Kansas insurance law is in Chapter 40 of the Kansas Statutes Annotated (K.S.A.), with regulations in Agency 40 of the Kansas Administrative Regulations (K.A.R.). Kansas statutes say "agent" where most states say "producer," and they call an appointment a certification. The Kansas questions on every exam draw on the same core: the Commissioner, agent licensing and CE, appointments, unfair trade practices, fraud, excess lines, and the guaranty associations. This guide covers those rules with citations. General regulatory concepts are in the national Insurance Regulation guide.

About the exam

Kansas producer exams are given by Pearson VUE. The passing score on each exam is 70% (Kansas candidate handbook, July 2026).

Kansas sells all seven exams, including the combined Life & Health and Property & Casualty exams. Each exam also carries a small number of unscored pretest questions.

• No prelicensing education is required.
• A failed exam can be retaken after at least seven days, with no limit on attempts (K.S.A. 40-241).
• Exam scores are valid for two years.
• Resident applicants get a tax clearance from the Kansas Department of Revenue, submit fingerprints for state and national background checks (the applicant pays, K.S.A. 40-4905(h)), and apply online through NIPR.

The regulator

• The Kansas Insurance Department is headed by the Commissioner of Insurance, who is elected by the voters at the general election for a four-year term (K.S.A. 40-106). This is the most tested Kansas fact.
• If the office becomes vacant, the Governor appoints one of three people recommended under the party-vacancy process to serve the rest of the term.
• The Commissioner has general supervision of insurers and may make reasonable rules to enforce the insurance laws (40-103). The Commissioner also supervises the sale of stock and bonds of domestic insurers (40-104).
• Financial examinations happen whenever the Commissioner decides, but at least once every five years. Market regulation exams are at the Commissioner's discretion. Examiners have free access to the books of the company and of its agents, and may question officers and agents under oath (40-222).
• Fact-finding hearings may be held whenever the Commissioner believes it is in the public interest. The notice gives the time, place and purpose. Formal rules of evidence apply only if a subpoenaed party asks. A subpoena is enforced by the district court of Shawnee County or the witness's home county (40-281).

Insurers

• Domestic = organized and licensed in Kansas; foreign = domiciled in another state and licensed in Kansas (40-2c01). Alien insurers are organized outside the United States.
• An insurer needs a certificate of authority (40-209, 40-2702).
• A foreign insurer generally must have been in operation three years and file a home-state exam report from the last five years. Kansas won't license an insurer controlled by another state or a foreign government (40-209).
• A fraternal benefit society has no capital stock, is not for profit, and operates on a lodge system with a ritualistic form of work and representative government (40-738).

Agent licensing

Definitions (40-4902). An insurance agent (also "producer") is a person required to be licensed to sell, solicit or negotiate insurance. Solicit includes urging someone to apply for a particular kind of insurance from a particular company. Negotiate means conferring directly with a buyer about the substantive benefits, terms or conditions of a particular contract.

Lines of authority (40-4903(a)): life; accident and health or sickness; property; casualty (legal liability); variable life and variable annuity; personal lines (property and casualty sold to individuals and families for noncommercial purposes); credit; and crop.

Resident applicants (40-4905):

• must be at least 18
• must pass the exam for each line applied for
• a business entity designates a licensed agent responsible for its compliance

Not required to be licensed (40-4904) are:

• insurer officers and employees who earn no commission and do executive, clerical, underwriting, loss control or claim adjusting work
• special agents who only give technical help to licensed agents
• employers administering their own employee benefit plans without insurer compensation
• people who only advertise through mass media

Exam waivers (40-4908):

• A licensed agent from another state who moves to Kansas applies for a resident license within 90 days and takes no exam for the same lines.
• The exam is also waived if a prior license was cancelled within 90 days while in good standing.
• It is waived if a Kansas license was voluntarily surrendered no more than two years earlier with CE met.

Nonresidents (40-4906). A nonresident license requires good standing in the home state and reciprocity: the home state must license Kansas residents on the same basis. A Kansas resident who moves away files a change of address with certification from the new state within 30 days.

