Tennessee's insurance law is in Title 56 of the Tennessee Code Annotated (Tenn. Code Ann.). Producer licensing is in chapter 6, part 1, and unfair practices are in chapter 8. The Department's rules are in Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. chapter 0780-01. This guide covers the Tennessee rules the state portion of every exam tests. General concepts (insurer types, agency, the classic unfair practices) are in the national Insurance Regulation guide.

About the exam

Tennessee's exams are delivered by Pearson VUE. The passing score is 70% (Rule 0780-01-56-.07). A new content outline took effect October 7, 2026. Tennessee sells only single-line exams. There is no combined Life/A&H exam and no combined P&C exam, so you take each line separately.

• Retakes: after a first failure, wait at least 10 calendar days. After a second or later failure, wait at least 30 calendar days (Tenn. Code Ann. 56-6-105).
• Candidates submit fingerprints for a TBI criminal history check (Rule 0780-01-56-.07).
• Prelicensing: the Department's current licensing instructions require a prelicensing course (30 hours) only for the title line of authority.
• Variable contracts have no Tennessee exam.

The regulator

• The Department of Commerce and Insurance (TDCI) is headed by the Commissioner of Commerce and Insurance (56-1-102).
• The Commissioner is appointed by the Governor and serves at the Governor's pleasure (4-3-101, 4-3-112). The office isn't elected.
• Investigations (56-6-120):
  • The Commissioner can subpoena witnesses and take sworn testimony after at least 14 days' written notice.
  • An investigation must finish within 2 years of the order.
• Penalties for producers (56-6-112):
  • civil penalties up to $1,000 per violation, with a $100,000 aggregate cap
  • cease and desist orders, suspension or revocation
  • each day of a continuing violation counts separately
• Penalties for insurers: a knowing violation can bring up to $25,000 per violation, $250,000 aggregate (56-2-305). That section doesn't apply to producers.
• Discipline follows the Uniform Administrative Procedures Act.
• Domestic = incorporated in Tennessee. Foreign = formed under any other state or government (56-1-102). An insurer needs a certificate of authority to transact insurance.

Producer licensing (56-6-101 et seq.)

Who needs a license

• Anyone who sells, solicits or negotiates insurance needs a license for that line (56-6-103).
• The license gives no authority to represent an insurer. That comes from an appointment.
• Exempt (56-6-104):
  • noncommissioned employees doing underwriting, loss control, inspection, claims or clerical work
  • rental-car employees selling optional coverage on rentals of up to 90 days
  • nonresidents selling multistate commercial P&C, if licensed where the insured has its principal place of business
• Limited lines licenses need no exam (56-6-110). Examples: credit, travel, crop, portable electronics and self-service storage.
• A public adjuster needs a Tennessee public adjuster license (56-6-902, 56-6-903).

Getting licensed

• You must be at least 18 (56-6-106) and a U.S. citizen or qualified alien (56-6-103).

• You pass a separate exam for each line (Rule 0780-01-56-.07).

• A business entity must designate a licensed officer or principal responsible for compliance (56-6-106). Only individual licensees may actually sell.

• Exam exemptions (56-6-109):

  • someone licensed for the same lines in another state, if still licensed there or applying within 90 days of cancellation
  • a producer who moves to Tennessee and applies within 90 days of establishing residence

• Nonresidents need good standing at home, and the home state must grant reciprocity (56-6-108).

• Temporary license: up to 180 days without an exam (56-6-111). It's available to:

  • a surviving spouse or representative of a deceased or disabled producer
  • an entity that has lost its designated producer
  • the designee of a producer entering military service

  The Commissioner may require a sponsor who takes responsibility for the temporary licensee.

Keeping the license

• License term: 24 months, ending the last day of your birth month (56-6-107). Business entity licenses expire every 2 years on March 1.
• Report within 30 days:
  • a change of address (56-6-107)
  • an administrative action, counted from the final disposition (56-6-119)
  • a criminal prosecution, counted from the initial pretrial hearing (56-6-119)
• Continuing education (Rule 0780-01-56-.08):
  • 24 hours every 2 years, including 3 hours of ethics
  • up to 12 hours carry over, but not ethics hours
  • an hour is 50 minutes
  • exam-prep, sales, motivational and computer courses don't count
  • instructors earn twice the course hours, for the first presentation only
  • trade-association membership earns up to 2 hours a year
  • property producers take a one-time 3-hour flood course, which counts toward the 24 hours
• CE exemption: producers continuously licensed since January 1, 1994 (56-6-107).
  • Nonresidents meet Tennessee CE by meeting their home state's CE, if the home state reciprocates (56-6-118).
• Lapsed license: reinstate within 12 months without an exam by paying double the unpaid renewal fee (56-6-107).
• LTC sales need an 8-hour one-time course, then 4 hours every 24 months (Rule 0780-01-61-.31).
• Annuity sales need a one-time 4-hour course (Rule 0780-01-86-.07).

