How to get an insurance license in West Virginia: requirements, exam, and costs in 5 steps

Getting an insurance license in West Virginia takes five steps: complete 20 hours of approved pre-licensing education for each line of authority, pass the Pearson VUE licensing exam, submit fingerprints for a criminal background check, apply online through the National Insurance Producer Registry (NIPR), and wait for the Offices of the Insurance Commissioner (OIC) to issue your producer license. The fixed state fees are $84 for the exam, $47.25 for fingerprinting, and $50 for the application, plus the cost of your course. West Virginia licenses producers line by line, so your first decision is which lines of authority to pursue: Life, Accident & Sickness (Health), Property, Casualty, or Personal Lines.

Who must be licensed in West Virginia

Anyone who sells, solicits, or negotiates insurance on behalf of an insurer in West Virginia must hold an insurance producer license, the credential state law uses for what are commonly called agents and brokers. Under West Virginia Code §33-12-3^[1], selling, soliciting, or negotiating insurance without one is prohibited, and the state regulator penalizes it.

To become an insurance agent as a West Virginia resident, you must be at least 18 years old, live in the state, and satisfy the Insurance Commissioner that you are trustworthy and competent, according to the Pearson VUE West Virginia candidate handbook^[2]. You no longer need an insurance company to sponsor your application. NIPR's resident licensing requirements^[3] add two more screens: non-citizens of the United States must hold a resident license from one of the 50 states, and an applicant whose license has been revoked or suspended in any state cannot apply.

West Virginia licensing requirements at a glance

West Virginia licenses five major lines of authority for producers, and each line carries its own 20-hour education requirement and its own Pearson VUE exam, per the OIC's resident producer instructions^[4]. The table below shows the requirement for each path, including the combined Property and Casualty option.

The combined Property & Casualty row covers two lines in one course and one exam sitting. Every major-line exam requires a scaled score of 70 to pass. Most applicants finish the whole process, from first study session to issued license, within a few weeks, with most of that time spent on coursework and exam study.

Pre-licensing education: 20 hours per line

West Virginia requires 20 hours of approved pre-licensing education for each line of authority you want to sell: Life, Accident & Sickness (Health), Property, Casualty, or Personal Lines, per the OIC's resident producer instructions^[4]. Combined paths cost more study time: a combined Property & Casualty course covers 40 hours, and a combined Life and Accident & Sickness course also covers 40 hours.

You must take the course from a provider the OIC has approved, and you can search the approved-provider list through Sircon, the education tracking system the state uses. Courses come in classroom, self-study, and online formats, and the course final exam must be monitored by a disinterested third party, such as a librarian, rather than a family member or supervisor.

When you finish, the provider issues a Course Completion Certificate that is valid for six months from the completion date, per the OIC resident producer instructions^[4] and the September 2026 Pearson VUE candidate handbook^[2]. You must bring a paper copy of that certificate to the test center on exam day, because electronic versions are not accepted. If the certificate expires before you pass the exam, you must complete another pre-licensing course.

The West Virginia insurance exam

Every West Virginia insurance exam is administered in person by Pearson VUE, costs $84, and requires a scaled score of 70 on a 0-to-100 scale to pass, per the OIC fee schedule^[5], the OIC Licensing and Education Division^[6], and the Pearson VUE candidate handbook^[2]. You pay the exam fee when you reserve your seat, by credit card, debit card, or voucher. Fees are not accepted at the test center, are non-refundable, and can only be changed or canceled without forfeiting the fee if you give 48 hours' notice.

A candidate is limited to eight attempts to pass each line of authority under West Virginia Code §33-12-5^[1], according to the Pearson VUE candidate handbook^[2]. A passed score is valid for 12 months: applicants who are not licensed within one year of passing must complete pre-licensing education again and retake the exam. After a failed attempt, you must wait 24 hours before booking a re-examination, and you cannot book it at the test center.

What the exam covers

Each exam mixes national insurance content with West Virginia-specific law. The state sections test the licensing statutes, fingerprinting rules, appointment requirements, continuing education law, and mandatory reporting duties drawn from the West Virginia insurance code. Pearson publishes a content outline for every exam, effective June 16, 2026, in its West Virginia exam content outlines^[7], and the outlines show exactly how many questions sit in each section.

