Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

For each line of insurance you want to be tested for you need a total of 20 hours Prelicense Education.  12 1/2 hours of the 20 can be Home Study but 7 1/2 hours for each line must be Classroom attendance.  Beginning in 2021, Illinois HB 1957 provides that a 7 1/2 hour Live Webinar will be considered "same as classroom" so long as (1) you participate the entire time and (2) the Live Webinar is interactive so you can ask questions and receive answers.  Virtual Live Class participation and attendance via an online meeting format such as "Zoom Meetings" are also considered "same as classroom" in Illinois.

PearsonVUE administers the Prelicense Examinations for all lines of Insurance in Illinois.  You can access PersonVUE to schedule your exam at https://home.pearsonvue.com/ or you may call to schedule your test at 866-904-4432

You may schedule to examine for up to two exams at a time for a single fee of $92.  Beginning in 2021 the definition of "two exams" means a "general exam" and a "state laws exam" for each line of insurance.  Translated, that means to test for "general knowledge" and "state laws" for one line is $92.  To test for the same for a different line would be an additional $92.  Therefore, to test for "property and casualty" the total exam fee will be $184.  If your exams are not each scheduled for the same day, the single fee still applies.  Follow the PearsonVUE link to find the cost of examination and explanations.

Download the Illinois Candidate's Handbook here.  Each examination will have questions about information contained in the Illinois Candidate Handbook so be sure to read it to remember.

You must complete 7.5 hours of classroom attendance + 12.5 hours of other Certified (e.g. Home Study) to equal 20-total pre-licensing hours in each line of insurance you wish to become licensed for.  Beginning in August 2021 a 7.5 hour Live Prelicense Webinar, or live Virtual class video in each line of insurance will satisfy the classroom requirement.

In Illinois you must complete the Prelicense Education requirement BEFORE you can take the state exam. After you subsequently pass the examination for each line of insurance and pay the necessary license fee for a two year licensing period, your license will permit you to sell the line or lines of insurance for which you qualified by examination.

You must carry proof of successful completion of the Pre-license education requirements to the exam center or you will not be permitted to take the license exam.  Your Certificate of Completion will be attached to your CEDaddy confirmation of course completion email.  Testing is administered by PearsonVue in two parts:  General knowledge and Laws.  You should read your state's version of the Candidate's Handbook by going HERE

Yes!  Remember you have to complete 12 1/2 hours of homework in addition to your 7 1/2 hour class for each line.  Successfully passing each course exam proves to the Course Provider and to the Department of Insurance you did your homework.

CEDaddy provides you with text material, flashcards and webinars to prepare you for the course exam.  You should take the course exam PRIOR to your 7 1/2 hour class.  The class will mean far more to you if you do that and your chances of passing the State Exam on the first try will be above 90%.

YES.  Illinois requires education must be completed prior to testing.  To prove you have completed your Prelicense Education you must take a Certificate of Course Completion (Illinois Exhibit C) with you to the testing center in order to claim your seat.  If you do not have it they will not seat you.

YES.  As soon as you have completed the online exam successfully for each line of insurance AND you have attended class for each line you will receive a Certificate Of Prelicense Course Completion for each line of insurance you qualify to test for.

On the day you have fully qualified for a Certificate CEDaddy will transmit the record of your Certification to State Based Systems (SBS) who will add it to your Education Transcript.  You will receive your printable Certificate in PDF format early in the morning on the day after we transmit to SBS.  DO set your exam for as immediately after your class as possible.......DON'T procrastinate in completing your online course exam.  Do it before class.

Well........yes and no.  No one can tell you what the questions will be.  PearsonVUE can administer up to 5 or more different exams at random without duplicating a question.  There is no way to know what questions are on your test.

However, there is a way to know what the questions will be about, and how many questions will be on each subject.  You can download an "Illinois Examination Content Outline" and print it if you wish (click the link).  It will tell you what subjects will be questioned, and how many questions may appear on each subject.  You may use that as a basic study guide if you wish.  CEDaddy Prelicense courses were written specifically following the Examination Content Outline for each line of insurance, so it will be familiar to you if you take a CEDaddy Prelicense course.

You may complete any CEDaddy Online CE course or On Demand Webinar anytime up to one year from the date of purchase.

