Please go Step by Step to complete Licensing
Licensing Overview by Alvin Parra, President
Become a SCF agent
Complete Pre-Licensing
Pass the State Exam
24 Hr. Continued Education
Get E&O insurance
Carrier Product Training
Get Contracted with Carriers
Sign up your clients
Check Licensing Status
Your License is about to expire:
If your license has not yet expired, immediately complete your required State Continued Education 24 hours ASAP (see the Step #4 for details), then you can pay your license renewal online at Online Renewal Instructions (or go direct to the Renewal Application). Use this opportunity to update personal information with the State of California.
Your license expired (less than 12 months):
If you confirmed that your license has expired within the last 12 months, you can renew it without taking another exam. However, you will need to pay a late fee.
First, complete your Continued Education hours, then DOWNLOAD the renewal application. You will pay the license fee ($154 after March 2014) PLUS a 50% late penalty. Make check to CA Department of Insurance, and on the application check Life Only and Accident/Health if you have a 52 hr license. You only pay one fee for both.
NOTE – Late paper renewals are low priority and take 3-4 weeks to approve AFTER your check is cashed.
New Agent or Expired License
Before you can solicit insurance business and be compensated, you must be licensed by your resident state. To become a Life and/or Health agent, you must first take a State approved online or live classroom “Pre-Licensing” course.
Which Course to take?
- Life AND Health/Accident 52 hour course – (includes 20 hours Life, 20 hours Health/Accident, and 12 hours Ethics). With a 52-hr. Life AND Health license you can sell only Life Insurance, Annuities, .
- Life ONLY 32 hour course – (includes 12 hours of Ethics and 20 hours of Life). With a Life Only license you can sell only Life Insurance and Annuities, Health insurance, Medicare, Long Term Care and Disability insurance.
Which do we recommend?
The 32 hour Life Only state exam is only 75 questions. If you are a part-time agent or just want to focus on retirement planning (annuities) and Life Insurance, a 32 hour Life Only license may be sufficient.
However, the extra studying time to get the 52 hour Life, Accident and Health license will put you in a position to serve more clients in the future. If you are or planning to be a full-time agent, then a 52 hour course may be ideal.
Course Format:
Most state approved schools are transitioning to online courses. Online classes range from $49 to $199, and a live course can go up to $400.
Recommended School
We recommend www.upwardboundtraining.com (online course) for $49. You can chose either a 32 hour or 52 hour course for the same price of $49.
For those that have the time, are easily distracted or cannot easily study online, you may want to consider a live course withwww.kpeducation.com , www.mikeruss.com , or any other state approved course.
Here is a list of all State approved courses – LINK.
Take the State Exam
Effective November 13, 2012 the California Department of Insurance (CDI) now requires California resident applicants to first pass the qualifying license examination prior to submitting their license application.
Scheduling the Exam: Before you complete your pre-licensing course, Upward Bound will give you tips to schedule your State Exam, or you can go to http://www.insurance.ca.gov . The State exam wait list can be up to 2 weeks so try to time it with the ending of your Pre-Licensing course.
The scheduling of the State exam can be confusing, so please note that you need to register under “Flash” first. After you register with the State, you will need to log into the “Schedule an Exam Date” link. When you are done, PDF or PRINT THE APPLICATION, CHECKLIST AND ATTESTATION PAGE. You will need these, the 32/52 course certificate, driver’s license and fingerprint fee when you show up to the State exam, normally in Downtown LA.
I Passed the Test
About 1-2 weeks after passing your State test, begin to check daily online to see if your license # was issued (go to Check License Status tab). Under “Check License Status” click “Name Search” and in the next page, in the License name box, type your last name and first name or initial (ie – Doe John). If you see your name, click on your license # and an Individual License Details page has your information. After you download a copy of your license, Go to the next step.
I Didn’t Pass the Test
The Life, and especially the Health section can be tough. You may need to wait several weeks, but with a reduced exam fee, you can retake the course up to 3 times before having to take the Pre-Licensing course again. You may contact Upward Bound to ask for extra time with the sample test quizzes and ask other SCF agents for tips on how they passed the exam.
Recommended online Continued Education vendors
Although there are many online Continued Education courses vendors, the two most popular with agents are: WebCE and SuccessCE. Many agents recommend WebCE because of it ease.
For about $36-$40, you can complete your 24 hour CE courses. (NOTE – Individual course can be over $15, but as you “add” 24 hours (appx 4-5 courses) to your order, the discount will kick-in and drop price to about $36).
When complete, you want to save and print a PDF copy of each certificate to attach with your contracting paperwork.
