California Life & Health Insurance Exam — All Questions
← Back to practice4 questions
The California Department of Insurance is headed by an Insurance Commissioner who is:
- a.Appointed by the Governor
- b.Elected by California voters to a four-year term✓
- c.Appointed by the federal government
- d.Selected by the insurance industry
California is one of the few states where the Insurance Commissioner is elected directly by voters, serving a four-year term. The Commissioner leads the California Department of Insurance (CDI), which licenses agents and enforces the Insurance Code.
Before taking the California life and health agent exam, an applicant for a combined life and accident-and-health license must complete prelicensing education that includes how many hours devoted specifically to ethics and the California Insurance Code?
- a.0 hours
- b.4 hours
- c.12 hours✓
- d.40 hours
California requires a 12-hour course on ethics and the California Insurance Code (including one hour on insurance fraud) as prelicensing education for life and accident-and-health applicants. Effective January 1, 2026, the former 20-hour-per-line prelicensing courses were repealed, leaving the 12-hour ethics and Code course as the distinctive California prelicensing requirement.
How much continuing education must a California resident life and health licensee complete each two-year license term?
- a.12 hours with no ethics requirement
- b.24 hours, including at least 3 hours of ethics✓
- c.40 hours, including 8 hours of ethics
- d.No continuing education is required
California requires 24 hours of continuing education every two-year term, including at least 3 hours of ethics. Additional product-specific training applies to annuities and long-term care.
Under California law, before an agent may sell annuity products, the agent must first complete:
- a.A one-hour online webinar
- b.An 8-hour annuity training course approved by the Commissioner✓
- c.A property and casualty license
- d.Nothing beyond the basic life license
California requires an agent to complete an 8-hour annuity training course approved by the Commissioner before selling annuities, plus ongoing refresher training. This is in addition to the standard continuing education requirement.