Hawaii Property & Casualty Insurance License Exam Overview
The Hawaii Property & Casualty Insurance License Exam is administered by Pearson VUE on behalf of the Hawaii Insurance Division, Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs (DCCA). Hawaii's unique island geography and natural hazards create specialized insurance needs that you must understand to serve clients effectively.
Passing this exam qualifies you to sell property insurance, auto insurance, liability coverage, and related products throughout Hawaii—a state with approximately 1.4 million residents facing unique risks including hurricanes, volcanic activity, and tsunami exposure that create significant P&C insurance demand.
Exam Format at a Glance
| Component | Details |
|---|---|
| Total Questions | 150-196 multiple-choice (Property: 93, Casualty: 103) |
| Scored Questions | 164 (Property: 78, Casualty: 86) |
| Time Limit | 2 hours per exam |
| Passing Score | 70% |
| Testing Vendor | Pearson VUE |
| Exam Fee | $75 per exam |
| Pre-licensing Education | Not required (recommended) |
Why Get P&C Licensed in Hawaii?
- Island market needs — Limited agent competition on outer islands
- Tourism industry — Major commercial insurance needs
- Unique catastrophic risks — Hurricane, volcanic, and tsunami coverage specialization
- Higher premiums — Premium property and auto rates support agent income
- Year-round demand — No seasonal slowdowns
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Key Topics Covered on the Exam
1. Property Insurance (30%)
Homeowners Insurance:
- HO-2, HO-3, HO-4, HO-5, HO-6, HO-8 policy forms
- Coverage A (Dwelling), B (Other Structures), C (Personal Property)
- Coverage D (Loss of Use), E (Personal Liability)
- Dwelling fire policies
Hawaii-Specific Property Topics:
- Hawaii Hurricane Relief Fund (HHRF)
- Hurricane deductibles (percentage-based)
- Volcanic eruption coverage (lava flow, volcanic gases)
- Tsunami coverage considerations
- Flood insurance requirements (coastal areas)
- Termite and pest exclusions
Commercial Property:
- Building and personal property coverage forms
- Business income coverage
- Equipment breakdown
- Inland marine coverage
2. Liability Insurance (30%)
Personal Liability:
- Homeowners liability (Coverage E)
- Personal umbrella policies
- Medical payments coverage
Commercial Liability:
- Commercial General Liability (CGL)
- Products and completed operations
- Professional liability (E&O)
- Workers' compensation requirements
Hawaii Workers' Compensation:
- Required for all employers (even 1 employee)
- Hawaii Employers' Mutual Insurance Company (HEMIC)
- Exclusive state fund option available
- No-fault system
3. Auto Insurance (25%)
Hawaii Auto Insurance Requirements (Effective January 1, 2026):
| Coverage | Minimum Limit |
|---|---|
| Bodily Injury (per person) | $40,000 |
| Bodily Injury (per accident) | $80,000 |
| Property Damage | $20,000 |
| Personal Injury Protection (PIP) | $10,000 |
Note: Hawaii increased its auto liability minimums from 20/40/10 to 40/80/20 effective January 1, 2026. The PIP requirement remains $10,000.
Additional Auto Topics:
- Personal Auto Policy (PAP) coverage parts
- Hawaii motor vehicle insurance law
- No-fault PIP requirements
- Uninsured motorist coverage
- Underinsured motorist coverage
- SR-22 requirements
- Commercial auto insurance
4. Hawaii Insurance Code and Regulations (10%)
Hawaii Revised Statutes (HRS) Chapter 431 Key Provisions:
- Producer licensing requirements
- Unfair trade practices
- Unfair claims settlement practices
- Policy cancellation and nonrenewal rules
- Advertising guidelines
Licensing Requirements:
- Pre-licensing education: Not required (recommended)
- Continuing education: 24 hours every 2 years
- Ethics requirement: 3 hours included in CE
- Background check required
5. Ethics and Professional Conduct (5%)
- Fiduciary duties to insureds
- Premium handling requirements
- Claims reporting obligations
- Privacy and confidentiality
Study Timeline for Success
| Week | Focus Area | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Week 1-2 | Property insurance fundamentals | 12-14 |
| Week 2-3 | Liability insurance | 12-14 |
| Week 3-4 | Auto insurance and HI requirements | 12-14 |
| Week 4-5 | Hawaii regulations (HRS 431) | 8-10 |
| Week 5-6 | Practice exams and review | 12-14 |
Total recommended study time: 55-65 hours
Free Practice Questions Available
Test your knowledge with hundreds of free practice questions designed specifically for the Hawaii P&C exam.
