Indiana Property & Casualty Exam Overview
Key Takeaways
Indiana requires 40 hours of approved pre-licensing education for Personal & Commercial Property and Casualty before you may sit for the combined exam.
The combined P&C exam is 150 delivered questions in 180 minutes (3 hours): 100 general scored, 35 Indiana scored, and 15 unscored pretest questions.
A scaled score of 70 is required to pass any IDOI insurance licensing exam, and Pearson VUE gives you a pass/fail score report at the end of the exam at a physical test center.
Your pre-licensing certificate is valid for 6 months, and you must pass the exam and apply for the license within that period.
Resident licenses renew every 2 years on the last day of your birth month, requiring 24 hours of continuing education; the separate 3-hour ethics block applies to life/health lines, not to a P&C-only producer.
Indiana's minimum auto liability limits are 25/50/25, and uninsured motorist coverage must be offered with a signed written rejection required to decline it.
About the Indiana P&C Exam
The Indiana Property & Casualty (P&C) producer examination is administered by Pearson VUE under contract to the Indiana Department of Insurance (IDOI). It blends two layers of knowledge: roughly 80–85% national P&C insurance fundamentals (policy structure, coverages, the insurance contract, underwriting, and claims) and 15–20% Indiana-specific law drawn from Title 27 of the Indiana Code and IDOI regulations. The state portion is where most candidates lose points, so this guide concentrates there.
Exam Structure At A Glance
| Component | Detail |
|---|---|
| Testing vendor | Pearson VUE |
| Regulator | Indiana Department of Insurance (IDOI) |
| Passing score | 70% (scaled) on every IDOI exam |
| Format | Four-option multiple choice, computer-based |
| Combined P&C | 150 delivered questions / 180 minutes |
| Delivery | Pearson VUE test center |
| Results | Immediate score report at checkout |
Indiana's Property & Casualty license uses one combined exam: 100 scored general questions and 35 scored Indiana questions, plus 15 unscored pretest questions. Candidates who want only personal-lines authority take the separate Personal Lines exam (115 questions, 120 minutes).
Pace And Scoring Math
With 150 delivered questions in 180 minutes you have exactly 60 seconds per question. Your result is reported as a scaled score, and 70 is the passing mark. Only the 135 scored questions count, but you cannot tell which ones they are, so treat every question as live. Practical tactic: flag any question that takes more than 75 seconds, answer your best guess, and circle back. Pearson VUE shows a running clock and a flagged-question review screen.
Trap: Candidates fail by burning 4–5 minutes on a single tricky workers'-compensation or coinsurance calculation. Bank time on the easy definitional items so the math questions don't sink you.
Common Coverage Lines Tested
- Property: Homeowners (HO-2, HO-3, HO-5, HO-4, HO-6, HO-8), Dwelling (DP-1/DP-2/DP-3), commercial property, business owners policy (BOP), and inland marine
- Casualty: Personal Auto Policy (PAP), commercial auto, Commercial General Liability (CGL), workers' compensation, and umbrella/excess liability
- Shared concepts: Insurable interest, indemnity, subrogation, the coinsurance formula, and the parts of an insurance contract (Declarations, Insuring Agreement, Conditions, Exclusions)
Expect a handful of coinsurance items. Memorize the formula — (amount carried ÷ amount required) × loss − deductible — so a partial-loss scenario doesn't catch you off guard.
On the combined Indiana P&C exam, how much time do you have per question and what score must you reach?
About 90 seconds per question; a scaled score of 75
About 45 seconds per question; a scaled score of 80
About 2 minutes per question; a scaled score of 65
About 60 seconds per question; a scaled score of 70
Pre-Licensing Education And Designation Waivers
Unlike many states, Indiana mandates pre-licensing education before you can register for the exam. You must complete 40 hours from an IDOI-approved provider for Personal & Commercial Property and Casualty and obtain a Certificate of Pre-Licensing Education Completion. Pearson VUE verifies the certificate at registration, so without it you cannot schedule.
| Requirement | Detail |
|---|---|
| Total hours | 40 (Personal & Commercial Property and Casualty) |
| Provider | Must be IDOI-approved |
| Proof | Certificate of Completion required to register |
Course Content
- Property: homeowners and dwelling forms, perils and exclusions, commercial property, inland marine, plus Indiana property statutes
- Casualty: personal and commercial auto, general liability, workers' compensation, and Indiana casualty statutes
Pre-Licensing Waivers
IDOI will waive the 40-hour requirement for applicants holding certain professional designations or a relevant degree, but the waiver is not automatic — you must request an approved waiver from the Commissioner and submit documentation before scheduling.
| Designation | Full name |
|---|---|
| CPCU | Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter |
| CIC | Certified Insurance Counselor |
| AAI | Accredited Advisor in Insurance |
| Degree | Bachelor's degree in insurance |
Trap: The waiver removes the education requirement only — it does not waive testing. Waiver holders take the shorter P&C Laws and Regulations exam (40 questions, 60 minutes) instead of the full 150-question exam.