Scheduling and test day

Reserve your seat at least 24 hours before your desired date through the Pearson VUE West Virginia insurance page^[8] or by phone at 800-274-2614. Walk-in examinations are not available. West Virginia test centers include Beaver, Beckley, Bridgeport, Charleston, Hurricane, Huntington, Martinsburg, Morgantown, Moundsville, Parkersburg, Princeton, and Wheeling, and more than 400 Pearson VUE centers nationwide can administer the exam. Service members, dependents, and contractors with base access can test at select centers on military installations worldwide, per the candidate handbook^[2].

On exam day, bring two forms of signature identification, one of them a government-issued photo ID, and arrive 30 minutes before your appointment. Candidates who speak English as a second language can request extra time by calling Pearson VUE at 800-466-0450 before scheduling.

Fingerprinting and the background check

After you pass the exam, you must submit fingerprints for a state and federal criminal background check, and you must register with Identogo using the OIC service code 228NS5. If you do not use that code, the OIC cannot access your results, per the OIC fingerprinting FAQs^[9]. The requirement comes from West Virginia Code §33-12-37^[1], which authorizes criminal history record checks for producer applicants.

Under the OIC fee schedule updated August 19, 2026^[5], fingerprinting costs $47.25, paid to Identogo at the time you schedule, by e-check or credit card. Schedule at identogo.com or by phone at 855-766-7746, up to two weeks in advance; walk-ins are accepted first-come, first-served. Identogo transmits the prints to the West Virginia State Police and the FBI. Fingerprints are valid for 60 days, so candidates with older results must be printed again.

If you apply electronically through NIPR, you must fax the fingerprint receipt, which carries a 12-digit TCN number, to the OIC Licensing Division at 304-558-4966. NIPR's resident requirements note that the OIC requires the fingerprinting report within 15 days after you apply^[3]. Fingerprinting is not required for limited line applicants, non-resident licensees, or renewing producers, and producers licensed before June 1, 2015 are grandfathered unless they add a line on or after that date. If a submission is illegible, Identogo will re-fingerprint you at no charge if you resubmit within 90 days.

Applying for your license through NIPR

You submit the resident producer application online through NIPR, the National Insurance Producer Registry, and pay a $50 state fee, per the NIPR West Virginia state information page^[10]. NIPR lists any additional transaction fees at checkout.

The application package rests on three documents: your original Pearson VUE passing score report, your paper pre-licensing Course Completion Certificate, and your Identogo fingerprint receipt, per the Pearson VUE candidate handbook^[2]. NIPR asks applicants to allow 3 to 5 business days for exam information to reach its system, and the state will not approve the license until it verifies the exam. Check off all the lines you want on one application, because you must wait until the initial application is approved before adding lines, per NIPR's resident requirements^[3].

When the application is complete and the background check is clean, processing usually takes a few days. Questions go to the OIC Licensing and Education Division at 304-558-0610 or oicagentlicensing@wv.gov, per the resident producer instructions^[4].

Skipping the exam: waivers for designations and movers

Holders of certain professional designations can skip the licensing exam for the matching line. The Pearson VUE candidate handbook^[2] lists the waivers:

• Life line: CEBS, ChFC, CIC, CFP, CLU, FLMI, LUTCF
• Health line: RHU, CEBS, REBC, HIA
• Property and Casualty lines: AAI, ARM, CIC, CPCU
• All lines except Crop: a college degree in insurance

Recent movers get a different waiver. A person who held a resident license in another state can apply for a West Virginia license without pre-licensing education or the exam if they apply within 90 days of the cancellation date of the previous resident state's license. After 90 days, the full education and exam path applies.

Life insurance license in West Virginia

A Life license authorizes a producer to sell life insurance policies and annuities, and it requires the pre-licensing course for the Life line plus the Pearson VUE Life exam. The Life exam has 90 questions in 120 minutes, with 50 scoreable general-knowledge questions plus 5 unscored pretest questions, and 28 scoreable West Virginia questions plus 6 pretest questions, per the exam content outlines^[7]. There is no combined life and health exam: a candidate pursuing both lines takes the Life exam and the Accident & Sickness exam separately, with education completed for each line.

