Hawaii Life & Health Insurance Exam 2026

Holding Both Life and Health Lines in Hawaii

Hawaii does not issue a combined Life & Health licence. This is the first thing to get straight, because most states do and most study material assumes it. HRS § 431:9A-107 creates Life and accident and health or sickness as two of eight distinct lines of authority, and Pearson VUE administers a separate exam for each — `InsHI_Life01` and `InsHI_Health02` — at $75 apiece.

So "getting your life and health licence" in Hawaii means: sit two exams, pay two exam fees, hold one producer licence carrying two lines. The Life guide and the Accident & Health guide each cover their own exam in detail; this guide covers what the two have in common — exam-day procedure, and what happens if a producer dies or is called up.

The economics are worth understanding before you commit. Two exams at $75 is $150, against $75 for a single line. There is no combined-sitting discount because there is no combined sitting. What you do save is on the licence itself — the $150 initial fee is charged once regardless of how many lines it carries — and on continuing education.

The CE point is the genuinely good news. Hawaii groups life and accident-and-health into a single class for continuing-education purposes. A producer holding both owes 21 hours in that class plus 3 hours of ethics — exactly what a producer holding only one of them owes. Adding the second line increases your authority without increasing your annual obligation at all.

And there is no pre-licensing education for either line — zero hours, per the current handbook. That is what makes the two-exam structure tolerable: in a state requiring 40 hours of coursework per line, this arrangement would be punishing. In Hawaii it is two study cycles and two mornings.

Two Exams, Not One

Life — `InsHI_Life01`: 85 scored questions (50 general + 35 Hawaii-specific) plus 11 pretest, delivered as 75 minutes general + 45 minutes state. $75.

Accident & Health or Sickness — `InsHI_Health02`: 85 scored questions (50 general + 35 Hawaii-specific) plus 10 pretest, same 75 + 45 structure. $75.

Both pass at a scaled 70, and on both, only failing candidates receive a numeric score.

Each exam's two sections are timed independently — you cannot carry unused general-knowledge time into the Hawaii half. That is worth practising, because a candidate who paces to a single two-hour block will find the second clock unforgiving.

Order does not matter, but timing does. If you intend to hold both lines, there is a real advantage to sitting both exams close together and then filing both applications simultaneously: one fingerprinting covers concurrent applications, where separate filings mean paying Fieldprint twice. The Casualty guide covers the fingerprint process and its 60-day rule.

Both delivery modes are available for both exams. The Property guide covers the test-center network; the Accident & Health guide covers OnVUE, including the retake penalty that makes the choice consequential.

Most Tested Topics Across the Hawaii Life & Health Exams

Both exams draw on the same body of Hawaii insurance law, and the subject that recurs on each is what happens when an insurer fails. Hawaii's guaranty limits follow the NAIC model with a tiered health schedule — worth knowing precisely, because the tiers are where the marks are. Each row is verified:

The tiered health limits are the highest-value cluster here, because a candidate who has memorised "$300,000 across the board" will get three of them wrong. Hawaii pays $500,000 for basic hospital, medical, surgical or major medical; $300,000 for disability; and only $100,000 for other accident and health. Then the aggregate caps it at $300,000 for any one life — except where major medical is involved, when it stretches to $500,000. Learn the exception attached to the aggregate and most guaranty questions resolve themselves.

The second point is the free look's reach rather than its length. Ten days is short, but the tested subtlety is that § 431:10-214(a) covers individual life and individual accident and health with the same 10 days — a single provision doing double duty across both of your lines. Long-term care and Medicare supplement then step up to 30. A producer working the senior market is at the 30-day end; a producer selling a straightforward individual health policy is at 10.

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

Bring TWO forms of identification. The handbook requires two forms of current signature identification: a primary that is government-issued, photo-bearing and carrying a signature — a driver's licence, passport, military ID or permanent resident card — and a secondary that bears a valid signature. Candidates who arrive with a driver's licence and nothing else are the most common check-in failure anywhere, and Hawaii gives no relief for it.

Expired identification is refused, full stop. The handbook is unusually blunt: "Pearson VUE does not recognize grace periods." An ID that expired last week is an ID that does not exist for this purpose. Check the date when you book, not on the morning.

The name must match your registration exactly. Register in the name printed on the identification you will present — a middle initial added on the booking screen and missing from the licence is enough to lose the appointment and the $75.

Arrive 30 minutes early, and note that walk-in testing is not available anywhere in Hawaii. Every appointment is booked in advance, and the state's thin seat inventory — four centers across three islands — means booking earlier than you might elsewhere. The Property guide covers the network.

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, and use the on-screen timer.

Reschedule or cancel at least 48 hours ahead. Inside that window the fee is forfeited: candidates who change or cancel "without proper notice (48 hours) will forfeit the examination fee." And exam fees in Hawaii are nonrefundable generally — failing to appear, or failing to pass, means reapplying and re-paying.

Pace the two sections separately. Each Hawaii exam is two independently-timed halves, and this pair gives you 75 minutes for 50 general questions and 45 for 35 state questions. The state half is the tighter ratio — roughly 77 seconds a question against 90 — which is the opposite of what most candidates expect, since they think of state law as the easier material. Do not linger in the general section on the assumption that you will make it up later; you cannot.

