Number of Licensed Agents, Agencies on the Rise in Arkansas

Arkansas had a 21 percent increase in the number of licensed insurance agents last year and a 4 percent rise in the number of licensed agencies, the state insurance department reported.

According to Arkansas Insurance Commissioner Allen Kerr, the “increase is another example to the insurance industry that Arkansas is open for business. An agent license is a job, and a resident license is a job in Arkansas. I am very proud of the work AID has done to make the licensure, education, and pre-education processes more streamlined to help with new job creation.”

At the end of 2017, the AID had licensed 122,053 insurance producers and adjustors, compared with 101,070 at the end of 2016. In 2017, the number of resident licenses was 20,308, an increase over the 18,457 licenses granted in 2016.

Since the end of 2014, the number of licensed producers and adjustors has jumped from 87,380, an increase of 40 percent.

Kerr also stated in the department’s announcement that AID’s “move toward online licensure has made it easier for agents and agencies to sell their products in Arkansas. Today, over 90 percent of our licenses are issued online. Our goal is to make it 100 percent.”

At the end of 2017, the Arkansas Insurance Department had licensed 9,269 business agencies, an increase over the 8,896 at the end of 2016.

The types of business entities licensed in Arkansas include surplus lines agencies, consultant agencies, title insurance agencies, third-party administrators, managing general agencies, self-funded insurance plans, mutli-employer welfare trusts, multi-employer trusts, reinsurance intermediaries, risk retention agencies, health insurance exchange agencies, and viatical brokers.

Car rental agencies and self-storage facilities that sell insurance coverage are also licensed by AID, as are retail stores that sell insurance to cover portable electronic devices.

Since the end of 2014, the number of licensed business entities has increased 7 percent.