Under California Insurance Code §1631, a person may not solicit, negotiate, or effect contracts of insurance, or act in any capacity defined in Article 1 of the Insurance Code, unless that person:
A. Has at least two years of unlicensed clerical experience with a licensed agency
B. Holds a valid license from the Insurance Commissioner authorizing that capacity
C. Is directly supervised in person at all times by a licensed producer
D. Has registered as a business entity with the California Secretary of State
Show answer and reasoning
Correct answer: B. Holds a valid license from the Insurance Commissioner authorizing that capacity
- A: Unlicensed clerical experience is not a substitute for licensure under §1631.
- C: In-person supervision does not exempt an individual from the licensing requirement.
- D: Secretary of State business registration is a separate corporate filing, not an insurance license.
Source: California Insurance Code §1631 — license required to solicit, negotiate, or effect insurance contracts; https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=INS§ionNum=1631.
Per §1631, if an insurer already holds a certificate of authority to transact business in California, what effect does that have on the licensing article's requirements?
A. It automatically licenses every employee of that insurer as a producer
B. It waives the fingerprinting requirement for the insurer's producers
C. None — the certificate of authority does not exempt the insurer from complying with the licensing article
D. It substitutes for a notice of appointment for any agent selling that insurer's products
Show answer and reasoning
Correct answer: C. None — the certificate of authority does not exempt the insurer from complying with the licensing article
- A: A certificate of authority is an insurer-level authorization; it does not confer individual producer licenses.
- B: Fingerprinting is an applicant-level requirement unaffected by the insurer's certificate.
- D: Appointment notices under §1704 are still required separately.
Source: California Insurance Code §1631 — insurer's certificate of authority does not exempt it from producer-licensing rules; https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=INS§ionNum=1631.
Under California Insurance Code §1666, after the Commissioner has investigated an application and confirmed the applicant meets the prerequisites, when may a permanent license be issued?
A. Immediately upon filing the application, before any exam is taken
B. Only after the applicant has held a temporary license for one full year
C. Only after a second, independent background investigation by a different state agency
D. Upon the applicant meeting any applicable examination requirements
Show answer and reasoning
Correct answer: D. Upon the applicant meeting any applicable examination requirements
- A: The statute conditions permanent licensure on meeting applicable examination requirements, not on filing alone.
- B: There is no one-year temporary-license prerequisite described in §1666.
- C: §1666 does not require a second investigation by a separate agency.
Source: California Insurance Code §1666 — licensing examination as a condition of permanent license; https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=INS§ionNum=1666.
Effective January 1, 2026, under California's AB 943, what happened to the prior 20-hour line-specific pre-licensing education requirement for most producer applicants (including life)?
A. It was repealed for most lines, including property, casualty, commercial lines, personal lines, limited lines automobile, life, and accident and health/sickness
B. It was doubled to 40 hours for all lines to compensate for the elimination of the exam
C. It was replaced with a mandatory one-year supervised apprenticeship
D. It was left unchanged; only the ethics course hours were repealed
Show answer and reasoning
Correct answer: A. It was repealed for most lines, including property, casualty, commercial lines, personal lines, limited lines automobile, life, and accident and health/sickness
- B: AB 943 did not increase pre-licensing hours; it repealed the 20-hour requirement.
- C: No apprenticeship requirement was created by AB 943.
- D: It is the reverse: the 20-hour line-specific requirement was repealed while the ethics/code course was retained.
Source: AB 943 (2025, effective Jan. 1, 2026), repealing 20-hour pre-licensing education — CDI producer pre-licensing page; https://www.insurance.ca.gov/0200-industry/0030-seek-pre-lic/
After AB 943 eliminated the 20-hour line-specific pre-licensing requirement, which pre-licensing education requirement still remained in place for California producer applicants?
A. A 12-hour course on federal securities law
B. The 12-hour Ethics and California Insurance Code course, which includes 1 hour of insurance fraud education
C. A 12-hour course covering only claims-handling procedure
D. No pre-licensing education requirement remained at all
Show answer and reasoning
Correct answer: B. The 12-hour Ethics and California Insurance Code course, which includes 1 hour of insurance fraud education
- A: The retained course is Ethics/California Insurance Code, not federal securities law.
- C: The course is not limited to claims-handling procedure.
- D: The 12-hour Ethics and Code course requirement was explicitly retained, not eliminated.
Source: CDI pre-licensing FAQ, 12-hour Ethics and California Insurance Code course requirement retained after AB 943; https://www.insurance.ca.gov/0200-industry/0030-seek-pre-lic/0400-prelicensing-faq/0100-12-hours-of-ethics-california-insurance-code-frequent-questions
