The West Virginia Casualty license

West Virginia is the one state in this phase that still requires a course, and the duty is at 33-12-6(a)(9): "For new agents first licensed on or after July 1, 1989, completes a program of insurance education as established in section seven of this article." 33-12-7 is the Board of Insurance Agent Education's own section, and it is machinery rather than a duty: the Board sets the criteria each year and the Commissioner and Board may approve a course presenting those criteria and "the number of hours that the board and commissioner determine appropriate". So the requirement is mandatory and dated and the length is delegated, which is why no figure is shown here. The Commissioner's own candidate handbook makes it concrete: complete an approved program of study and present the Certificate of Course Completion, or the Commissioner's PL 789E form, at the test center before sitting the examination. Two clocks come with it. A pre-licensing certificate is good for six months from completion, and anybody not licensed within one year of passing the examination must complete pre-licensing again and retake the paper. 33-12-5(a) asks for the written examination unless exempt under 33-12-14, and 33-12-5(e) caps the retakes at seven, the only lifetime cap on this site. 33-12-6(a)(8) charges a $25 examination fee to the Commissioner on top of whatever the independent testing service charges. Both parts of a two-part paper have to be passed inside twelve months of the first one, or all of it is sat again.

Read at code.wvlegislature.gov on 2026-08-16

The Commissioner's candidate handbook, under "Waiver of examination". Read the heading before assuming this waives everything: it says "An examination is not required as proof of competency" for a holder of one of the named designations, and the approved program of study is a separate numbered requirement in the same eligibility list. So a designation buys the paper, not the course.

Read at the Department on 2026-08-16

The Commissioner's candidate handbook: a college insurance degree waives the examination for all lines of authority, except Crop. Like the designations it sits under the heading "Waiver of examination", so the approved program of study is still owed. The carve-out for Crop is the state's own and it costs nothing here, because Crop needs no examination in the first place.

Read at the Department on 2026-08-16

33-12-14(a), and the waiver is worth more here than anywhere else in this phase because West Virginia is the one state with a course to waive. Somebody previously licensed for the same lines of authority in another state may not be required to complete any prelicensing education or examination, while that license is current or if the application arrives within ninety days of its cancellation with good standing certified by the other state or shown in the NAIC producer database.

Read at code.wvlegislature.gov on 2026-08-16

33-12-14(b), and the handbook puts the consequence of missing it in plain words: an individual moving from another state where a resident license was held has ninety days from the cancellation of that license to apply, and "if application is made after ninety (90) days, the applicant must complete pre-licensing education and pass the examination for which application is made". Ninety days is the difference between nothing and both.

Read at code.wvlegislature.gov on 2026-08-16