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

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 Washington insurance licensing exam and what to do after you pass.

Washington Insurance Exam Basics

General Information

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

Each major insurance line examination is made up of multiple-choice 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 Washington insurance regulations and laws that you will need to know in order to operate as an insurance agent.

Score Explanation

After you complete your exam, you will receive a score report via email.

Score reports contain the total number of questions that you answered correctly, the number of correct questions needed to pass, whether you passed or failed, and a diagnostic report with instructions for retaking an examination (for failing candidates only.).

Note: You will need to obtain a score of 70% or higher in order to pass an insurance license exam in Washington.

Cost

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

Examination	Cost	Time Allowed
Life and Disability Producer Combo	$52	195 Minutes
Casualty Producer	$35	150 Minutes
Life Producer	$35	150 Minutes
Property Producer	$35	150 Minutes
Property and Casualty Producer Combo	$52	195 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.

Washington Life and Disability Insurance Exam

Below you can find the content outline offered by PSI.

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.

Washington Life and Disability Producer Content Outline

150 questions

I. Federal Laws and Regulations

1. Fair Credit Reporting Act — Purpose
2. 18 United States Code (USC) Sections 1033 and 1034 – Purpose (Letter of Written Consent)
3. National Do Not Call List
4. Privacy (Gramm Leach Bliley)
5. Prohibited Persons in Insurance (18 United States Code (USC) Sections 1033 and 1034) waiver
6. Affordable Care Act (ACA)
7. CAN-SPAM Act

II. Washington Laws, Rules, and Regulations

1. Washington Laws, Rules, and Regulations Common to Life and Disability Insurance
2. Commissioner
3. Terms and Concepts
4. Licensing
5. Marketing Practices

III. Washington Laws, Rules, and Regulations Pertinent to Life Insurance Only

1. Marketing methods and practices
2. Policy clauses and provisions
3. Group life

IV. Washington Laws, Rules, and Regulations Pertinent to Accident and Health (Disability) Insurance Only

1. Marketing methods and practices
2. Health Insurance Reform
3. Policy clauses, exclusions, and provisions
4. Health Care Service Contractors (HCSC) and Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs)

V. General Insurance Concepts

1. Risk
2. Classifications of Insurers
3. Elements of a Contract
4. Authority and Powers of Producers
5. Legal Interpretations Affecting Contracts

VI. Life, Accident and Health Insurance Basics

1. Insurable Interest
2. Personal Uses of Life Insurance
3. Determining Amount of Personal Life Insurance
4. Business Uses of Life Insurance
5. Factors in Premium Determination
6. Premium Frequency
7. Field Underwriting
8. Policy Delivery
9. Company Underwriting
10. Definitions of Perils
11. Types of Losses and Benefits
12. Classification of Risks
13. Underwriting Requirements (Varies by Insurer)
14. Sources of Underwriting

VII. Types of Life Insurance Policies

1. Term Life Insurance
2. Whole (Permanent, Ordinary) Life Insurance
3. Universal Life
4. Variable Life
5. Variable Universal
6. Indexed Universal Life
7. Specialized Policies
8. Group Life Insurance

VIII. Life Insurance Policy Provisions, Options, and Riders

1. Standard Life Insurance Provisions
2. Beneficiary Designation Options
3. Types of Beneficiaries
4. Beneficiary-Related Clauses
5. Settlement Options
6. Nonforfeiture Options 
7. Policy Loan and Withdrawal Options
8. Dividend Options
9. Disability Riders
10. Riders Covering Additional Insureds
11. Riders Affecting Death Benefit Amount
12. Policy Exclusions

IX. Annuities 

1. Annuity Principles and Concepts
2. Immediate versus Deferred Annuities
3. Annuity (Benefit) Payment Options
4. Annuity Products
5. Uses of Annuities

X. Individual Accident and Health Insurance Policy Provisions 

1. Uniform Required Provisions
2. Uniform Optional Provisions
3. Other General Provisions
4. Insuring Clause
5. Consideration Clause
6. Coinsurance
7. Probationary Period
8. Elimination Period
9. Exclusions

XI. Disability Income and Related Insurance

1. Benefits Determination for Disability
2. Qualifications of Disability
3. Individual Disability Income Insurance
4. Unique Aspects of Individual Disability Underwriting
5. Group Disability Income Insurance
6. Business Disability Income Insurance
7. Social Security Disability Income

XII. Medical Plans

1. Medical Plan Concepts
2. Provisions and Clauses
3. Types of Medical Plans
4. Cost Containment in Health Care Delivery
5. Limited Health Insurance Policies
6. Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)
7. Affordable Care Act (ACA)

XIII. Group Health Insurance

1. Characteristics of Group Health Insurance
2. Employer Group Health Insurance
3. COBRA

XIV. Health Insurance for Senior Citizens and Special Needs Individuals

1. Medicare
2. Medicare Supplement Insurance
3. Medicaid
4. Long-Term Care Policies

XV. Federal Tax Considerations for Life and Health Insurance

1. Taxation of Personal Life Insurance and Annuities
2. Modified Endowment Contracts (MECs)
3. Health Insurance Premiums and Benefits
4. Consumer-Driven Health Plans

Washington Property and Casualty License Exam

Below you can find the content outline offered by PSI.

