How to Get an Insurance License in Alaska

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

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

Alaska Insurance License

In order to get your Alaska 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 AlaskaInsurance License Exam(s)
4. Complete a Fingerprint and Background Check
5. 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 Alaska:

• Life
• Health
• Property
• Casualty
• Bail Bond
• Credit
• Personal Lines
• Surplus Lines
• Title

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 insurance 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 Alaska Adjuster License overview.

Step 2: Complete an Alaska Pre-Licensing Education Course

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

You should note that Alaska does not actually require aspiring insurance agents to complete a certain number of pre-licensing education hours in order to sit their insurance licensing exam, meaning that this step is entirely optional.

Even so, completing a course is highly recommended as it can go a long way in helping you pass on your first attempt — potentially saving you both time and money in the long run.

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 Alaska Insurance License Exam(s)

After completing your pre-licensing education course, you will need to take (and pass) the relevant Alaska 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 insurance agent, you will need to pass the Life producer exam — which has 90 scored questions.

This exam, like all insurance agent licensing examinations in Alaska, is administered by Pearson VUE and comes with a cost of $89.

It should be noted that candidates can choose to take up to two examinations during a single session at a physical Pearson VUE test center for a single fee of $89.

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.

Note: Exam fees must be paid at the time of reservation, and cannot be paid at the test center. For more information, you can have a look at our Alaska Insurance License Exam guide.

Step 4: Complete a Fingerprinting And Background Check

As part of your application to the National Insurance Producer Registry (NIPR), you will be required to attach a fingerprint card in order to facilitate a background check.

To do this, you will need to submit this FD-258 FBI fingerprint form, along with your fingerprints, at one of the state’s approved centers.

Keep in mind that this process incurs a $48.25 processing fee.

Note: Any misdemeanors or felonies may affect the outcome of your licensing efforts. If you’re worried about this, you can contact the Alaska Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development, Division of Insurance by phone or email.

Step 5: Submit Your Insurance License Application

With your exams and fingerprinting out of the way, you’ll be ready to actually apply for your license.

To do this, you will need to visit the National Insurance Producer Registry’s website and submit a NAIC Uniform Application alongside the necessary $75 application fee.

Keep in mind that you will need to meet all filing requirements within four months from the date your application is received. If this is not done, your application will be deemed withdrawn and you will need to apply (and pay the filing fee) again.

Step 6: Application Review

And that’s it! After satisfying all the other requirements and submitting a license application to the Alaska Division 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 two to five weeks — which is the amount of time it typically takes for a license application and background check 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 from your background check 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 Alaska Insurance License

Once you’ve passed all your exams and your licensing application has been approved, you’ll be a qualified insurance agent in Alaska.

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: In Alaska, you will be required to renew your insurance producer license every two years. This process will require a $75 renewal fee, and can be completed through the National Insurance Producer Registry’s website.

Note: Remember that you will need to complete 24 hours of continuing education (CE) in order to be allowed to renew your license.

Alaska Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development Contact Information

Anchorage

Mailing Address:
Division of Insurance
Robert B. Atwood Building
550 W. 7th Ave., Ste 1560
Anchorage, AK 99501-3567

Phone: (907) 269-7900
Fax: (907) 269-7910

Juneau

Mailing Address:
Division of Insurance
P.O. Box 110805
Juneau, AK 99811-0805

Physical Address:
Division of Insurance
333 Willoughby Ave., 9th Fl.
Juneau, AK 99801-1770

Phone: (907) 465-2515
Fax: (907) 465-3422

Email: insurance@alaska.gov

Website: https://www.commerce.alaska.gov/web/ins/

License Search: Alaska Insurance License Search and Lookup