You must accumulate a total of 24-certified continuing education credits (hours) each two year renewal cycle. 3-hours of Classroom or Live Webinar Ethics are included in the 24-hour requirement.  >In other words, you must have at least 21-hours of Traditional CE plus 3-hours of Live participation in Ethics<

Yes, it is now a perpetual requirement that you take a "class" or "class equivalent" 3 hour Ethics course during each renewal cycle.  A Live Ethics Webinar that is certified "same as classroom" is now the most popular way to satisfy the Ethics requirement in Illinois. DOI regulations allow you to re-take the same Ethics course and course number cycle after cycle. 

Traditional Con-Ed should = 21 and Ethics should = 3. If it has been several days since you completed a course but it does not appear in your record, you should immediately notify the folks you took your course with. They can fix that. If you don't get answers, call us.

DOI rules state that Producers are required to have completed and submitted all Con-ed requirements at least 30-days prior to your specific expiration date.  Your Illinois License Expiration Date is the last day of your birth month each two year cycle.

Beginning August 2012 Illinois no longer accepts paper renewal applications. All license renewals must be completed electronically via the NIPR database. To do this, your renewal credits must be on file at NIPR. This could take up to 10-days from the date your credits were posted by your provider.

Yes. Illinois Producers should keep a record of each Continuing Education Course for 5-years. You may not repeat a course of study for credit during the same renewal cycle.

NIPR (National Insurance Producer Registry) generally receives record of the credit hours transmitted to SBS on your behalf within one to two days. Holidays and weekends can extend the period. A course provider is allowed up to 10 days to transmit  your earned credits.  There is no guarantee that NIPR will electronically sweep on a "same day basis".  You cannot renew online with NIPR until their records show you as "Compliant" for renewal. This is a really good reason why you should complete your education requirements EARLY each period.

Illinois allows you to "Bank" or carry over a maximum of 12-hours (if that many remain after 24 are removed for your renewal). Any carry-over credits in excess of 12 will be eliminated (as if you never took them). Regardless of how many hours may appear in the SBS database, the actual maximum that will be "banked" toward your next renewal is 12-hours.  The actual number of excess hours in your bank will appear after you have renewed your license.

You have up to one year to reinstate. Once your renewal date has passed, you can re-instate online at the NIPR.com Licensing Center using the "new producer" option. At a certain point the system will recognize you and what you are doing.  You must pay the normal Renewal fee + an additional Penalty.

Note:  To Reinstate, you must have all 24-continuing education credits including Ethics Live-Class certification. Once you are compliant, it can take up to 10 days or more to reactivate the license online. Go to insurance.illinois.gov and follow the producer information link to read the latest bulletin.

No. You may take more than one Ethics Class, but only one will apply as "Ethics Compliance". Any others you take will be added to your record as "Traditional" Continuing Education. A 3-hourClassroom Equivalent Ethics course must be completed during EACH renewal cycle and cannot be carried over for the Ethics compliance requirement.

If you sell, or plan to sell, Annuities of any kind you must take a compliant 4-hour Annuity Suitability course before you can actively sell. If you have not taken the course, you are not authorized to sell annuity products in Illinois.  If you are a "non-resident" Producer who has satisfied the Annuity Suitability requirement for your home state you need not take an Illinois course.  Each insurer is also required by this same rule to conduct a similar course with respect to its own products. You will need to do both.

At this time you only need to satisfy the Annuity Suitability requirement once.

No. You only need to take the requirement in your Home State.

Yes. As we showed above, you need to be sure you have given NIPR sufficient time to sweep your credits from the SBS system. If your record shows that you are "Compliant" you may renew at nipr.com.  In Illinois you must renew online by going to NIPR.com and following the instructions there.

YES. Keep in mind that by August 2012 Illinois will not accept paper renewals.  All Producer Renewals must be completed online.

BEGINNING IN AUGUST 2012 THE DOI WILL NO LONGER PROCESS PAPER RENEWALS AND WILL ACCEPT ONLY ELECTRONIC RENEWALS

First you must take a specific certified 8-hour course titled Partnership Long Term Care designated as course number 25008. It will be your responsibility to keep a record of Compliance with this requirement forever (you will receive a proof of completion). You should only have to take this first requirement once. Insurers will require a copy of your proof of completion since Illinois does not keep records for this purpose.

A 4-hour Certified Long Term Care Continuing Education course is required each two year renewal period. Make sure it is Certified to Satisfy the LTC requirement.

If you fail to take the 4-hour LTC Con-Ed course, you will be given up to one year to satisfy the requirement. Failure to meet the 4 hour CE requirement means you will have to re-take the 8 hour requirement again. It is your responsibility to keep the records of course completions. Insurers are responsible to maintain proof of completions and will ask for your Certificate of Course Completion.