The Maine Life Producer License
Maine defines the Life line at 24-A M.R.S. §1420-F(1)(A) as "insurance coverage on human lives, including benefits of endowment and annuities." Annuities ride on the Life line here, so a Life licensee may sell fixed annuities without a second authority - but variable life and variable annuity products are a separate line at §1420-F(1)(E), and selling them also requires FINRA securities registration.
Maine's producer license is a single license carrying whichever lines you qualify for, not a stack of separate licenses. §1415 draws the dividing line: paragraphs (A) through (F) of §1420-F(1) are the "full" authorities - Life, Accident and health or sickness, Property, Casualty, Variable life and variable annuity, Personal lines - with surplus lines authority added on top. Paragraphs (G) through (M) are the limited lines. That matters to your wallet: the $25 fee is charged per license, not per line, so adding Health later costs an amendment fee rather than a second license.
The path in is short and the order is fixed. 24-A M.R.S. §1410(1): "Unless exempt, prior to filing an application for a license with the superintendent, an individual applying for a resident insurance producer, adjuster or consultant license must pass a written examination." The Bureau says the same thing in plainer words - "As a resident producer, you must take the appropriate licensing exam first ... Once you have passed the exam, you would then submit the application to us for licensure." Exam, then application. Not the other way round.
This guide owns the application walkthrough for Maine. The other six line guides point back here rather than repeating it.
Life Alone, or Life, Accident and Health Together
The standalone Life paper carries 75 scored questions - 50 on the General Knowledge part and 25 on the Maine Laws and Rules part - with 5 pretest items added to each part. The combined Life, Accident and Health paper carries 136 scored questions: a 50-item Life general section, a 50-item Accident and Health general section, and a 36-item Maine Laws and Rules section that covers both subjects at once.
Maine builds every producer examination out of two parts - a General Knowledge part and a Maine Laws and Rules part - and the parts are independently passable. 24-A M.R.S. §1410(6) says so in terms: "An individual who fails one part of a 2-part examination must pay the full examination fee but need only be examined on the part of the examination that the individual failed." Read that sentence twice, because both halves matter. You resit only the half you lost, and you pay the whole fee to do it.
That structure changes the arithmetic of choosing. Sitting Life and Accident and Health separately means 75 + 88 = 163 scored questions across two appointments and two full state sections (25 + 38 = 63 Maine items). The combined paper asks 136, because the two state sections collapse into one 36-item section. You answer 27 fewer Maine questions on the combined route - and the Maine section is the part a candidate from out of state is least prepared for.
Passing is a scaled 70, and Maine is explicit that this is not a percentage. The handbook's words are that "the scaled score that is reported to you is neither the number of questions you answered correctly nor the percentage of questions you answered correctly." So there is no arithmetic you can do in the chair, and any source telling you Maine needs "70% correct" is describing a different state.
Question counts come from content outlines #122006 (revised 2 February 2026) rather than from the handbook, and the outlines state counts without stating times. The handbook's only word on timing is a pointer: "The time allotted for each examination is detailed on the back cover of this handbook." That back cover does not survive text extraction from the published PDF, so no time limit is printed on this page. Ask Pearson VUE on (800) 274-4959.
