- ND-PC refers to North Dakota's Property and Casualty insurance producer exams, administered by PSI Services LLC.
- Property and Casualty are separate 110-question exams, each requiring 77 correct answers (70%) in 150 minutes.
- North Dakota Laws and Regulations is the single largest content area on both exams - 27.3% of Casualty, 23.6% of Property.
- No prelicensing course is required, but applicants must pass a fingerprint-based criminal history check and apply through NIPR.
What Does ND-PC Actually Mean?
ND-PC stands for the North Dakota Property & Casualty Insurance Producer Exam. It's the licensing test that anyone who wants to sell property or casualty insurance in North Dakota must pass before the state will issue them a producer license. Despite the shared acronym, this has nothing to do with any other "ND-PC" credential you might find in a general web search - no other industry, no other governing body, no other fee schedule applies here. If you're on this site, you're preparing for the North Dakota insurance producer exam, full stop.
The name is slightly misleading in one respect: ND-PC isn't a single test. It's actually two separate exams - one for the Property line and one for the Casualty line - and candidates who want authority to sell both must sit for, and pass, each one individually. Understanding that split early saves a lot of confusion when you start budgeting time and money for your license.
Who Governs and Administers the Exam
Two organizations sit behind every ND-PC exam session. The North Dakota Insurance & Securities Department is the licensing authority - it sets the rules for who can apply, what lines exist, and how licenses are renewed. The actual testing, however, is outsourced to PSI Services LLC, a third-party vendor that delivers the computer-based, multiple-choice exam at approved testing centers.
This two-party structure matters for candidates because it explains where to find authoritative information. Content outlines, candidate handbooks, and testing policies come from the state-hosted PSI candidate bulletin - the version referenced most recently is dated December 27, 2024. Anything you read that contradicts that bulletin should be treated skeptically, including outdated blog posts or forum threads describing older exam versions.
Exam Format, Fees, and Passing Score
Both the Property exam and the Casualty exam follow an identical structural blueprint, even though the content differs:
- Cost: $64 per exam attempt (Property and Casualty are billed separately)
- Question count: 110 scored questions, plus 5-10 unscored experimental questions mixed in
- Time limit: 150 minutes
- Passing score: 70%, which equals 77 correct scored answers
- Format: computer-based, multiple choice
- Retakes: unlimited if you don't pass on the first try
The experimental questions are a detail worth internalizing: since 5-10 unscored items are blended in with no way to tell which ones don't count, you can't identify and skip them. Treat every question on screen as if it counts toward your score, because roughly 95% of them do.
For a full breakdown of exactly how the 70% threshold and the 77-correct-answer target work together, see ND-PC Passing Score 2026: Exactly What You Need to Pass. If you want a granular cost comparison including the $64 exam fee, application costs, and the $100 initial license fee, check out ND-PC Certification Cost 2026: Complete Pricing Breakdown.
| Feature | Property Exam | Casualty Exam |
|---|---|---|
| Exam Fee | $64 | $64 |
| Scored Questions | 110 | 110 |
| Time Allowed | 150 minutes | 150 minutes |
| Passing Score | 70% (77 correct) | 70% (77 correct) |
| Largest Content Area | ND Laws & Regulations (23.6%) | ND Laws & Regulations (27.3%) |
The 20 Domains That Make Up ND-PC
Between the two exams, there are 20 distinct content domains. Ten belong to Property, ten belong to Casualty. Each domain represents a chunk of the exam blueprint, and the weighting isn't evenly distributed - some domains carry far more test questions than others.
North Dakota Laws and Regulations Pertinent to Property/Casualty Insurance
This is the heaviest domain on both exams by a wide margin - 23.6% of Property and 27.3% of Casualty. It covers state-specific licensing rules, unfair trade practices, producer duties, and regulatory definitions unique to North Dakota.
- Expect the largest share of scored questions here - mastery of this domain alone can make or break your score.
The remaining Property domains build outward from regulation into practical coverage knowledge: Insurance Regulation, Federal Laws and Regulations, General Insurance, Property Insurance Basics, Dwelling Policy Concepts, Homeowners Policy Concepts, Commercial Property Policies, Businessowners Policy, and Other Types of Property Insurance.
The Casualty side mirrors that structure but pivots toward liability and auto exposures: Insurance Regulation, Federal Laws and Regulations, General Insurance, Casualty Insurance Basics, Personal Automobile Insurance, Commercial Automobile Policy, Commercial General Liability, Other Types of Casualty Insurance, and Workers' Compensation Laws.
Homeowners Policy Concepts & Commercial General Liability
These two domains - one on the Property side, one on Casualty - tend to trip up candidates who studied policy forms in the abstract without practicing scenario-based questions.
- Homeowners questions often test endorsement stacking and exclusions within a single fact pattern.
- CGL questions frequently hinge on distinguishing occurrence-based coverage triggers from claims-made triggers.
If you want the complete rundown of all 20 domains with subtopic-level detail, the dedicated resource is ND-PC Exam Domains 2026: Complete Guide to All 20 Content Areas. And if you're trying to gauge how tough the material actually is relative to your background, How Hard Is the ND-PC Exam? Complete Difficulty Guide 2026 breaks that down domain by domain.
