How to Get an Insurance License in Delaware

Delaware issues insurance licenses quickly because the state keeps its entry requirements lean: you must be at least 18 years old, pass the Pearson VUE exam for each line of authority you want, submit state and FBI criminal history reports, and apply online through the National Insurance Producer Registry (NIPR). The exam costs $90, and the producer license fee is $150, the $125 amount in the Delaware Code plus a $25 increase under House Bill 18 that took effect May 7, 2025, per the Delaware Department of Insurance fee bulletin^[1]. The Department reports a 24 to 48 hour turnaround on new applications. Delaware requires no prelicensing education, so a focused applicant can complete the entire insurance license process in a few weeks.

Who must be licensed to sell insurance in Delaware

Delaware law prohibits anyone from transacting insurance in the state without a license for that line of authority. Under Title 18, Chapter 17, Section 1703 of the Delaware Code^[2], a person must hold a producer, adjuster, or appraiser license covering the business they conduct. The producer license is the state's general insurance agent license, and Delaware law uses "insurance agent," "insurance broker," and "insurance consultant" interchangeably with "insurance producer," so anyone selling coverage follows the same licensing path. The Department stopped issuing separate consultant licenses on March 1, 2002, and state law does not permit a producer to charge fees in addition to premium, according to the Delaware Department of Insurance producer licensing FAQ^[3].

Lines of authority on a Delaware producer license

Delaware issues producer licenses under the major lines of the NAIC Producer Licensing Model Act: Life, Accident and health or sickness, Property, Casualty, Variable life and variable annuity products, and Personal Lines. Under Title 18, Section 1707 of the Delaware Code^[2], producers may also qualify for Fidelity and surety, Marine and transportation, and Title lines, plus limited lines such as Credit, Pre-need funeral funding, Travel, Bail, Automobile club, and Self-service storage.

Each major line requires its own Pearson VUE exam. The table below shows the scored question counts and time limits from the Pearson VUE Delaware insurance candidate handbook^[4]; each exam also includes unscored pretest questions.

All five major-line producer exams are also available in Spanish. Choosing your lines is a business decision as much as a licensing one: a life and health insurance license suits people who want to sell individual life, health, and annuity products, while a property and casualty combination covers auto, home, and commercial coverage. Adjusters hold their own lines, described later in this guide.

Resident license requirements in Delaware

A resident applicant must be at least 18 years old, must not have committed any disqualifying acts, must have paid the required fees, and must have passed the examinations for the lines of authority applied for, under Title 18, Section 1706(a) of the Delaware Code^[2]. Neither a college degree nor industry experience is required; the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics^[5] lists a high school diploma or equivalent as the typical entry-level education for insurance sales agents.

Fingerprints and the criminal background check

Every resident applicant must submit fingerprints to the Delaware State Bureau of Identification for both a state and an FBI criminal history report, and the applicant bears the cost, under Title 18, Section 1706(b)^[2]. The Delaware Department of Insurance licensing procedures guide^[6] assigns the service code 27S46Z to insurance license fingerprinting, and the Delaware State Police send the completed reports directly to the Department. Both reports must be dated within 90 days of the Department's receipt.

Disqualifying acts

The Insurance Commissioner may deny, suspend, or revoke a license for causes that include felony conviction, fraud, misappropriation of funds, or using fraudulent notes on the licensing examination, under Title 18, Section 1712(a)^[2]. Violations carry fines of $200 to $20,000 per violation under Section 1712(d). Nondisclosure of a past issue is itself a ground for denial, so answer every background question on the application truthfully.

Life insurance license in Delaware

The Life line of authority covers life insurance policies and annuities, and you earn it by passing the Pearson VUE Life Producer exam, which has 90 scored questions, 50 general plus 40 Delaware-specific, in 2 hours 15 minutes. Life-specific rule to know before your first sale: any producer with a Life or annuity line who sells annuity products in Delaware must complete a one-time, 4-hour approved training course before selling, soliciting, or negotiating annuities, a requirement in force since June 1, 2017 that applies to resident and nonresident producers alike, according to the Delaware Department of Insurance annuity training notice^[7]. The agent is responsible for proving compliance.

Accident and health insurance license in Delaware

The Accident and Health line covers health plans, disability coverage, and long-term care products, and its Pearson VUE exam has 92 scored questions, 50 general plus 42 Delaware-specific, in 2 hours 15 minutes. Health-specific rule: a producer holding the health line who solicits long-term care policies must complete at least 3 hours of Delaware long-term care training during the same biennium in which the policy was solicited, and those credits count toward the general continuing education requirement, per the Delaware Department of Insurance continuing education FAQ^[8]. Because the Delaware health exam already includes long-term care knowledge, the training does not have to be finished before your first long-term care solicitation.

