Licenses

Our rule

North Life Group LLC is an independent, licensed life insurance agency. Every agent who writes business through us holds a license in each state where they write, for the line of insurance they sell. If an agent is not licensed in a client's state, that agent does not write the policy. The client is helped by an agent who is, or not at all.

How insurance licensing works

There is no national insurance license. Each state licenses the people who sell insurance to its residents. A license that lets someone sell life insurance is usually called a producer license, and it lists one or more lines of authority. A line of authority is the type of insurance the license covers, such as life or health. An agent may sell only within the lines on the license.

Getting the first license means a state's pre-licensing education, a state exam, a background check and an application. Requirements differ widely. One national publisher describes pre-licensing education that ranges from a one-day class to 20 to 40 hours of online training, depending on the state.¹ Florida, where this agency is based, requires 60 hours for its 2-15 license.²

Resident and nonresident licenses

An agent's resident license comes from the state where the agent lives. To sell to someone who lives in another state, the agent needs a license from that state too, called a nonresident license. That is why a phone agent in Florida may hold licenses from many states, and why a client should always ask which states an agent is licensed in.

Licenses are applied for, renewed and managed through state systems and through NIPR, the National Insurance Producer Registry. Its own site says agents can apply for, renew and manage their insurance licenses through it.³

Appointments are a separate step

A license lets a person sell a line of insurance in a state. It does not by itself let them sell a particular insurer's policies. For that, the insurer appoints the agent, usually after a contracting process that records which states and products the agent may write. An agent can hold a license in a state and still lack an appointment from a given insurer there.

Keeping a license active

Licenses must be renewed, and most states tie renewal to continuing education. A national training provider reports that most states require 24 hours of continuing education every two years. It lists Florida at 24 hours including 4 ethics hours, dropping to 20 hours once someone has been licensed six or more years.⁴

Who issues licenses

Each state, separately

Lines of authority

Printed on the license, such as life or health

Selling across state lines

Needs a nonresident license in each state

Selling an insurer's products

Needs an appointment from that insurer

Florida continuing education

24 hours every two years, 4 of them ethics⁴

How to confirm a license

Ask the agent for their full name, their resident state and the states where they hold a license. Then check each one with that state's department of insurance, which publishes a license search. The result shows whether the license is active and which lines it covers.

We do not print license numbers on this site, for the agency or for any agent. Ask on a call and we will give you what you need to look us up, and you can confirm it with the state yourself.