Holding Property and Casualty in Kansas
K.S.A. 40-4903 lists Property and Casualty as separate qualifications, and Kansas will license either alone or both together. Pearson VUE names the exams "Property and Allied Lines" and "Casualty and Allied Lines" — the "allied lines" phrasing runs through all Kansas exam material, and the combined paper is "Property & Casualty and Allied Lines."
The combined exam is the obvious route, and the numbers say why. 12-KS-06 is 140 scored questions in 150 minutes for $64. Sitting 12-KS-03 and 12-KS-04 separately is 168 scored questions across two 90-minute papers for $114. Fifty dollars cheaper, half an hour shorter overall, one trip.
And the licence costs the same either way. Kansas charges its fee per application, not per line of authority, and levies no amendment fee for adding lines — so the $10 application covers one line or four.
What full P&C authority unlocks. A surplus lines licence requires an underlying property and casualty producer licence — neither half alone will do. That is a real reason to finish both sides even if your immediate book is one-sided.
And the narrower alternative. If your business will be homes and personal auto only, 12-KS-55 Personal Lines covers both sides at personal-lines depth for $57 — seven dollars less than the combined paper, with materially narrower authority and no credit toward P&C later.
Exam Options & Format
KS Property & Casualty and Allied Lines Producer, series 12-KS-06: 140 scored questions plus 14 unscored pretest items (154 presented), 2 hours 30 minutes, $64, passing at 70%. That is about 58 seconds a question — one of the more comfortable rates in the Kansas catalogue.
The Kansas block is split four ways on this paper. The content outline gives it 19 questions on laws and rules common to all lines, plus 7 on property-and-casualty rules, 7 on property-only rules and 7 on casualty-only rules — about 40 of 140. Taken separately the two singles carry roughly 27 Kansas questions each, 54 in total, so the combined paper again carries less state law overall.
On the 70%: the handbook states "the passing score required on each examination is 70%" and nothing more — no raw-or-scaled characterization anywhere, and no KID page states a passing score at all.
Every attempt is in person. Kansas insurance is absent from Pearson VUE's OnVUE program list and the July 2026 handbook never mentions remote testing. The Property guide covers test centers and the 48-hour reschedule rule; the Life & Health guide covers exam-day requirements.
Retakes: 24 hours to rebook, seven calendar days to retest, no cap on attempts, a fresh $64 each time. Kansas scores one integrated exam, so a retake is the whole paper. Scores stay valid two years, and Kansas will accept a licence application before or after the exam.
Most Tested Topics Across Kansas's Property and Casualty Content
About forty Kansas questions, concentrated on the regulator, the insolvency backstop, and the conduct rules that apply whatever you sell. From the TESTivity Kansas regulations curriculum, verified against the code:
| Concept | The Kansas rule |
|---|---|
| The regulator | The Kansas Department of Insurance, whose chief officer is the Commissioner of Insurance — "charged with the administration of all laws relating to insurance, insurance companies and fraternal benefit societies doing business in this state" (K.S.A. 40-102) |
| How the Commissioner takes office | ELECTED — K.S.A. 25-101 lists "state commissioner of insurance" among the officers chosen at the general election held "on the Tuesday succeeding the first Monday in November of each even-numbered year," for a four-year term |
| The statutory vocabulary | Kansas law says "insurance agent" throughout Chapter 40 Article 49, not "producer" — the Department's web copy says producer |
| P&C guaranty fund | The Kansas Insurance Guaranty Association — $300,000 maximum per covered claim, K.S.A. 40-2906 |
| The workers' comp exception | The association "shall pay the full amount of any covered claim arising out of a workmen's compensation policy" — no cap at all |
| Cyber claims | Capped at $300,000 for all first- and third-party claims under a policy or endorsement arising out of a single insured event |
| Unfair trade practices | K.S.A. 40-2404 enumerates sixteen categories — misrepresentation and false advertising, false information and advertising generally, defamation, boycott/coercion/intimidation, false statements and entries, stock operations, unfair discrimination, rebates, unfair claim settlement practices, failure to respond to Department inquiries, failure to maintain complaint procedures, misrepresentation in applications, statutory violations, adverse underwriting disclosure failures, title insurance rebates, and nonpublic information disclosure |