Property insurance license in Delaware

The Property line covers insurance against damage to property such as homes and buildings, and its Pearson VUE exam has 85 scored questions, 50 general plus 35 Delaware-specific, in 2 hours 15 minutes. Property-specific rule: any resident licensee who writes flood insurance under the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) must complete a 2-hour flood insurance course as part of the 21 general credit hours required for license maintenance, according to the NIPR Delaware resident renewal requirements^[9]. Residents authorized to write homeowners or personal lines coverage fall under this requirement.

Casualty insurance license in Delaware

The Casualty line covers liability for injuries to other people and damage to their property, including auto liability and commercial liability coverage, and its Pearson VUE exam has 95 scored questions, 50 general plus 45 Delaware-specific, in 2 hours 15 minutes. Delaware licenses Property and Casualty as two separate lines, so candidates who want the full property and casualty authority take two exams, each scheduled through Pearson VUE. Each line covers both personal and commercial exposures, which is what distinguishes the pair from the narrower Personal Lines license.

Personal lines insurance license in Delaware

The Personal Lines line covers property and casualty products sold to individuals and families for noncommercial purposes, such as personal auto and homeowners policies, and its Pearson VUE exam has 115 scored questions, 75 general plus 40 Delaware-specific, in 2 hours 30 minutes, making it the longest of the major-line exams. A personal lines license is narrower than the Property and Casualty pair: it does not extend to commercial coverage. Personal Lines is also the one major line excluded from the same-day single-fee arrangement for multiple major-line exams, so it always carries its own exam fee.

Variable, title, surety, and limited lines in Delaware

Delaware's remaining producer lines carry their own rules, and several require no state exam at all. A producer license for variable products requires extra credentials: an applicant for the variable annuity line must already hold a life insurance license and be registered with the securities regulator named in Title 18, Section 1706(d)^[2] as the National Association of Securities Dealers, now FINRA. Per the NIPR Delaware resident licensing requirements^[10], no state exam applies to the Variable Annuities line, but applicants must supply a FINRA Central Registry Depository (CRD) number.

The other lines work as follows, per the Pearson VUE Delaware insurance candidate handbook^[4] and Title 18, Section 1709^[2]:

• Surety requires a 45-minute exam, and Marine and Transportation requires a 30-minute exam.
• Title requires a 45-minute exam, but an attorney licensed at the Delaware Bar is exempt from the exam under Section 1709(c).
• The limited lines of Credit, Travel, Automobile club, and Self-service storage require no exam; the pre-need funeral funding Life line does require the exam for residents.
• Bail producers take a 1-hour bail bond agent exam, post the $50,000 bond required by the Delaware Department of Insurance licensing procedures^[6], and pay a $250 license fee, the $225 amount in Title 18, Section 701(35) plus the $25 increase effective May 7, 2025.
• Resident crop producers must pass the Delaware Crop Exam.

Travel retailers can also operate under a Chapter 17B travel insurance producer license, which lets them offer travel insurance under a licensed producer and carries an initial fee of $1,025 plus the $25 increase effective May 7, 2025, or $1,050.

Adjuster licenses in Delaware

An adjuster license conveys the authority to investigate and negotiate settlement of claims in Property, Casualty, Fidelity and surety, Automobile, Marine and transportation, Crop, and Workers compensation insurance, under Title 18, Section 1707(d)^[2]. The resident path mirrors the producer path: pass the Pearson VUE adjuster exam for each line, submit state and FBI criminal history reports dated within 90 days, and apply through NIPR for a $150 fee, the $125 adjuster fee in Title 18, Section 701(27)^[11] plus the $25 increase effective May 7, 2025. Adjuster exam lengths range from 45 minutes for Surety, whose content outline took effect July 15, 2025, to 1 hour 30 minutes for Casualty, with Property, Motor Vehicle, Marine and Transportation, and Workers Compensation each running 1 hour or 1 hour 15 minutes.

Three adjuster variants have their own rules:

• The apprentice adjuster license, built for people entering the field with no experience, is valid for 1 year, requires no exam, and needs a statement from a licensed adjuster who assumes full responsibility for you; the fee is $100, the $75 statutory amount plus the $25 increase effective May 7, 2025, and the application goes to the Department on paper, per the Delaware Department of Insurance licensing procedures^[6] and Agent Bulletin No. 15^[12].
• The public adjuster license requires the Pearson VUE Public Adjuster exam, criminal history reports, a $20,000 bond, a copy of the contract filed under Title 18 Chapter 17A, and a $150 fee after the same increase, per the Delaware Department of Insurance public adjuster notice^[13].
• Catastrophe adjusters sent into Delaware by an insurer for a catastrophe loss need no license at all, provided written notice reaches the Commissioner within 10 calendar days of the work; an Emergency CAT license issued through NIPR runs 60 days at no charge, subject only to a small transaction fee, per the Delaware catastrophic adjuster notice^[14].