Most Tested Topics on the Maine Life Exam
Maine's life chapter is Title 24-A chapter 29, and the Maine Laws and Rules part of the Life exam is drawn almost entirely from it. From the TESTivity Maine regulations curriculum, statute-verified:
| Concept | The Maine rule |
|---|---|
| Free look, ordinary life | 10 days from delivery, with the policy "void as from the beginning and as if the policy had not been issued" on return. The provision must appear under a caption on the face page, and the policy may be returned to the home office, a branch office, or the agent who processed the application (24-A M.R.S. §2515-A) |
| Grace period, individual life | 30 days, or one month of not less than 30 days, or 4 weeks for industrial life paid more often than monthly - and the insurer "may impose an interest charge not in excess of 6% per annum for the number of days of grace elapsing before the payment of the premium" (§2505) |
| Incontestability, life policy | "not more than 2 years after its date of issue," except for nonpayment of premium and, at the insurer's option, disability and accidental-death riders (§2507). §2516 narrows what that buys: it precludes a contest of validity only, and never bars a defence based on a provision that excludes or restricts coverage |
| Suicide exclusion, life | 2 years from the date of issue, "while sane or insane" - and a separate 2 years running from the date of an increase in face amount. Mind the citation path, because it is routinely written wrong: §2525 has no subsection 5 or 6, and both provisions sit at §2525(1)(B)(5) and (1)(B)(6), inside the paragraph listing what a policy may exclude. Paragraph (1)(A) of the same subsection forbids limiting the time to sue on the policy to less than 3 years |
| Reinstatement, individual life | 3 years from premium default, or 2 years for industrial life, on evidence of insurability and payment of overdue premiums with interest "not exceeding 6% per annum" (§2512) |
| Policy loan, when the right arises | After 3 full years' premiums have been paid. The insurer may defer a loan 6 months - except a loan to pay a premium - must print a table of loan values for the first 20 years, and may not terminate for indebtedness without 30 days' notice to the policyholder and any assignee (§2510) |
| Policy loan interest ceiling | An election, not a single number: a fixed maximum of 8% per year, or an adjustable maximum tied to a published monthly average from two months prior or to the cash-value crediting rate plus 1%. Adjustments come no more often than every 3 months and no less often than every 12, and only where the indicated change is one-half of one per cent or more (§2553) |
| Lapse notice to a third party | Before an individual life policy in force one year or more may be terminated for nonpayment, notice must go to the policyholder and to any third party designated in writing, at least 21 days before the grace period expires (§2556) |
| Misstatement of age, life | The benefit is adjusted, never voided: the amount payable is "such as the premium would have purchased at the correct age or ages" (§2508). Note the annuity counterpart at §2521 is captioned misstatement of age or sex |
| Viator's rescission window | The earlier of 30 days after the contract is executed or 15 days after the viator receives the payment - a fast-paying provider shortens the window (§6809(3)) |
Start with the free look, because it is the single most reliable way to get a Maine life question wrong. §2503 is the incorporating section, and it requires a life policy to contain "in substance all of the applicable provisions required by sections 2504 to 2515." Read that list, open all twelve sections, and you will find grace, entire contract, incontestability, misstatement of age, dividends, policy loans, reinstatement, payment of claims - and no right to return the policy. The free look is at §2515-A, one hyphenated step outside the incorporated range, and it is a freestanding mandate rather than a required standard provision. Two independent research passes on other states have reached "this state has no free look" by exactly this route. Maine's answer is 10 days.
Then learn the 6% pair and the 8% election as three separate facts rather than one. Six per cent is the ceiling on the interest an insurer may charge for grace-period days used (§2505) and the ceiling on interest charged on overdue premiums at reinstatement (§2512). Eight per cent is the fixed option for policy loans (§2553) - and the section is written as an election between that fixed 8% and an adjustable maximum, so an item offering only "8%" is testing whether you noticed there is a choice. Three different clocks, two different rates, and candidates routinely merge them into one.
The suicide provision is the third reliable trap and the fun one, because Maine writes it twice. §2525(1)(B)(5) permits an exclusion for suicide within two years of issue. §2525(1)(B)(6) permits a second, independent two-year exclusion running from the date of an increase in policy face amount - so a policy issued in 2020 and increased in 2026 carries a live suicide exclusion on the increase until 2028, long after the original two years expired. Notice the structure while you are in the section, because it explains the shape of the rule: §2525(1) lists provisions a policy may not contain, and paragraph (B) then carves out the exclusions it may contain - which is why Maine's suicide clause is a ceiling on what an insurer is allowed to exclude rather than a clause the statute imposes. Group life is governed separately at §2630, which caps the exclusion at two years from the date coverage commences or from an increase in coverage.
Applying for the Maine License
Two portals, and the Bureau names only two. "Producer applications can be submitted electronically via www.nipr.com or by downloading the paper application ... and submit by e-mail, fax or regular mail to the Bureau of Insurance." The Bureau accepts the NAIC uniform applications for both resident and nonresident producers, and directs applicants to review the Matrix of Business Rules for Maine on the NIPR site before filing. Maine also runs its own ALMS Online portal, but that is for maintenance - address, name and contact changes - rather than for a first application.
