All States Should Offer Online Life Agent Exams, Industry Groups Say

All states should offer online exams for would-be life insurance and annuity agents and brokers, to help all kinds of individuals join the industry, insurer and producer groups told state insurance regulators Tuesday.

The number of states offering online testing increased to 46 in 2023, from just five in March 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic began, the groups reported in a position paper submitted to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ Producer Licensing Task Force.

But three states have now dropped online testing options, pulling the number offering online testing down to 43, the groups said.

Backsliding on online testing will hurt would-be producers who live far from testing centers or have work or family obligations that make online testing a better fit, they added.

A team at the American Council of Life Insurers developed the position paper together with the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors and Finseca. Members of the Producer Licensing Task Force talked about the paper Tuesday in Chicago, during a session at the NAIC’s summer national meeting.

What it means: The ACLI, NAIFA and Finseca could persuade state insurance regulators to make changes that will help agents get and keep the credentials needed to help clients with life insurance and annuities.