Illinois Insurance Prelicensing Requirements

Updated April 25, 2025

ExamFX Provider #104146

ILLINOIS INSURANCE PRELICENSING INFORMATION

Illinois requires producer licensing candidates to take and complete a state-approved prelicensing course. Potential agents must complete 20 hours of education and 7.5 of those hours must be completed in a classroom or web class. You will also need to apply to your license with the state insurance department and register for the state licensing exam. Make sure to register for all 3 (prelicensing course, license application, state exam) using the personally identifiable information exactly as it appears on your government-issued ID. Discrepancies will delay the licensing process.

LINE OF AUTHORITY		REQUIRED HOURS OF STUDY
Life		20 hours
Accident and Health		20 hours
Property		20 hours
Casualty		20 hours
Personal Lines*		20 hours

* ExamFX does not offer the Personal Lines prelicensing course.

HOW DO I COMPLETE MY EXAMFX PRELICENSING EDUCATION COURSE?

Illinois requires 20 hours of prelicensing education for each line of authority and 7.5 of those hours must be completed in a classroom or web class.

To earn your certificate of completion:

Read every chapter and take the end-of-chapter quiz.
Score 70% or better on each chapter quiz before progressing to the next chapter.
Attend the required 7.5 hours per line classroom/web education portion of the course.
Complete and pass the Certificate Exam with a score of 70% or better.

Your exam will be based on the Illinois exam outline, which can be found in PearsonVUE's Candidate Handbook.

DON'T FORGET YOUR READINESS EXAM!

ExamFX is so confident in the quality of its material that we offer our customers a first-time Pass Guarantee. If you don’t pass the first time around, we will refund your money. To qualify for this offer, you must pass our Readiness Exam with a score of 80% to determine maximum exam readiness and take Licensing Exam within 3 calendar days. While completing this portion of your online course is not required, we highly recommend taking this extra step

For more details see https://www.examfx.com/resources/pass-guarantee.

HOW DO I GET MY LICENSE?

Step 1: Complete a prelicensing course that has been approved by the Department of Insurance. Once you have completed your course, ExamFX will review your completion to verify that you have attended the required classroom portion of the course and completed your Certificate exam. The Certificate of Completion is valid for 1 year. ExamFX recommends completing the licensing process within 6-9 months of course completion.

Step 2: Schedule your exam with your state’s testing provider, Pearson VUE. The fastest way to schedule your exam is to go online or call (800) 274-0402. Your exam must be taken at a physical Pearson VUE examination center.

Step 3: Take and pass your state licensing exam. On the day of your appointment, you must bring with you two valid forms of government issued identification (driver’s license, passport, military I.D., etc.) one of which must contain your name and photograph. You need to bring a copy of the signed Certificate of Completion to the state exam. You will not be able to take your exam if these requirements are not met.

The score report will be provided at the Pearson VUE testing site.

Step 4: Apply for your license. You must wait at least 5 days after passing the licensing exam before you may apply for your license. Once you have waited the necessary amount of time, apply online with NIPR.

Step 5: Maintain your license by being aware of your continuing education requirements. Most insurance licenses must be maintained by completing a certain number of credit hours of CE each licensing period. ExamFX offers CE courses that will help you comply with your state’s requirements. Click here to view your state’s education rules and stay on top of your license.

EXAMS AND STUDY MATERIALS IN SPANISH

State exams are offered in Spanish. The following ExamFX courses include the option to study in both English and Spanish:

Life
Health

WHAT WILL MY EXAM BE LIKE?

Your exam experience is dependent on the line of authority you are testing for. Review the exam summaries below. The exam content outlines can be found on the testing provider's website.

The breakdown of testing topics can be found here.

The number of questions on your exam
The time limit
The score that you must achieve to pass the exam

Important: The Practice Exam and the Certificate Exam in your course will be divided into two sections: General Knowledge and State Law. You are required to achieve a passing score on each of the two sections of the Certificate Exam to obtain your certificate of completion.

In order to obtain a license, you are required to pass two individual state examinations: General Knowledge Examination and State Law Examination.

Illinois Life Insurance Examination

94 Total Questions (81 scored, 13 pretest)
Time Limit: 85 Minutes for General Knowledge Exam and 50 Minutes for State Law Exam
Passing Score: 70%

Train for your test with our Illinois Life exam prep course.

Illinois Accident and Health Insurance Examination

102 Total Questions (89 scored, 13 pretest)
Time Limit: 80 Minutes for General Knowledge Exam and 55 Minutes for State Law Exam
Passing Score: 70%

Train for your test with our Illinois Health exam prep course.

Illinois Property Insurance Examination

92 Total Questions (80 scored, 12 pretest)
Time Limit: 85 Minutes for General Knowledge Exam and 50 Minutes for State Law Exam
Passing Score: 70%

Illinois Casualty Insurance Examination

99 Total Questions (87 scored, 12 pretest)
Time Limit: 80 Minutes for General Knowledge Exam and 55 Minutes for State Law Exam
Passing Score: 70%

Train for your test with our Illinois Property and Casualty exam prep course.