Wyoming Life & Health Insurance Exam — Study Guide

How this chapter fits the exam

Wyoming's producer exams are delivered by Pearson VUE in two parts: a general-knowledge section and a Wyoming-specific state section. On the Wyoming Insurance Examination Content Outlines effective April 15, 2025, the state section for the Life and Accident and Health or Sickness Producer exam carries 35 scoreable questions plus 5 unscored pretest questions, split 15 / 10 / 10 — rules common to all lines (Commissioner, licensing, producer duties, unfair trade practices, guaranty association, privacy), then life-only rules, then accident-and-health rules. The combined exam (exam code 05) is listed in the Pearson VUE Wyoming Insurance Licensing Candidate Handbook at 150 questions in 2.5 hours, and the handbook states you must answer 70% correctly to pass. Both documents are reissued; verify the current question count, time limit, fee and passing score — and whether the general and state sections are scored separately — with the Wyoming Department of Insurance and the current Pearson VUE handbook and outline.

The controlling law is Title 26 of the Wyoming Statutes (the Insurance Code) plus the Department's rules at Wyoming Administrative Code, Agency 044, Subagency 0002 (cited below as "Reg. Ch. NN").

YMYL note. Wyoming's rules are stable and stated affirmatively below. Wyoming's numbers — fees, hours, dollar caps, day counts — change by legislation and rulemaking. Every figure is cited and flagged. Verify current with the Wyoming Department of Insurance (doi.wyo.gov) before relying on any number.

1. The Department and the Commissioner

The Wyoming Department of Insurance (Cheyenne) is headed by the Insurance Commissioner (W.S. 26-2-102(a)). Two settled facts: the Commissioner is appointed by the Governor, not elected (W.S. 26-2-102(b)); and the Commissioner must be a qualified elector free of conflicting insurance interests (W.S. 26-2-103, 26-2-107).

Powers (W.S. 26-2-109). The Commissioner shall personally supervise the Department, inquire into violations, enforce the Code with impartiality, and exercise powers expressly conferred or reasonably implied from the Code. He may conduct additional investigations upon reasonable and probable cause, and may promulgate rules (W.S. 26-2-110).

Examinations — two distinct powers candidates confuse. Under W.S. 26-2-116 the Commissioner may examine any insurer as often as he deems advisable and shall examine each licensed insurer not less frequently than every five (5) years, plus each applicant for a certificate of authority; scheduling weighs financial ratios, ownership changes, actuarial opinions and the NAIC Examiners' Handbook, and another state's report substitutes only if that department was NAIC-accredited, or the examination was run under an accredited department's supervision (W.S. 26-2-116(d)). Under W.S. 26-2-117 the Commissioner may examine the accounts, records and transactions of any person other than an insurer — including you and your agency.

Enforcement. Orders must be written and state their grounds (W.S. 26-2-111); enforcement and injunctions at W.S. 26-2-112; hearings under the Wyoming Administrative Procedure Act and W.S. 26-2-125 through 26-2-129; cease and desist authority at W.S. 26-2-130 and, for trade practices, W.S. 26-13-115.

Penalties (W.S. 26-1-107). A violation lacking a greater penalty is a misdemeanor — currently up to a $1,000.00 fine and/or six months in county jail, each violation a separate offense. Civil penalties are currently capped at $5,000.00 per offense and $50,000.00 per year, with a lower cap for individual agents and adjusters (currently $1,000.00 and $10,000.00). Written notice and a hearing at least ten (10) days out must precede a civil penalty. Verify all penalty amounts.

2. Producer licensing

Who must be licensed. W.S. 26-9-203 requires a license to sell, solicit or negotiate insurance; exceptions are at W.S. 26-9-204 and 26-9-209. A business entity producer must itself be licensed. Related licenses: surplus lines broker (W.S. 26-9-208; 26-11-103), consultant (W.S. 26-9-220; Reg. Ch. 18), adjuster (W.S. 26-9-219), limited and specialty limited lines (W.S. 26-9-202; 26-9-234), broker (W.S. 26-9-224, 26-9-225).

Resident requirements (W.S. 26-9-206(a)). On the uniform application, the Commissioner must find the applicant is at least eighteen (18); has committed no act that is a ground under W.S. 26-9-211; has paid the fees in W.S. 26-4-101(a); has passed the examination for each line applied for; and has submitted fingerprints for a criminal history record background check under W.S. 7-19-201(a), at the applicant's expense. A business entity must also designate a licensed producer responsible for compliance (subsection (b)).