No resident of Canada may be licensed as a Delaware adjuster unless the person has passed the adjuster examination and met the other requirements, according to the producer licensing FAQ^[3].

Preparing for the Delaware insurance licensing exam

Preparation is entirely up to you, because Delaware imposes no coursework requirement. The Pearson VUE Delaware insurance candidate handbook^[4] states it directly:

The Delaware Department of Insurance does not require a specific program of pre-licensing education or otherwise pre-screen examination candidates.

Pearson VUE publishes the Candidate Handbook and free exam content outlines, effective January 15, 2025, as downloads on its Delaware insurance program page^[15]. Many candidates study from the outlines on their own; others take an exam prep course or use practice testing to close gaps before test day.

Taking the licensing exam with Pearson VUE

Pearson VUE administers every Delaware insurance licensing exam, and you schedule online or by phone at 800-274-0455, according to the Pearson VUE Delaware insurance candidate handbook^[4]. Reservations must be made at least 24 hours before the test date, walk-ins are not accepted, and changes or cancellations require 48 hours' notice or the fee is forfeited. The $90 exam fee is paid at the time of reservation by credit card, debit card, or voucher, is non-refundable and non-transferable, and is not accepted at the test center.

Candidates scheduling more than one major-line exam on the same day pay only one $90 fee, excluding Personal Lines, so a Life and Accident and Health pairing taken together costs one fee of $90. Each producer exam has two portions, content and statutes and regulations; a candidate who fails one portion retakes only that portion, but must pass it within 1 year of passing the first portion or retake the entire exam. Raw scores convert to a scaled score from 0 to 100, some exams require a 70 to pass and others an 80, and the required score appears on the candidate's score report. After a failed attempt, you must wait 24 hours before rescheduling, and reexamination reservations cannot be made at the test center.

On exam day, bring two forms of current signature identification, a primary government-issued photo ID and a secondary such as a Social Security card, and arrive 30 minutes early. Delaware test centers operate in Dover one day per week and in Newark three days per week, with additional sites in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Wednesday through Saturday) and Salisbury, Maryland (second and fourth Saturdays), plus hundreds of locations nationwide. Exam scores remain valid for 12 months from the examination date under Title 18, Section 1705(e)^[2], and passing results transmit electronically to NIPR within 2 to 5 business days, per the NIPR Delaware resident licensing requirements^[10].

Applying for your license through NIPR

Delaware accepts only electronic license applications, filed through NIPR since January 1, 2008, per Agent Bulletin No. 15^[12]; the exceptions are licensees on inactive status and apprentice applicants, who still file on paper. You apply after passing the exam, attach or transmit your criminal history reports, and pay the license fee. The Delaware Department of Insurance producer licensing FAQ^[3] reports a 24 to 48 hour turnaround on new applications, though delays can occur when administrative actions or background information require investigation. If you answer yes to a background question, supporting documents go to the state through NIPR's Attachments Warehouse or directly by mail, email, or fax.

House Bill 18 of the 153rd General Assembly^[1] raised the licensing fees under Title 18, Section 701 of the Delaware Code^[11] by $25 effective May 7, 2025, so applicants pay the following amounts:

A surplus lines broker applicant must already hold an active producer license for the lines requested, and a business entity must designate a licensed producer responsible for compliance; an entity with no affiliated producers has its license lapse automatically. Adding a line of authority to an existing license requires an amendment, which carries a $75 fee, the $50 amendment fee in Title 18, Section 701(24) plus the same $25 increase.

After your license is issued: appointments, printing, and changes

A producer license alone does not let you act as an insurer's agent; the insurer must appoint you. The insurer files its notice of appointment within 15 days from the date the agency contract is executed or the first insurance application is submitted, under Title 18, Section 1715(b)^[2], and the Commissioner verifies eligibility within no more than 30 days. The one-time appointment fee is $50 per insurer, appointments are permanent unless cancelled, and the termination of your final appointment does not terminate your license, though you may not act as an agent of an insurer until re-appointed.

Delaware does not mail a paper license at renewal or reissue one. Through State Based Systems (SBS) Online Licensee Services, described on the Delaware Department of Insurance producer licensing division page^[16], licensees can print unlimited copies and view detailed license information for $5.95 per year. Address changes are free and are made through NIPR, must be reported within 30 days, and name changes require Form 2C with proof of the change and the filing fee, mailed to the Department at 1351 West North Street, Suite 101, Dover, DE 19904.

