Free New York P&C Exam Flashcards

The New York Department of Financial Services (DFS) regulates insurers, producers, rates, forms, market conduct, and consumer complaints for property and casualty insurance in New York.

Full New York property and casualty producer candidates must complete 90 hours of approved pre-license education before sitting for the licensing exam.

A New York P&C producer applicant generally must be at least 18, complete required education, pass the licensing exam, submit the license application, and satisfy DFS background requirements.

The New York P&C exam is listed as 150 multiple-choice questions with a 70% passing score and a 2.5-hour time limit. Treat those exam facts separately from producer duties and coverage concepts.

New York P&C producer licenses renew biennially. Producers generally complete 15 CE hours per two-year period, including at least 1 hour of ethics.

A licensed New York producer must notify DFS of a business address change within 30 days. Late updates can create missed notices and disciplinary risk.

A nonresident producer generally needs a New York nonresident license and must hold an active home-state license in good standing. They must still follow New York law when transacting in the state.

An excess line broker places coverage with eligible nonadmitted insurers only after a diligent admitted-market search. Local data supports documenting at least 3 admitted-insurer declinations.

New York is a prior approval state for many P&C rates and forms. Insurers file with DFS and generally need approval before using rates that affect consumers.

A corporation, LLC, or partnership acting as an insurance producer needs its own business entity license, and individuals who sell, solicit, or negotiate insurance need appropriate individual licenses.

A New York producer should make clear whether they act as an agent for the insurer, a broker for the client, or in another disclosed capacity. The relationship affects the duties owed.

Premiums collected from clients are fiduciary funds. They must be kept separate from personal or operating funds and remitted according to the producer's legal and contractual duties.

Commingling means mixing client premium funds with the producer's own money. It is a serious fiduciary violation because client or insurer funds can be misused or become untraceable.

Rebating is giving a policyholder something of value not specified in the policy as an inducement to buy insurance, such as cash or a gift card. New York treats it as an unfair practice.

Twisting uses misrepresentation to induce replacement or cancellation. Churning replaces substantially similar coverage mainly to generate commissions, without a real client benefit.

New York producers may not share insurance commissions with an unlicensed person for selling, soliciting, or negotiating insurance. Compensation follows licensing authority.

A producer who fails to disclose a significant exclusion can mislead the client about coverage. Accurate explanation of material limits is part of good-faith insurance practice.

A producer who becomes aware of suspected insurance fraud should report it through the appropriate insurer and DFS fraud channels. Ignoring or assisting fraud can threaten the license.

New York Regulation 64 requires prompt claim handling. Local data repeatedly supports a 15-business-day acknowledgment requirement after the insurer receives a claim.

After receiving necessary proof and information, a New York P&C insurer must promptly accept or deny the claim. If more time is needed, status communication is required rather than silence.

Patterns of delay, misrepresentation, failure to acknowledge claims, lowball settlement tactics, or forcing litigation when liability is clear can be unfair claims practices under New York law.

The Security Fund protects policyholders and claimants when an admitted property or casualty insurer becomes insolvent, paying covered claims subject to statutory limits.

Security Fund protection applies to covered claims from admitted insurers. Nonadmitted surplus lines policies are generally outside that protection, which is one risk of surplus lines placement.

New York consumers with insurer or producer complaints can contact the DFS Consumer Assistance Unit. DFS can investigate complaints and use patterns of complaints for market conduct oversight.

NYPIUA is the shared-market FAIR Plan for eligible property owners who cannot obtain basic property insurance in the voluntary market. It is a market of last resort, not free insurance.

The New York FAIR Plan provides basic property coverage, commonly fire and extended coverage perils. It is not the same as a full homeowners policy with broad liability and theft coverage.

A standard HO-3 generally covers the dwelling on an open-perils basis and personal property on a named-perils basis. That mixed pattern is a common exam distinction.

HO-5 is broader because it generally provides open-perils coverage on both the dwelling and personal property. HO-3 usually limits personal property to named perils.

HO-4 is renters insurance for tenants. HO-6 is for condominium unit owners, covering unit-owner property, interior improvements, liability, and loss assessment exposure.

DP-1 is a basic named-perils dwelling form. DP-3 is the special dwelling form, generally providing open-perils coverage on the dwelling and broader protection for rental or non-owner-occupied homes.

A landlord renting a residential dwelling usually looks to a dwelling property form such as DP-3, not an owner-occupied HO-3. Tenants need their own renters coverage.

Standard homeowners forms generally exclude flood and earth movement. A New York homeowner who wants those protections needs separate coverage or an endorsement where available.

Replacement cost pays to repair or replace with like kind and quality without depreciation. Actual cash value subtracts depreciation, so it usually pays less on older property.

After a covered loss, the insured must take reasonable steps to prevent further damage. Failure to mitigate can reduce payment for additional damage that could have been avoided.

When insurer and insured disagree on the amount of loss, an appraisal process can resolve valuation. It decides amount, not whether the policy covers the claim.

The common formula is Amount Carried divided by Amount Required, multiplied by the loss. Underinsuring the property can make the insured absorb part of a covered loss.

A BOP packages commercial property and commercial general liability for eligible smaller businesses. It does not replace workers compensation, professional liability, or separate flood coverage.

Business income covers lost net income and continuing expenses during a covered shutdown. Extra expense covers additional costs spent to reduce or avoid the shutdown.

Builder's risk covers buildings, materials, and fixtures during construction against covered property perils. It is property coverage, not workers compensation or CGL liability coverage.

Inland marine covers movable property, property in transit over land, contractors equipment, fine arts, and similar floaters. Despite the name, it is not ocean marine shipping coverage.

A commercial property special form is open perils: direct physical loss is covered unless excluded. Common exclusions include flood, earthquake, wear and tear, and intentional acts.

Local data supports New York minimum auto liability of 25/50/10, plus mandatory PIP/no-fault benefits and uninsured or supplementary uninsured motorist protection.

New York PIP pays first-party economic benefits such as medical expenses, lost wages within statutory limits, and other reasonable expenses, regardless of who caused the accident.

PIP does not pay pain and suffering. To sue for non-economic damages after an auto accident, the injured person generally must meet New York's serious-injury threshold.

Supplementary Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist coverage protects the insured for bodily injury caused by a driver with no insurance or insufficient liability limits.

Local data supports a 30-day deadline for an injured person to submit the written no-fault application after an auto accident, unless a reasonable justification for delay applies.

The NYAIP is an assigned-risk market for drivers who cannot obtain auto insurance voluntarily. Participating insurers share the burden of writing these higher-risk applicants.

New York requires workers compensation coverage for nearly all employers, even many with only one employee. Coverage can be obtained through private carriers, NYSIF, or approved self-insurance.

For a covered job injury, workers compensation is generally the employee's remedy instead of suing the employer in tort. Exceptions can apply for intentional or special circumstances.

Coverage A handles bodily injury and property damage liability. Coverage B handles personal and advertising injury. Coverage C pays limited medical payments regardless of legal fault.