How to get a Texas life and health license

Getting a Texas General Lines - Life, Accident and Health (GLAH) license is a short sequence of steps, but the order matters and one deadline catches people out. This walkthrough follows the Pearson VUE candidate handbook (#124400) and the Texas Insurance Code.

Before you start: who qualifies

You must be at least 18 before you sit for the exam and have a valid Social Security number. The Texas Insurance Code (4001.105) also requires that you have passed the exam within the past 12 months, that there are no grounds for denial, and that you file an application with fees.

The steps, in order

The handbook lays out the process like this:

1. Reserve your exam with Pearson VUE. You reserve at least 24 hours ahead, so there are no walk-ins.
2. Reserve your fingerprinting appointment with IdentoGO by IDEMIA.
3. Take the exam. What's on the Texas life and health exam covers the format and outline.
4. Get fingerprinted. Texas resident applicants are fingerprinted unless their prints are already on file with the Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) for an active license. The prints go against Texas DPS and FBI records, and your application is not processed until both reports come back.
5. Apply electronically through Sircon (sircon.com/texas).

The 12-month rule

Apply within 12 months of passing the exam, or you have to take it again. Passing and then waiting is the most common way to lose an exam result, so line up your fingerprints and application while the pass is fresh.

Getting appointed

A license alone does not let you sell. A licensee may not act as an agent until an authorized insurer appoints them (Texas Insurance Code 4001.201). The appointment then continues without renewal until the insurer or the agent ends it. If you plan to represent more than one insurer, each additional appointment is reported to TDI within 30 days of its effective date. Because the insurer's product mix usually decides which license you need, ask an employer or agency what they appoint before you register. Texas life-only vs life and health license compares the two licenses.

Ways around the exam

The handbook and Insurance Code 4002.003 list several exemptions from the exam:

• the CLU designation, for the life and health license,
• licensed nonresidents from states that reciprocate,
• new Texas residents who held the same license in their previous state within the last 90 days,
• renewal of an unexpired license, or a license that expired less than a year ago.

If none applies, you take the exam.

Can you start before you pass?

Sometimes. A temporary license lets an applicant work under an agent, insurer or HMO sponsor for 180 days without having passed the exam, with tight restrictions. Texas temporary insurance license explained has the details.

After you are licensed

The license runs for two years and expires on your birthday, and you owe continuing education to renew. Texas insurance license renewal and continuing education covers both. If you are also thinking about property and casualty, how to get a Texas property and casualty license walks through the parallel process.

Prepare for the exam step

The exam is the part you control most. Encodr's free Texas Life and Health course covers the whole outline, and the study schedule generator turns your exam date into a day-by-day plan. Browse every certification course on the Encodr exam prep hub.