Results. Pass or fail appears at the end, with a number only if you failed. The Personal Lines guide covers score reporting, the retake waits — which differ sharply between test centers and OnVUE — and the two-year validity of a pass.

Hawaii's 180-Day Temporary License

Hawaii issues temporary producer licences under HRS § 431:9A-111, and the headline term is generous: the Commissioner may issue one "for a period not to exceed one hundred eighty days without requiring an examination." Six months, no exam — which in a state whose entire barrier to entry is the exam is a substantial thing.

It exists to keep a book of business alive when the producer cannot, not as a shortcut into the industry. The statute names four circumstances:

One — death or disability of a producer. A temporary licence may go to "the surviving spouse or court-appointed personal representative of a licensed insurance producer who dies or becomes mentally or physically disabled," to allow the sale of the business, its servicing, or the recovery of its value. This is the common case: a family suddenly holding a book they cannot legally service.

Two — death or incapacity of a business entity's designated individual. Where a licensed business entity's designated key individual dies or is incapacitated, a temporary licence may be issued to a designee so the agency keeps running.

Three — military service. A temporary licence may go to the designee of a producer entering active service in the armed forces, so the producer's clients are not stranded by a deployment.

Four — the Commissioner's discretion, "in any other circumstance where the commissioner deems that the public interest will best be served."

The conditions attached are real. The Commissioner may limit the temporary licensee's authority in any way considered necessary to protect insureds and the public, may require a licensed producer to sponsor the temporary licensee and assume responsibility for their acts, and may impose other requirements. The licence may be suspended or revoked if "the interest of insureds or the public are endangered."

And it ends when its purpose does. The temporary licence terminates automatically once the owner or personal representative disposes of the business. It is a bridge, and the statute treats it as one — there is no provision for extension, so the 180 days should be planned around from day one, whether that means selling the book, or the designee sitting the real exams.

Which, in Hawaii, is a shorter road than most places. A designee holding a temporary licence who decides to stay in the business faces no pre-licensing coursework — just the exam for each line, at $75, plus fingerprinting and the $150 application. Of all the states to have to convert a temporary licence into a permanent one inside six months, this is among the most forgiving.

What It Costs

$150 in exam fees for both lines — $75 each, because Hawaii has no combined sitting — and $150 to the Insurance Division for the resident producer licence through NIPR. $300 in published fees on first-attempt passes, plus Fieldprint's fingerprint charge, which the Division does not publish.

The licence fee is charged once regardless of how many lines it carries, so the marginal cost of the second line is the $75 exam and the study time, nothing more.

And file both applications together. One fingerprinting covers applications submitted simultaneously; separate filings months apart mean paying Fieldprint twice for no benefit.

No course cost, because Hawaii requires no pre-licensing education for either line.

Recurring: $100 to renew every two years — again, once, not per line — and CE stays at 24 hours because life and accident-and-health form a single class. $300 to reapply within a year of nonrenewal.

Eligibility Requirements

You must be at least 18, pass the exam for each line you request, complete fingerprinting through Fieldprint under code HI-DCCA-INS, and file through NIPR within 60 days of being fingerprinted with the $150 fee.

No professional designation waives a Hawaii exam — CLU, ChFC, FLMI and the rest appear nowhere in HRS § 431:9A-109. The only statutory exemption is prior licensure for the same lines in another state: currently held, or cancelled within the previous 90 days with the home state certifying good standing. A producer relocating to Hawaii must apply within 90 days of establishing legal residence.

Each passing score is valid two years, measured backward from license issuance under HRS § 431:9A-106 — which matters here more than on a single-line application, because if you sit the two exams months apart it is the earlier score that is closest to expiring.

Remember you must also be appointed by an insurer before acting as its agent (§ 431:9A-114). The Life guide covers the application; the P&C guide covers reciprocity, renewal and reinstatement.

Keeping Your License Active

24 credit hours every two years, due by the last day of your birth month — and functionally 15 days before it, under Commissioner's Memorandum 2022-3LIC, because approved providers have 15 days to report your completion electronically.

Holding both lines does not increase the requirement. Life and accident-and-health are a single class in Hawaii's CE scheme, so the split is 21 hours in that class plus 3 hours of ethics or Hawaii insurance laws and rules — the same as holding one of them alone. The statutory ethics scope is specific: fiduciary responsibility, commingling of funds, payment and acceptance of commissions, unfair claims practices, policy replacement considerations, and conflicts of interest.

Add a property or casualty line, however, and the split changes to 10 hours life/health + 11 hours property/casualty/surety + 3 ethics — still 24 in total. The P&C guide covers that configuration.

No carryover. Excess hours do not roll into the next cycle. And adding a line mid-cycle does not extend the cycle — the full requirement, including hours for the new line, remains due by your existing renewal date.

Miss the deadline and the licence goes inactive automatically, with no grace period. Reinstatement within twelve months costs $300 and requires no re-examination.

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