Hawaii-Specific Exam Tips
1. Know Hawaii Auto Minimums (2026 Update)
Effective January 1, 2026, Hawaii requires 40/80/20 liability coverage plus mandatory PIP:
- $40,000 per person bodily injury
- $80,000 per accident bodily injury
- $20,000 property damage
- $10,000 Personal Injury Protection (PIP)
Note: Previous limits were 20/40/10. The 2026 exam will test on the new limits.
2. Master Hurricane Coverage
Hawaii's hurricane exposure is significant:
- Hawaii Hurricane Relief Fund (HHRF) — State catastrophe pool
- Percentage deductibles — Common for hurricane claims
- Named storm triggers — When coverage applies
- Separate hurricane policies — When needed
3. Understand Volcanic Coverage
Hawaii's unique volcanic risk:
- Lava flow coverage
- Volcanic ash and gas damage
- Kilauea and Mauna Loa considerations
- Exclusions vs. covered perils
- Lava zones and insurability
4. Key Numbers to Remember
| Topic | Hawaii Requirement |
|---|---|
| Auto minimums | 40/80/20 (2026) |
| PIP minimum | $10,000 |
| WC threshold | All employers |
| Pre-licensing | Not required |
| CE requirement | 24 hours/2 years |
| Passing score | 70% |
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Forgetting PIP — Hawaii is a no-fault state with mandatory PIP
- Skipping hurricane coverage — Critical Hawaiian risk
- Ignoring volcanic coverage — Unique to Hawaii
- Not knowing NEW auto minimums — Hawaii increased to 40/80/20 in 2026 (from 20/40/10)
- Not practicing timed exams — Manage your time effectively
- Cramming last minute — Spread study over 5-6 weeks
After Passing Your Exam
- Apply for license through Hawaii DCCA online portal
- Complete background check — Required for all applicants
- Pay license fee — Approximately $50-75 for 2-year license
- Affiliate with insurer — Get appointed by carrier
- Maintain CE compliance — 24 hours every 2 years
- Begin selling — Your license is valid for 2 years
2026 Hawaii Updates
For 2026, be aware of:
- Hurricane coverage rate changes
- Volcanic activity considerations
- Climate change impact on coastal properties
- Enhanced consumer protection regulations
Start Your Hawaii P&C Insurance Career Today
The Hawaii P&C license opens doors to a unique island insurance market with specialized needs. With proper preparation, you can pass the exam on your first attempt.
Our free study materials include:
- Complete topic coverage
- Practice questions with explanations
- Hawaii-specific regulations (HRS Chapter 431)
- Study guides and summaries
- AI-powered study assistance
Don't pay for expensive prep courses when everything you need is available FREE.
How to Verify the Rules Before You Schedule
Use this guide for exam strategy, then confirm the current licensing steps with official sources before you pay for an appointment. Property and casualty licensing is state-administered, and administrative details can change even when the insurance concepts stay the same. Check the Hawaii insurance department first, then the testing vendor candidate handbook, then the application path used after passing. The NAIC state insurance department directory is the safest way to find the current regulator site, and NIPR state requirements can help you confirm post-exam application steps where NIPR is used.
For exam content, keep two buckets separate. The national bucket includes property policies, casualty policies, liability principles, negligence, risk management, policy structure, exclusions, conditions, endorsements, and claims concepts. The Hawaii bucket includes regulator authority, producer licensing, unfair practices, cancellation and nonrenewal rules, state auto requirements, residual market mechanisms, and local compliance duties. When a question includes a deadline, dollar limit, filing duty, required notice, or licensing step, ask whether it is a general insurance concept or a Hawaii rule.