| Responding to the Department | 14 days — K.S.A. 40-2404(10). Separately, failing to respond within 15 business days is a licensing ground under K.S.A. 40-4909 |
| Unfair claim settlement | Fourteen enumerated practices at K.S.A. 40-2404(9), actionable only where "committed flagrantly and in conscious disregard" of the provisions or "with such frequency as to indicate a general business practice" |
| Licence penalties | Up to $500 per violation, capped at $2,500 for the same violation within any six consecutive months — rising to $1,000 and $5,000 where the licensee knew or should have known — K.S.A. 40-4909 |
| Trade-practice penalties | After a cease-and-desist order: $1,000 per act up to $10,000 aggregate; for knowing and wilful violations, $5,000 per act up to $50,000 in any six-month period — K.S.A. 40-2407 |
| Commissions to the unlicensed | Prohibited both ways — insurers and agents may not pay, and unlicensed persons may not accept. Renewal commissions may still be paid to a previously licensed individual — K.S.A. 40-4910 |
| Non-commission compensation | Permitted, but must rest on a written agreement specifying the amount — K.S.A. 40-4911 |
| Countersignature | No general requirement. The only countersignature provision in Chapter 40 is K.S.A. 40-274, limited to joint underwriting groups where more than one insurer is on direct liability |
Start with the regulator, because Kansas is on the minority side of the country's biggest structural split. Kansas elects its Commissioner of Insurance, at the general election in even-numbered years, to a four-year term — it is named in the election statute alongside the Governor and Attorney General. Roughly a dozen states elect their insurance regulator and the rest appoint; an exam item that has the Kansas Commissioner appointed by the Governor is a distractor. (One consequence worth knowing as a licensee rather than a candidate: the office is on the ballot in November 2026, so the officeholder named in any study material published this year may change in January 2027.)
The guaranty association's exception is the second reliable point. Yes, covered claims cap at $300,000. But workers' compensation claims are paid in full with no cap, and the statute says so in those words. That single carve-out is asked about far more often than the cap itself.
And note Kansas's two different response clocks, because both are real. Failing to respond to a Department inquiry within 14 days is an enumerated unfair trade practice under K.S.A. 40-2404(10). Failing to respond within 15 business days is separately a ground for licence action under K.S.A. 40-4909. Different statutes, different units — one in calendar days, one in business days.
Bringing an Existing License into Kansas — and Kansas's Nonresident Rules
Kansas's exam-waiver rule is mandatory rather than discretionary — K.S.A. 40-4908 says the Commissioner shall waive the examination in six defined situations — and every one of them turns on prior licensure, never on a credential.
Moving here: 90 days from residency, not from the paperwork. A producer who relocates "shall apply for a resident license within 90 days of establishing legal residence," and the statute is explicit that "no person who has been previously authorized for any line of authority shall be required to be examined in this state for the same line of authority." Read the trigger carefully — the clock starts the day you establish residence, not the day you get round to filing. Order your certification of good standing before the move.
Already cancelled elsewhere? You still have 90 days. If the other state's licence has lapsed, the waiver survives provided the application arrives within 90 days of cancellation with certification that you were in good standing at that point. Kansas will accept records from the NAIC producer database in place of paper certification, which means the Department can often verify it without you chasing a former regulator.
Coming back to Kansas after leaving? Two years. A distinctive and unusually forgiving provision: a person previously licensed in Kansas who voluntarily surrendered the licence not more than two years prior may be relicensed without examination, provided their education is current and they remain trustworthy and competent. Most states give you far less room to return after a career break.
Going the other way. A Kansas resident who moves out of state must obtain an active resident licence in the new home state within 30 days, or the Kansas nonresident status is cancelled. And under K.S.A. 40-4906, address changes must be filed within 30 days — as must criminal convictions, regulatory actions and terminations, under KID's reporting rules.