Appointments and compensation

• A producer may act for an insurer only after being appointed (56-6-115).
  • The insurer files the notice within 15 days of the contract or first application.
  • The Commissioner verifies eligibility within 30 days.
• In any dispute over an application or policy, the soliciting producer is the insurer's agent, not the insured's (56-6-115).
• A producer may place business in the residual market only after a diligent effort to place it with an insurer the producer represents (56-6-115).
• Termination (56-6-117):
  • The insurer reports a termination, for cause or not, within 30 days of its effective date.
  • It sends the producer a copy within 15 days.
  • The producer may comment within 30 days.
  • Statements are immune from liability absent actual malice.
• Commissions (56-6-113):
  • No commissions to unlicensed persons who must be licensed.
  • Renewal commissions may go to someone licensed at the time of sale.
  • An unaffiliated referral fee is a fixed amount of no more than $25, not tied to a sale.
• Fees (56-6-125):
  • Fees need a written agreement signed before services begin. It must state that the client doesn't have to buy insurance. Keep it 3 years.
  • On individual major medical where the insurer pays no commission, a producer may charge a fee under such an agreement.
  • Calling yourself a financial planner or similar while only selling insurance is an unfair practice.
• Premiums are held in a fiduciary capacity and can't be misappropriated or commingled (56-6-116).
• Selling for an unauthorized insurer makes you personally liable for premiums and claims, and it's a fraudulent insurance act (56-6-114).

Discipline (56-6-112)

• Grounds include:
  • fraud and misrepresentation
  • forgery on an application
  • a felony
  • discipline in another state
  • using notes on the exam
  • knowingly accepting business from an unlicensed person
  • selling for an unauthorized company
• Child support noncompliance is a basis to deny, suspend or revoke a license (36-5-706).
• A denied applicant gets written reasons within 30 days and may request a hearing.
• A misdemeanor more than 10 years before the application can't be considered.
• The Commissioner keeps authority over a license that was surrendered or lapsed.

Unfair trade practices (56-8-104)

• Misrepresentation and false advertising
• Defamation of an insurer
• Boycott, coercion and intimidation
• Stock operations and advisory board contracts used as inducements
• Unfair discrimination. This includes refusals based on sex, race, religion, national origin, marital status, income or education.
• Rebating. Allowed exceptions:
  • group premium readjustments based on experience
  • a premium discount equal to the cost of a qualifying child safety seat
• False statements on applications
• Unfair replacement practices
• Privacy: disclosing nonpublic personal information in violation of GLBA Title V
• Records: insurers keep claims, rating, underwriting and marketing records for the current year plus 2 prior years. They keep a complaint register covering the period since the last exam.
• Lender tie-ins: a lender can't require a borrower to buy from a particular insurer, producer or affiliate (56-8-106). It also can't require coverage above the replacement cost of the structures.

Unfair claims practices (56-8-105; Rule 0780-01-05)

Life claims (Rule 0780-01-05-.11):

• claim forms within 30 days
• payment within 30 days of affirming liability
• delay letters every 60 days

Credit-based insurance scores (personal lines, 56-5-202 to 56-5-207)

• An insurer can't deny, cancel or nonrenew solely on credit.
• A score can't use income, gender, address, ethnicity, religion, marital status, nationality, education or occupation.
• Medical collections can't count against the consumer.
• The insurer must re-score at least every 36 months.
• It must re-rate within 30 days after a corrected dispute.
• Credit use must be disclosed on or with the application.
• The insurer indemnifies producers who follow its credit procedures.

Replacement and disclosure (life)

• Replacement (Rule 0780-01-24):
  • The agent presents the notice no later than the application, signed by the applicant and agent, and leaves copies of sales materials.
  • The replacing insurer notifies the existing insurer within 5 working days.
  • The new policy carries a 20-day unconditional refund right.
  • Agents licensed under 120 days must notify the existing insurer and wait 10 days before taking a replacement application.
• Buyer's Guide and Policy Summary (Rule 0780-01-40):
  • They may be delivered with the policy if the policy has an unconditional refund right of at least 10 days.
  • Any dividend reference must say dividends are not guaranteed.
• Military sales: no door-to-door soliciting without an appointment, and no soliciting during duty hours (Rule 0780-01-89).
• Insurers check a death master file semi-annually (56-7-3404).

Guaranty associations

Common exam traps

• Tennessee has no combined LAH or P&C exam.
• CE is 24 hours with 3 ethics. Twelve hours can carry over, but never ethics. Producers licensed since 1/1/1994 are exempt.
• License term: 24 months, ending with the birth month.
• Referral fee cap: $25.
• Producer penalty: $1,000 per violation, $100,000 aggregate.
• The life replacement refund right is 20 days. Tennessee has no general 10-day life free look.