Eligibility and Licensing Requirements
Before you can even sit for either exam, North Dakota sets a short but firm list of prerequisites:
- You must be at least 18 years old.
- You must reside in North Dakota, or maintain a principal place of business there (non-resident applicants have their own pathway).
- You must pass each line - Property, Casualty, or both - that you intend to be licensed for.
- You must complete a fingerprint-based criminal history background check.
- You must apply through NIPR (the National Insurance Producer Registry).
Notice what's missing from that list: there's no mandatory prelicensing education course in North Dakota. That's a meaningful difference from many other states, and it puts more weight on self-directed exam prep. It also means the responsibility for knowing the material - especially the heavily-weighted laws and regulations content - falls entirely on how well you study, not on a state-mandated classroom hour count.
Once you pass, your exam score doesn't stay valid forever. You have one year from your pass date to complete the licensing application before that score expires. For the complete eligibility checklist including background check specifics, see ND-PC Requirements 2026: Eligibility, Prerequisites & How to Qualify.
Key Takeaway
Because there's no required prelicensing course, treat your own study plan as the entire curriculum. Structured practice questions covering all 20 domains - not just a general refresher - is the closest substitute for classroom instruction.
What Happens After You Pass
Passing the exam is a milestone, not the finish line. After a passing score, candidates still need to finalize their license application (through NIPR) and pay the $100 initial license fee. From there, the license isn't permanent - it must be renewed.
North Dakota producer licenses renew biennially, due by the last day of your birth month, for a $25 renewal fee. Renewal also requires 24 continuing education hours, including at least 3 hours of ethics content, completed during the renewal period. Missing these renewal requirements can lapse a license, so many producers set calendar reminders well ahead of their birth-month deadline.
Who Actually Needs ND-PC
Anyone planning to sell, solicit, or negotiate property or casualty insurance products to North Dakota residents or businesses needs at least one half of ND-PC. In practice, that includes:
- Independent agents writing homeowners, dwelling fire, or commercial property policies
- Producers at captive or direct-writer agencies handling personal auto and commercial auto lines
- Commercial lines specialists working with businessowners policies, CGL, and workers' compensation placements
- Multi-line agents who need both Property and Casualty authority to serve a full book of personal and commercial clients
Because the two exams are separate, some producers choose to license in only one line first - often Property, since it maps more directly onto homeowners and dwelling products common in personal lines shops - and add Casualty later once they take on auto or liability business. Others sit for both back-to-back to avoid a second round of NIPR paperwork and background checks. If you're weighing career direction after licensing, ND-PC Salary Guide 2026: Complete Earnings Analysis and Is the ND-PC Certification Worth It? Complete ROI Analysis 2026 are useful next reads, and ND-PC Jobs covers what hiring agencies actually look for.
Scheduling Your Study Around the Domains
Generic study advice - spaced repetition, timed drills, breaking sessions into focused blocks - only helps if it's mapped onto the actual weight of the exam. Given that North Dakota Laws and Regulations makes up roughly a quarter of each exam, it deserves proportionally more of your calendar than a domain like Other Types of Property Insurance, which is comparatively narrow.
Foundations and Regulation
- Insurance Regulation and North Dakota Laws and Regulations (Property or Casualty, depending on which exam you're prioritizing)
- Federal Laws and Regulations
Core Policy Concepts
- Property Insurance Basics, Dwelling Policy Concepts, Homeowners Policy Concepts - or Casualty Insurance Basics and Personal Automobile Insurance
Commercial Lines
- Commercial Property Policies, Businessowners Policy - or Commercial Automobile Policy and Commercial General Liability
Remaining Domains and Full-Length Practice
- Other Types of Property/Casualty Insurance, Workers' Compensation Laws (Casualty)
- Timed 110-question practice runs against a 150-minute clock
A detailed week-by-week plan with domain-specific milestones is laid out in ND-PC Study Guide 2026: How to Pass on Your First Attempt. And once you're closer to test day, a condensed reference like ND-PC Cheat Sheet 2026: One-Page Review of Must-Know Facts is useful for last-minute review of high-weight domains rather than re-reading full chapters.
Whichever schedule you follow, running full-length timed practice sets that mirror the real 110-question, 150-minute format is the best way to confirm you're ready - you can start building that habit with practice questions on the ND-PC practice test platform well before your scheduled exam date.
Frequently Asked Questions
Two. Property and Casualty are separate exams, each with its own $64 fee, 110 scored questions, and 150-minute time limit. You must pass each line separately if you want authority to sell both.
No. North Dakota does not require a prelicensing education course for the Property or Casualty exam. You do need to pass a fingerprint-based criminal history check and apply through NIPR.
You need 70%, which equals 77 correct scored answers out of 110 scored questions, on each exam. An additional 5-10 unscored experimental questions appear but don't count toward that total.
Retakes are unlimited. You can register and sit for the exam again through PSI Services LLC as many times as needed, as long as you keep meeting the underlying eligibility requirements.
A passing exam score is valid for one year, during which you must complete your licensing application. Once licensed, renewal is biennial, due by the last day of your birth month, for $25 plus 24 CE hours including 3 ethics hours.