What This License Is
A West Virginia Accident and Health (or Sickness) line of authority lets you sell health, disability, Medicare supplement and long-term care products in the state. The OIC issues it as a standalone line, and West Virginia examines for it separately — there is no combined Life & Health examination here.
That is worth pausing on if you are moving in from a state that offers one. In West Virginia, Life and Accident and Health are two exams and two lines. The handbook's Available Exams list, the content outlines and the Commissioner's 2025 pass/fail report were all checked; none contains a combined Life & Health paper.
Long-term care sits inside this line but carries its own training gate, and annuity products sit in the Life line with a separate one. Both are covered under continuing education below.
Exam Options & Format
The examination is InsWV-AcSi02, delivered by Pearson VUE: 90 questions in 120 minutes on the handbook's registration table, at $84.00 per attempt.
Like every West Virginia major line it comes in two parts — a General Knowledge part and a West Virginia Specific part — and both must be passed within 12 months of the date the first part was passed, or all parts are retaken. The content outlines effective June 16, 2026 give 50 scored plus 5 pretest on the general part and 30 scored plus 6 pretest on the state part.
The passing standard is a scaled score of 70, which the handbook is explicit is "neither the number of questions you answered correctly nor the percentage of questions you answered correctly."
The Commissioner's 2025 figures put West Virginia Accident and Sickness at a 59% pass rate against 70% for the general paper — a narrower gap than Life, but the state part is still the harder one.
Most Tested Topics on the West Virginia Health Exam
These are the accident and sickness rules that differ from the national baseline, each verified against the West Virginia Code and the Commissioner's rules:
| Concept | The West Virginia rule |
|---|---|
| Free look, individual accident and sickness | 10 days from receipt — and the mandate is in Article 6, not Article 15. §33-6-11b reaches "All life or sickness and accident insurance policies, certificates or contracts" in one sentence |
| Grace period, tiered by premium mode | 7 days weekly premium, 10 days monthly premium, 31 days all other policies — §33-15-4(c). Contrast the flat 31 days for ordinary life |
| Notice of claim, accident and sickness | Within 20 days after the occurrence or commencement of loss, or as soon thereafter as is reasonably possible — §33-15-4(e) |
| Claim forms and deemed compliance | If the insurer does not furnish proof-of-loss forms within 15 days of the notice of claim, the claimant is deemed to have complied with the proof-of-loss requirement — §33-15-4(f) |
| Proof of loss, accident and sickness | 90 days after the date of loss, or after termination of the period for which the insurer is liable on periodic payments — §33-15-4(g) |
| Legal actions period, accident and sickness | No action before 60 days after written proof of loss; none after three years from the date proof was required — §33-15-4(k) |
| Time limit on certain defenses | Two years for non-fraudulent misstatements; and no claim for loss commencing after two years may be reduced or denied on a preexisting-condition ground where the condition was not excluded by name or specific description — §33-15-4(b) |
| Reinstatement, accident and sickness | On a conditional receipt, reinstatement occurs on the 45th day unless the insurer has already disapproved. The reinstated policy covers accident from the date of reinstatement and sickness beginning more than 10 days after — §33-15-4(d) |
| Health claim decision clock | Accept or deny within 15 calendar days of the filing of proof of loss; if more time is needed, notify in writing within 15 days and every 30 days thereafter; no claim unsettled beyond 90 calendar days absent a legitimate dispute or claimant fraud, with interest at prime plus 1% — §33-11-4(9)(o) |
| Long-term care producer training | A one-time initial course of not less than eight hours before selling, then not less than four hours in each mandatory continuing education biennium — §33-12-8a |
| Long-term care free look | 30 days from delivery, and it is in the statute — §33-15A-6(f)(1). The Commissioner's LTC rule, 114CSR32, carries none |
| Long-term care contestability, three tiers | Under six months: material misrepresentation alone. Six months to two years: material and pertaining to the condition claimed. Two years or more: only knowing and intentional misrepresentation about health — §33-15A-8(a)-(c) |
| Continuation on involuntary layoff | Up to 18 months at the same group rate — §33-16-3(e). The rule caps the charge at 100% of the applicable premium — §114-93-3 — against federal COBRA's 102% |
| Medicare supplement free look | 30 days from delivery, at §33-28-5b(f) and §114-24-15.1.5. §33-6-11a names 30 days only for direct-response policies and gives no number for the general case |
| Medicare supplement open enrollment | Six months beginning the first day of the first month in which the individual is both 65 or older and enrolled in Medicare Part B — §114-24-9.1 |
Where West Virginia keeps its health rules is half the exam. Two of the most-tested facts are not where a reader trained on the code would look. The accident and sickness free look is in Article 6 alongside the life free look, not in Article 15 — a candidate who searches the health article for a free look concludes the state has none. And the Medicare supplement free look needs both instruments: §33-6-11a names thirty days only for direct-response sales, so the general case is supplied by §33-28-5b(f) and by the Commissioner's rule at §114-24-15.1.5.
The 15-day rule decides who loses. §33-15-4(g) gives the claimant ninety days to furnish proof of loss, and the clock runs from the date of loss. But §33-15-4(f) is the answer-changing provision: if the insurer fails to furnish proof-of-loss forms within fifteen days of the notice of claim, the claimant is deemed to have complied. Exam questions put the two together and ask what happens when the insurer sits on the forms.
West Virginia Exam Waivers and Pre-licensing Exemptions
West Virginia publishes two different escape routes, and merging them is the most common mistake made with this material. One waives the examination. The other waives the coursework. They are different lists, triggered by different things, and holding a qualification on one does not put you on the other.