Temporary licenses (40-4907):

• issued without an exam for up to 180 days
• available to the surviving spouse or court-appointed representative of a deceased or disabled agent, and to the designee of an agent entering active military service
• extendable once for another 180 days; a military designee's license may be renewed as long as needed
• if a sponsor is required, it must be a licensed agent or insurer that takes responsibility for the licensee's acts

Reporting within 30 days (40-4905(f); K.A.R. 40-7-9):

• changes of residence, mailing or email address, or phone number
• any misdemeanor or felony conviction other than minor traffic violations
• discipline by another state
• an insurer's termination of the agent for cause

Continuing education (40-4902, 40-4903)

• 18 C.E.C.s every two years, including 3 hours of ethics (ethics may include regulatory compliance). A crop-only agent needs 2 crop credits.
• The biennial due date is the last day of the birth month. Agents born in odd years report in odd years, and those born in even years report in even years.
• One C.E.C. requires at least 50 minutes of instruction per clock hour. An instructor earns the same credit as a student.
• If proof isn't received by the due date, the licenses are suspended for up to 90 days and a $100 penalty per license is assessed. If not cured in 90 days, the licenses expire as of the due date. After more than 12 months, the person must reapply, show CE and pay a reinstatement fee.
• Course records and certificates are kept for the rest of the biennium and the entire next biennium.
• Extensions and exemptions:
  • up to 180 days for medical hardship or military service
  • an exemption while on active duty of 90 consecutive days or more
  • inactive status for up to four years
• A license that has lapsed everywhere for four or more years requires a new exam.
• No credit is given for exam-prep courses, office-skills courses, or sales meetings. A repeat of the same course in one biennium doesn't earn full credit (K.A.R. 40-7-20a).

Appointments (certification)

• A license gives no authority to transact business until an insurer certifies (appoints) the agent (40-241; 40-4912).
• Before appointing, the insurer must find the agent has a good business reputation and either insurance experience or immediate training.
• The insurer sends the appointment within 30 days of making it, through NIPR, and pays the fees.
• An insurer that fails to certify within 30 working days faces up to $25 per calendar day.
• An insurer appoints each agent in an agency for each class the agent may transact (K.A.R. 40-7-22). Ending an agency's contract automatically ends the certification of agents whose certification came only through that agency (K.A.R. 40-7-25).
• An insurer that ends an agent's relationship for cause notifies the Commissioner within 30 days with the reason. Good-faith reports are immune from civil suits (40-4913).

Commissions and premium funds

• Commissions may not be paid to anyone required to be licensed who isn't. Renewal commissions may still go to a former agent who was licensed at the time of sale (40-4910).
• Premiums an agent collects are held in trust for the insurer. Failing to pay them over is prima facie evidence of misuse (40-247).
• Failure to remit is a crime graded by amount:
  • under $1,000: class A misdemeanor
  • $1,000 to under $25,000: severity level 9 felony
  • $25,000 or more: severity level 7 nonperson felony

Discipline (40-4909)

Grounds for discipline include:

• a misdemeanor or felony conviction
• forgery
• using notes during the license exam
• accepting business from an unlicensed person
• withholding or misappropriating money received in the insurance business
• twisting
• failing to comply with a child support order or to pay state income tax
• failing to respond to the Commissioner within 15 business days

Penalties. Instead of suspension or revocation, the Commissioner may censure or fine:

• up to $500 per violation, capped at $2,500 for the same violation in six months
• up to $1,000 per violation ($5,000 in six months) if the agent knew or should have known the conduct was a violation

Reapplying and time limits.

• A license applicant denied after a hearing may reapply after one year. A revoked licensee may reapply after two years.
• No proceeding may begin more than two years after a license terminates.
• Insurers may not use a suspended or revoked agent to solicit.

Unfair trade practices (40-2404)

• Misrepresentation, including misstating dividends and calling a policy "shares of stock" (40-2404(1)).
• False advertising in any medium (40-2404(2)).
• Defamation, meaning false or malicious statements about another's financial condition (40-2404(3)).
• Boycott, coercion and intimidation (40-2404(4)).
• False statements and entries (40-2404(5)).
• Stock operations, meaning offering agency company stock as an inducement (40-2404(6)).
• Twisting, meaning misrepresentation to induce a lapse, forfeiture, exchange, conversion or surrender (40-2404(1)(f)). Any violation of the replacement regulation is presumed to be twisting (K.A.R. 40-2-12(k)).
• Unfair discrimination. In life insurance the test is the same class and equal expectation of life. In accident and health it is the same class and essentially the same hazard. Insurers may not refuse or surcharge someone solely for being blind, a living organ donor, or a victim of domestic abuse, and may not ask an applicant whether they are an abuse victim (40-2404(7)).
• Rebating (40-2404(8); 40-966). Rebates of premium or anything of value not in the policy are prohibited, and an insured who knowingly accepts a P&C rebate also violates the law. Allowed:
  • dividends
  • commissions to licensed agents
  • value-added services that reduce risk, mitigate loss or enhance health
  • raffles that are free to enter and require no purchase Insurance may not be offered as an inducement to buy another policy.
• False statements on an application to earn a commission (40-2404(12)).
• Unfair claim practices (40-2404(9)) are violations when done flagrantly or with enough frequency to show a general business practice. Examples are refusing to pay without a reasonable investigation and failing to explain a denial.
• Insurers keep a complaint register covering the period since the last exam (40-2404(11)) and answer a Department inquiry within 14 calendar days (40-2404(10)).

