What This License Is
A Kansas Life license lets you sell life insurance and annuity products to people and businesses in Kansas. It is issued by the Kansas Insurance Department.
Licensing runs through the same process as every Kansas producer line — the difference is the focused Life exam.
Exam Options & Format
The Life exam is Life (Series 12-KS-01): 95 total (84 scored + 11 pretest) questions, 1 hr 30 min, $57 per attempt. Passing standard: 70%.
Kansas also offers the combined exam (Life and Accident & Health (Series 12-KS-05): 154 total (140 scored) questions, 2 hr 30 min, $64), which licenses both lines in one sitting. If there is any chance you will sell health products later, the combined exam is usually the better value.
How the exam is scored
The exam has two kinds of content: a national (general knowledge) portion on insurance products and concepts, and a Kansas portion on KID authority, licensing, marketing practices, and Kansas statutes.
You need 70% to pass. Plan to be strong on both halves - the national material is the largest scored share, but the Kansas state law section carries real weight. Unscored pretest questions are mixed in and do not affect your result.
You finish with a pass/fail score report. A fail report gives you a numeric score and diagnostic feedback plus re-exam information; Kansas requires a 7-day wait before you can re-test.
Kansas requirements at a glance
To be licensed as a resident producer in Kansas you must pass the appropriate exam, submit the NAIC Uniform Application for Individual Insurance Producer License through NIPR, clear a fingerprint-based background check, and obtain a Certificate of Tax Clearance from the Kansas Department of Revenue.
Kansas requires no pre-licensing education - you can sit for the exam without any approved course. The application also asks for a continuous 5-year employment history.
Fingerprinting & background check
First-time applicants must complete a fingerprint-based state and federal background check through the Kansas Bureau of Investigation using KBI code KS920161Z. The fee is about $60.
You can be printed several ways: at a Pearson VUE test center (Overland Park, Topeka, or Wichita), at participating DCF or local law-enforcement locations, or by mailing a completed fingerprint card with the required waiver forms to KID Producer Licensing.
Your path to the Kansas Life & Health license
1. Prepare. No course is required, but plan to study both the national products material and the Kansas state laws.
2. Submit the NAIC Uniform Application for Individual Insurance Producer License through NIPR (you may apply before testing) and pay the $10 fee.
3. Schedule the Life & Accident and Health Producer exam with Pearson VUE (pearsonvue.com or 888-204-6255). Choose a test center or one OnVUE online attempt. Pay $67.
4. Pass the exam at 70%.
5. Complete fingerprinting through the KBI (code KS920161Z, about $60).
6. Obtain your Certificate of Tax Clearance from the Kansas Department of Revenue.
7. Once everything clears, KID issues your license. Get appointed by a carrier to start writing business.
Keeping your Kansas license active
Kansas runs a 2-year renewal cycle. Your due date is the last day of your birth month - in even years if you were born in an even year, odd years if you were born in an odd year - and you can renew up to 90 days early through NIPR.
You owe 18 CE hours per cycle, including 3 hours of ethics; the other 15 are your choice among KID-approved courses. Excess hours don't carry forward. The biennial renewal fee is just $4.
Before you can place business, at least one carrier must appoint you through NIPR / the Producer Database.
If you plan to sell annuities, complete the one-time 4-hour annuity suitability training course before you do - life producers can't sell annuities until it's done.
Prep built for the Kansas Life & Health exam
Because Kansas requires no pre-licensing, your score rides entirely on how well you prepare. TESTivity's Life & Health package pairs plain-English video courses with mind maps, audio textbooks, and full-length Kansas-style exam simulators so both the national and Kansas-law content feel familiar on test day.
Drill in Test mode until you're clearing 80%+ consistently - especially on the Kansas statute material that trips up a lot of candidates - then walk in confident.
Quick Reference
Official Links
Don't study generic. Study Kansas.
You've got the roadmap. Now get the Kansas-specific Life question bank, mock exams, and video course built by instructors with 20+ years teaching this material.