How to Get an Insurance License in New Mexico

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

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

New Mexico Insurance License

In order to get your New Mexico 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 New Mexico Insurance 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 New Mexico:

• Life
• Accident and Health or Sickness
• Life, Accident and Health or Sickness
• Property
• Casualty
• Property, and Casualty
• Title
• Bail

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 New Mexico Adjuster License overview.

Step 2: Complete a New Mexico Pre-Licensing Education Course

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

Now, it’s important to note that — unlike many other states — New Mexico 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.

Having said that, completing a course is highly recommended as it can go a long way in helping you pass on your first attempt — which can save you both time and money in the long run.

This is because many of the features that come with these courses — such as live tutoring, study calendars, and hundreds of practice exams — are designed to enhance your understanding of the material, making you more comfortable and confident on the day of the exam.

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 New Mexico Insurance License Exam(s)

After completing your pre-licensing education course, you will need to take (and pass) the relevant New Mexico 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 property and casualty insurance agent, you will need to pass the Property and Casualty exam — which consists of 150 scored questions.

In New Mexico, all examinations are administered by Prometric and come at a cost of $75 per registration.

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: If you are out of state, you can choose to sit each applicable insurance exam at any Prometric test center across the US. For more information, you can have a look at our New Mexico Insurance License Exam guide.

Step 4: Complete a Fingerprinting And Background Check

After passing your exams, you will be required to electronically submit your fingerprints for a background check, which is conducted by both the New Mexico Department of Public Safety and the FBI.

To facilitate this process, the New Mexico Department of Public Safety has partnered with IDEMIA in order to offer IdentoGo fingerprint services.

To proceed, you will need to register online using the ORI Number NM920210Z and pay a service fee of $59.

Keep in mind that — in accordance with Article 59A-11-2 (E) — an insurance license cannot be issued before a candidate’s background check results have been received.

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

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 submit your application online through the National Insurance Producer Registry (NIPR) and pay the required $30 processing fee (plus a small transaction charge).

If you answer “Yes” to any background question on the application, you will need to include a written statement along with the official court documents; however, printouts from a court’s website are not acceptable.

It’s important to note that all required application materials must be received within one year following the day you pass your state exam.

Step 6: Application Review

And that’s it! After satisfying all the other requirements and submitting a license application to the New Mexico Office of Superintendent 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 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 New Mexico Insurance License

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

At this point, there are four main steps that we recommend new insurance producers 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 New Mexico, you’ll be required to complete 24 hours of continuing education (CE) every two years in order to keep your license active. This must include a minimum of three hours on Ethics and three hours in a live classroom setting.

New Mexico Insurance Department Contact Information

Mailing Address:
21 South Fruit St, Ste 14
Concord NH 03301

Phone: (603) 271-0203

Fax: (603) 271-7029

Email: producerquestions@ins.nh.gov

Website: https://www.nh.gov/insurance/producers

License Search: New Mexico Insurance License Search and Lookup