Nonresident licensing is lighter in three specific ways. A nonresident applicant must be licensed and in good standing in the home state, which the Commissioner may verify through the NAIC producer database. Nonresidents are not fingerprinted, do not need a Kansas Department of Revenue tax clearance, and are charged $40 to apply and $40 to renew biennially — against $10 and $4 for residents, but without the background-check fee or the tax-clearance step.
No designation waivers, at all. This bears repeating because it is the most common error in Kansas licensing content: K.S.A. 40-4908 names no professional designation. CLU, ChFC, CPCU, CIC, FLMI, RHU and LUTCF confer nothing here — and since Kansas requires no pre-licensing education either, there is no course requirement for a credential to waive. The Accident & Health guide covers the full six-category list.
Whatever route you take, the appointment is separate — and Kansas changed it recently. Under K.S.A. 40-4912, a company must certify each agent representing it, filing through NIPR within 30 working days of the appointment, with the appointment form sent to the Commissioner within 30 days. Late certification carries a penalty of "not more than $25 per calendar day." The fee is small and one-time: $2 per newly certified agent for a Kansas-organized company, $5 for an out-of-state one, and the statute calls it "non-recurrent" — "the only appointment fee charged for the duration of such newly certified agent's employment with the appointing company."
The change worth knowing: annual appointment renewals ended on 1 July 2025. KID eliminated the annual producer appointment renewal fee, and appointments now remain active until they are electronically terminated. Any guide, checklist or carrier process still describing yearly Kansas appointment renewals is out of date.
When a relationship ends, K.S.A. 40-4913 requires the insurer to notify the Commissioner within 30 days of terminating the business relationship, whether for cause or not — and "business relationship" is defined broadly to include "any appointment, employment, contract or other relationship under which such insurance agent represents the insurer."
Renewing a Kansas License — the Odd-Year Rule, and What Missing CE Costs
The date, and Kansas's version of it is genuinely unusual. Licences are biennial, and KID defines the due date precisely: "the last day of the producer's birth month in each odd year for producers born in an odd-numbered year or each even year for producers born in an even-numbered year." So a producer born in March 1987 renews every odd March; one born in March 1988 renews every even March. It is not the issue date, and it is not simply "every two years from now" — work yours out once and diary it.
Note where that definition lives: K.S.A. 40-4903 uses the term "biennial due date" without defining it, and the odd/even rule appears on KID's licensing pages rather than in statute or regulation.
The window opens 90 days early. Producers "may renew their license (if they have appropriate CE credit) up to 90 days prior to their biennial renewal date." Use it — CE has to be posted, not merely completed, and NIPR verifies compliance before it will let you submit.
The money is trivial: $4. Kansas's biennial renewal fee is among the lowest in the country, and the statute caps it at that — "a biennial renewal application fee not to exceed $4." Renewal notices are sent by email only, so a current business email address on file is not optional.
The CE that has to be done first. 18 hours per cycle including at least 3 hours of ethics (K.S.A. 40-4903). The remaining 15 are unallocated — KID puts them "at producer's discretion." Two limited lines have their own minimums instead: crop-only producers need at least 2 CECs in crop courses and title-only producers at least 4 in title courses. Pre-need funeral, bail bond, self-service storage and travel are CE-exempt entirely, with pre-need-only producers filing a biennial affirmation.
No carryover, and no repeats. KID: "courses must be completed during the biennium to which they are to be applied." K.A.R. 40-7-20a adds that neither a student nor an instructor earns full credit for a subsequent offering of the same course in the same biennial period. Excess hours are simply forfeited. Credit runs at one hour per hour of instruction, self-study requires an independently monitored examination while classroom courses do not, and attending at least 80% of a classroom course's sessions can still earn full credit with proper certification.