Accident and health insurance license in West Virginia

The Accident & Sickness line, commonly called the health insurance license, covers health and long-term care products, and it requires its own course and exam. The Accident & Health or Sickness exam has 90 questions in 120 minutes, built from 50 scoreable general-knowledge questions plus 5 pretest, and 30 scoreable West Virginia questions plus 6 pretest, per the exam content outlines^[7]. Many candidates earn the life and health insurance license pair together, since the two lines share a client base and the education can be taken in a single combined course.

Property insurance license in West Virginia

A Property license covers insurance on homes and other buildings and their contents, and it requires the Property course and the Property exam. The Property exam has 90 questions in 120 minutes, with 50 scoreable general-knowledge questions plus 5 pretest, and 30 scoreable West Virginia questions, per the exam content outlines^[7]. Flood insurance under the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) is a tested topic on Property exams.

Most property candidates also want the casualty line, and the state offers a shortcut: the combined Property and Casualty exam packs both lines into one sitting of 150 questions in 210 minutes, with a West Virginia section of 40 scoreable questions plus 8 pretest, per the content outlines^[7]. If you fail one part of the combined exam, you must retake the same combined exam, and you must pass both parts within 12 months of the first part passed, per the candidate handbook^[2]. That is the standard route to the property and casualty license, sometimes shortened to the P&C license.

Casualty insurance license in West Virginia

A Casualty license covers liability and related coverage, and it requires the Casualty course and exam. The Casualty exam has 90 questions in 120 minutes, with 50 scoreable general-knowledge questions plus 5 pretest, and 30 scoreable West Virginia questions, per the exam content outlines^[7]. Surety coverage is included within the Casualty line, so a producer who needs surety authority takes the Casualty path rather than a separate surety exam.

Personal lines insurance license in West Virginia

A Personal Lines license covers auto and homeowners insurance sold to individuals and families, and it requires the Personal Lines course and exam. The Personal Lines exam is the longest of the single-line tests: 120 questions in 150 minutes, with 75 scoreable general-knowledge questions plus 5 pretest, and 38 scoreable West Virginia questions, per the exam content outlines^[7]. NFIP flood insurance is a tested topic on this exam as well.

Licenses that skip the exam: limited lines and special licenses

Six limited lines require neither an exam nor pre-licensing education, because the 20-hour education requirement applies only to the five major lines: Car Rental, Credit, Surety, Title, Travel, and Self Storage, per the OIC license types list^[11]. Limited line applicants still apply through NIPR and pay the producer application fee. One restriction applies to Self Storage: an applicant who already holds an active producer license for Property & Casualty or Personal Lines cannot apply for it, per NIPR's resident requirements^[3].

Several special licenses carry their own rules:

• Surplus Lines. The exam has 50 questions in 60 minutes, the license fee is $200, and the applicant must have held a Property & Casualty license for three consecutive years immediately before applying, at least one of them as a licensed West Virginia agent, per the candidate handbook^[2]. NIPR adds that the applicant must actively hold both the property and casualty lines.
• Variable Life and Annuities. No OIC exam is required, but the producer must hold a Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) registration, supply a FINRA CRD number, and hold or be applying for the Life line, per the candidate handbook^[2].
• Crop. Crop is tested together with Property and Casualty rather than through its own exam, per the candidate handbook^[2].
• Viatical Settlement Broker. The exam has 35 questions in 60 minutes, and the individual license fee is $50, per the candidate handbook^[2] and the fee schedule^[5].
• Bail Bonds. Effective July 1, 2024, professional and surety bail bondsmen pass a 30-question exam in 90 minutes with an 80% passing standard, the only exam that does not use the scaled score. The license fee is $200, surety bail bondsmen need a Property & Casualty producer license or a limited lines surety designation, and professional bail bondsmen must post approved collateral with the OIC, per the candidate handbook^[2]. No pre-licensing education or continuing education is required for bail bonds.

Adjuster licenses in West Virginia

West Virginia requires adjuster licenses, and since July 1, 2021 it has issued three types: company adjuster, independent adjuster, and public adjuster, per the OIC adjuster FAQs^[12]. A company adjuster is a staff employee of an insurer paid by that insurer; an independent adjuster contracts with insurers or self-insurers; a public adjuster works for the insured on first-party property claims, per the OIC's adjuster definitions^[13].

