LLQP Life Insurance module
The Life Insurance module is the broadest of the four: products, taxation, business uses, underwriting and the needs analysis all meet here. It has 30 scored questions and 5 pilot questions in 75 minutes, and you need 60%. This guide shows what the module covers, where the calculations sit and which distinctions cost candidates the most points.
Format and passing mark
| Scored questions | 30 |
|---|---|
| Pilot questions (unscored, not identified) | 5 |
| Time | 75 minutes |
| Question type | Multiple choice, four options, one correct |
| Passing mark | 60%, so 18 of the 30 scored questions |
| Needed for | The life licence only, not the A&S-only licence |
Thirty-five items in 75 minutes leaves just over two minutes each. That is plenty for a definition and tight for a needs analysis, so your pacing has to account for the mix. A practical rule: if a question is not answered after three minutes, flag it, pick your best option and come back at the end. You need 18 right answers, not 30.
How the curriculum frames the module
The harmonized LLQP curriculum (latest finalized version revised in May 2015, per CISRO) organizes the Life module around what an agent does with a client, not around a list of products. Questions fall under four competency groups:
- Assess the client’s situation and needs: family, income, debts, goals, existing coverage.
- Analyze products: which type of policy fits which need, and why.
- Implement the recommendation: the application, underwriting, delivery and the policy itself.
- Client service: reviews, changes, claims and what happens over the life of the contract.
That framing matters on exam day. Many questions describe a client in two or three sentences and ask what you should recommend or do next. Knowing the product is not enough; you have to connect it to the situation.
Key topics
| Topic | What questions usually target |
|---|---|
| Term insurance | Renewability and convertibility, level versus decreasing term, why premiums rise at renewal |
| Whole life and term-to-100 | Cash values, participating policies and dividend options, nonforfeiture options |
| Universal life | Cost of insurance (level or yearly renewable term), death benefit options, the investment account |
| Riders | Waiver of premium, accidental death, guaranteed insurability, term riders on other lives |
| Group life | Who owns the contract, conversion when coverage ends |
| Taxation | Adjusted cost basis, policy gains on surrender, tax-free death benefits, exempt policies in principle |
| Business insurance | Key person coverage, buy-sell agreements, funding methods |
| Application and underwriting | Disclosure duties, medical and financial underwriting, delivery of the policy |
| Needs analysis | Capital needs versus income replacement, what counts as an existing resource |
For definitions of the terms in this table, keep the LLQP glossary open while you study.
The calculations
The Life module carries two families of calculation. The first is the capital needs analysis: present value of the income the family needs, plus cash needs at death, minus existing resources. The second is policy taxation: the gain on a surrender or a policy loan is the cash surrender value minus the adjusted cost basis.
Worked case
A client in Winnipeg surrenders a whole life policy with a cash surrender value of $48,000. The adjusted cost basis is $31,000. The taxable policy gain is $17,000, the difference between the two. The answer that says $48,000 is taxable is the classic distractor.
You can check a needs analysis step by step with our life insurance needs calculator, then practise without it.
Common traps
Distinctions the exam loves
- Revocable or irrevocable beneficiary: an irrevocable beneficiary must consent before the owner changes them or borrows against the policy.
- Contingent owner or successor owner: the terms are used differently in different documents. Read the question for who takes ownership when the owner dies.
- Term-to-100 or whole life: term-to-100 usually has little or no cash value; whole life builds it.
- Cash surrender value or policy loan: both can create a taxable gain; only the surrender ends the policy.
- Life insured or policy owner: they are often different people in business cases.
Beneficiary questions are the ones that look easy and are not. Underline who owns the policy, who is insured and who is named before you read the options.
Try a question
One question from our Life Insurance training bank, with its explanation:
Opco owns a policy on its late founder and is the beneficiary. Who should submit the death claim and receive the proceeds?
Look at who owns the policy and who is named to receive the money.
See the answer and explanation
Correct answer: D. The owner-beneficiary, Opco, makes the claim through an authorized officer and receives the proceeds, which also generate a CDA credit. Paying the estate or the shareholders personally would defeat the corporate plan and could create tax and creditor problems.
For a full set filtered on this module, open the free practice test on Life Insurance.
A study plan for this module
Products first
Term, whole life, term-to-100, universal life, riders. Build a one-page comparison and know it cold.
Then taxation
Adjusted cost basis, policy gains, death benefits. Work ten numeric cases by hand.
Then the client process
Needs analysis, application, underwriting, delivery, service. Most case questions live here.
Finish under time
Two full practice exams at 75 minutes, unseen questions, before you book.
The order of the other modules matters too. Studying A&S just before Life works well, because both modules use the same client-assessment approach. See the Accident and Sickness module guide and the overall LLQP exam guide.
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CommencerA tenth of the exam fee. Module 0 lessons are free to access.
Sources
- Alberta Insurance Council: LLQP exam format
- CISRO: harmonized curriculum and sample questions
- Insurance Council of BC: about the exam
Checked October 21, 2026.