How To Become A Life Insurance Agent In Texas

Getting your Texas Life insurance license is the first step in becoming an insurance agent in Texas. Whether you’re interested in selling property and casualty insurance, life insurance, health insurance, or any combination of those lines of authority, this article has the information you need to get started. The Texas Department of Insurance has established a process for obtaining your insurance license.

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Do I Need To Be Hired or Sponsored By An Agency To Get My Insurance License?

No, you don’t need to be hired or sponsored by an insurance company or agency to go through the process of obtaining your life insurance license in Texas. In fact, going through the process of being licensed before seeking an agency to work with actually makes you more marketable for opportunities.

Complete a Texas Insurance Pre-Licensing Course

If you would like to sell insurance in Texas, you must pass a licensing exam. To prepare for the Texas licensing exam, you will need to take an insurance pre-licensing study course. You will need the knowledge from a course to pass the examination, especially if you're new to the industry.

Pass Your Texas Insurance License Exam

License exams are provided by PearsonVUE. An exam fee must be paid at the time of scheduling by credit card, debit card, voucher or electronic check. You can make an exam reservation at least 24 hours before the desired exam date or 5 days in advance if paying by ACH (electronic check).

Before scheduling your exam, you will need the following:

Legal name, address, Social Security number, daytime phone number, and date of birth
Name of the exam that you wish to take
Preferred exam date and test center location

Texas Life Insurance License Exam Information

Exam Name: General Lines – Life, Accident & Health

Code: InsTX-LAH05

Fee: $43

Time: 2 hours 30 min

Format: Multiple choice

Total Questions: 150

Passing Score: 70%+

Exam Name: Life Agent

Code: InsTX-Life01

Fee: $33

Time: 2 hours

Format: Multiple choice

Total Questions: 95

Passing Score: 70%+

What to Bring

Two forms of current signature identification:

A primary ID (photograph and signature, not expired) such as a Driver’s License or Passport
A secondary ID (signature, not expired) such as a Debit or Credit card

Examination Procedures

Report to the exam center 30 minutes before the exam to verify identification and be photographed for the score report.
No personal items are allowed in the testing room such as cell phones, watches, wallets, or purses.
Studying is not allowed in the exam center.
The exam administrator will provide you with materials to make notes or a calculator. You may not write on these items before the exam begins or remove these items from the exam room.

Exam Format

Each major line exam is given in a multiple-choice format.

The exam consists of two parts:

The general section deals with basic insurance product knowledge
The state section deals with insurance laws, rules, and regulations, and practices that are unique to Texas

Each exam contains “pretest” questions that are mixed in with the scored questions and are not identified as pretest questions. These are typically new questions that they are testing for their own evaluation for future examinations. Pretest/trial questions may or may not be covered in your educational materials (although they usually are) and do not affect your final score.

The minimum passing score required for each exam is 70%.

When you complete the exam, you will receive a score report marked “pass or fail” immediately after.

Candidates who fail the examination will receive a report that includes a numeric score, diagnostic and re-testing information, which shows your strengths and weaknesses in the exam. This will help you focus on the areas that you need to become stronger in. Candidates can schedule another exam but must wait 24 hours before making the reservation. We suggest that you study again for another week, then reschedule your exam.

Take Your Insurance Examination From Your Home or Office

You ‘may’ be able to take your Texas Department of Insurance exam conveniently from home through OnVUE (via Pearson Vue) online proctoring. A live proctor will monitor you through the webcam on your workstation to provide a secure exam experience.

Go to PearsonVUE to see if you qualify, and then watch the short video on the Texas Department of Insurance online proctoring page to see how convenient it is to test from home or work. Be sure to run the system test before you sign in to register for an online proctored exam.

Register for Electronic Fingerprinting

Texas requires electronic fingerprints be completed in order to run a criminal background check.

You can click here to make a reservation with IdentoGo, or call 844-321-2124. Insurance license fingerprint records are good for 1 year prior to application. The results of your criminal history check will be submitted electronically to the Texas Department of Insurance.

Apply for Your Texas Life, Accident & Health Insurance License

You can apply for your license 24 hours after passing the exam by completing an application at Sircon. The application process must be completed within one year of passing the exam or the exam must be retaken.

What If I Have a Criminal Record?

If you're interested in a career in insurance, you must undergo a background check that includes fingerprinting. This process will likely reveal any criminal history, and if you have a past that includes crimes that involve dishonesty or a breach of trust from working in the insurance business, you may be denied licensure.

Other considerations that may affect your ability to become licensed are the frequency of offenses, sentencing, and completion of rehabilitation. The insurance commissioner is typically only concerned with felonies that are related to your ability to perform the functions necessary to work in the insurance industry.

Crimes such as robbery, theft, burglary, dishonesty, fraud, breach of fiduciary trust and any convictions related to work within the insurance industry may prohibit someone from being licensed.

We suggest contacting the Texas Department of Insurance for more information regarding your situation.