Licensing Frequently Asked Questions

For specific information by license type, we recommend visiting our main insurance licensing web page. In general, while Rhode Island does not require pre-licensing education, we strongly suggest that you prepare for your licensing exam. Once you are prepared for your exam, contact PearsonVue to schedule an in-person or remote exam. After you pass your exam you have up to one year to apply for your license. If you want to apply for your license right away you will need to wait 3-5 business days before you go to NIPR.com because the application will search for your passing exam automatically, but it takes a few days to reach the electronic database. You must also submit a B.C.I from the RI Attorney General and email it to dbr.inslic@dbr.ri.gov with your transaction number. RI residents are required to carry errors and omissions insurance but are not required to file that information with the department (RI Gen Laws 27-2.4-23).

You are not permitted to hold two active resident licenses at the same time. We will convert a non-resident license to a resident license with an emailed request including your new Rhode Island resident address to dbr.inslic@dbr.ri.gov. It is your responsibility to cancel or convert your previous resident license. The expiration date on your Rhode Island license will not change. Please be mindful of your continuing education compliance requirements (if applicable).

Your first step is to reach out to your current resident state and request that they cancel your resident license. At least 24 hours after that license is cancelled (but not more than 90 days), go to NIPR.com and apply for your Rhode Island resident license. Our electronic business rules will pick up on a cancelled resident license for 90 days after it is cancelled and you will be allowed to move forward and complete a new resident license application without having to take the Rhode Island licensing exam.

Insurance producer licensees are required to comply with continuing education in accordance with 230-RICR-20-50-2. Insurance claim adjuster licensees are required to comply with continuing education in accordance with 230-RICR-20-50-4 (effective with 2026 expirations in accordance with Insurance Bulletin 2024-7). Licensees who have relocated to Rhode Island after being licensed in another state shall provide, on the first renewal of the license, twenty-four (24) credits consisting of courses approved either in the licensees’ prior resident state or in Rhode Island. The Department would accept a combination of such courses if the credits submitted total twenty-four (24) including three (3) hours of ethics.

You should reach out to your new resident state and ask them what you should do first and then you can send an email to dbr.inslic@dbr.ri.gov to let us know what you would like to do with your license. If you need to cancel your license but wish to reactivate it as a non-resident license after you have a new resident license, send an email to dbr.inslic@dbr.ri.gov with your request.

The Department does not mail hard copies. You can access your license information by logging in to the License Manager with your credentials. From there, you can print your license.  https://sbs.naic.org/solar-external-lookup/license-manager You can also download the NIPR app to your phone where you can have immediate access to your license information, including your continuing education transcript (if applicable). Get the Free Mobile App | NIPR

Rhode Island does not provide a Letter of Clearance because we report all licensing information to the national producer database and every state has access to this database where they can review your Rhode Island license status.

No. Licensing is based on resident state reciprocity. This means you must be licensed in your resident state before you can apply to Rhode Island as a non-resident. If you are an independent or a company insurance adjuster and your resident state does not have resident licensing available you must secure a DHS license before you apply to Rhode Island for a non-resident license. If you are a company adjuster residing in a state that offers independent adjuster licensing to its residents, you should secure a resident license in your resident state. But if you do not have a resident independent adjuster license and instead were awarded a DHS in another jurisdiction, then you must have a verifiable DHS on your national producer record before applying to Rhode Island as a non-resident.

All insurers and authorized submitters are required to use NIPR’s Contact Change Request to update licensee contact information (address, phone, email etc.) and to change a licensee’s name. Individual licenses are encouraged to use NIPR’s Contact Change Request but an email can be sent to dbr.inslic@dbr.ri.gov with the requested updates if necessary. This applies to both individual and business entity licensees.

For both new and renewal applications the NIPR’s Attachment Warehouse is available. This means you will have an opportunity to attach any required supporting documents while you are completing the application. This also means you do not need to send these same documents directly to us for review. We have access to the Attachments Warehouse and receive notification that you have uploaded documents that we can retrieve and review.

The application has clear instructions. If an applicant answers “yes” to background questions 1a, 1b, and/or 1c, the applicant must provide a written statement explaining the circumstances of each incident, a copy of the charging document for each incident, a copy of the official document which demonstrates the resolution of the charges or any final judgment. An applicant should provide this information at the time of the application and upload the attachments to the NIPR’s Attachment Warehouse. We will accept those documents via email to dbr.inslic@dbr.ri.gov if they are not uploaded during the application. 

Maybe. Question 1b on the application is: “Have you ever been convicted of a felony, had a judgment withheld or deferred, or are you currently charged with committing a felony?” If an applicant answers “yes” the following supporting documents are required: a written statement explaining the circumstances of each incident, a copy of the charging document for each incident, a copy of the official document, which demonstrates the resolution of the charges or any final judgment. After we review these supporting documents, we will determine if U.S.C. 1033/1034 applies and we may require additional information and/or supporting documents to complete our review.

There is a statutory fee waiver under RI Gen. Laws 27-10-4 and only applies to insurance claim adjusters who are residents of Rhode Island. If you qualify for this fee waiver you must send your DD-214 to dbr.inslic@dbr.ri.gov.

No.

No.

Business entities that sell portable electronics insurance, travel insurance, or are acting as a managing general agent are required to hold a business entity license. All other business entities are welcome to obtain a voluntary license.

We will accept an email request to dbr.inslic@dbr.ri.gov. Please be sure to reference the RI license number or NPN for all parties involved in the change.

The Insurance Division requires individual claim adjusters to hold an adjuster license with the workers compensation line of authority. Separately, the RI Department of Labor and Training (DLT) has a registration process for Third Party Administrators. Specifically, the DLT has an orthogonal Trading Partner Profile (TPP) registration process, which allows claim administration companies to act as Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) senders and communicate claims data through our clearinghouse vendor. Bottom line: DBR licenses individuals, DLT registers companies, and they’re equally essentially components to acting as a TPA in Rhode Island. That unit can be reached at directly via email to DLT.WCEDI@dlt.ri.gov for questions on how to complete this registration process. Here is a link to the Portal à https://wcs.iso.com/tp-register/login,  and here is a link to instructions à https://ridltedi.info/reg-instructions.

Regarding “override commission”. It is our understanding that:

• an override commission is a payment to the owner or officers of a producer’s agency
• this is usually to cover the costs of running the agency and profit
• the commission will sometimes be paid to the agency which then provides a salary to the producer

The intent of the Rhode Island legislation is to not require a license in order to receive an override commission. As long as we are talking about the same thing outlined in the bullets above, a license isn’t required for “override commission” (which is not statutorily defined).

The department has a webform for submitting statutory termination for causes notices which also allows for attachment submissions. The reporting form can be access by clicking here.

The continuing education requirement for RI resident insurance producers is 21 general credits and 3 ethics credits to be eligible to renew. Effective with 2026 expirations in accordance with Insurance Bulletin 2024-7, the continuing education requirement for RI resident public adjuster licensees, RI resident company/independent adjuster licensees, and RI DHS adjuster licensees is 21 general credits and 3 ethics credits to be eligible to renew. Insurance producer licensees are required to comply with continuing education in accordance with 230-RICR-20-50-2. Insurance claim adjuster licensees are required to comply with continuing education in accordance with 230-RICR-20-50-4.

You can voluntarily surrender your license by sending an email request to dbr.inslic@dbr.ri.gov or you can let you license expire. Note: if you choose to let your license expire, even though you aren’t using it anymore it is still an active license and all license requirements must be met (change of address notifications, change of name notification, etc.).