License Application: The 6-Month Clock
Indiana's pre-licensing certificate is valid for 6 months, and you must pass the exam and apply for the license within that period. Follow this sequence:
- Complete 40-hour pre-licensing (or secure a waiver) and keep the certificate.
- Schedule and pass the Pearson VUE exam at 70%+.
- Apply before the certificate's 6 months run out through the National Insurance Producer Registry (NIPR) or Sircon — do not wait.
- Pay the $40 application fee; your education provider submits your course and exam results.
- IDOI reviews the application and notifies you in writing if it is denied.
| Cost Item | Estimate |
|---|---|
| Pearson VUE exam fee | $69 |
| License application fee | $40 |
Retake policy: A failed exam can be retaken after a 48-hour wait; you pay the full fee again. Your pre-licensing certificate is still valid for only 6 months, so plan any retake inside that window.
A candidate holds the CPCU designation and obtains an approved waiver from the Commissioner. What does the waiver actually exempt?
Both the 40-hour education and every Indiana exam
The 6-month application deadline
Only the continuing-education requirement after licensure
The 40-hour pre-licensing education only — a laws exam is still required
License Maintenance And Renewal
An Indiana resident producer license is on a biennial (2-year) cycle that ends on the last day of your birth month — not a flat anniversary date. Mark this on your calendar, because lapsing triggers reinstatement penalties.
| Requirement | Detail |
|---|---|
| License term | 2 years, expiring last day of birth month |
| Continuing education | 24 hours per term |
| Ethics | 3-hour ethics block applies to life/health lines — not to a P&C-only producer |
| CE carry-over | Up to 12 excess hours may carry to the next term (ethics/LTC excess excludes) |
| Renewal | Through NIPR/Sircon before expiration |
| Late renewal | Reinstatement fee and possible CE penalty |
High-yield nuance: A producer holding only Property & Casualty authority completes the full 24 CE hours but is not required to take the dedicated 3-hour ethics course — that ethics block attaches to life and health lines. A producer who carries both P&C and life/health does owe the ethics hours. Many study aids state "3 hours ethics for everyone"; check the line of authority in the question.
Line-specific add-ons matter on the exam: before selling annuities you need a one-time 4-hour annuity training course, and before selling long-term care (LTC) you need an initial 8-hour LTC course plus ongoing LTC CE. These are separate from the core 24 hours.
Indiana Auto Insurance Requirements (High-Yield)
Auto rules appear repeatedly on the state portion. Indiana is a tort (at-fault) state with no mandatory no-fault Personal Injury Protection. Minimum liability limits are 25/50/25:
| Coverage | Minimum |
|---|---|
| Bodily injury per person | $25,000 |
| Bodily injury per accident | $50,000 |
| Property damage | $25,000 |
- Uninsured Motorist (UM) and Underinsured Motorist (UIM) must be offered at limits matching the liability the applicant buys; the insured can decline only by signed written rejection.
- PIP is not required in Indiana (tort state) — a frequent distractor.
- Comprehensive and collision are optional by law but required by lenders/lessors.
Worked Example
A homeowner carries dwelling coverage of $160,000 on a home that should be insured to $250,000 (80% coinsurance applies, so the required amount is $200,000). A kitchen fire causes $50,000 in damage with a $1,000 deductible. Using (carried ÷ required) × loss − deductible: ($160,000 ÷ $200,000) × $50,000 = 0.80 × $50,000 = $40,000, then − $1,000 = $39,000 paid. The $11,000 gap is the coinsurance penalty for underinsuring — a classic exam scenario.
Numbers To Memorize
| Topic | Number |
|---|---|
| Pre-licensing | 40 hrs (20 + 20) |
| Combined exam | 150 delivered Q / 180 min |
| Standalone line | 80 Q / 80 min |
| Passing score | 70% |
| Application deadline | 6 months |
| License term | 2 yrs (birth-month end) |
| CE per term | 24 hrs (no ethics block for P&C-only) |
| Auto liability | 25/50/25 |
Reminder: This Indiana guide layers state law on top of national fundamentals — master both. Next: Chapter 1, Indiana Insurance Regulation & Licensing.
When does a resident Indiana producer license expire, and how much continuing education is required each term?
Every year on January 1; 12 hours of CE
Every 2 years on the license anniversary; 30 hours of CE
Every 4 years; 40 hours of CE with no ethics requirement
Every 2 years on the last day of the producer's birth month; 24 hours of CE per term
Under Indiana law, how can a driver who is offered uninsured motorist coverage decline it?
By a signed written rejection of the coverage
It cannot be declined — UM is mandatory in Indiana
By verbally telling the agent at any renewal
Only by switching to a no-fault PIP policy
What are Indiana's minimum auto liability insurance limits?
15/30/10
20/40/15
30/60/25
25/50/25
Sections you finish are checked off in the contents.