New York Property & Casualty Insurance License Exam Overview
The New York Property & Casualty Insurance Exam is administered by Prometric on behalf of the New York Department of Financial Services (DFS). New York has some of the strictest insurance regulations in the nation, including the highest mandatory PIP coverage requirements.
Passing this exam qualifies you to sell property, casualty, and auto insurance in New York—the 4th largest state by population with over 19 million residents and a massive market for personal and commercial insurance.
Exam Format at a Glance
| Component | Details |
|---|---|
| Total Questions | 110 multiple-choice |
| Time Limit | 2 hours |
| Passing Score | 70% (77 correct answers) |
| Exam Fee | $15 |
| Pre-licensing Education | 90 hours required |
| Testing Vendor | Prometric |
| License Term | 2 years |
Why Get P&C Licensed in New York?
- Massive market — Over 19 million residents
- Highest PIP requirement — $50,000 mandatory coverage
- Commercial hub — NYC business insurance needs
- Strict regulations — DFS oversight ensures professionalism
- High premiums — Greater earning potential
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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 forms
- Coverage A through F breakdown
- Additional living expense coverage
- Personal property coverage limits
NY FAIR Plan:
- Fair Access to Insurance Requirements
- Insurer of last resort for fire coverage
- Eligibility requirements
- Coverage limitations vs. standard policies
Commercial Property:
- Building and personal property coverage
- Business interruption insurance
- Causes of loss forms (Basic, Broad, Special)
- Coinsurance requirements
2. Liability Insurance (30%)
Personal Liability:
- Homeowners liability coverage (Coverage E)
- Personal umbrella policies
- Medical payments coverage
Commercial Liability:
- Commercial General Liability (CGL)
- Professional liability (E&O)
- Products and completed operations
- NY workers' compensation requirements
Workers' Compensation:
- NY State Insurance Fund (NYSIF)
- Employer coverage requirements
- Benefits and claims process
- Monopolistic state fund option
3. Auto Insurance (25%)
New York Mandatory Coverages:
| Coverage | Minimum Requirement |
|---|---|
| Bodily Injury (per person) | $25,000 |
| Bodily Injury (per accident) | $50,000 |
| Property Damage | $10,000 |
| Personal Injury Protection (PIP) | $50,000 |
| Uninsured Motorist | $25,000/$50,000 |
NY No-Fault System (PIP):
- $50,000 minimum PIP—highest in nation
- Medical expenses covered
- Lost wages coverage
- Serious injury threshold for lawsuits
- Add-on no-fault state (not pure)
Additional Auto Topics:
- Supplementary Uninsured Motorist (SUM)
- Medical payments coverage
- Collision and comprehensive
- NY assigned risk pool
4. New York Insurance Law (10%)
DFS Regulations:
- Department of Financial Services authority
- Regulation 64 (claims practices)
- Unfair claims settlement practices
- Producer licensing requirements
Key NY Regulations:
- Regulation 60 (minimum standards)
- Regulation 68 (auto insurance)
- Regulation 95 (replacement cost)
- Circular Letter compliance
Prohibited Practices:
- Rebating and inducements
- Misrepresentation
- Twisting and churning
- Unfair discrimination
5. Ethics and General Insurance (5%)
Producer Responsibilities:
- Fiduciary duties
- Premium trust requirements
- Client disclosure obligations
- Record retention (6 years minimum)
Continuing Education:
- 15 hours every 2 years
- Includes ethics requirement
- DFS-approved courses only
Study Timeline for Success
| Week | Focus Area | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Week 1-2 | Property insurance and FAIR Plan | 15-18 |
| Week 2-3 | Liability insurance and workers' comp | 15-18 |
| Week 3-4 | Auto insurance and NY no-fault | 15-18 |
| Week 4-5 | NY Insurance Law and DFS regulations | 10-12 |
| Week 5-6 | Practice exams and review | 12-15 |
Total recommended study time: 65-80 hours (plus 90-hour pre-licensing)
🎯 Free Practice Questions Available
Test your knowledge with hundreds of free practice questions designed specifically for the New York P&C exam.
New York-Specific Exam Tips
1. Master the $50,000 PIP Requirement
New York has the highest mandatory PIP in the nation:
- $50,000 minimum coverage required
- Covers medical expenses and lost wages
- Understand the serious injury threshold
- Know exceptions and exclusions
2. Know NY Auto Minimums (25/50/10)
New York's liability minimums are specific:
- $25,000 per person bodily injury
- $50,000 per accident bodily injury
- $10,000 property damage
- Plus mandatory PIP and UM coverage
3. Understand DFS Authority
The Department of Financial Services oversees insurance:
- Licensing and regulation
- Claims practices oversight
- Consumer protection enforcement
- Know Regulation 64 (claims)
4. Key Numbers to Remember
| Topic | New York Requirement |
|---|---|
| Passing score | 70% (77/110) |
| Pre-licensing | 90 hours |
| License term | 2 years |
| CE requirement | 15 hours/2 years |
| PIP minimum | $50,000 |
| Auto BI minimums | 25/50 |
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Underestimating 90-hour requirement — Plan accordingly
- Confusing NY no-fault with pure no-fault — NY is add-on
- Missing DFS regulations — Heavily tested
- Forgetting FAIR Plan details — Know eligibility
- Ignoring workers' comp rules — NYSIF is important
- Not practicing enough — 110 questions is substantial
After Passing Your Exam
- Submit license application to DFS
- Pay license fee ($50 for 2 years)
- Complete background check if required
- Obtain appointment from insurance carrier
- Maintain CE requirements (15 hours/2 years)
- Begin your insurance career in New York
2026 New York Updates
For 2026, be aware of:
- Updated DFS regulations
- PIP coverage changes
- New CE requirements
- Cybersecurity insurance developments
Start Your New York P&C Career Today
The New York Property & Casualty license opens doors to serving one of the nation's largest insurance markets with unique regulations and coverage requirements. With proper preparation, you can pass the exam on your first attempt.
Our free study materials include:
- ✅ Complete topic coverage
- ✅ Practice questions with explanations
- ✅ NY DFS regulation specifics
- ✅ 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 New York 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 New York 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 New York 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 New York law. After every practice set in /study-guides/ny-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 New York 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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