New Jersey Administrative Code
Title 11 - INSURANCE
Chapter 17 - PRODUCER LICENSING
Subchapter 3 - PROFESSIONAL QUALIFICATIONS
Section 11:17-3.5 - State licensing examination; use of independent examination vendor; exemptions; retaking of examination

Universal Citation: NJ Admin Code 11:17-3.5

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 18, September 16, 2024

(a) Except for applicants seeking authority in only travel insurance, car rental insurance, ticket insurance, group mortgage cancellation insurance, legal insurance, credit insurance, or self-storage personal property insurance, all applicants for a resident insurance producer license shall pass the State licensing examination, which may be given by the Department or by an independent vendor under contract to the Department.

(b) Any contract for development and administration of the New Jersey State insurance producer licensing examination shall include the following terms and conditions.

1. The contract vendor shall develop and administer the examination in accordance with specifications approved by the Commissioner, including, but not limited to, the provision of the examination and the registration materials for the examination in English and Spanish pursuant to 17:22A-31.e.

2. Examinations shall be administered throughout the State at such times and places as may be agreed upon by the Commissioner and the contract vendor. The contract vendor shall provide the Commissioner or his or her designee with a schedule of test administration locations and hours.

3. The contract vendor shall:
i. Establish sufficient test administration centers throughout the State;

ii. Provide all physical facilities; and

iii. Provide all test center personnel sufficient for the administration of the test.

4. At least one test administration center shall be within a reasonable distance of each of the following areas of the State:
i. Newark;

ii. Trenton;

iii. Camden; and

iv. Atlantic City.

5. The contract vendor shall collect from applicants taking the insurance license examination a previously agreed upon fee covering the cost of developing and administering the examination.

6. The contract vendor shall administer the examination in accordance with the contract, which shall contain adequate provisions for preregistration of test candidates, score reporting, security measures and such other provisions that, in the opinion of the Department, assure fair and consistent administration of the examination.

7. The contract vendor shall print and distribute to all approved education programs and to any prospective test candidate such candidate bulletins, registration forms, current test content outlines and other information that may be useful or required.

8. The contract vendor shall score examinations promptly, and shall provide score reports to all passing and failing candidates as soon as practical following the examination but in no event more than five calendar days after each test date.

9. The contract vendor shall provide to failing candidates, for each test taken, diagnostic information by major content areas.

10. The contract vendor shall provide to the Department, in a format acceptable to the Department:
i. Lists containing candidate names, addresses, identification numbers, school code numbers and scores on State producer licensing examinations of passing and failing candidates; and

ii. Summary statistics, for each test, indicating the number of candidates registered, tested and absent, and passing or failing.

11. The contract vendor shall provide to the Department, on at least a quarterly basis, accumulative, non-personally identifiable pass/fail data and diagnostic data by major content areas for each test for approved programs of prelicensing insurance education.

12. The contract vendor shall provide to approved programs teaching courses of prelicensing education quarterly reports about their students' performance on the licensing examination, which shall contain students' names, the tests taken, scores (passing or failing) and summary statistics. Quarterly reports shall be mailed within 15 days of the end of each quarter.

13. The Department shall have the sole responsibility for establishing minimum qualifications and passing requirements of candidates taking the licensing examination.

14. At the request of the Department, the contract vendor shall defend and indemnify in whole or in part the Department of Banking and Insurance, the State of New Jersey and its agents, officers and employees from all claims, actions, damages, liability and expenses in connection with loss of life, personal injury, damage to property and/or failure to comply with the requirements of "The Americans with Disabilities Act" arising out of the ownership, occupancy or use by the contract vendor of any facilities used as test administration centers, occasioned wholly or in part by any act or omission of the contract vendor, its agents, contractors or employees.

15. The contract vendor shall provide technical and legal assistance to the Department in the event of any legal challenge to the validity of any examination administered, prepared and/or copyrighted by the contract vendor or the Department in which the State of New Jersey or any of its agencies, officers or employees is named as a party.

16. The contract vendor shall provide public liability insurance with respect to the test facilities in a form satisfactory to the Department with minimum policy limits of $ 1,000,000 bodily injury coverage for each occurrence; $ 1,000,000 aggregate bodily injury coverage; $ 500,000 property damage coverage for each occurrence; and $ 1,500,000 aggregate property damage coverage.

17. The contract vendor shall transmit to the Department, in a form satisfactory to the Department, information collected during the test registration process to aid in prompt licensing of passing candidates, and may issue to passing candidates, on a form prescribed by the Department, a temporary work authority. The contract vendor shall deliver to the Department or its designee electronic records, in a format prescribed by the Department, of the test registration data of passing candidates to whom a temporary work authority has been issued by the next business day following the date of the test.

(c) Applicants who previously held a New Jersey insurance license which was terminated as a condition of public employment, are exempt from re-examination provided that the public employment was in an insurance-related field and the license application is made within one year of the termination of that employment.

(d) For good cause shown, the Commissioner may, by order, require an applicant for licensure or a licensee to retake the State licensing examination within a specified period of time. The order shall clearly and fully state the alleged factual circumstances upon which it is based. In the case of a licensee, a license shall remain effective pending the results of the new examination unless otherwise subject to revocation or suspension.

1. A licensee or applicant for licensure may appeal the decision of the Commissioner within 10 days of receipt of the order to retake the examination by filing with the Commissioner a written statement and supporting documentation, if any, disputing with specificity the allegations in the order. In appropriate circumstances, the Commissioner, or his or her designee, may provide the licensee or applicant for licensure with opportunity to present evidence orally.

2. After review of the record, the Commissioner shall either modify or rescind the order or require the licensee or applicant for licensure to retake the examination within a prescribed period of time.
i. If a licensee fails to retake the examination within the prescribed period of time, the Commissioner shall issue an Order to Show Cause why the license should not be revoked and shall advise the licensee of his or her right to a hearing pursuant to the provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act, 52:14B-1 et seq., as implemented by the Uniform Administrative Procedure Rules, N.J.A.C. 1:1.

ii. If an applicant for licensure fails to retake the examination within the prescribed period of time, the Commissioner may refuse to issue the license for which application is made and shall advise the applicant for licensure of his or her right to a hearing pursuant to the provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act, 52:14B-1 et seq., as implemented by the Uniform Administrative Procedure Rules, N.J.A.C. 1:1.

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