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.

Washington Property and Casualty Producer Content Outline

150 questions

I. Federal Laws and Regulations

1. Fair Credit Reporting Act
2. 18 United States Codes (USC) Sections 1033 and 1034 — Purpose
3. Flood Insurance Education (National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP)

II. Washington Laws, Rules, and Regulations Common to Property and Casualty Insurance

1. Commissioner
2. Terms and Concepts
3. Licensing
4. Marketing Practices
5. Surplus Lines
6. Cancellation/Nonrenewal
7. Homeowners
8. Applications and binders
9. Producer responsibilities
10. Producers’ contracts
11. Property and Casualty Insurance Guaranty Association

III. Washington Laws, Rules, and Regulations Pertinent to Property Insurance Only

1. Overinsurance
2. Fair access to insurance requirements plan

IV. Washington Laws, Rules, and Regulations Pertinent to Casualty Insurance Only

1. Automobile insurance
2. Financial responsibility
3. Personal Injury Protection (PIP) endorsement

V. General Insurance Concepts

1. Risk
2. Classifications of Insurers
3. Elements of a Contract
4. Authority and Powers of Producers — Definitions
5. Legal Interpretations Affecting Contracts

VI. Property and Casualty Insurance Basics

1. Insurable Interest
2. Damages
3. Liability
4. Underwriting (Purpose, Process, Results)
5. Rate Development
6. Types of Hazards
7. Types of Perils
8. Types of Loss
9. Loss valuation
10. Negligence
11. Accident versus Occurrence
12. Policy Structure
13. Policy Clauses
14. Limits of Liability
15. Coinsurance
16. Specific, Scheduled, and Blanket Insurance
17. Vacant versus Unoccupied
18. Named Insured Provisions
19. Insurer Provisions
20. Third-Party Provisions

VII. Dwelling Policy Concepts

1. Purpose and Eligibility
2. Perils Insured Against
3. Property Coverages
4. Dwelling Property Conditions
5. Dwelling Property Exclusions
6. Dwelling Property Endorsements
7. Personal Liability Supplement

VIII. Homeowners Policy Concepts

1. Definitions
2. Eligibility and Purpose
3. Homeowners Policy Coverage Forms
4. Section I — Property Coverages
5. Section II — Liability Coverages
6. Homeowners Policy Exclusions
7. Homeowners Policy Conditions
8. Homeowners Policy Endorsements
9. Scheduled Personal Property/Personal Articles Floater

IX. Personal Automobile Policy

1. Definitions
2. Personal Injury Protection
3. Liability Coverage
4. Medical Payments Coverage
5. Uninsured and Underinsured Motorists Coverage
6. Coverage for Damage to your Automobile
7. Duties after an Accident or Loss
8. General Provisions
9. Endorsements

X. Commercial Automobile Policy

1. Commercial Automobile Coverage Forms
2. Selected Endorsements

XI. Commercial Property Policies

1. Commercial Package Policy
2. Commercial Policy Components
3. Commercial Property Forms
4. Commercial Property Endorsements
5. Commercial Inland Marine — Purpose
6. Ocean Marine (Distinction Between Inland and Ocean)
7. Farm Coverage

XII. Commercial General Liability

1. Commercial Policy Components
2. Commercial General Liability coverages
3. Occurrence versus Claims-Made
4. Commercial General Liability Exposures

XIII. Businessowners Policy

1. Characteristics and purpose
2. Businessowners Section I — Property
3. Businessowners Section II — Liability

XIV. Other Types of Property and Casualty Insurance — Purpose and General Characteristics

1. Specialty Liability Insurance
2. Surety Contracts
3. Personal Umbrella, Commercial Umbrella, and Excess Policies
4. Mobile Home Policy (Insuring Agreement)
5. Earthquake Insurance (Insuring Agreement)
6. Flood Insurance
7. Watercraft

XV. Workers’ Compensation Laws

1. Workers’ Compensation Coverages and Benefits
2. Rating and Job Classification
3. Workers’ Compensation Definitions
4. Federal Laws

How to Pass the Washington Insurance Exam

Passing your Washington 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 Washington, getting a pre-license course can be incredibly beneficial. These courses can help you get accustomed to the extensive amount of content that you will have to memorize.

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

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.

Getting Your Washington 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 180 days 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
• Submit your certificate of completion and apply for your license
• You will be issued a license and can then practice as an insurer

Washington State Office of the Insurance Commissioner Contact Information

Mailing Address:

P.O. Box 40257
Olympia, Washington 98504-0257

Phone: (360) 725-7144

Fax: (360) 586-2019

Email: Contact Form

Website: https://www.insurance.wa.gov/

License Search: Washington Insurance License Search and Lookup