Renewing your Delaware license and continuing education

Resident producers renew every two years by February 28 of even-numbered years, with the renewal window opening December 1 of the preceding year, and nonresidents renew by February 28 of odd-numbered years, per the NIPR Delaware resident renewal requirements^[9] and the Delaware Department of Insurance nonresident renewal notice^[17]. The current nonresident cycle closes February 28, 2027. The producer renewal fee is $150, the $125 renewal amount in Title 18, Section 701(23)^[11] plus the $25 increase effective May 7, 2025. Producers initially licensed within the 90 days before a renewal deadline, December 1 through February 28, owe no renewal fee for that biennium under the same section. All lines of authority must be renewed together; partial renewals are not accepted.

Continuing education (CE) is the condition of renewal. Resident producers must complete 24 credit hours of Department-approved education each biennium, 3 of which must be in ethics, according to the Delaware Department of Insurance continuing education FAQ for Regulation 504^[8], while adjusters, public adjusters, and fraternal producers complete 12 hours including 3 in ethics. Each biennium runs from March 1 to the last day of February in an even year. Newly licensed individuals owe no CE in the biennium in which they are licensed, limited lines producers are CE-exempt, and individuals licensed 25 years or more, or holding a designation such as CPCU, CLU, CFP, or CIC, receive an automatic credit of 12 credits per biennium that cannot satisfy the ethics requirement. Up to 5 credits carry over, but never for ethics. Line-specific training for long-term care, annuities, and flood is described under each line earlier in this guide.

Missing the deadline has a price. A licensee who fails to renew on time may reapply within 12 months without reexamination, but under Title 18, Section 1707(g)^[2] pays a penalty of double the unpaid renewal fee if the fee arrives within the first 6-month grace period, and may face a civil fine of $200 to $1,000 in the second 6-month grace period. A $200 CE late fee applies on top of the late fee when credits are not completed by February 28, and unmet CE can draw penalties up to a $2,000 fine and license suspension under the Pearson VUE candidate handbook^[4]. Nonresident producers are exempt from Delaware CE and need only satisfy their home state's requirement; nonresident adjusters follow their Designated Home State's CE, and complete Delaware's 12-hour requirement when their home state imposes none, per the Delaware nonresident adjuster CE notice^[18].

Nonresident licenses, reciprocity, and moving to or from Delaware

Delaware issues a nonresident license to an applicant who is licensed and in good standing in their home state, pays the same producer fee as residents, and comes from a state that awards nonresident licenses to Delaware residents on the same basis, under Title 18, Section 1708(a)^[2]. Nonresident adjusters whose home states impose no adjuster exam requirement must satisfy Delaware's examination requirements instead. An applicant with no resident adjuster license may select Delaware as their Adjuster Designated Home State while applying for the nonresident Delaware license, though public adjusters cannot designate a home state, per the NIPR nonresident adjuster requirements^[19].

Licensees who move follow streamlined rules:

• A producer licensed in another state who moves to Delaware must apply within 90 days of establishing legal residence, and needs no exam for lines previously held, under Title 18, Section 1709(b)^[2].
• A person previously licensed for the same lines in another state is exam-exempt if licensed or if the application arrives within 90 days of the prior license's cancellation and the prior state certifies good standing, under Section 1709(a).
• A producer leaving Delaware can obtain a Letter of Clearance for $5, and Delaware allows a 30-day window to obtain the new resident license, per the producer licensing FAQ^[3].
• A resident license can be held while living in another state only when Delaware is the licensee's home state, meaning their principal place of residence or employment with a Delaware-licensed business entity that has a physical, public-facing Delaware location; a registered agent service or a Delaware postal box does not establish residency.

The Commissioner may also issue a temporary producer license for up to 180 days without examination, most often on the death, disability, or military service of a licensed producer, under Title 18, Section 1711^[2]; the temporary license fee is $100, the $75 statutory amount plus the same $25 increase.

What to do next

Start with the exam content outline for the line you intend to sell, free on the Pearson VUE Delaware insurance page^[15], and build a study plan around it. Then work the sequence in order: create your Pearson VUE web account with your legal name as it appears on your government ID, schedule the exam at least 24 hours ahead, and pay the fee at reservation. Book your fingerprint appointment with the Delaware State Police using service code 27S46Z so your state and FBI reports reach the Department dated within 90 days. After you pass, submit the electronic application through NIPR with the license fee, expect a decision within 24 to 48 hours, and let your first insurer file its appointment within 15 days of your contract so you can start selling.