Maine Life & Health Insurance Exam — Study Guide

State-portion supplement to the national Life & Health manuscript.

Everything in the national chapters still applies in Maine. This chapter covers only what Maine does differently, and it is what the Maine state portion of your licensing exam draws from.

Primary sources: Title 24-A of the Maine Revised Statutes (the Maine Insurance Code), the rules of the Maine Bureau of Insurance (Code of Maine Rules, Chapter 02-031), and the Bureau's licensee guidance.

A word about numbers. The rules here are stable — the Bureau exists, the guaranty association exists, the replacement rule exists, the unfair trade practices act exists. The numbers attached to them — fees, CE hours, penalty ceilings, guaranty caps, filing windows — are what legislatures and regulators move. Every figure below is flagged. Before you rely on a number in practice, verify current with the Maine Bureau of Insurance.

1. The Maine Bureau of Insurance and the Superintendent

Maine's insurance regulator is the Maine Bureau of Insurance, a bureau within the Maine Department of Professional and Financial Regulation. Its head is the Superintendent of Insurance.

That title is the most commonly missed Maine terminology item. Maine does not use "Commissioner" and does not use "Director." Every duty the national chapters assign to a commissioner belongs in Maine to the Superintendent. The Superintendent is appointed by the Commissioner of Professional and Financial Regulation subject to legislative confirmation, serves a fixed term, and may not hold a financial interest in or be employed by a regulated insurer.

Powers and duties:

• Administer, enforce, and interpret the Insurance Code, and adopt rules under Maine's Administrative Procedure Act. Bureau rule chapters carry the force of law; four matter most here — the replacement rule (Ch. 919), the annuity suitability rule (Ch. 917), the continuing education rule, and the Bureau's advertising, Medicare supplement, and long-term care rules.
• License producers, consultants, adjusters, and business entities — issuance, renewal, denial, suspension, revocation.
• Examine insurers. The Superintendent examines the affairs, accounts, records, and assets of authorized insurers as often as deemed advisable, and domestic insurers on a recurring statutory cycle. The insurer examined bears the expense. Maine may accept another state's examination under the NAIC accreditation framework.
• Investigate licensee complaints, compelling records and testimony under oath.
• Hold hearings and issue orders, including cease and desist orders reaching both statutorily defined practices and practices the Superintendent determines after hearing to be unfair or deceptive (§2165-A).
• Impose penalties — civil penalties, restitution, license action; ceilings at §12-A. Amounts — verify current.
• Oversee solvency, including rehabilitation and liquidation, and assist consumers with complaints.

Insurers need a certificate of authority to transact insurance in Maine; individuals and entities need a producer license to sell, solicit, or negotiate.

2. Producer Licensing in Maine

Maine's licensing law is the Maine Producer Licensing Act, Title 24-A, Chapter 16, Subchapter 2-A (§§1420–1420-Q), plus the general provisions in Subchapter 2 (§§1410–1419).

Producer status and lines of authority

An insurance producer is a person required to be licensed to sell, solicit, or negotiate insurance. Those three verbs are the licensing trigger, defined as in the NAIC model: sell = exchange a contract on behalf of an insurer for consideration; solicit = attempt to sell or urge a person to apply for a particular kind of insurance from a particular insurer; negotiate = confer with or advise a purchaser about the substantive benefits, terms, or conditions of a contract.

Maine licenses by line of authority — here, life and health (accident and health or sickness). Variable life and variable annuity is a separate line and also requires the applicable FINRA securities registration; a Maine life license alone does not permit variable sales. Maine also issues limited lines licenses that do not require the full examination.

Prelicensing and examination

Under §1410, before filing a license application a resident producer, adjuster, or consultant applicant must pass a written examination covering the kinds of insurance applied for, the duties and responsibilities of a producer, and the insurance laws and rules of this State — which is why a Maine state portion exists at all. A contracted vendor administers it and publishes a Maine candidate handbook and content outline. Vendor, fees, question count, time limit, and passing score change — confirm in the current handbook. Whether a prelicensing course of study is also required is set administratively. Verify current.

