What This License Is
A Delaware Life license lets you sell life insurance and annuity products to people and businesses in Delaware. It is issued by the Delaware Department of Insurance.
Licensing runs through the same process as every Delaware producer line — the difference is the focused Life exam.
Exam Options & Format
The Life exam is Life Producer (Pearson VUE): 101 total (90 scored: 50 general + 40 Delaware; 11 pretest) questions, 2 hr 15 min (VERIFY — from secondary source), $90 per attempt. Passing standard: Scaled passing score of 70 or 80 depending on the exam (shown on your score report).
Delaware does not offer a combined exam for these lines — each line of authority is its own exam, so producers who want both simply take both exams.
Pre-licensing education: not required (but smart)
Delaware is one of the states that does not mandate any pre-licensing course. You can register and sit for the exam without proving a single hour of classroom or online study.
That freedom cuts both ways. There's no course holding your hand through the material, so the burden of being ready falls entirely on you. The general portion is national product knowledge; the state portion is pure Delaware statute and regulation out of Title 18.
Scheduling with Pearson VUE
Reserve online at the Pearson VUE Delaware insurance page or by phone at (800) 274-0455. You must book at least 24 hours before your desired date - there are no walk-ins.
You can test at a Delaware center (Dover or Newark), nearby Philadelphia or Salisbury, hundreds of other centers nationwide, or online via OnVUE from home. The full $90 exam fee is paid at reservation by card or voucher and is non-refundable.
Fingerprint-based background check
Delaware doesn't use a third-party scan vendor. You get a fingerprint-based criminal background report through the Delaware State Police - call (302) 739-2528 to schedule. The fee runs about $65.
After you submit your application through NIPR, fax the State Criminal Background Report to the Department at (302) 736-7906. Your exam results arrive electronically from Pearson VUE, so you do not need to fax those.
Applying for the license
Delaware accepts electronic applications only - submit through NIPR at nipr.com. The resident producer fee is $125 (a small NIPR transaction fee is added at checkout).
If you passed exams for more than one line of authority, be prepared to file - and pay - per line. Build that into your budget if you're going after both lines in Life and A&H.
Continuing education & renewal
Resident producers complete 24 CE hours every 2-year biennium, including 3 hours of ethics. The reporting period runs March 1 through the last day of February of even-numbered years, and that February date is your renewal deadline. Up to 5 excess general hours carry forward.
Watch the line-specific add-ons: 2 hours of flood training each period if you write homeowners or personal lines under the NFIP, and 3 hours of Delaware LTC training if you're a health producer soliciting long-term care.
Quick Reference
Official Links
Don't study generic. Study Delaware.
You've got the roadmap. Now get the Delaware-specific Life question bank, mock exams, and video course built by instructors with 20+ years teaching this material.