Pre-license education and exam. Wyoming does not require pre-licensing education — the gate is the exam. Neither W.S. 26-9-205 or 26-9-206 nor the Department's rules (Agency 044, Subagency 0002, Chs. 1–72, which contain a continuing-education chapter but no prelicensing chapter) impose a course-hour prerequisite. This is a negative finding; confirm with the Department before relying on it. W.S. 26-9-205 requires a resident applicant to pass a written examination testing the lines applied for, producer duties, and the insurance laws and regulations of this state. The Commissioner may contract with an outside testing service (currently Pearson VUE), to which the candidate pays the exam fee. Under W.S. 26-9-209, no exam is required of an applicant previously licensed for the same lines elsewhere who is currently licensed there or applies within ninety (90) days of cancellation with proof of good standing; a producer who moves to Wyoming must apply within ninety (90) days of establishing legal residence.

Lines of authority (W.S. 26-9-207(a)): life (including endowment and annuity benefits, and optionally accidental death/dismemberment and disability income); accident and health or sickness; variable life and variable annuity products (see Reg. Ch. 66, Ch. 67); plus property, casualty, personal lines and credit.

Appointment. A producer may not act as an agent of an insurer unless appointed by that insurer; a producer not acting as an insurer's agent need not be appointed (W.S. 26-9-213(a)). The insurer files the appointment within fifteen (15) days of executing the agency contract or submitting the first application, pays an appointment fee, and remits an annual continuation fee on or before March 31 (W.S. 26-9-213). On terminating a producer for any reason, the insurer notifies the Commissioner within thirty (30) days (W.S. 26-9-214).

Renewal, lapse, waiver. W.S. 26-9-207(b) sets a birth-month, two-year cycle: the license continues if, on or before the last day of the month of the licensee's birthday in the second year after issuance or renewal, the licensee pays the continuation fee, meets CE by the due date and files a written continuation request. Business entity licenses key off the month the license was effective and carry no CE. A lapsed license may be reinstated within twelve (12) months of the due date without re-examination, with a penalty equal to one continuation fee (subsection (c)). Military service or a long-term medical disability supports a waiver of renewal procedures, examination requirements or a non-compliance fine (subsection (d)). Report a change of name, address, phone or email within thirty (30) days (subsection (f)).

Temporary license (W.S. 26-9-210). The Commissioner may issue one for up to one hundred eighty (180) days, without examination, to the surviving spouse or court-appointed personal representative of a producer who dies or becomes disabled; a member or employee of a licensed business entity on the death or disability of a designated individual; the designee of a producer entering active military service; or where the public interest is best served. The Commissioner may limit authority, require a sponsoring producer or insurer, and revoke the license; it may not continue after the business is sold.

Nonresident license (W.S. 26-9-208; reciprocity W.S. 26-9-215). Issued reciprocally to a producer in good standing in the home state, without a Wyoming exam. Nonresidents are exempt from Wyoming CE and must maintain a valid home state license. Accepting the license is an irrevocable appointment of the Commissioner for service of process (W.S. 26-9-230).

Grounds for denial, suspension or revocation (W.S. 26-9-211). After notice and opportunity for hearing, the Commissioner may place on probation, suspend, revoke, refuse to issue or renew, and/or levy a civil penalty, for: materially untrue application information; violating any insurance law or any order of this or another state's commissioner; obtaining a license by fraud; misappropriating or converting money received in insurance business; intentionally misrepresenting policy terms; a felony relating to the insurance profession; having committed an unfair trade practice or fraud; fraudulent, coercive or dishonest practices, incompetence, untrustworthiness or financial irresponsibility; license action in another state; forgery; improperly using notes or reference material on a licensing examination; failing to comply with a child support order; and failing to maintain a valid home state license. A business entity license is at risk where an individual's violation was known to a partner, officer or manager and neither reported nor corrected. Critically, subsection (c): the Commissioner keeps enforcement authority even if the license is surrendered or lapses. Subsection (d) currently allows recovery of investigation and proceeding costs not to exceed $500.00.

Reporting (W.S. 26-9-216). Report any administrative action in another jurisdiction within thirty (30) days of final disposition, and any criminal prosecution within thirty (30) days of the initial pretrial hearing date. Under W.S. 26-9-233, notify the Commissioner before using any assumed name.

3. Marketing and sales conduct

Wyoming has an Unfair Trade Practices Act — W.S. 26-13-101 through 26-13-125, expressly short-titled as such, supplemented by Reg. Ch. 33. W.S. 26-13-102 bars any practice the article defines as an unfair method of competition or an unfair or deceptive act in the business of insurance.