Applicants file on the Superintendent's form, pay the §601 fee (amounts — verify current), and clear background review; criminal history is screened under Title 5 §5301. Maine uses electronic licensing through NIPR, and §1420-H lets the Superintendent exempt certain applicants from the written exam.

License term, renewal, lapse

A Maine producer license remains in effect — a continuation, not a reissue — as long as the licensee pays the applicable §601 fee and meets the continuing education requirement by the due date (§1420-F). Maine keys the compliance cycle to the licensee's birth month and birth year: a two-year rhythm with the due date at the end of the birth month, in odd or even years depending on year of birth. This birthday-based biennial structure is a favorite exam point. Cycle and fees — verify current.

If a license lapses, an individual producer may reinstate the same license without retaking the written examination within 12 months of the lapse; after that the applicant is treated as new and must examine again. Verify current window and any reinstatement fee.

Duty to report

§1419 — changes. Notify the Superintendent of address and other required changes; a late fee applies for failure. Verify current window and amount. §1420-P — actions. Report any administrative action by another jurisdiction or another Maine governmental agency, and any criminal prosecution in any jurisdiction, with copies of the relevant orders. Deadline stated in days — verify current.

Appointment by insurers

Maine is an appointment state. Under §1420-M, a producer may not act as an agent of an insurer unless the producer becomes an appointed agent of that insurer. The appointing insurer files the notice of appointment within 15 days from the date the agency contract is executed or the first insurance application is submitted. Appointment and renewal fees are set under §601 — verify current. Section 1420-N requires the insurer to notify the Superintendent when an appointment terminates, stating the reason if for cause. Deadline in days — verify current.

A producer may hold multiple appointments, and one without an appointment with a given insurer may still place business through a duly licensed and appointed producer and share the commission, so long as each producer is licensed (§1450).

Nonresident, temporary, apprentice, and entity licenses

• Nonresident (§1420-G), reciprocity (§1420-O). Maine issues a nonresident license without a Maine examination to an applicant licensed and in good standing in the applicant's home state, who applies properly, pays the fee, and whose home state reciprocates. A licensee changing home state must notify the Superintendent; no new exam is required if the request comes within the statutory window. Verify current window.
• Temporary (§1420-J). A temporary license without examination, for not more than 180 days, may go to the surviving spouse or court-appointed personal representative of a deceased or disabled producer; a designee, member, or employee of a business entity producer on the death or disability of the designated individual; the designee of a producer entering active military service; and any other person the public interest requires. The Superintendent may limit the licensee's authority, require a licensed sponsor, and revoke the license if insureds or the public are endangered; it terminates when the business is disposed of.
• Apprentice (§1420-Q). Maine has added an apprentice insurance producer license, issuable without an examination beginning January 1, 2026, on the terms of §§1420-Q and 1420-J. Duration, permitted activities, supervision, and fee — verify current.
• Business entities (§1413). An entity acting as a producer must be licensed and must designate a licensed individual producer responsible for its compliance.

Grounds for denial, nonrenewal, suspension, revocation (§1420-K)

Heavily tested. The Superintendent may act for: (1) providing incorrect, misleading, incomplete, or materially untrue information in a license application; (2) violating any insurance law, rule, subpoena, or order of the Superintendent or another state's regulator; (3) obtaining or attempting to obtain a license through misrepresentation or fraud; (4) improperly withholding, misappropriating, or converting money or property received in the insurance business; (5) intentionally misrepresenting the terms of an actual or proposed contract or application; (6) criminal conviction, evaluated under Title 5 §5301; (7) having admitted or been found to have committed an insurance unfair trade practice or fraud; (8) using fraudulent, coercive, or dishonest practices, or demonstrating incompetence, untrustworthiness, or financial irresponsibility, here or elsewhere; (9) having a license denied, suspended, or revoked in another state, province, district, or territory; (10) forging a signature on an insurance application or related document; (11) improperly using notes or reference material during a licensing examination; (12) knowingly accepting business from an unlicensed person required to be licensed; (13) failing to comply with a child support order; and (14) failing to pay state income tax or comply with a payment order.

Section 1417 gives parallel authority to suspend, revoke, cancel, or refuse; §1418 governs relicensing after revocation and imposes a waiting period (verify current); §1412 lists prohibited activities.

