How to get an Insurance producer license in Maryland

Who needs an Insurance producer license

Sell, solicit or negotiate insurance in the line(s) on your license. To act for an insurer you also need that insurer's appointment; the license alone gives no authority to bind an insurer.⁹

Work that does not need this license:

• No license is needed for insurer or agency officers and employees who earn no commission and only do administrative, underwriting, claims or technical-support work; employers and associations running their own employee-benefit plans without insurer pay; and people who only advertise in general media.¹

Requirements for an Insurance producer license

Minimum age

18 years old³

Exam

Maryland insurance producer licensing examination for each major line of authority requested (life, health, property, casualty, personal lines), given by Prometric²
Given by: Prometric (MIA testing vendor). Schedule at prometric.com/maryland/insurance or 1-800-610-1174.²
When you can take it: Pass the exam before you apply. A passing score is valid for 1 year; an older score may get the application rejected. Pay the $25 MIA application fee before taking the exam.¹⁰
Retakes: If you fail, you must wait at least 4 days before taking the exam again.¹¹
Exam waived: No Maryland exam if you are currently licensed for the same line in your home state, if you apply within 90 days after cancelling a license in good standing elsewhere, or if the NAIC producer database shows you are or were licensed in good standing for that line. If you move to Maryland, apply within 90 days of establishing residence to keep the lines you held.⁷

Background check

Background check required³
The Commissioner may deny a license for grounds listed in Ins. § 10-126, including wilful violation of insurance law, misrepresentation on the application, and felony or certain other convictions. People with felony convictions involving dishonesty need written consent under federal law 18 U.S.C. 1033; MIA handles those requests.¹²

Residency or citizenship

Maryland residents apply for a resident license. Residents of other states get a nonresident license through reciprocity. If you move to Maryland, apply for a resident license within 90 days. No citizenship requirement is stated.⁷

Business requirements

An agency (business entity) needs its own producer license ($54), filed on the NAIC Uniform Business Entity Application. It must name a Maryland-licensed producer as its principal contact with the MIA and list its licensed producers, owners, managers and directors. Everyone in the entity who sells must hold an individual license.¹³

Also required

Appointment: to sell for an insurer you also need that insurer's appointment. Maryland insurers keep their own producer register; appointments are not filed with or shown by the MIA.¹²

Also required

Variable life and variable annuity line: you need the life line plus FINRA Series 6, 7 or 63 and the SIE, and an active FINRA registration.²

How much an Insurance producer license costs

Each line is a separate charge as the board lists it. The board does not publish a combined total, so none is shown here.

The board's pages we cite do not list the exam fee.

How to apply

1. Pick your line(s) of authority (life, health, property, casualty, personal lines). No prelicensing course is required since October 1, 2024.¹⁵
2. Schedule and pass the Maryland exam for each line with Prometric (the statute also sets a $25 application fee before the exam). Scores are valid 1 year.²
3. Apply on the NAIC Uniform Individual Application, online through NIPR (or on paper by mail to the MIA), and pay the $54 license fee.²
4. Answer any MIA request for more documents within the time given; with no deadline stated, an application can be treated as withdrawn after 6 months of silence.¹⁶
5. Get appointed by each insurer you will sell for. Report changes of name, email or address to the MIA within 30 days.¹⁷

Apply online

nipr.com²

Temporary or provisional license

Temporary license (15 months, no exam, $27) only for the family, personal representative or staff of a deceased or disabled producer.⁸

Renewal and continuing education

How often

Every 2 years⁵

When it expires

Individual licenses run two years and expire on the last day of your birth month. Business-entity licenses expire 2 years from issue. CE must be finished at least 15 days before the expiry date.²

Renewal fee

$69² (Biennial renewal of an individual or business-entity producer license)

Continuing education

At least 24 hours each renewal period⁶

Required topics

At least 3 hours of ethics⁶
Hours must match your lines: property/casualty-only producers take "PC" courses, life/health-only producers take "LH" courses. If you hold both, at least 6 hours PC and 6 hours LH within the 24.⁶
Long-term care sellers: at least 2 hours of long-term care CE (counts within the total).⁶
Property/casualty producers selling flood, homeowners or commercial property insurance: at least 2 hours of flood CE (within the total).⁶

Approved courses

Courses must be approved by the Commissioner. All or part of the hours may be taken by correspondence or online. Prometric runs CE services; transcripts are on Sircon.¹⁸

Exemptions

Producers aged 70 or older and actively licensed on April 30, 2013 do not need CE (Bulletin 13-07). There are no new qualifiers.²
Limited-line credit producers and holders of only a limited lines license designated by the Commissioner are exempt.¹⁸
Nonresidents: meeting your home state's CE counts if your home state treats Maryland producers the same way.¹⁹

Late renewal

Reinstatement fee: $100² (reinstating an expired license within 1 year after expiry; paid on top of the $54 renewal fee and $15 fraud prevention fee)

If it expires

For up to 1 year after expiry you can reinstate: file the reinstatement application, pay the $54 renewal fee, $15 fraud prevention fee and $100 reinstatement fee, and show the missing CE. You may not do insurance business while expired. Reinstated within 60 days = back-dated to the expiry date; after 60 days = effective from reinstatement.²⁰
After 1 year you must apply as a new applicant and meet all initial requirements.²

Renew online

nipr.com²

Moving to Maryland with a license from another state

These are the routes MIA publishes for the Insurance producer license.

Military service members, veterans and spouses: A producer who cannot meet the renewal and reinstatement procedures because of service in the uniformed services (or a long-term medical disability) may have them waived. CE can also be waived on request.¹⁸

Check a license or report a problem

Before you hire an insurance agent in Maryland, you can confirm the license is current on the board's own search. Every board we cover in Maryland is on the Maryland license lookup page.

Look up a license

apps.insurance.maryland.gov¹⁵

Laws and rules

The requirements above come from these laws and board rules.

• Md. Code, Insurance §§ 10-103 to 10-120, 10-126 (Title 10, Subtitle 1: Insurance Producers)
• Md. Code, Insurance § 2-112(a)(5), (a)(6)(iii), (a)(6)(vi) and § 6-203(b)
• Md. Code, Insurance § 10-116.1 (reinstatement of expired license)
• COMAR 31.03.02 (Insurance Producers - Continuing Education Requirements)
• COMAR 31.03.09 (Staggered System for Renewal of Licenses)
• COMAR 31.03.20.02 (Valid License Exam Scores)

Common questions

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