Last reviewed: 8 October 2026
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What can get an insurance agent's license suspended or revoked?
The short answer: the grounds are set by each state's law. The NAIC's Producer Licensing Model Act lists 14 causes for which an insurance commissioner may place a producer's license on probation, suspend it, revoke it, refuse to issue or renew it, or levy a civil penalty[1]. Florida, used here as one example of a state's own statute, splits its grounds in two: section 626.611 lists grounds on which the department "shall" require license reexamination, deny an application for, suspend, revoke or refuse to renew a license[2], and section 626.621 lists grounds on which it "may"[3]. A different state will word and group these differently.
The short version
- Typical grounds in the model: false information on an application, violating insurance laws or orders, misappropriating money, misrepresenting a policy, a felony conviction, an unfair trade practice or fraud, and a license denied, suspended or revoked in another state or province.[1]
- Florida makes some grounds mandatory ("shall") and others discretionary ("may"), and adds a temporary suspension when a licensee is charged with certain felonies.[2][3]
- A suspension or revocation is a regulator's action after a process set by state law. A lapsed license is a different thing; see renewal and what "lapsed" means.
- Under the model, the commissioner keeps authority to enforce against a person even if the license was surrendered or has lapsed.[1]
The NAIC model: 14 causes in Section 12A
The model says the commissioner "may place on probation, suspend, revoke or refuse to issue or renew an insurance producer's license or may levy a civil penalty ... or any combination of actions, for any one or more of" these causes:[1]
| Section 12A paragraph | Cause (summarized from the model text) |
|---|---|
| 1 | Providing incorrect, misleading, incomplete or materially untrue information in the license application[1] |
| 2 | Violating any insurance laws, or any regulation, subpoena or order of the commissioner or of another state's commissioner[1] |
| 3 | Obtaining or attempting to obtain a license through misrepresentation or fraud[1] |
| 4 | Improperly withholding, misappropriating or converting money or property received in the course of doing insurance business[1] |
| 5 | Intentionally misrepresenting the terms of an actual or proposed insurance contract or application[1] |
| 6 | Having been convicted of a felony[1] |
| 7 | Having admitted or been found to have committed any insurance unfair trade practice or fraud[1] |
| 8 | Using fraudulent, coercive or dishonest practices, or demonstrating incompetence, untrustworthiness or financial irresponsibility, in this state or elsewhere[1] |
| 9 | Having an insurance producer license, or its equivalent, denied, suspended or revoked in any other state, province, district or territory[1] |
| 10 | Forging another's name to an application or other document related to an insurance transaction[1] |
| 11 | Improperly using notes or other reference material to complete a licensing examination[1] |
| 12 | Knowingly accepting insurance business from an individual who is not licensed[1] |
| 13 | Failing to comply with an administrative or court order imposing a child support obligation[1] |
| 14 | Failing to pay state income tax or comply with an order directing payment (a drafting note says this is for states that have a state income tax)[1] |
One state's statute: Florida's two lists
Florida's section 626.611 says the department "shall" require license reexamination, deny an application for, suspend, revoke or refuse to renew a license or appointment if it finds that any of its listed grounds exists; it has 17 lettered grounds, (a) to (q).[2] Section 626.621 says the department "may", in its discretion, require a license reexamination, deny an application for, suspend, revoke or refuse to renew a license or appointment, on any of 18 numbered grounds, under circumstances in which action is not mandatory under 626.611.[3] The table groups selected grounds by theme; it is not the full text of either section.