3. Marketing and Sales Conduct: Maine's Unfair Trade Practices Law

Maine has an unfair trade practices act for insurance: Title 24-A, Chapter 23, "Trade Practices and Frauds." Section 2152 is the core prohibition — no person may engage in this State in any trade practice defined in, or determined under, the chapter to be an unfair method of competition or an unfair or deceptive act or practice in the business of insurance. Chapter 23 both defines specific offenses and lets the Superintendent reach undefined unfair or deceptive practices after hearing, with cease and desist authority under §2165-A.

• Misrepresentation and false advertising of policies (§2153) — misrepresenting benefits, conditions, terms, dividends, or share of surplus; misrepresenting an insurer's financial condition; using a name or title that misrepresents a policy's nature. Includes presenting a life policy or annuity as a savings plan, investment, or deposit. Section 2154 separately bars untrue, deceptive, or misleading assertions about the business of insurance.
• Twisting (§2155) — prohibited by name: misleading representations or incomplete or fraudulent comparisons to induce a person to lapse, forfeit, surrender, terminate, retain, pledge, assign, borrow on, or convert a policy, or to take out a policy with another insurer.
• Churning — replacement from the same insurer for a fresh commission and no legitimate client benefit — is reached through the twisting, misrepresentation, and replacement provisions, and through Rule 917 for annuities. Maine's replacement rule expressly covers same-company replacements; there is no internal-replacement safe harbor.
• Defamation (§2157) — false, maliciously critical, or derogatory statements calculated to injure a person in the insurance business.
• Boycott, coercion, and intimidation (§2158) — acts or agreements unreasonably restraining or monopolizing the business of insurance.
• Unfair discrimination (§2159) — between individuals of the same class and equal expectation of life in life or annuity rates, dividends, or benefits, or of the same class and essentially the same hazard in accident and health. Maine adds prohibitions covering disability, domestic abuse victim status, genetic information, living organ donation, and naloxone purchase (§§2159-A to 2159-E).
• Rebating (§2160) — offering or paying, directly or indirectly, any rebate of premium or any special favor, advantage, valuable consideration, or inducement not specified in the policy; §2163 also prohibits receiving or accepting a rebate. §2161 lists the exceptions (bona fide dividends, abatement of premium from surplus, approved filed plans) and §2163-A defines permitted activities — the narrow set of value-added services and de minimis items allowed. Default is prohibition.
• Unfair claims practices (§2164-D). Maine has an unfair claims settlement practices provision, and it applies to life and health claims: misrepresenting facts or coverage provisions; failing to acknowledge and act promptly on claim communications; failing to adopt reasonable standards for prompt investigation; refusing to pay without reasonable investigation; failing to affirm or deny coverage within a reasonable time after proof of loss; failing to attempt in good faith a prompt, fair settlement where liability is reasonably clear; and compelling insureds to litigate. Maine distinguishes conduct committed with such frequency as to indicate a general business practice from single instances, and imposes claim-payment timing and interest obligations. Day counts and interest rate — verify current.
• Also: life insurance solicitation (§2152-A), authorizing Bureau cost-disclosure rules; unfair solicitation methods (§2152-B); Medicare marketing disclosures (§2152-C); tie-in sales (§2168-A); fictitious groups (§2172); false applications and proofs of loss (§2178); and fraud prevention with reporting immunity (§§2186, 2187).

Advertising. The Bureau's life and health advertising rules follow the NAIC models: no advertisement may be untrue, deceptive, or misleading in fact or by implication; it must identify the insurer by full name and home office location, disclose material exceptions, limitations, and reductions, and not use testimonials or statistics deceptively. The insurer is responsible for all advertising used in Maine, whoever created it, and must keep an advertising file for Bureau inspection — so insurer pre-approval is the practical control on producer-created material.

Commissions (§§1420-L, 1449, 1450). An insurer may not pay, and an unlicensed person may not receive or accept, any commission for insurance unless the person was duly licensed when the application was taken. An unappointed producer may place through a licensed and appointed producer and share the commission if every producer in the chain is licensed. Section 1449 imposes a fiduciary duty on premium funds — account for and remit; never commingle or convert. Misappropriation is an independent revocation ground under §1420-K.