Connecticut Life & Health Insurance Exam 2026

What the Connecticut Life & Health Credential Covers

Connecticut issues one producer license carrying lines of authority. Passing the combined 12-CT-03 exam adds two of the eight lines in CGS § 38a-702f at once: life and accident and health or sickness. Between them you can transact life insurance, annuities, major medical, disability income, Medicare supplement, long-term care and dental.

The licensing authority is the Connecticut Insurance Department, headed by a Commissioner appointed by the Governor with legislative consent. There is no elected insurance official in Connecticut and no split between a licensing agency and a market regulator — CID does both, under Title 38a with regulations in the RCSA.

Variable products remain a separate line. Even holding both life and health, variable life and variable annuity products are their own authority under § 38a-702f. Connecticut sets no separate state exam for it; the gate is your FINRA registration.

Weigh the combined route honestly. The exam fee favours it — $105 once against $65 twice — but the education requirement runs the other way: 40 hours for a dual line against 20 for a single. If you are certain you will sell both, take the combined path and accept the 40 hours. If you are not, a single line now and an amendment later ($130) may be the cheaper real-world sequence.

For the 40-hour dual-line course, TESTivity recommends Achievable. The Achievable insurance courses were built by the same subject-matter expert behind TESTivity, so the two are designed to work together.

One important distinction: TESTivity is not an approved pre-licensing provider in Connecticut and does not issue certificates of completion. The TESTivity learning tools and study packages will absolutely help you pass the exam — but treat them as a supplement to your Achievable course, not a substitute for it.

Disclosure: TESTivity has a partnership with Achievable and may earn a commission if you enroll through links on this page.

Exam Options & Format

12-CT-03 through Pearson VUE: 80 scored questions plus 15 unscored pretest items in 2 hours 30 minutes, at $105, passing at a raw 70%.

The scored 80 breaks into 50 General Knowledge and 30 Connecticut-Specific. Compare that with the single-line exams, which run 50 + 25. The combined exam adds only five Connecticut-Specific questions while covering two subject areas — so per topic you get less Connecticut depth than a single-line candidate, not more. Do not let the higher headline count fool you into over-preparing one half.

Inside the Connecticut-Specific 30 sits the same 18-question "Common to All Lines" block that appears on every Connecticut producer exam: the Commissioner's powers, statutory definitions, licensing and appointment rules, producer fiduciary duties, policy form filing, the guaranty association, marketing and unfair trade practices, and the Connecticut Insurance Information and Privacy Protection Act. Learn it once and it pays on every line you ever add.

The split path is 12-CT-01 and 12-CT-02, 75 scored + 10 pretest each, 2 hours each, $65 each. Two sittings and $130, against one sitting and $105 — but 20 hours of coursework at a time rather than 40 up front.

Test centers only since 1 August 2025. The Property guide covers locations and scheduling; the Personal Lines guide covers results, retakes and the one-year clock.

Most Tested Topics on the Connecticut Life & Health Exam

The combined exam's distinctly Connecticut points cluster around one subject above all: what happens when an insurer fails. Connecticut's guaranty limits do not follow the NAIC-model tiers that national study material teaches, and the difference is not subtle. Each row is verified:

Connecticut is a flat-$500,000 state, and that is the whole lesson. A candidate carrying the NAIC model into the exam room will answer "$300,000 death benefit, $100,000 cash surrender" and be wrong on both. Connecticut pays up to $500,000 in every category — and then caps the aggregate for any one insured life at that same $500,000, so the components do not stack. The association's own FAQ puts it plainly: it will not be liable for more than $500,000 in the aggregate for any one insured life across all policies from an insolvent insurer.

The second point is the free-look ladder read whole. Individual life is 10 days and a replacement is 10 days — both covered in the Life guide — while long-term care and Medicare supplement each get 30. A senior-market producer therefore lives at the 30-day end almost exclusively, and the 10-day rungs apply to the products they are replacing. Note also what Connecticut does not publish: there is no general free-look period for an annuity outside a replacement transaction.

Connecticut Prelicensing Education — Hours, Certificates and Two Different Waiver Lists

Connecticut is one of the states that still requires pre-licensing education, and it structures the requirement around a single clean rule: single lines of authority require 20 hours; multiple lines of authority require 40 hours.

Notice what this does to the combined-exam calculus. In many states a combined course is a saving. In Connecticut it is a doubling: the dual-line course is 40 hours where a single line is 20. The combined exam saves you $25 and one trip to a test center; the combined education costs you twenty extra hours. Decide on the basis of what you will actually sell.

Delivery is flexible. CID permits classroom, self-study by correspondence, and online delivery — all three satisfy the requirement, so there is no in-person mandate to plan around.

Bring the original certificate to the test center. This is the operational detail that catches people. Connecticut requires the original certificate of completion at check-in — not a photograph on your phone, not a printout of a confirmation email. Ask your provider how and when they issue it, because "we report it electronically to CID" is an answer to a different question.

Pre-licensing applies to producers and public adjusters — not to everyone. Casualty adjusters, certified insurance consultants, motor vehicle physical damage appraisers and surplus lines brokers carry no pre-licensing requirement in Connecticut.

Now the two waiver lists, which are different sizes and are constantly merged. This is the highest-value distinction on this page.

