How to Get an Insurance License in Vermont

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

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

Vermont Insurance License

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

1. Figure Out Which Insurance License You’ll Need
2. Complete a Pre-Licensing Education Course
3. Pass the Relevant Vermont 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 Vermont:

• Life
• Accident & Health or Sickness
• Property
• Casualty
• Personal Lines
• Variable Life and Variable Annuity
• Car Rental (Limited Lines)
• Cedit (Limited Lines)
• Travel (Limited Lines)
• Self Storage (Limited Lines)

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 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 Vermont Adjuster License overview.

Step 2: Complete a Vermont Pre-Licensing Education Course

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

Now, it’s important to note that — unlike many other states — Vermont 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 Vermont Insurance License Exam(s)

After completing your pre-licensing education course, you will need to take (and pass) the relevant Vermont 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 exam — which has 100 scored questions (plus 5 pretest questions), and lasts two hours.

All Vermont insurance exams are multiple-choice, administered by Prometric, and will cost either $50 (for single-line exams) or $65 (for combined-line exams).

In Vermont, you’re required to first register to take an insurance exam before you can schedule an exact date and time for your exam appointment. After submitting your registration application to take an exam, it will take up to 10 business days for this to be processed. Registrations are then valid for the next 90 days.

You can quickly and easily schedule your Vermont insurance exam electronically using Prometric’s online Internet Registration Service. If you need to change this date for any reason, you’ll need to contact Prometric at least three days before the date of your exam in order to reschedule it.

On the day of your exam, remember to bring a valid form of government-issued ID with you to the testing center that contains a current photo, your signature, and a name that matches the one you used to register for this exam. Failure to do this will result in you having to reschedule your exam (and repaying the registration fee).

In order to pass, you’ll need to obtain an overall grade of 70%. However, you won’t need to wait to find out how you performed, as you’ll receive a score report breaking this down immediately after finishing the exam.

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

Step 4: Submit Your Insurance License Application

With your exams out of the way, you’ll be ready to actually apply for your license. In Vermont, applications are submitted online through the National Insurance Producer Registry (NIPR) for a fee of $60 (plus a small transaction charge).

You’ll be able to submit an application electronically as early as 48 hours after passing your insurance producer license examination. We typically recommend applying online as if you apply by mail you’ll need to submit the following additional documents:

• The NAIC Uniform Individual Application
• Your original score report (showing you passed the line of authority you’re applying for)
• Checks for an application fee of $30.00 and a license fee of $30.00

Be aware that if you’ve passed the licensing exams for multiple lines of authority, you’ll be required to submit an application (and pay a filing fee) for each of these.

Step 5: Application Review

And that’s it! After satisfying all the other requirements and submitting a license application to the Vermont 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 two to 10 days — 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 Vermont Insurance License

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

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: You’ll be required to complete 24 hours of continuing education every two years, including at least three in ethics. All insurance producer licenses have a common expiration date of 03/31/2024, regardless of how close to this date your license was originally granted.

Vermont Department of Financial Regulation Contact Information

Mailing Address:
Insurance Division
89 Main Street
Montpelier, Vermont 05620-3101

Phone: (802) 828-3303

Fax: (802) 828-1633

Email: dfr.producerlicensing@vermont.gov

Website: https://dfr.vermont.gov/industry/insurance/producer-and-individual-licensing

License Search: Vermont Insurance License Search and Lookup