What is required after a life agent sells an insurance policy to an applicant without being appointed?

A Life Accident & Health agent or broker is licensed to sell, solicit or negotiate life insurance annuities and/or accident & health insurance

• Life insurance is insurance that provides protection against the death of an individual in the form of a payment to a beneficiary.
• An annuity is an agreement that the insurance company will pay an income benefit, in specified periodic payments for the life of the insured, or for a specified period.
• Accident and health insurance is insurance covering accidental death or personal injury by accident, sickness, ailment or bodily injury.

A life agent or life broker may also be licensed to sell variable life and/or variable annuity products.  The Agent or Broker must hold the life line of authority and must be registered with  the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and must furnish the FINRA CRD number.

Agent vs Broker

A life, accident & health agent represents New York authorized companies for which he/she has been appointed. A company appointment is not required to obtain an agent license. However, a notice of appointment must be electronically submitted to the Department within fifteen (15) days from the date the agency contract is executed, or the first insurance application is submitted.

A life broker represents the insured and can place business with any New York authorized company that will accept it. Some companies will only accept business from appointed agents.

Prelicensing Requirements

To qualify for a license, the licensing candidate must meet the following prelicensing requirements:

• complete a Department approved prelicensing education course totaling not less than 40 hours of instruction for the life, accident & health authority or not less than 20 hours for either life only or accident & health only authority. Visit the Prelicensing Provider/Course List on the portal for provider contact information.
• pass, within 2 years of applying for the license, licensing exam administered by PSI Services.  Visit the Exam Vendor Information page for registration and scheduling instructions.
• A candidate applying for variable life/variable annuities authority must provide proof of having passed FINRA series 6, 7 or 63.

Exceptions from the prelicensing requirements:

• A candidate for the agent license who holds the Chartered Life Underwriter, or the Chartered Life Underwriter Associate designation may waive the education requirement and may take the Life and Health Laws and Regulations exam.

• A candidate for the broker license who holds the Chartered Life Underwriter designation, the Chartered Financial Consultant designation or a Master of Science in Financial Services may waive the education requirement and may take the Life and Health Laws and Regulations exam
• A candidate for the broker license may wave the education requirement if he/she were regularly employed by an insurance company, broker or agent for a period of not less than one year during the last three years in responsible insurance duties relating to the use of life insurance, accident & health insurance and annuity contracts in the design and administration of plans for estate conservation and distribution, employee benefits and business continuation. A person serving with the Armed Forces may also qualify on the basis of such experience if the one-year period of employment was during the three years next preceding his/her entry into the Armed Forces, and he/she applies within one year after discharge.  The candidate must submit a signed and completed Statement of Employer with the license application.

Application Requirements

Match the submission code numbers listed under the Resident or Non-Resident columns with the corresponding numbers on the Submission Requirements Chart to determine what must be submitted with the license application.

Any required documentation must be uploaded on the license application.

Fees and Renewal Period

Licenses are issued for up to 2 years.  Individual/tba licenses will be issued with an expiration date determined by the applicant’s date of birth:

• If born in an even numbered year, the license will expire on the birthday in an even numbered year.
• If born in an odd numbered year, the license will expire on the birthday in an odd numbered year. 

All licensing fees are non-refundable. A full fee is charged when a license is issued for a licensing period of more than one year; a half fee is charged when a license is issued for a period of one year or less.

For New York residents the full fee is $80, half fee is $40. 

Non-residents please see the Fee Schedules to determine the licensing fee.

Payment Options

Licensing fees may be paid by credit card, electronic funds transfer (e-check) or paper check.  If electing to pay by paper check, the application will remain pending until the Department receives and processes the check.

There is a $20 fee for any e-check or paper check returned by the bank for insufficient funds.

Apply Online

To access the individual/tba adjuster application, visit the DFS Portal:

DFS Portal

Check Status/Print License

The Department no longer mails paper licenses. Print the license as soon as it is issued.

Browsers and Blockers:

• Use a supported browser: The latest version plus one previous of IE, FF, Chrome and Safari, are supported.
• Disable “Pop-up Blockers” in your browser before using DFS portal applications.
• Maintenance: Application may be unavailable from 7:30am to 7:45am daily for scheduled maintenance.

Apply by paper application

You must email [email protected] to obtain a paper application and instructions.