Obtaining your Florida insurance license is the first step to becoming an insurance agent in Florida. Life, auto, home, or business insurance requires a license to sell in any state.

Follow our step-by-step guide to get your Florida insurance license.

How to become an insurance agent in Florida

1. What types of insurance licenses do you need?

Depending on the type of insurance agent you want to be or the types of policies you need to sell, you will need to choose the type or types of insurance licenses you need to purchase.

Here are examples of the types of insurance policies you can sell with each type of license:

Property and Casualty Insurance License (2-20): Vehicle Insurance, Home Insurance, Business Insurance, etc.
Life and health insurance license (2-15) - Life insurance, annuities, health insurance, etc ...
Most insurance agents choose to have both licenses, but if you are only going to sell one type of policy, you only need to choose the license that best suits your needs.

2. Education before obtaining the insurance license

After determining the licenses you need, you must now take insurance pre-education courses in Florida.

Most people choose to take a pre-insurance course online. These courses were specially created to equip you with the skills you need to pass the exam. The types of licenses you choose (also known as "lines of authority") will determine the courses you take.

Each Florida authority varies in the hours of pre-licensing education required. This means that if you want to obtain a 2-20 P&C license, you must take two hundred (200) pre-authorization hours, and for 2-15 life and health (including annual premiums and variable contracts) it must take sixty (60) time.

You will receive a certificate at the end of the course. Please keep this certificate as you will need it when taking the exam.

3. Apply for a license

After completing all the required pre-licensing education, the next step is to apply for your license. If you have more than one line of authority for which you took an education, be sure to request all of these lines.

The online application fee is $ 50 plus the license identification fee of $ 5, for a total of $ 55.

The application process is part of the Florida MyProfile system. This system will be the home base for all licensing procedures from now on. After receiving your license, this is where you will take most of the other actions related to your license and appointments.

4. Background and fingerprint checks

The state of Florida requires all insurance license applications to be fingerprinted prior to licensing. Giving your fingerprints will start the background scan. If you have had prior misdemeanors or felonies, this may affect the outcome of your licensing efforts. For more information on this topic, call the Florida Department of Insurance at (850) 413-3140, email the Department of Insurance, or view the information on this page.

Fingerprints must be completed by IdentoGO. You will make an appointment at a location in Florida and record your fingerprint information electronically using LiveScan (instead of ink and paper).

The fingerprint service fee is $ 48.05 plus local Florida sales tax. Your fingerprints will automatically be sent to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. 

5. Florida Insurance License Exams

The next step after completing all pre-licensing or self-study courses is to take an insurance exam. You will run a test for each line of insurance you want to take. The Life, Accident and Health lines 2-15 (L&H) and Property and Injury 2-20 (P&C) are Florida combined lines, so you will need to take two exams if you want to fulfill all these powers: property, loss, life and health by accident.

This is a controlled test, which means you will be in a controlled environment with someone who will be watching you. People who have not experienced such a situation should be aware of this fact and strive to control their nerves before taking the exam.

The fee for each exam attempt is $ 44 (one test for each shared line of authority). When attending, you must have a photo ID, any other documents the test center has asked you to bring.

The Life and Health test (including pensions and variable contracts) 2-15 consists of one hundred fifty (150) questions, and you have two hours and forty-five minutes (2:45 hours) to complete the test. Here is a copy of the exam content summary for the Life and Health exam (including pensions and variable contracts) 2-15.

The Property and General Lines 2-20 exam consists of one hundred and sixty (160) questions, and you have three hours (3 hours) to complete the test. This is a copy of the Test Table of Contents for Property and Injury Exam 2-20.

A total of 70% is required to pass each test. You are limited to five (5) attempts per test per year.

Insurance license exams are intentionally difficult, but by no means impossible. You should study to the degree of comfort with the information before taking the test. Failing an exam is not the end of the world, but keep in mind that you will have to pay a fee each time you take the exam.

6. Review the application

Once you submit your application and pass your exams, the state will review your license application. Your background check will also be reviewed.

If everything meets acceptable standards, you should issue your license quickly. If there are any items on your background check that need to be reviewed, this can slow down the posting process. If this is the case, the state may contact you to provide context of the issues encountered.

Once the review is complete, you should receive a notification in your MyProfile account. If there is more information you need to provide the mandate, you will also be notified in your account.