The fee is $25 and it has two halves. The Bureau's fee schedule splits it: a $15 application fee plus a $10 license fee. That is worth knowing because the statutory ceiling at 24-A M.R.S. §601(5) is $30 for a resident producer license and §601(9-A) sets the standard application filing fee at $15 - so a source quoting Maine's producer fee as $30 is quoting the cap the Superintendent may not exceed rather than the amount actually charged. Nonresident is $55 ($15 plus $40). Surplus lines authority is $165 ($15 plus $150). The Bureau adds, bluntly, that "There are no military exemptions."
Order of operations, in full. Pass the exam. Pearson VUE transmits the result. File the uniform application at NIPR with the $25. The Bureau reviews the background disclosures. If approved, the license is emailed to the primary business address you gave, generally within 24 to 72 hours of approval, from noreply@maine.gov - Maine does not mail a paper license as a matter of course. A paper duplicate costs $10, and so does a letter of certification.
The deadline nobody tells you about is statutory rather than procedural, and it is not in the handbook. 24-A M.R.S. §1410(6): "An individual who does not apply for a license within 2 years after passing one part or all of an examination must register and pay the fee for a subsequent examination." Note the words "one part" - the clock starts when you pass either part, so a candidate who banks General Knowledge in the spring and leaves the Maine Laws part until the following year has already spent some of the two years.
The one thing that can stop the application before it starts. If federal law makes you a prohibited person - 18 U.S.C. §§1033-1034 bar anyone with a felony conviction involving dishonesty or breach of trust from engaging in the business of insurance without written consent - Maine will not process the license application until consent is granted. The Bureau's words: resident applicants subject to §1033 "are required to obtain written consent from the Maine Bureau of Insurance before any license application shall be considered," and if you file both together the Bureau simply holds the license application. The Health guide walks that process, including the hearing.
Proving you are a Mainer. NIPR's Maine business rules give two routes. Domicile: "a copy of a government-issued photo I.D. showing your permanent Maine address," or a current government photo ID plus two or more supporting documents - utility bills, lease or mortgage documents, motor vehicle registration, school IDs, pay stubs, official government documents. Or principal place of business: employer details plus proof of employment such as a pay stub or W-2. A Maine resident license is available on either footing.
Moving in with a licence already in hand? You do not retest. The Bureau: "As long as your current resident license is still active or has been within the last 90 days, you can apply here as a resident without taking our exam," for the same $25. The Property and Casualty guide covers the statutory exemptions at §1420-H in full.
A note on portals. The Bureau's producer licensure page lists NIPR and paper only. Sircon transacts producer business in many states and may well transact Maine's - but no Maine source we could find says so either way, so this guide does not tell you it works and does not tell you it does not. NIPR is the route the Bureau signposts.
What the Maine Life License Costs
Maine's licensing costs are unusually low, and the reason is structural rather than generous pricing: two of the three line items that normally make up the bill do not exist here.
No pre-licensing course fee, because the statutory requirement was repealed in 2007. No fingerprint fee, because Maine does not fingerprint producer applicants and the Bureau charges nothing for the background review it does perform. What is left is the Bureau's $25 and the examination fee.
The Bureau's $25 is per license, not per line. A candidate who sits Life today and adds Accident and Health next year pays an amendment fee for the second line, not a second $25 license. A candidate who sits the combined paper and takes both lines at once pays $25 once.
The examination fee is the number Maine does not publish, and this is unusual enough to be worth stating plainly. Candidate handbook #122000 contains no dollar sign anywhere in it. It says only that "the examination fee must be paid at the time of reservation by credit card, debit card, or voucher," that fees "are non-refundable and non-transferable," and that vouchers "expire 12 months from the date they are issued." The Bureau's own fee schedule covers licence fees only. Pearson VUE quotes the fee when you reserve, on (800) 274-4959. Ask then.
Renewal costs nothing. Not a reduced fee - nothing. The Bureau's renewal schedule prints "None" against both the renewal date and the renewal fee for individual producer prefixes PRR, PLR, PRN and PLN, and the CE FAQ says "there is no fee to renew the license." What you pay for instead is continuing education. See the Property and Casualty guide for the renewal mechanics and the penalty ladder.