Now the part that makes Kansas strict where it is otherwise cheap. Missing the CE deadline is not a fee problem, it is an automatic one. K.S.A. 40-4903: if proof of CE completion is not received by your biennial due date, "such individual insurance agent's qualification and each and every corresponding license shall be suspended automatically for a period of 90 calendar days" or until compliance, whichever is sooner — plus $100 for each license suspended. Not a discretionary penalty; automatic.
If it is not cured inside those 90 days, the licence expires. Reinstatement is then available within 12 months, again at $100 for each license suspended.
The gentler path, if you finished CE on time. NIPR's Kansas renewal guidance provides that producers who completed their CE on or before the expiration date may late-renew with no penalty fee for up to 10 days following expiration. Late renewal remains possible for up to 90 days after expiration, and the reinstatement fee thereafter is $104 — which reconciles as the $100 statutory penalty plus the $4 renewal fee, though KID does not itemise it that way.
Three reporting duties that sit alongside renewal. Contact and address changes must be reported within 30 days, and so must criminal convictions, regulatory actions and terminations. KID also notes that as of 1 July 2021 Kansas stopped tracking affiliations, so no affiliation reporting is needed unless the Department asks.
And one structural note for agencies. Kansas business entity licences renew on the same 90-day-early basis, at $10 to apply and $4 to renew for residents, or $40 / $40 for nonresidents — and Kansas allows only one active DRLP per entity, a quirk worth planning around before the designated person is unavailable.
What It Costs
Getting licensed: $64 for the combined 12-KS-06, $60 for the criminal background check, and $10 for the 2026 application — about $134, plus NIPR's transaction fee. No course to buy. Sitting the two single-line exams instead would cost $114 in exam fees, a $50 penalty for splitting.
Fingerprint capture is free at KID Topeka and at six Department of Children and Families offices; a Pearson VUE Professional Center charges $20.
Two figures you may see that are not the application fee. NIPR's $170 is the reapplication total — $10 application + $60 background check + a $100 reinstatement penalty — for someone relicensing between one and four years past expiration. The Pearson VUE handbook's $30 is the statutory ceiling in K.S.A. 40-4905 misprinted as the actual fee. The real figure is set annually in the Kansas Register: $10 for 2026, $15 for 2025.
Keeping it: $4 every two years, plus your CE. Missing the CE deadline costs $100 per licence plus a 90-day automatic suspension; reinstatement after that runs $104.
Adding to it: a surplus lines licence is $50 to apply and $50 to renew, on top of full P&C authority. Appointments cost the carrier $2 or $5, one-time — and since 1 July 2025 there is no annual appointment renewal fee at all.
Eligibility Requirements
Be at least 18, submit fingerprints for a state and national criminal history record check under K.S.A. 40-4905, hold a current Kansas Department of Revenue Certificate of Tax Clearance, and avoid the seventeen grounds in K.S.A. 40-4909.
No pre-licensing course, and no designation waiver — the six statutory waivers in K.S.A. 40-4908 turn on prior licensure, covered above and in the Accident & Health guide.
The Life guide walks the NIPR application and the tax clearance; the Casualty guide walks fingerprinting; the Life & Health guide covers exam-day rules at the test center.
Continuing Education at a Glance
Important CE details: Credit runs at one hour per hour of instruction. A producer who attends at least 80% of a classroom course's scheduled sessions may still receive full credit with proper certification.
18 hours every two years, at least 3 of them ethics, due by your biennial due date — the last day of your birth month, in the year matching your birth year's parity. The other 15 hours are at your discretion and need not match your lines.
No carryover and no repeats. Courses must fall inside the biennium they are applied to, and the same course cannot be re-taken for full credit within a period. Credit runs one hour per hour of instruction.
Exempt lines: pre-need funeral, bail bond, self-service storage and travel. Not exempt: any major line, any long-service licensee, and any designation holder — Kansas grants no such relief. Different minimums: crop-only 2 CECs, title-only 4 CECs.
Credits are viewed in State Based Systems (SBS) at statebasedsystems.com, which also lists Kansas-approved providers and courses. Medical and military extensions are available through a KID form. The renewal section above covers the mechanics, the late window and the automatic suspension.
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