Adjuster candidates do not complete pre-licensing education, but they must pass the Pearson VUE exam for their license type. Company and independent adjusters take a Property and Casualty exam of 80 questions in 90 minutes; public adjusters take a 45-question exam in 45 minutes; and the Workers' Compensation adjuster exam has 45 questions in 60 minutes, per the candidate handbook^[2]. The adjuster license fee is $50, and adjusters adding a new license type or line must be fingerprinted, with the same 60-day print validity producers face, per the OIC fee schedule^[5] and the adjuster FAQs^[12]. Adjusting firms must also hold a business entity license, which costs $200 per year. One exemption exists: a company adjuster employed by an out-of-state insurer who adjusts West Virginia claims solely by phone, fax, mail, or email and never physically enters the state does not need a license.

Non-resident licenses and reciprocity

West Virginia grants non-resident producer licenses by reciprocity under West Virginia Code §33-12-33^[1], so a producer licensed in another state applies through NIPR without retaking West Virginia's exams, per the OIC's non-resident instructions^[14]. Your identifying details, including your NPN, must match your home state's record in the Producer Database, per NIPR's non-resident requirements^[15], so correct any mismatch in your resident state before you file.

Renewal and continuing education

A producer license expires on the last day of your birth month every two years, and renewal requires 24 hours of approved continuing education (CE), including 3 hours of ethics, per the OIC Licensing and Education Division^[6] and the OIC CE requirements^[16].

Renewal windows and fees

The renewal window opens 90 days before expiration, and the renewal fee is $50, rising to $100 if you renew late, per NIPR's renewal requirements^[17] and the OIC fee schedule^[5]. A lapsed license can be late renewed through NIPR's Resident License Renewal application up to one year after expiration; after one year, you must apply as a new applicant. Partial renewals are not allowed, so you renew all active lines at once. Since March 1, 2025, the OIC has not mailed paper invoices, and renewal invoices arrive by the business email on file with NIPR.

Continuing education rules

CE providers have 30 days from your course completion date to file hours, so finish your coursework well before expiration, because a course taken in the final weeks may not post in time. NIPR verifies CE compliance before it lets you submit a renewal application, and compliance status can take up to 72 hours to update in NIPR's system. You must give your NPN to the CE provider, since the NPN doubles as the West Virginia license number. Up to 6 hours earned beyond the minimum carry forward to the next biennium, and ethics hours carry forward only as general credit. Producers licensed only in credit, surety, travel, title, crop, or car rental lines are exempt from CE but must still renew. Producers who sell only preneed products or act solely as telemarketers can file an affidavit that reduces CE to 6 hours, including 3 in ethics. Prometric administers the state's CE program.

Product training requirements

Three products carry extra training rules, and all of the hours count toward the 24-hour CE total:

• Annuities. West Virginia Rule §114-11B-6^[18] requires a one-time 4-hour annuity training course, and producers may not sell annuities until it is complete.
• Long-term care. West Virginia Code §33-12-8a^[19] requires 4 hours of long-term care CE each biennium for producers who sell those products.
• Flood insurance. Producers with a property line who sell NFIP policies must complete a one-time 3-hour flood training course, per the FEMA state training requirements^[20], and noncompliance can cost the producer the authority to write through the NFIP.

After your license is issued

Once licensed, you must be appointed by an insurance company before you can sell its products, a requirement set by West Virginia Code §33-12-18^[1]. Appointments cost the company $25 initially and $25 at each annual renewal, per the OIC fee schedule^[5]. You must inform the Insurance Commissioner of any name or address change within 30 days, and licensed producers must report any administrative action taken against them in any jurisdiction within 30 days of final disposition and any criminal prosecution within 30 days of the initial pretrial hearing, per the OIC's licensing instructions^[14].

Next steps

Start by choosing your lines of authority, since that choice drives your education hours, your exams, and your fees. Then search the approved-provider list on Sircon, complete the coursework, and register for your Pearson VUE exam while your certificate is fresh. After you pass, schedule fingerprints with Identogo using the OIC service code, and submit the NIPR application promptly so your exam score, prints, and paperwork all stay within their validity windows. From there, the license arrives electronically, appointments with insurers follow, and the renewal cycle begins with your first continuing education hours.