So a ChFC, CIC, CFP, LUTCF, FLMI, ARM or AAI holder skips the classroom and still sits the exam. Only CLU and CPCU reach the exam itself, and only if the Commissioner exercises the discretion the statute gives. Any page that prints one combined list of "designations that get you licensed" has flattened two different rules.

Two more routes worth knowing, both keyed to 90 days. Under CGS § 38a-702h(a), someone previously licensed for the same lines in another state needs no pre-licensing education and no examination, provided the application reaches Connecticut within 90 days of the prior license's cancellation and the applicant was in good standing. Under § 38a-702h(b), a producer licensed in another state who moves to Connecticut must apply not later than 90 days after establishing legal residence for the same treatment. The P&C guide covers reciprocity and relocation in full.

Exam Day in Connecticut — Check-in, ID and the Rules

Bring TWO forms of identification. Connecticut's handbook is explicit: "Candidate must present two forms of current signature identification. The primary identification must be government-issued and photo-bearing with a signature, and the secondary identification must contain a valid signature." Several states have moved to a one-ID rule and candidates import that expectation — Connecticut has not.

Primary ID (unexpired, photo and signature): a government-issued driver's license, a national, state or country identification card, a passport or passport card, a military ID or a military dependant's ID, an Alien Registration Card or permanent resident visa, a U.S. Department of State driver's license, or a plastic-card U.S. learner's permit bearing both photo and signature.

Secondary ID (unexpired, must bear a signature): a U.S. Social Security card, a debit or credit card, or any second item from the primary list. Note that a credit card counts — which is the easiest secondary to remember to bring.

The name must match exactly, and the ID must be in English. The handbook requires the name on the identification to match the name on the registration precisely. Check the booking the day you make it; a discrepancy discovered at the counter costs you the appointment and the $65.

Arrive 30 minutes early and check in with the test center administrator. Check-in includes identity verification, so the half hour is not padding.

Two different clocks for scheduling, and candidates mix them up constantly. You may book an appointment as late as one calendar day before the day you want to test, subject to availability. But you must reschedule or cancel at least 48 hours before the exam, online or by calling (866) 407-2057. Twenty-four hours to book; forty-eight hours to change.

No personal items in the testing room — and watches are on the list. The handbook's prohibition covers "cellular phones, hand-held computers or other electronic devices, pagers, watches, wallets, purses, firearms or other weapons, hats, bags, coats, books, and/or notes, pens, or pencils." An ordinary analogue wristwatch is prohibited alongside a smartwatch. Take it off before you leave home; the on-screen timer is your clock.

Personal calculators fall under prohibited electronic devices, and the handbook does not state whether an on-screen calculator is provided. Prepare to work without one — the life and health arithmetic on this exam is not calculator-dependent.

Also prohibited during the exam: eating, drinking, chewing gum, smoking, and making noise that disturbs other candidates.

Results appear as pass or fail — Connecticut reports no numeric score to successful candidates. The Personal Lines guide covers score reporting, retakes and the one-year validity window.

What It Costs

$105 to Pearson VUE for 12-CT-03, and $190 to CID at application — the $140 initial license fee plus a separate $50 non-refundable application fee. About $295 in fees on a first-attempt pass, before your 40-hour course.

Against the split path: two exams at $65 is $130, so the combined sitting saves $25 on fees. Set that against twenty extra hours of pre-licensing and the saving looks different — which is the honest way to present this choice.

No fingerprint cost, because Connecticut does not print producers. Recurring costs are $160 to renew every two years ($320 if late), $130 to add a line by amendment and $130 to reinstate.

Eligibility Requirements

You must be at least 18, complete the 40-hour dual-line pre-licensing course, pass 12-CT-03, and file the uniform application through NIPR with the $140 + $50 fees. No fingerprints, no separate background submission and no Letter of Clearance — the Accident & Health guide explains what carries the background review instead.

Grounds for denial, nonrenewal and revocation are in CGS § 38a-702k, and § 38a-702o imposes a continuing duty to report administrative actions and criminal prosecutions after licensure.

Border residents get an unusual accommodation: CID confirms that residents of New York, Massachusetts and Rhode Island may obtain resident Connecticut licenses. Most states would force a nonresident filing.

Temporary licensing exists under CGS § 38a-702j — up to 180 days without an examination, for the surviving spouse or personal representative of a producer who dies or becomes disabled, for a member or employee of a licensed business entity in the same circumstances, for the designee of a producer entering the armed forces, or where the Commissioner finds it in the public interest. The P&C guide covers it alongside reciprocity.

Keeping Your License Active

24 hours every two years, including 3 hours of Connecticut insurance law and regulations or ethics. Holding both lines changes nothing — Connecticut's requirement attaches to the license, not to each line of authority, which is one of the genuine advantages of a multi-line Connecticut licence over the same portfolio in a per-line state.

The deadline is the last day of your birth month in your renewal year, and the CE biennium is defined as the two-year period ending on your license expiration date — one clock, not two.

Up to 24 excess hours carry forward into the next biennium, following the amendment of RCSA § 38a-782a-10 on 13 January 2022. Before that date no carryover was permitted, and stale sources still say so.

If you sell annuities, remember the separate 4-hour Annuity Best Interest certification that Connecticut has required since 1 March 2022 — it is a precondition to selling, not a CE elective. The Life guide covers it. The P&C guide covers renewal, the late window and reinstatement.

Quick Reference

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