### Route one — a professional designation waives the exam
The handbook's language is: "An examination is not required as proof of competency for those persons applying for a resident individual insurance producer's license if such person" holds one of the designations below. The waiver is organised by line of authority — a Life designation waives the Life exam and nothing else.
| Line of authority | Designations that waive the exam |
|---|---|
| Life | Certified Employee Benefits Specialist (CEBS), Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC), Certified Insurance Counselor (CIC), Certified Financial Planner (CFP), Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU), Fellow Life Management Institute (FLMI), Life Underwriting Training Counsel Fellow (LUTCF) |
| Health | Registered Health Underwriter (RHU), Certified Employee Benefits Specialist (CEBS), Registered Employee Benefits Consultant (REBC), HIA |
| Property and Casualty | Accredited Advisor in Insurance (AAI), Associate in Risk Management (ARM), Certified Insurance Counselor (CIC), Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU) |
| All lines except Crop | College insurance degree |
Two designations do double duty: CEBS appears on both the Life and Health lists, and CIC on both the Life and Property & Casualty lists — so a single credential can clear two exams. One caution on HIA: the handbook expands it as "Health Information Administration," which is not what that abbreviation normally denotes in this context. Treat the abbreviation as authoritative, the expansion as a probable typo in the source, and confirm with the Licensing Division before relying on it.
### Route two — moving in from another state waives the exam
The same list carries a second, non-designation limb that is easy to miss because it sits under an exam heading rather than on any of the OIC's licensing pages. A person who "is moving from another state where a resident license was held" is excused the examination if the individual "makes application for license within ninety (90) days of the date the license was canceled in the previous resident state. If application is made after ninety (90) days, the applicant must complete pre-licensing education and pass the examination for which application is made."
Read where the clock starts. Not your move date, not the day you got a West Virginia address — the date your prior resident licence was cancelled. Many producers cancel a resident licence as housekeeping weeks before they think about West Virginia, and the clock is already running. Do not confuse this ninety days with the other ninety in West Virginia licensing, which is when the renewal window opens.
### Route three — the licence type itself waives the coursework
Separately, and by licence type rather than by credential, three categories of applicant are exempt from pre-licensing education altogether: Surplus Lines applicants, Adjusters, and Bail Bonds applicants — who need neither pre-licensing nor continuing education.
The asymmetry is the point. A CLU still takes the pre-licensing course for Life, because the designation waives the exam. A Surplus Lines applicant skips the course but still sits the Surplus Lines exam. Nothing on either list waives both.
### What no route waives
Fingerprinting. The requirement reaches all applicants for resident West Virginia licences, with exemptions defined by applicant category — limited-lines producers, non-residents, and producers licensed before June 1, 2015 unless they add a line after that date — not by designation or exam waiver. A CPCU with a waived Property & Casualty exam is fingerprinted like everyone else; the Casualty guide covers that step.
What It Costs
$84.00 to Pearson VUE per examination, $47.25 to IdentoGO for fingerprinting, $50.00 to the Insurance Commissioner with the application, plus a 20-hour pre-licensing course priced by the provider — about $181.25 in fixed costs on a first-time pass.
If you hold RHU, CEBS, REBC or HIA, the exam fee comes off entirely: the waiver removes the examination, not just the pass requirement. The coursework and the fingerprint and application fees remain.
Note the OIC's fee schedule dated 8/19/2026 gives fingerprinting as $47.25 while the June 2026 handbook still prints $45.75. Budget the higher, more recent figure.
Eligibility Requirements
The candidate handbook sets five requirements: be a resident of West Virginia; be eighteen (18) years of age or older; satisfy the Insurance Commissioner that you are trustworthy and competent; take the examinations administered by Pearson VUE; and — the item most study material still gets wrong — sponsorship by an insurance company is no longer required on the application.
A criminal conviction is not an automatic bar. The OIC's Resident Producer FAQ addresses it directly, and the Commissioner maintains a 1033 Information set — 1033 Procedures, 1033 FAQs and a 1033 Short Form Application — with a $100.00 waiver fee on the published schedule. Federal law (18 U.S.C. 1033) bars anyone convicted of a felony involving dishonesty or breach of trust from working in insurance without written consent, and the 1033 waiver is how that consent is obtained here.
Keeping Your License Active
Important CE details: Twenty-four hours per biennial compliance period, three of them ethics. Up to six hours over the minimum carry into the next biennium, but ethics hours carry forward as general credit only — three fresh ethics hours are due every cycle. Providers have 30 days to file your credits, and the Commissioner warns that courses taken less than 30 days before expiration may not post in time to renew.
Twenty-four hours per biennial compliance period including three hours of ethics, renewing by the last day of your birth month. The Property & Casualty guide covers the mechanics.
Health producers carry an extra gate. Long-term care requires an initial course of not less than eight hours before you sell the product, then not less than four hours in each mandatory continuing education biennium, under §33-12-8a. The statute's content list is prescriptive — long-term care insurance and services, qualified partnership programs, state and federal regulations, the Medicaid relationship, providers and service alternatives, inflation protection and consumer suitability standards — and it expressly prohibits product-specific and sales or marketing material as training content. Insurers must keep verification records for five years.
The Commissioner's own long-term care notice states only the recurring four-hour figure; the initial eight hours comes from the statute. West Virginia does operate a Long-Term Care Partnership Program, but it is established outside the insurance code — at W. Va. Code §9-4E-3, administered by the Bureau for Medical Services, with a dollar-for-dollar Medicaid asset disregard for benefits paid under a qualified partnership policy.
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