long Term Care (LTC)
G. Other policies

II. Policy Provisions, Clauses, and Riders

A. Mandatory and optional provisions
B. Other provisions and clauses
C. Riders
D. Rights of renewability

III. Social Insurance

A. Medicare (Parts A, B, C, D)
B. Medicaid
C. Social Security benefits

IV. Other Insurance Concepts

A. Total, partial, recurrent, and residual disability
B. Owner’s rights
C. Dependent children benefits
D. Primary and contingent beneficiaries
E. Modes of premium payments
F. Nonduplication and coordination of benefits
G. Occupational vs. non-occupational
H. Tax treatment of premiums and proceeds of insurance contracts
I. Managed care
J. Workers Compensation
K. Subrogation

V. Field Underwriting Procedures

A. Completing the application
B. Explaining sources of insurability and HIPAA privacy info
C. Initial premium payment and receipt
D. Submitting application to company for underwriting
E. Policy delivery
F. Explaining policy to clients
G. Replacement
H. Contract law

Accident & Health State-Specific Content Outline

30 scorable questions plus 5 pretest questions.

I. Rhode Island Laws, Rules, and Regulations Common to Life, Accident and Health Insurance

A. Commissioner/Director
B. Definitions
C. Licensing
D. Marketing practices
E. Fiduciary responsibilities
F. Life and Health Guaranty Association
G. Privacy of Consumer Information

II. Rhode Island Laws, Rules, and Regulations Pertinent to Accident and Health Insurance Only

A. Mandated benefits
B. Coordination of benefits
C. Health Maintenance Organizations (HMO)
D. Legal services insurance
E. Advertising
F. Stop Loss Insurance
G. Long term care insurance
H. Medicare supplement insurance
I. Small Employer Health Insurance

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

Rhode Island Property and Casualty License Exam

Below you can find the content outline offered by Pearson VUE. 

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 General Knowledge Content Outline

50 scorable answers plus 10 pretest questions.

I. Types of Policies

A. Homeowners
B. Dwelling policies
C. Commercial lines
D. Inland marine
E. National Flood Insurance Program
F. Others

II. Insurance Terms and Related Concepts

A. Insurance
B. Insurable interest
C. Risk
D. Hazard
E. Peril
F. Loss
G. Loss Valuation
H. Proximate cause
I. Deductible
J. Indemnity
K. Limits of liability
L. Coinsurance/Insurance to value
M. Occurrence
N. Cancellation
O. Nonrenewal
P. Vacancy and Inoccupancy
Q. Liability
R. Negligence
S. Binder
T. Endorsements
U. Blanket vs. Specific

III. Policy Provisions and Contract Law

A. Declarations
B. Insuring agreement
C. Conditions
D. Exclusions
E. Definition of the insured
F. Duties of the insured
G. Obligations of the insurance company
H. Mortgagee rights
I. Proof of loss
J. Notice of claim
K. Appraisal
L. Other Insurance Provision
M. Subrogation
N. Elements of a contract
O. Warranties, representations, and concealment
P. Sources of underwriting information
Q. Fair Credit Reporting Act
R. Privacy Protection (Gramm Leach Bliley)
S. Policy Application
T. Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA)
U. Territory

Property State-Specific Content Outline

26 scorable questions plus 6 pretest questions.

I. Rhode Island Laws, Rules, and Regulations Common to Property and Casualty Insurance

A. Commissioner/Director
B. Definitions
C. Licensing
D. Unfair trade practices
E. Fiduciary responsibilities
F. Rhode Island Property & Casualty Insurance Guaranty Association
G. Premium financing
H. Privacy of Consumer Information

II. Rhode Island Laws, Rules, and Regulations Pertinent to Property Insurance Only

A. Rhode Island Joint Reinsurance Association
B. Flood Notice requirements
C. Insurance coverage for lead poisoning
D. Notice of material change
E. Hurricane and windstorm deductibles

Casualty General Knowledge Content Outline

50 scorable questions plus 5 pretest questions.

I. Types of Policies, Bonds, and Related Terms

A. Commercial general liability
B. Automobile: personal auto and business auto
C. Workers Compensation Insurance, Employers Liability Insurance and Related Issues
D. Crime
E. Bonds
F. Professional liability
G. Umbrella/Excess Liability
H. Businessowners Policy (BOP)

II. Insurance Terms and Related Concepts

A. Risk
B. Hazards
C. Indemnity
D. Insurable interest
E. Loss valuation
F. Negligence
G. Liability
H. Occurrence
I. Binders
J. Warranties
K. Representations
L. Concealment
M. Deposit Premium/Audit
N. Certificate of Insurance
O. Law of Large Numbers
P. Pure vs. Speculative Risk
Q. Endorsements
R. Damages
S. Compliance with provisions of Fair Credit Reporting Act

III. Policy Provisions

A. Declarations
B. Insuring agreement
C. Conditions
D. Exclusions and Limitations
E. Definition of the insured
F. Duties of the insured after a loss
G. Cancellation and nonrenewal provisions
H. Supplementary payments
I. Proof of loss
J. Notice of claim
K. Arbitration
L. Subrogation
M. Loss settlement provisions including consent to settle a loss
N. Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA)

Casualty State-Specific Content Outline

32 scorable questions plus 6 pretest questions.

I. Rhode Island Laws, Rules, and Regulations Common to Property and Casualty Insurance

A. Commissioner/Director
B. Definitions
C. Licensing
D. Unfair trade practices
E. Fiduciary responsibilities
F. Rhode Island Property & Casualty Insurance Guaranty Association
G. Premium financing
H. Privacy of Consumer Information

II. Rhode Island Laws, Rules, and Regulations Pertinent to Casualty Insurance Only

A. Automobile insurance
B. Workers Compensation
C. Liability/Medical malpractice

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

How to Pass the Rhode Island Insurance Exam

Passing your Rhode Island 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

Even though this is not a requirement in the state of Rhode Island, 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.

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

  • More course options than any other provider
  • Impressive 93% overall licensing exam pass rate
  • Generous money-back guarantee

For more information, we recommend reading our ExamFX 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 Rhode Island insurance exam, we recommend reading our How to Pass the Insurance Exam article.

Getting Your Rhode Island 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 12 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 Rhode Island review for more information on all the steps that you will need to take after passing your insurance exam.

State of Rhode Island Department of Business Regulation Contact Information

Mailing Address:

Division of Insurance Regulation
1511 Pontiac Avenue, Building 69-2
Cranston, Rhode Island 029301

Phone: (401) 462-9520

Fax: (401) 462-9602

Email: DBR.Insurance@dbr.ri.gov

Website: https://dbr.ri.gov/insurance/insurance-professionals

License Search: Rhode Island Insurance License Search and Lookup

Rhode Island Insurance Exams FAQ

How often do I have to renew my license?

In Rhode Island, insurance licenses must be renewed every two years. For more information, see our guide on How to Renew Your Insurance License in Rhode Island.

How long is the Rhode Island insurance exam?

This will depend on what insurance exam you are taking. Having said that, the Life, Accident & Health, Property, and Casualty insurance exams are all 120 minutes long.

How many times can you take the Rhode Island insurance exam?

There is no limit on how many times you can take your insurance exam in Rhode Island. Having said that, you will need to wait at least 24 hours before making a reservation for a re-examination.

How many questions are on the Rhode Island insurance exam?

This depends on the exact test you are taking. Both the Life and Accident & Health producer exams have 80 questions. The Property Producer exam has 76 questions, and the Casualty Producer exam has 82 questions.

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