Eligibility Requirements
Maine's statutory test is four items long. 24-A M.R.S. §1420-E asks that the applicant be at least 18 years of age, has not committed any act that is a ground for denial, suspension or revocation under §1420-K, has paid the fees, and "has successfully passed the examinations for the lines of authority for which the person has applied." There is no character interview, no sponsor and no experience requirement - those belong to Maine's consultant licence, where §1410 demands "not less than 5 years of actual experience" plus a bond and a written consulting contract.
One line-specific limit. A Life authority carries annuities, because §1420-F(1)(A) defines Life as coverage on human lives "including benefits of endowment and annuities." It does not carry variable products: Variable life and variable annuity is a separate line at §1420-F(1)(E), and 24-A M.R.S. §1410 additionally requires a variable-contract applicant to meet the "minimum requirements of a national association of securities dealers" - in practice, FINRA registration. Selling an indexed annuity on a Life licence is fine; selling a variable annuity on it is not.
One Maine quirk to know before you buy a course. Maine's statutory pre-licensing education requirement was repealed in 2007: open 24-A M.R.S. §1410 and subsection 4, headed "Education requirements," now reads in its entirety "[PL 2007, c. 51, §1 (RP).]" But the Bureau's rule was never conformed. Rule ch. 542 §4(D) still requires producer applicants to present either a certificate showing "at least 16 credit hours within the preceding two years for each licensing authority requested" or "a certificate of experience" showing "at least 6 months of relevant full-time equivalent experience" - and the rule's own authority section, ch. 542 §1, cites 24-A M.R.S.A. §1410(4)(A), the very subsection that was repealed. The Bureau's published path for a first-time resident producer has no education step in it at all ("you must take the appropriate licensing exam first"), and the Bureau's 2025-2026 regulatory agenda schedules Rule 542 for amendment to "update outdated provisions and make clarifications." In practice nobody is asked for 16 hours. On paper the rule still says it.
There is no fingerprint step and no criminal-history vendor in the Maine producer path. Screening runs on the background questions in the uniform application and the Bureau's review of the answers. One federal gate does sit in front of everything: an applicant with a felony conviction involving dishonesty or breach of trust needs written consent under 18 U.S.C. §1033 before the licence application will be considered at all. The Health guide walks that process.
Keeping the Maine Life License
Important CE details: Your provider does the filing, not you: the vendor that ran the course must certify the completion to the Bureau within 30 days of the session, keep the session record for at least four years, and hand you a signed certificate showing the hours earned alongside your name and licence number. Keep that certificate. Credits may not be accumulated in advance for a later cycle, and hours taken to cure a shortfall in the previous period do not also count toward the current one.
24 credit hours every two years, at least 3 of them ethics. The statute sets a ceiling rather than the number: 24-A M.R.S. §1482 requires completion "every 2 years" in programs "approved by the superintendent" and caps what the Superintendent may demand at "not to exceed 30 hours." The Superintendent has set 24 by rule, so the 30 is headroom rather than a requirement - and a source quoting Maine at 30 hours is quoting the statutory maximum.
The deadline is your birth month, filtered by your birth year. Rule ch. 542 §3 defines the biennium as running from "the first day of the month following the individual's birth month" to "the last day of the individual's birth month two years later," and fixes the compliance date in an odd year for people born in odd years and an even year for people born in even years. Born March 1985: due 31 March of every odd year. Born March 1984: due 31 March of every even year. Two producers licensed on the same morning can have deadlines a year apart.
A Life licensee has two product-training gates to keep straight, and they are different sizes. Selling annuities requires "a one-time four (4) credit hour training course approved by the Bureau of Insurance" under Rule ch. 917 §7(2)(A)(1), and producers who already held a life line when the 2021 best-interest amendments took effect on 1 January 2022 had six months to complete it. Selling long-term care requires "a one-time training course that is no less than 8 hours" plus "ongoing training of no less than 4 hours every 24 months" under 24-A M.R.S. §5081(1). Four once for annuities; eight-plus-four-forever for long-term care. Candidates swap these constantly.
Both sets of hours may be approved as continuing education, so in practice they can count toward your 24 rather than sitting on top of it - §5081 says so expressly for long-term care. What they cannot do is be skipped: they are conditions of selling the product, not of holding the licence, and an insurer must verify your training before letting you solicit.
The licence itself does not expire and carries no renewal fee - continuation is bought entirely with these credits. The Property and Casualty guide sets out the renewal mechanics and what happens if the credits are late.
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