$360 in Fees: California Life & Health License Cost 2026

The state and vendor fees to get a California Life, Accident and Health license add up to $360 if you pass the exam on the first attempt and test at a PSI center or remotely. Test at the CDI examination site in Los Angeles and the PSI fee drops away, bringing the minimum to $317.

On top of that sit two costs the state does not set a price for: the 12-hour ethics and Insurance Code course, which you buy from a private provider, and whatever you spend on exam preparation. Both vary; neither is avoidable in practice, because the course is a condition of the license and the exam fails four in ten first-time candidates.

• Required fees: $360 ($317 at the CDI Los Angeles site)
• 12-hour ethics course: private-provider price
• Exam preparation: $0 to several hundred dollars, your choice
• Each retake: another $55 plus $43

Four payments are mandatory for a candidate taking the combined exam and applying for both the Life-Only Agent and the Accident and Health Agent license types.

1. CDI Exam Fee — $55

Paid to the California Department of Insurance per attempt. One fee covers the combined Life, Accident and Health exam; you do not pay twice for the two license types it qualifies you for.

2. PSI Convenience Fee — $43 (or $0)

PSI Services delivers the exam and charges $43 per appointment at its test centers and for remote proctoring. The CDI's own examination site in Los Angeles charges no convenience fee. If Los Angeles is within reach, this is the one line in the budget you can cut to zero.

3. Live Scan Fingerprints — $74

California runs fingerprint-based background checks through Live Scan. The figure in the PSI Candidate Information Bulletin for Capital Live Scan is $74: $17 for the FBI check, $32 for the Department of Justice check and a $25 rolling fee. You pay this once, not per license type.

4. License Filing Fee — $188

Paid to the CDI with your application. The license runs for a two-year term, and a single $188 fee covers both the Life-Only and the Accident and Health license types when they are applied for together.

Total: $55 + $43 + $74 + $188 = $360. None of it depends on how you prepare.

Insurance Code §1749(a)(1) requires a 12-hour course in ethics and the California Insurance Code, including one hour on insurance fraud, before a life or accident and health license is issued. It is not a condition of sitting the exam, so you can take the exam first and the course afterwards while your application is processed.

The CDI does not sell the course and sets no fee for it. You buy it from a CDI-approved provider, and prices differ by provider and format. One course satisfies the requirement for both the Life-Only and the Accident and Health license types, and the completion certificate stays valid for three years under §1749(c), so there is no need to repeat it if the application takes a while.

Check the provider's CDI approval before paying. A course that is not approved for the 12-hour requirement is money spent for nothing.

Before 2026, life and accident and health applicants had to complete a 20-hour pre-licensing course before taking the exam. AB 943 (Chapter 566, Statutes of 2025) repealed that requirement effective January 1, 2026, and the CDI confirmed the change in a notice dated November 10, 2025. Bail agents and public adjusters still have a course requirement; life and health applicants do not.

The result is that the pre-licensing packages sold as a legal prerequisite are now optional preparation. You still need to learn the material — the exam has not become easier — but you decide how, and you are no longer paying for a seat-time requirement. If a provider is still quoting a 20-hour course as mandatory for the California exam, its information is no longer current.

The exam is 150 questions across the Life and the Accident & Health objectives, with a 60% first-time pass rate in 2025. How much you spend on preparation is the biggest variable in the whole budget, and the cheapest option is not always the cheapest outcome.

$0 — the free stack. The CDI publishes its License Examination Objectives for both exams, and PSI's Candidate Information Bulletin explains the format. Together they tell you what is tested, not how it works. Free flashcards and videos cover the general insurance concepts reasonably well and the California-specific rules — senior free look, replacement, annuity suitability, Senior Health Products — poorly. Viable for a disciplined candidate with a background in the industry.

$15–$79 — a focused exam-prep course. LanePrep's California Life & Health course is nine audio chapters built from the CDI objectives, with chapter quizzes and two chapters dedicated to the California rules. It costs $79 once or $14.99 per month; a candidate on the three-week plan can be done inside a single month. Chapters 1 and 9 are free, no signup, so you can judge the format before paying.

$139–$370 — full packages. National prep providers typically charge $139–$370 for a Life and Health package with video lectures, a textbook and instructor access. The structure suits complete beginners and candidates whose agency reimburses the cost. Make sure any package you buy has been updated for the 2026 objectives and the post-AB 943 rules.

Retakes — $98 each

Every attempt costs the $55 CDI fee again, and the $43 PSI fee again unless you test at the Los Angeles site. California allows up to 10 attempts at the same exam type in 12 months with no waiting period, so there is no rule stopping you from rebooking quickly — but the 2025 repeat pass rate was 43%, against 60% for first-timers. Budget for one retake and prepare so that you do not use it.

A missed appointment

Rescheduling is free up to two business days before the exam. Later than that, or a no-show, forfeits the fee and you pay $55 plus $43 for a new slot.

Letting the exam expire

A passed exam is valid for one year under Insurance Code §1676(a). If the ethics course, Live Scan and application are not completed within that year, you take the exam again and pay for it again. Start the Live Scan and the course as soon as you have the pass result.

A second Live Scan

The $74 covers one submission. A rejected print set or an error in the request can mean paying again, so check the details before you leave the Live Scan location.

These are not part of the entry cost, but they arrive two years later and are easy to forget when comparing the price of a license against the income it is meant to produce.

• Renewal: $188 for each two-year term. File late and the fee is $282.
• Continuing education: 24 hours in each two-year term under §1749.33, including 3 hours of ethics, of which 1 hour must be on insurance fraud. Course prices are set by private providers.
• Line-specific training: 8 hours of annuity training before you sell annuities and 4 hours before each renewal (§1749.8); long-term care training under §10234.93 if you sell LTC. Both are additional to the 24 CE hours.

Renewal is a filing, not a re-examination. Once licensed, you never take the exam again as long as the license stays active.

Two realistic budgets, both excluding the privately priced ethics course.

Pass on the first attempt — $360 to $439

• Exam fee $55 + PSI fee $43
• Live Scan $74
• License filing fee $188
• Preparation: free stack ($0), one month of LanePrep ($14.99) or lifetime access ($79)

Test at the CDI Los Angeles site and subtract $43 from every line.

One retake — $458 to $537

• Everything above
• A second exam appointment: $55 + $43
• In practice, more preparation as well — the same preparation produced the first result

The gap between the two scenarios is $98 in fees and several weeks of delay before you can be appointed and paid. That is the arithmetic behind spending something on preparation: the most expensive study material is the kind that leaves you sitting the exam twice.

For most self-directed candidates the cost-optimal path is:

1. Book the exam ($55 + $43, or $55 at the CDI Los Angeles site) and give yourself three weeks.
2. Prepare with a focused course and a question loop so the first attempt is the only one.
3. After the pass: 12-hour ethics course, Live Scan ($74), application ($188) — all within the one-year validity of the exam.

LanePrep covers step 2: nine audio chapters built from the 2026 CDI objectives, chapter quizzes, and dedicated chapters for the California statutes, for $14.99 per month or $79 once. Chapters 1 and 9 are free. For the exam itself — format, weights and the week-by-week plan — read how to pass the California Life & Health exam on your first try.

Exam format, fees and pass rates come from the California Department of Insurance and the PSI Candidate Information Bulletin. Read October 2026.