The short answer
- You need a 2-14 or 2-15 license. Most agents get the 2-15, which covers life, health and variable annuities.
- Florida requires a state-approved pre-licensing course: 30 hours for the 2-14, 60 hours for the 2-15.
- You then pass a state exam at a Pearson VUE center, submit fingerprints, and apply through the MyProfile portal at MyFloridaCFO.
- Budget roughly $250 to $500 total — course, exam, application and fingerprinting — and two to six weeks depending on how fast you study.
- The license alone does not let you sell. You also need to be appointed by a carrier, which an agency handles for you through contracting.
Getting licensed in Florida is a paperwork problem, not an academic one. There is no degree requirement, no experience requirement, and no sponsorship requirement to sit for the exam. What it takes is a state-approved course, a passing score, a background check and a few hundred dollars.
Step 1 — Pick your license type
Florida issues several lines of authority. Two matter for someone selling life insurance:
| License | What it covers | Pre-licensing hours |
|---|---|---|
| 2-14 | Life insurance, including annuities and variable contracts. No health. | 30 hours |
| 2-15 | Life, health, and variable annuity contracts — the broader license. | 60 hours |
If you are certain you will only ever write life products, the 2-14 gets you there in half the coursework. If there is any chance you will touch health insurance, or you want the option, take the 2-15.
Step 2 — Complete the pre-licensing course
Florida requires the course to be from a state-approved provider. It is available online and self-paced from a number of schools, and pricing is generally in the range of $100 to $250. The clock is a state requirement, so a 60-hour course is genuinely 60 hours of seat time — providers track it.
You have to complete the course before you are eligible to sit for the exam, and the completion has a shelf life, so do not take the course and then wait a year.
This is where almost everyone loses time
The course is the only part of the process that depends entirely on you. Someone doing four focused hours a day finishes a 60-hour course in about two weeks. Someone doing an hour when they feel like it takes three months and re-reads the early material. If you want to be licensed fast, block the time on a calendar before you start.
Step 3 — Get fingerprinted
Florida requires electronic fingerprinting through the state's approved vendor for the background check. Schedule this early rather than last — the results have to reach the Department of Financial Services before your license can be issued, and it is a common source of delay at the end when everything else is done.
Step 4 — Pass the state exam
The exam is administered by Pearson VUE at testing centers around the state. You schedule it yourself after finishing the course. It is multiple choice, timed, and covers both general insurance concepts and Florida-specific statutes and regulations.
- The Florida law portion is where unprepared candidates fail. General insurance concepts feel intuitive; state statute does not, and it is a meaningful share of the questions.
- Take the practice exams your course provider includes, repeatedly, until you are consistently scoring well above passing. Familiarity with question phrasing matters as much as knowing the material.
- You get your result the same day. If you do not pass, you can retake it after paying the fee again — a setback, not a disqualification.
Step 5 — Apply through MyProfile
The application goes through the MyProfile portal on the Florida Department of Financial Services site at MyFloridaCFO.com. You will need identification, your employment and residential history, your exam result and your fingerprint confirmation. Answer the background questions completely and accurately — an undisclosed item found later is a far larger problem than the item itself usually is.
What it costs
| Item | Approximate cost |
|---|---|
| Pre-licensing course (2-14 or 2-15) | $100 – $250 |
| State exam fee, per attempt | About $44 |
| License application, per line of authority | About $50, plus a small ID fee |
| Electronic fingerprinting | About $50 |
| Realistic total | Roughly $250 – $500 |
Step 6 — Get appointed, which is the part people forget
A license permits you to be appointed. It does not by itself let you write business. Before you can sell a carrier's product you must be appointed with that carrier, which means going through contracting — a packet covering your background, banking details for commissions, errors and omissions coverage and carrier-specific training.
Carrier appointments commonly take three to ten business days to process, sometimes longer. A good agency starts your contracting paperwork before your license posts so the two finish close together instead of back to back. If nobody mentions contracting to you until after you pass the exam, expect to sit idle for a week or two.
How long the whole thing takes
- 01
Fast track — about two weeks
Full-time study on the course, exam booked the moment you finish, fingerprints done in week one, contracting started in parallel. This is achievable and people do it.
- 02
Typical — three to five weeks
Studying around a current job, a week between finishing the course and sitting the exam, then a few days for the application and appointments.
- 03
Slow — two to three months
Studying casually with no deadline. The material is not harder; the calendar just stretches. This is the most common outcome and the most avoidable one.
After the license: what actually determines whether you make money
The license is the entry fee, not the business. What separates agents who build an income from agents who quit in ninety days is fairly consistent, and none of it is on the exam:
- Lead flow. Where the conversations come from, whether you pay for them, and what they cost. This is the single largest variable in a new agent's first year.
- Carrier access. An independent agency appointed with multiple carriers can place a client another agent has to decline, which turns declines into issued policies.
- Someone who has done it sitting on your calls in the first sixty days. Reading a script is not the same as running a call.
- Runway. Commission-only means unpaid weeks at the start while contracting completes and the first policies issue. Knowing that going in is the difference between a slow start and a crisis.
Requirements, hours, fees and procedures are set by the Florida Department of Financial Services and its vendors and can change. Verify all current requirements at MyFloridaCFO.com before making decisions. This page is general information, not legal or licensing advice. Fastlane Financial is not a licensing school and does not provide pre-licensing education.
Common questions
- How long does it take to get a life insurance license in Florida?
- Two to six weeks for most people. The variable is almost entirely how quickly you get through the pre-licensing course — 30 hours for the 2-14 or 60 for the 2-15. Studying full-time, two weeks is realistic. Studying around a job, three to five weeks is typical.
- Do I need a college degree?
- No. Florida requires you to be at least 18, complete the approved pre-licensing course, pass the state exam and clear a background check. There is no degree or prior experience requirement.
- How much does it cost to get licensed in Florida?
- Roughly $250 to $500 all in — the pre-licensing course, the exam fee, the license application and fingerprinting. Confirm current fees at MyFloridaCFO.com. Be cautious of any agency charging you a fee to be hired; the license costs are paid to the state and your course provider, not to an employer.
- Can I get licensed with something on my record?
- Often, yes, depending on what and when. Florida reviews criminal history case by case, with waiting periods that vary by the nature of the offense. Disclose everything on the application — an undisclosed item discovered during the background check is treated far more seriously than most underlying offenses.
- Should I get the 2-14 or the 2-15?
- Most new agents take the 2-15. It requires 60 hours of pre-licensing instead of 30 but covers health insurance in addition to life and annuities, which keeps your options open. Take the 2-14 only if you are certain you will write life products exclusively.
- Do I need a license in every state I want to sell in?
- Yes. Your Florida license is a resident license; selling to a client in another state requires a non-resident license there. Non-resident licenses are much simpler — generally an application and a fee, with no additional exam — and agencies typically help you add states as you need them.
Still interested after reading all that?
That is the point of writing it this way. The application takes about three minutes and every answer gets a straight response about what it means for you.
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Last reviewed 2026-08-30.