The Massachusetts Personal Lines license

G.L. c. 175, 162K(a) asks a written examination of a resident individual applying for a producer license unless the applicant is exempt under 162O, and 162L(a) is what the commissioner must find before approving the application: at least 18 years old, no act that is a ground for denial, a prelicensing course of study "when required by the commissioner", the fees under section 14 paid, and the examinations passed for the lines applied for. Massachusetts is the state where the course was handed to the Commissioner rather than written into the law or struck out of it, and the Commissioner has not asked for one: the Division's own per-line table gives a single requirement for each line of authority, and for this one it is the examination.

Read at malegislature.gov on 2026-08-16

The Division's per-line table states it in one clause: the examination is required for Personal Lines unless the applicant already holds Property and Casualty on the license. That is the opposite direction to the trade the other states here offer, which sell a narrower examination to somebody who holds the narrower line. Massachusetts gives the narrower line away to somebody who has already sat the two wider examinations, which is what makes it a route and not a discount.

Read at the Department on 2026-08-16

G.L. c. 175, 162O(a). Somebody previously licensed for the same lines of authority in another state completes neither prelicensing education nor an examination. The exemption holds only while that other license is current, or else the application has to arrive within 90 days of its cancellation, with a certification from the other state that the applicant was in good standing when it was cancelled or a record of good standing for the line in the NAIC producer database.

Read at malegislature.gov on 2026-08-16

G.L. c. 175, 162O(b). Massachusetts writes this one as a duty rather than an option: a producer licensed in another state who moves here "shall make application within 90 days of establishing legal residence" to become a resident licensee under 162L. Neither prelicensing education nor an examination is required for a line of authority previously held in the prior state, unless the commissioner determines otherwise by regulation. The Division adds a sequencing trap of its own: the old resident license has to be cancelled rather than converted to a nonresident one, and it has to stay verifiable in the producer database.

Read at malegislature.gov on 2026-08-16