Enforcement (40-2406, 40-2407). The Commissioner serves a statement of charges, holds a hearing, and then orders the person to cease and desist. Penalties:

• up to $1,000 per act, with a $10,000 aggregate cap
• for knowing violations, up to $5,000 per act, with a $50,000 cap in six months
• suspension or revocation only for knowing violations
• restitution, such as premium refunds

A person served with an emergency cease and desist order has 15 days to request a hearing (40-2,125).

Life sales rules (K.A.R. 40-2-14, 40-2-12)

• The agent says up front that he or she is acting as an insurance agent.
• A policy summary goes to the applicant at or before delivery. It isn't required for annuities, variable life or group life.
• A premium may not be called a deposit, investment or savings, and dividends must be described as not guaranteed.
• An annuity may not be called "risk free."
• Recommending an unsuitable purchase or replacement is prohibited.
• Replacement rules are covered in the Kansas life policy provisions guide.

Fraud (40-2,118, 40-2,119)

• A fraudulent insurance act is knowingly, with intent to defraud, presenting false material information in an application or claim, or concealing material facts.
• Penalties range from a class C misdemeanor (under $1,000) to a severity level 6 felony ($25,000 or more). Restitution is mandatory.
• Insurers must report suspected fraud to the Commissioner and keep antifraud initiatives. Anyone else may report.
• Reporters are immune absent fraud, bad faith or malice.

Excess (surplus) lines (40-246b to 40-246e)

• An excess lines license goes only to a licensed P&C agent.
• Placement with an eligible nonadmitted insurer requires the insured's written consent after disclosures. If coverage is bound first, the insured confirms in writing within 30 days.
• A rate difference alone is not a valid reason when an admitted insurer would take the risk.
• The policy is stamped to say it is not reviewed by the Commissioner and no guaranty fund applies.
• Eligible insurers need $15 million in capital or surplus.
• The annual diligent-effort affidavit is due March 1. Late filing or payment can bring a penalty of up to double the tax.
• Splitting a risk to push part of it into the nonadmitted market is prohibited.

Guaranty associations

Kansas Life and Health Insurance Guaranty Association (40-3002, 40-3003) protects residents when a member insurer is impaired or insolvent. It is funded by assessments on member insurers. Fraternal societies are not members.

Kansas Insurance Guaranty Association (40-2903, 40-2906) covers P&C claims of an insurer under a final liquidation order:

• the first $300,000 per claim; workers' compensation in full
• unearned premium is covered; uninsured punitive damages are not
• claims must be filed within 18 months of the liquidation order
• a claimant first exhausts any solvent insurer's coverage
• member assessments are capped at 2% of net direct written premium a year
• suits against the insolvent insurer are stayed 60 days

Viatical settlements (40-5002 to 40-5010)

• A broker represents only the viator and owes a fiduciary duty. Brokers must hold a Kansas life license or pass the life exam.
• The viator may rescind within 15 days after receiving the proceeds.
• Generally no settlement is allowed in the policy's first two years, except for terminal or chronic illness and other listed events.

Common exam traps

• The Commissioner is elected for four years. The Governor fills a vacancy.
• CE is 18 hours including 3 of ethics, due the last day of the birth month.
• Appointments are sent within 30 days. An agent has no authority until certified.
• Address changes and convictions are reported within 30 days. Commissioner inquiries are answered within 15 business days.
• A temporary license lasts 180 days.
• The P&C guaranty cap is $300,000, with workers' comp paid in full.
• Kansas requires no prelicensing education. A failed exam can be retaken after seven days.