How Do I Become an Insurance Agent In Alabama?

March 15, 2023

Alabama state requirements

To sell life and health insurance in Alabama, you must be licensed by the Alabama Department of Insurance. The process is not difficult, though you must be prepared to study and pass the exam.

The Alabama Department of Insurance has a process consisting of:

Enrolling in a pre-license education course required for an insurance license;
Sitting for the Alabama insurance license exam;
Fingerprinting and background check;
Applying for the Alabama insurance license;
Application review by the state of Alabama; and
Approval by the state of Alabama.

To retain your insurance license, you must

Attend approved continuing course credits; and
Renew the insurance license every two years online with the Alabama Department of Insurance (www.aldoi.gov).

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The pre-license education course

Pre-licensing education courses help prepare you to pass the licensing exam on your first attempt. Classes are available by line of authority: life insurance, health insurance, and property casualty insurance. Many pre-licensing education courses are available online.

A line of authority is 20 hours of pre-licensed education. If you want to sell life insurance, the pre-license course work would be 20 hours of classroom time. If you want to sell both health and life insurance, it is a total of 40 hours.¹ Upon completion of the pre-license course, the applicant will receive a certificate of completion that may be needed later in the licensing process.

If you are selling variable life and variable annuity products, security courses and additional licensing are involved.

The Alabama license test:

Once you have completed the pre-license education course, you are ready to take the Licensing Producer exam.²

Currently, exams for both health and life insurance licenses are held in various locations throughout Alabama. Exams are also available online with a proctor.

Fees are required for the exam. If you are taking more than one line of authority, (for example, life insurance and health insurance), there may be different fees.³

The requirements for being licensed in the state of Alabama are:

You must be eighteen (18) years old or older.
You must have a resident address in Alabama (not a post office box).
You must show proof of U.S. citizenship.

Fingerprinting

Once you have passed the insurance state exam, you need to be fingerprinted. Alabama requires that all insurance license applications provide fingerprints prior to licensing. In Alabama, the agent for fingerprint processing is Fieldprint.⁴

Because fingerprint results only stay in the system for 30 days, you will likely want to apply for your license within 30 days of having your fingerprints taken. Otherwise, you may need to have your fingerprints taken again.

Application for License

Alabama accepts a current state driver’s license as proof of U.S. citizenship. Once you have passed your insurance license exam, you will need to apply for your insurance producer license. The application can be completed online for a fee at the NIPR website⁵. Once you have completed the application, you will need to submit proof of citizenship within 10 days of completing the application.

Continuing education

Continuing education is required for license renewal. Approved courses can be found at https://www.insurance.alabama.gov/ContinuingEd/.

License Renewal

Keeping your insurance licensed renewed is important. It must be renewed biennially (every two years) based on the person’s birth month, whether the individual was born on an even or odd year.⁶

Example: If the insurance agent is born on an odd year (January 1991) and applied in an even year (i.e., 2022), he/she will renew the license the next odd year - 2023.

The renewal license notices are mailed to the address you registered with the Alabama Department of Insurance. Be sure you keep your address with current with ADOI.

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