License Florida 4-40 Must Act Under The Authority Of A 2- 20

License Florida 4-40 statutes require individuals involved in the transaction of insurance to be licensed and appointed, and insurance agencies to be licensed or registered (see question #3 for more on agency licensing). The Florida Department of Financial Services (FLDFS) offers a number of licenses for Florida residents, as well as nonresident equivalents for many of them. The major resident licenses include the General Lines (2-20) license, which is the broadest property-casualty agent's license, and the Life, Health & Variable Annuity (2-15) license, which is the broadest in the life-health category.

Because unlicensed employees are not allowed to discuss coverage’s or sell insurance, FLDFS offers licenses designed for customer service representatives (CSRs) who don’t do outside sales but do discuss coverages with clients and may solicit insurance from within the office. The Customer Representative (4-40) license is intended for an agency CSR and is more limited than the 2-20 in various ways, the primary one being that a License Florida 4-40 must act under the authority of a 2- 20 "supervising agent.”

The Limited Customer Representative (4-42) is similar to the License Florida 4-40, but is limited to personal auto insurance. In 2004 FLDFS introduced the Personal Lines Only (20-44) agent's license as an alternative to the 2-20. This license enables the licensee to act as a full-fledged agent but only for personal lines of insurance, such as homeowners and personal auto. A 20-44 agent may not be the responsible agent in the office (it must be a licensed 2-20 agent) There are several limited life-health licenses available, the main ones being the Life & Variable Annuity (2-14) license, and the Health-only (2-40) license. Although the 2-20 is primarily a property-casualty license, it includes a qualification for health insurance so, if someone with a 2-20 obtains an appointment from a health insurance carrier, DFS will automatically issue them a License Florida 4-40 without their having to take another licensing class or exam.

Most of the major licenses (including all of those mentioned above) require passing an exam, but some of the more limited licenses do not require one. For most of the Florida resident licenses, a new resident can qualify for “transfer of license” if they’ve held the same type of license for at least a year in their previous home state, and they apply for their Florida license within 90 days of moving here. They’ll have to meet various requirements including providing a “letter of clearance” from their previous state for License Florida 4-40.

The Florida Department of Financial Services (FLDFS) provides a detailed explanation of what you need to do, including the difference between being “licensed” and being “registered,” so you can determine which is appropriate for your agency.

License 440 - Getting a 440 License Florida

The license 440 allows you to work directly with customers, but only inside the office and under the supervision of a 2-20 agent. A license 440 CSR is appointed by the supervising 2-20 agent, instead of being appointed directly by an insurer. The 4-40 is intended to be a license for service and inside-sales personnel who need to be able to talk to customers about insurance. Florida statutes specify that a 4-40's compensation must be "primarily salary based." In other words, they may be paid commission, but their compensation cannot be primarily commission based. The license 440 is an excellent choice for getting started quickly, as the state exam requirement is waived, and the license may later be converted to a 2-20 or 20-44 if needed. The license 440 is not a good choice if you need to sell insurance outside the agency location, or outside the supervision of a 2-20 agent (for example, from home or at a branch that does not have a 2-20 agent). Both the agent in charge and the 4-40 should be aware of the limitations of this license.

The basic steps for getting any license 440 in Florida are more or less the same.

1. Pre-licensing education

First, if your license has an education requirement, you attend an insurance school such as ours. The General Lines Agent license, which allows you to sell all types of Property and Casualty insurance in Florida, has a 200 hour education requirement. The requirement can be done online. When you pass our course, we notify the State right away. The Department of Financial Services (DFS) lists the requirements for each license.

2. Pass the state exam

After you pass a course, you need to pass the state exam. A good prelicensing course should leave you in good shape to pass the state exam. You may need to do some studying if you want to be sure you pass on your first try. You can attend even if you did not attend our school for your licensing requirement -- many people do just that. The exam prep cuts down study time and makes sure all the concepts you learned in your course are clear and easy to remember.

3. Fingerprinting

As an insurance professional, various parties trust you with their money. As a result, the law requires people applying for licenses to be fingerprinted. The fingerprints are used for a criminal background check, which can take up to 10 days (barring complications, it is usually faster). DFS may change their fingerprinting vendor from time to time.

4. Complete your application with the Department of Financial Services (DFS)

By this time, the DFS has your course certificate, your exam score, and the background check from your fingerprinting. All that's left is to complete your license application and pay the fee for your license.

5. Any time you need help, ever

If you're looking for more information about which license to get and what the requirements are, call our Tampa office at 813-962-4297. Later if you need help for license 440 with what to do next, or you've run into a difficult situation in your career, give us a call. We help our students after they graduate, and we don't charge for answering their questions.