• Misrepresentation and false advertising (W.S. 26-13-103): no misrepresenting policy terms, benefits, dividends or surplus; no false statements about dividends previously paid; no misrepresenting an insurer's financial condition or legal reserve system; no policy name or title misrepresenting its true nature (calling life insurance a "savings plan").
• Home office false advertising (W.S. 26-13-104): no untrue, deceptive or misleading advertisement in any medium.
• Twisting (W.S. 26-13-105): prohibited. No written or oral statement misrepresenting or making incomplete comparisons of policy terms, conditions or benefits to induce a policyholder to lapse, forfeit, surrender, retain, exchange or convert a policy. Wyoming reaches inducing a client to retain, not only to drop. Churning is pursued through this statute with Reg. Ch. 12 and, for annuities, Reg. Ch. 64.
• False financial statements (W.S. 26-13-106): no false statement of an insurer's condition with intent to deceive; no advertising capital or assets without liabilities in equal prominence.
• Defamation (W.S. 26-13-107): no false or maliciously critical statement about an insurer's financial condition made to injure someone in the insurance business.
• Boycott, coercion, intimidation (W.S. 26-13-108): prohibited where it unreasonably restrains or monopolizes insurance business, with a narrow exception for association-owned insurers non-renewing casualty or liability coverage for unpaid dues.
• Unfair discrimination (W.S. 26-13-109): none between insureds of the same class and essentially the same hazard in premium, dividends, terms or "any other manner." Older subsections and W.S. 26-13-111 and 26-13-112 were repealed by Laws 2023, ch. 32, § 2, though the current content outline still cites "26-13-112(c)." (The outline carries one other dead citation: W.S. 26-9-232, for license expiration and termination, was repealed by Laws 2022, ch. 46, § 3 — read that topic out of W.S. 26-9-207 instead.)
• Rebating (W.S. 26-13-110): prohibited. No rebate, discount, credit or premium reduction; no special dividend advantage; no paid employment; no valuable consideration not specified in the contract; no insurance offered as an inducement to buy another policy; no use of "free" or "no cost" in advertising. Not rebating: fair and equitable surplus-funded bonuses, genuine collection-expense allowances, retroactive group experience rating, volume discounts limited to real expense savings, payroll-deduction discounts, policy dividends, and commissions paid to licensed producers. Wyoming also permits value-added products and services meeting stated criteria and non-cash gifts and raffles within caps — currently $100.00, or 5% of premium not to exceed $1,000.00, per customer per calendar year, and $100.00 per raffle. Gift records are transaction records under W.S. 26-9-228.
• Insurance fraud (W.S. 26-13-201, 26-13-202): no knowing or willful false statement in an application, false claim or supporting proof, or false certificate or document.

Controlled business (W.S. 26-9-226). Wyoming restricts controlled business: the Commissioner shall not grant, renew or continue a license used principally to write insurance on the producer's own, family's or employer's interests. The test is commission-based — controlled-business commissions exceeding other commissions in any twelve (12) month period. Under subsection (c), where controlled-business commissions payable in a calendar year exceed other commissions payable that year, receipt of the excess is an unlawful rebate. Excluded: motor vehicle sales/financing and mortgagee interests, and credit life and credit disability insurance.

Unfair claims settlement practices (W.S. 26-13-124). Wyoming has an unfair claims settlement practices statute, triggered only when a person commits listed practices with such frequency as to indicate a general business practice. The seventeen practices include misrepresenting coverage facts or provisions; failing to acknowledge or act promptly on claim communications; failing to adopt reasonable investigation standards or to investigate before denying; failing to affirm or deny coverage timely after proofs of loss; failing to attempt good-faith prompt, fair and equitable settlement where liability is reasonably clear; compelling litigation by low offers; paying claims without a statement of the coverage under which payment is made; failing to give a reasonable explanation of the policy basis for a denial; and failing to comply with health external review under W.S. 26-40-201.

Claim timing (W.S. 26-15-124). Life, accident and health claims must be accepted or rejected and paid within forty-five (45) days after proofs of loss and supporting evidence. Where refusal to pay a covered loss is unreasonable or without cause, the court may award attorney's fees and 10% per year interest.

Advertising rules. Reg. Ch. 21 governs accident and sickness advertising — disclosure, testimonials, endorsements — with Sec. 7 on Medicare supplement advertising; Medicare supplement issuers must file Wyoming advertisements with the Commissioner (W.S. 26-38-208). Life advertising is policed through W.S. 26-13-103 and 26-13-104.

Commissions (W.S. 26-9-212). No insurer or producer may pay, and no person may accept, compensation for selling, soliciting or negotiating Wyoming insurance if that person is required to be licensed and is not. Renewal and deferred commissions may be paid to a person who was licensed at the time of the sale. Commissions may be paid or assigned to an agency, or to persons who do not sell, solicit or negotiate in Wyoming, unless the payment would violate W.S. 26-13-109 or 26-13-110. See also Reg. Ch. 60 (military sales practices).