How to Get a Property & Casualty Insurance License in North Carolina

A Property & Casualty (P&C) license is one of the most versatile credentials in insurance — it covers auto, home, and commercial coverages, the bread and butter of most independent agencies. In North Carolina, Property and Casualty are two separate lines with two separate exams. As of October 1, 2025, neither requires a prelicensing course anymore, but you still must pass both Pearson VUE exams to carry the full P&C authority.

The steps to your NC P&C license

1. Apply through NIPR at nipr.com and complete your fingerprint background check. Allow up to 60 days for processing.
2. Get your authorization to test from Pearson VUE by email, with your National Producer Number (NPN).
3. Pass both exams — Property and Casualty are scored separately, and you need 70% on each.

What the North Carolina Property and Casualty exams cover

Each exam is administered by Pearson VUE for the NC Department of Insurance, with 55 scored questions plus unscored pretest items and a 75-minute limit. Both pair a general section with a North Carolina state-law section.

Property exam

• The Standard Fire Policy and dwelling forms (DP-1, DP-2, DP-3)
• Homeowners forms and endorsements
• National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) basics
• Commercial property, business income, and inland marine
• North Carolina property law and the state's residual market

Casualty exam

• Personal and commercial auto liability
• General liability and the businessowners policy (BOP)
• Workers' compensation
• Umbrella and excess coverage
• North Carolina casualty law and financial-responsibility requirements

What it costs

Because P&C is two exams, budget for two Pearson VUE exam fees (one per line, per attempt), plus the fingerprint background check. These fees are set by the state and its vendors and change periodically, so verify the current amounts in the free Pearson VUE North Carolina Insurance Licensing Candidate Handbook before registering. Each retake is a separate fee, which makes first-attempt preparation the sensible investment.

How to prepare for both exams

P&C covers a wide range of coverage forms, and the details matter — a homeowners question and a dwelling-policy question can look alike until you know the distinctions cold. Our online video P&C prep course is built on the current North Carolina exam outlines for both Property and Casualty: streaming video instruction, unlimited practice quizzes organized by topic, and comprehensive practice finals for each line. Study 24/7 from home and sit both exams prepared.

For targeted reinforcement, our Insurance Class Assistance Program (ICAP) provides a sectional test bank for both exams, with questions grouped by the specific sections of the North Carolina Property and Casualty Examination Content Outlines. Drilling section by section helps you tell similar coverage forms apart and reinforces the exact material each exam draws from, instead of testing everything at once.

Frequently asked questions

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