| Theme | Section 626.611(1), "shall" | Section 626.621, "may" |
|---|---|---|
| Qualifications and the application | (a) lack of a qualification; (b) material misstatement, misrepresentation or fraud in obtaining the license; (c) failure to pass to the department's satisfaction an examination required under the code, including cheating on a licensing examination or violating test center or examination procedures[2] | (1) any cause for which issuance could have been refused; (9) cheating on a licensing examination[3] |
| Misrepresentation and dishonesty | (e) willful misrepresentation of a policy or annuity contract; (g) demonstrated lack of fitness or trustworthiness; (i) fraudulent or dishonest practices[2] | (5) violation of the twisting provision, 626.9541(1)(l); (6) unfair or deceptive acts or practices, or having shown himself or herself to be a source of injury or loss to the public[3] |
| Handling money | (j) misappropriation, conversion or unlawful withholding of money belonging to insurers, insureds, beneficiaries or others[2] | (4) failure or refusal, on demand, to pay over to an insurer money belonging to it[3] |
| Rebating | (k) unlawfully rebating, attempting to unlawfully rebate, or unlawfully dividing or offering to divide a commission[2] | — |
| Crimes | (n) guilty or nolo contendere plea, or a finding of guilt, for a misdemeanor directly related to the financial services business, any felony, or any crime punishable by imprisonment of one year or more, whether or not a judgment of conviction was entered[2] | (10) failure to tell the department in writing within 30 days after such a plea, conviction or finding of guilt for a felony or a crime punishable by imprisonment of one year or more[3] |
| Orders and laws | (m) willful failure to comply with a proper order or rule of the department, or willful violation of the code[2] | (2) violation of any provision of the insurance code or other law applicable to the business of insurance; (3) violation of a lawful order or rule[3] |
| Action by other regulators and courts | — | (12) adverse decisions or orders involving a violation of securities or commodities law; (15) denial, suspension, revocation or other adverse action against a license to practice any regulated profession or business; (18) cancellation of a resident license in another state[3] |
| Other listed conduct | (l) using a license to solicit "controlled business" as defined in the cited sections; (o) fraudulent practice in workers' compensation applications; (p) sale of an unregistered security that was required to be registered; (q) listed grounds in viatical settlement transactions[2] | (13) failure to comply with child support enforcement actions; (16) making consumer personal financial or medical information accessible to the public; (17) in-person or telephone solicitation after 9 p.m. or before 8 a.m. local time unless requested[3] |
Section 626.611(2) adds that the department shall, on receiving information or an indictment, immediately temporarily suspend a license or appointment when the licensee is charged with a felony enumerated in section 626.207(2); the suspension continues if the licensee is found guilty of or pleads guilty or nolo contendere to the crime, and a person may not transact insurance business after suspension.[2]
Process points in the model
| Section | What it says |
|---|---|
| 12B | When the commissioner's action is to not renew or to deny an application, the commissioner must notify the applicant or licensee in writing of the reason, and the applicant or licensee may make a written demand for a hearing within a period taken from the state's administrative procedure law.[1] |
| 12C | A business entity's license may be suspended, revoked or refused, after a hearing, if an individual licensee's violation was known or should have been known by one or more partners, officers or managers acting for the entity and was neither reported to the commissioner nor corrected.[1] |
| 12D | In addition to or instead of denial, suspension or revocation, a person may, after a hearing, be subject to a civil fine under state law.[1] |
| 12E | The commissioner keeps authority to enforce the Act and impose penalties against a person under investigation for or charged with a violation even if the person's license or registration has been surrendered or has lapsed.[1] |
| 17 | A producer must report to the commissioner any administrative action taken in another jurisdiction or by another governmental agency within 30 days of final disposition, and any criminal prosecution within 30 days of the initial pretrial hearing date.[1] |
A worked example (hypothetical)
A producer receives a premium payment from a customer and uses it for other purposes instead of passing it to the insurer. Under the model that fits cause 4 (improperly withholding, misappropriating or converting money received in the course of insurance business)[1]; under Florida's statute it fits ground (j) of 626.611, where the department "shall" act if it finds the ground exists[2], and ground (4) of 626.621 if the producer failed on demand to pay over money to an insurer[3]. Whether a given person actually did this is a question for a regulator's findings, not for this page. For where premium money should go, see the premium trust account explainer.
When a lookup shows "suspended"
A suspended or revoked status on a state lookup can come from different routes. An unpaid-child-support suspension is not a finding about insurance conduct (how to tell the difference). Some states have a faster track when waiting for a hearing would be hazardous (emergency suspension). A felony can bar licensing under federal law as well (the 18 U.S.C. 1033 bar). To read what a regulator found, see how to search a disciplinary record; to see why a producer must report an action, see the duty to self-report; to confirm a license is active, see how to check an agent's license. If something went wrong in your own dealings, see how to file a complaint. This page is general information, not legal advice, and it does not describe any particular agent.
Related checks
Our standard explains how we check an agent's license and disciplinary history. Check an agent reports our findings at category level, as a method and not a verdict. Neither reviews any insurer, plan or product. For misconduct patterns in life sales, see churning and twisting and anti-rebating law.
When we will update this page
We re-read the sources when they change. If something here is out of date, tell us. Corrections are dated on the page.
References
- [1] National Association of Insurance Commissioners, Producer Licensing Model Act (Model #218), Sections 12 and 17, read 8 October 2026 (the posted text carries a 2005 NAIC copyright) — content.naic.org/sites/default/files/model-law-218.pdf
- [2] Florida Senate, 2026 Florida Statutes, section 626.611, read 8 October 2026 — flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2026/626.611
- [3] Florida Senate, 2026 Florida Statutes, section 626.621, read 8 October 2026 — flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2026/626.621
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