What This License Is
An Alabama Property license lets you sell coverage protecting homes, buildings, and personal property against loss — homeowners and dwelling property coverages, commercial property, inland marine, and flood in Alabama. It is issued by the Alabama Department of Insurance.
Licensing runs through the same process as every Alabama producer line — the difference is the focused Property exam.
Exam Options & Format
The Property exam is Property (University of Alabama): 100 questions, 2 hr, $50 single line per attempt. Passing standard: 70 correct of 100.
Alabama also offers the combined exam (Property & Casualty: 150 questions, 3 hr, $75), which licenses both lines in one sitting. If there is any chance you will sell casualty products later, the combined exam is usually the better value.
No pre-licensing course required
As of January 1, 2024, Alabama eliminated the pre-licensing education certificate. You can register and test without completing an approved course first - true for P&C just like Life & Health.
Still, the P&C exam leans heavily on policy mechanics, commercial forms, and Alabama law, and there are very few 'common sense' questions. A structured study guide or course remains a smart investment even though the state no longer mandates one.
Fingerprinting and background check
Alabama requires a fingerprint-based state and federal background check for new resident producers, and ALDOI only accepts prints captured through Fieldprint. Prints done elsewhere won't be honored.
Get fingerprinted after you pass and about a day before you apply. Your prints are held in the ALDOI system for only 30 days, so timing them close to your application avoids paying to redo them.
Applying for your license
Apply online through NIPR. The initial resident producer license fee is $80 plus a small NIPR transaction fee (around $5.60). You'll provide proof of citizenship and your SSN or FEIN, and you must be 18+ and an Alabama resident.
Processing usually takes a few business days. Watch the ALDOI license search under Producers/Agents; once it reads issued, print your license directly from the site.
What it costs
Hard costs for a combined P&C license run about $200: $75 exam + roughly $47 fingerprinting + $80 application (plus the small NIPR fee). With no required pre-licensing, that's the floor. Add an optional prep course and total spend lands around $400-$500.
Renewal and continuing education
P&C licenses renew on the same two-year cycle, due by the last day of your birth month, with 24 hours of CE per cycle including 3 hours of ethics. You can renew up to 90 days early.
If your license lapses beyond 12 consecutive months, you'll have to retest and re-fingerprint before reapplying - so keep that birth-month deadline on your radar.
Quick Reference
Official Links
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