PLAN A
For new 32 hour Life only agents, take the following courses:
- 8-Hour CA Approved Annuity Training Course (one-time)
- 4-Hour CA Annuity Training Approved
- 4-Hour Anti-Money Laundering
- 4-Hour Ethics (any State approved)
- Any other 4 hour course to total 24 hours
PLAN B
If you are a new 52 hour Life/Health only agent, take the following courses:
- Same as Plan A, but add:
- 8-Hour Long Term Care (also required for Life with LTC or Annuities with LTC)
This may be a total of 28 hours (20 from Plan A and 8 hr Long Term Care).
Renewing Agents
Both 32 and 52 hour agents:
After renewing your state license, you technically have two years to complete your 24-hour continued education courses. However, we encourage you to complete these 24 hours immediately. Your contracting may be delayed because some carriers require updated courses.
- Take the same courses in Plan A or B, but do not take:
- The 8 hr Annuity course (only required one time)
NOTE!!!!
National Producers Number (NPN)
Once in a while doing the contracting process, some carriers may request your National Producers Number (NPN). If you are a brand-new agent and have never been contracted with any carriers, don’t be surprised if you don’t have an NPN. Once you get contracted with her first carrier you will be able to find your NPN.
NOTE!!!!
LIMRA Anti-Money Laundering
When you complete your CE’s AML course, you can submit the certificate along with contracting. However, many carriers will also require you to compelete AML with LIMRA. The will post AML information for their company.
LIMRA is a national database for Life Agents. New agents may not be in the system until you get your first appointment. You should continually check LIMRA every 6 months or after new contracting and confirm you completed. There is no Certificate to print, although some agents make a “screenshot” to confirm they completed it.
Below are instructions on how to logon to LIMRA’s AML.
New Agent LIMRA – You must register with Broker’s Alliance as shown in the image below.
Existing Agent LIMRA
Accessing LIMRA’s Anti-Money Laundering Courses
- Log onto the course at the following website address: https://aml.limra.com
- Your Username is the first four (4) characters of your last name (lowercase) combined with the last six (6) digits of your social security number, unless otherwise communicated.
- If this is your first time logging on to this site your Password is your last name (lowercase). If you have previously accessed the course please use the password you created at that time.
- If you have forgotten your password, make sure that your username is filled in and click “forgot password.” You will be prompted to answer your security question. Answer the security question correctly and it will allow you to reset your password.
- Please note that you will not receive a paper certificate of your completion of the course. The Home Page indicates whether or not you have completed the assigned materials. You do not have to notify our office when you complete the AML Training Course. LIMRA will eventually provide the carriers with a report informing them that you have completed the course. The date you last viewed or completed the course will be requested by the carrier or contracting office.
Should you have technical questions accessing the training site or navigating within the LIMRA site, please contact LIMRA’s customer-support help line at (866) 364-2380.
Get your E&O insurance today!
OPTION 1 – GROUP E&O: Only $120/calendar year (prorated) or $11/mo
Period: January 1 – December 31.
- Covered by National Casualty Company, Group Shared Policy
- Covers SCF approved carriers and products.
- Will not sponsor if majority of agents business is done with other entities.
- $1 million per claim, $2 million aggregate shared policy
- Life, Accident, Health, LTC, Disability, including Medicare Advantage and Medicare Supplement Plans PLUS Fixed Annuities (including indexed annuities)
- Variable Products and Mutual Funds.
- Also covers personal lines Property and Casualty products from admitted carriers for the following products: auto, recreational vehicles, watercraft, motorcycle, homeowners, renters, personal umbrellas, pet insurance and flood.
Option 2 – Individual E&O: Up to $560/year
Period: Rolling one year. Below are 3 companies we recommend. You are required to provide this policy to all your carriers and entities. Be sure to get coverage that includes INDEXED ANNUITIES.
- NAPA (url link – http://www.napa-benefits.org/nafa/errors-and-omissions)
- E&O for Less (link – https://www.eoforless.com/life/
- Calsurance (link – http://www.calsurance.com/csweb/agents.aspx)
For new agents, NAPA offers a great discount. Make sure you select Plan B (includes Indexed Annuities)
WARNING – Do not sign and date an Annuity application, and Life with Living Benefit plans unless you complete the Carrier Specific Training for Annuity and some carriers for Life. Your application will be REJECTED if you do not complete Product Training annually.
Contact the carriers or Brokers Contracting team to confirm that you are completely certified to sign and date the application.
Some carriers may require a CODE # to issue authorization to complete Product Training. Others allow you to complete Product Training while you are in the process of getting a code #.
Your SSN will be used to identify and match your completion with the contracting application.