What to Master for Property Questions
Property questions reward careful reading. Know the difference between named-peril and open-peril coverage, replacement cost and actual cash value, direct and indirect loss, vacancy and unoccupancy, and first-party property coverage versus third-party liability. Homeowners forms are a frequent source of points because the forms look similar but solve different problems. Practice identifying who is insured, what property is covered, which location qualifies as the residence premises, and whether the loss is excluded before an endorsement changes the answer.
Do not treat deductibles, limits, and valuation as afterthoughts. A question may describe a covered loss but test whether the settlement is reduced by deductible, limited by a sublimit, valued at actual cash value, or excluded because the cause of loss is not covered. Commercial property questions add business personal property, business income, extra expense, equipment breakdown, inland marine, and builder's risk concepts. For commercial forms, focus on why a business would need the coverage and what exposure remains if it does not have it.
What to Master for Casualty and Liability Questions
Casualty questions often turn on liability logic. Before choosing an answer, identify the claimant, the insured, the alleged injury or damage, and the legal theory. Negligence questions usually require duty, breach, causation, and damages. Liability policy questions ask whether the policy responds to bodily injury, property damage, personal and advertising injury, medical payments, or a specifically excluded exposure.
For auto, separate personal auto policy structure from state financial responsibility requirements. You need to know liability, medical payments or personal injury protection where relevant, uninsured and underinsured motorist concepts, damage to your auto, covered auto definitions, exclusions, and endorsements. For commercial auto, pay attention to covered auto symbols, hired and non-owned autos, business use, and garage exposures. For workers' compensation, separate statutory benefits from employer liability and remember that workers' compensation is not ordinary negligence coverage.
Final Two-Week Study Plan
In the first week, rotate by coverage family: homeowners and dwelling property, commercial property, personal auto, commercial auto, general liability, workers' compensation, and Hawaii law. After every practice set in /study-guides/hi-property-casualty, write down whether each miss was caused by vocabulary, form structure, state rule, or careless reading. Vocabulary misses need flashcards. Form structure misses need diagrams. State-rule misses need a one-page Hawaii checklist. Careless reading needs slower question markup.
In the second week, stop studying by chapter only. The actual exam mixes topics, so your practice should mix them too. Use timed sets and force yourself to decide quickly whether the question is asking about coverage trigger, excluded cause, valuation, limit, condition, producer conduct, or state filing rule. Review explanations immediately. The review is where your score improves; simply taking more questions without fixing the reason for misses mostly measures the same weakness again.
Common P&C Exam Traps
One trap is choosing the coverage that sounds familiar instead of the coverage that fits the loss. A flood loss, an employee injury, a professional advice claim, a business income interruption, and a personal auto collision may all involve money damages, but they do not belong in the same policy part. Another trap is ignoring who owns the property or who is legally liable. Property insurance usually protects the insured's financial interest in property; liability insurance responds to claims made by others against the insured.
Cancellation and nonrenewal questions also deserve attention. The exam may test required notice, permitted reasons, timing, or who has authority to act. If the question is state-specific, do not rely on a generic national rule. Unfair trade practice questions work the same way: rebating, twisting, misrepresentation, false advertising, unfair claims handling, and fiduciary misuse of premiums are tested because they show whether a producer can operate lawfully after the exam.
Exam-Day Workflow
Confirm your appointment, identification, remote-proctoring rules, allowed materials, and reschedule deadline before test day. At check-in, your legal name should match the exam registration. During the test, take the easy points first. If a scenario is long, identify the policy, the insured, the covered property or claimant, the cause of loss, and the question's command word. If two answers are legally true, choose the one that answers the exact fact pattern.
If you miss the passing score, use the report as a map. Rebuild the two weakest content areas, then retest with mixed questions. Candidates often improve fastest by mastering policy architecture: declarations, insuring agreement, conditions, exclusions, definitions, and endorsements. Once you can locate where a rule lives inside the policy, unfamiliar questions become easier to reason through.
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