- NH-PC stands for the New Hampshire Property & Casualty Insurance Producer Exam, administered by PSI as Series 12-64.
- The exam costs $72, has 150 scored items, and allows 2 hours 30 minutes to complete.
- Property and Casualty Insurance Basics is the single largest domain, weighted at 17%.
- No prelicensing course is required in New Hampshire before sitting for Series 12-64.
What NH-PC Actually Stands For
NH-PC stands for the New Hampshire Property & Casualty Insurance Producer Exam - the state licensing test required to sell property and casualty insurance products in New Hampshire. It is not a designation you earn from a national professional body, and it has no relationship to any other credential that happens to share the same three-letter shorthand. If you've seen "NH-PC" used elsewhere to describe something unrelated to insurance licensing, that is a different acronym entirely and none of those facts apply here.
In New Hampshire's own testing catalog, this exam is internally coded Series 12-64. When you register with the testing vendor, register on NIPR, or read the candidate bulletin, you'll see "Series 12-64" used interchangeably with the plain-language name Property & Casualty Insurance Producer Exam. For a deeper walkthrough of what the credential involves day to day, see What Is NH-PC? and the companion explainer NH-PC Meaning.
Who Administers the NH-PC Exam
The exam is overseen by the New Hampshire Insurance Department, the state regulator responsible for producer licensing, and it is delivered by PSI, the testing vendor contracted to run the actual exam sessions. The governing reference document is the candidate bulletin dated August 4, 2026, which lays out eligibility, content outline, and testing logistics for Series 12-64.
It's worth being precise about who does what: the Insurance Department sets licensing requirements and approves the content outline, while PSI builds and proctors the exam itself. Once you pass, you don't submit anything to PSI for licensure - that step happens separately through NIPR, which is covered below.
Exam Format, Fees, and Registration
Series 12-64 is a fixed-length, computer-based exam with clear, published parameters:
- Cost: $72 per attempt
- Scored items: 150 questions
- Unscored items: PSI may add 5 to 10 additional experimental questions that don't count toward your score but are indistinguishable from scored ones on screen
- Time limit: 2 hours 30 minutes
- Prelicensing course: not required before sitting for the exam
Because the experimental questions are mixed in without a marker, candidates should treat every question on screen as if it counts. For a full cost breakdown including how this fee fits into total licensing expenses, see NH-PC Certification Cost 2026: Complete Pricing Breakdown.
Where and How You Test
Candidates may sit for the exam at a physical PSI test center or opt for remote proctoring from a personal computer. One nuance matters here: a July 2026 remote-testing cutoff applies specifically to the Life and combined Life, Accident and Health producer exams - it does not apply to Series 12-64. In other words, remote testing for the property and casualty exam continues on its existing basis and isn't affected by that particular deadline. Details on scheduling windows and how to plan around them are covered in NH-PC Exam Dates 2026: Testing Windows, Deadlines & Scheduling.
After You Pass: The NIPR Step
Passing the exam is not the final step toward licensure. Resident applicants must pass Series 12-64 and then submit the producer license application along with the required fees electronically through NIPR (the National Insurance Producer Registry). This two-part sequence - exam first, then electronic application - is a detail many first-time candidates overlook. A full eligibility checklist is available in NH-PC Requirements 2026: Eligibility, Prerequisites & How to Qualify.
Key Takeaway
Register for Series 12-64, pass it, then go to NIPR to file your producer application and fees - the exam alone does not issue your license.
What the 13 Domains Cover
The 150 scored questions are distributed across 13 content domains, and the weighting tells you exactly where your study hours should go. Below is the full breakdown:
| Domain | Weight |
|---|---|
| 1. Insurance Regulation | 13% |
| 2. Federal Laws and Regulations | 2% |
| 3. General Insurance Concepts | 14% |
| 4. Property and Casualty Insurance Basics | 17% |
| 5. Dwelling Policy Concepts | 3% |
| 6. Homeowners Policy Concepts | 10% |
| 7. Personal Automobile Policy | 11% |
| 8. Commercial Automobile Policy | 3% |
| 9. Commercial Property Policies | 9% |
| 10. Commercial General Liability | 9% |
| 11. Businessowners Policy | 4% |
| 12. Other Types of Property and Casualty Insurance | 3% |
| 13. Workers' Compensation Laws | 2% |
Four domains alone account for over half the exam: Property and Casualty Insurance Basics, General Insurance Concepts, Insurance Regulation, and Personal Automobile Policy. For a domain-by-domain walkthrough with sample topics inside each area, see NH-PC Exam Domains 2026: Complete Guide to All 13 Content Areas.
Domain 4: Property and Casualty Insurance Basics (17%)
This is the largest single domain on the exam, and it functions as the conceptual foundation for everything that follows. Candidates need fluency in core policy structure and terminology before the exam layers on specific product lines.
- Policy provisions common to property and casualty contracts
- Underwriting and rating fundamentals
- Loss valuation methods and how they interact with claims
Domain 3: General Insurance Concepts (14%)
This domain tests the vocabulary and legal concepts that thread through every other domain - contract elements, insurable interest, and the legal doctrines examiners expect you to apply to scenario-based questions.
- Elements of an insurable contract
- Concepts like indemnity, subrogation, and warranty
- Producer duties and disclosure obligations
Domain 1: Insurance Regulation (13%)
Because the New Hampshire Insurance Department sets the rules producers must follow, this domain leans heavily on state-specific licensing, appointment, and market conduct requirements rather than generic industry theory.
- Producer licensing categories and renewal cycles
- Department authority and disciplinary actions
- Unfair trade practices specific to New Hampshire
Waivers and Alternate Routes
Not every candidate has to sit for the full Series 12-64. Two exceptions are worth knowing before you register:
- CPCU designees: Candidates who hold the CPCU designation may qualify for Series 12-81, a shorter state-law-only exam route that skips the broader product content already covered by their designation.
- Recent equivalent authority: Qualifying new residents who held equivalent producer authority in another state within the previous 90 days may be eligible for an exam waiver entirely, bypassing Series 12-64 altogether.
If neither exception applies to you, the standard path is the full 150-question exam described above. See NH-PC Requirements 2026: Eligibility, Prerequisites & How to Qualify for the documentation each route requires.
Who Actually Needs the NH-PC
Anyone who wants to sell, solicit, or negotiate property and casualty insurance products as a resident producer in New Hampshire needs to pass Series 12-64 (unless one of the exceptions above applies). This typically includes candidates entering roles at independent agencies, captive insurance carriers, and brokerages that place homeowners, auto, commercial property, and general liability coverage. Because the exam's domain weighting mirrors the actual products producers sell - auto policies, homeowners forms, businessowners packages, and commercial liability - passing it is treated by employers as proof you can start working with real policy forms on day one.
For a look at where this credential can lead on the employment side, see NH-PC Jobs and NH-PC Salary Guide 2026: Complete Earnings Analysis. If you're still deciding whether pursuing licensure fits your career goals, Is the NH-PC Certification Worth It? Complete ROI Analysis 2026 weighs the practical tradeoffs.
Mapping Your Prep to the Blueprint
Because no prelicensing course is mandated in New Hampshire, many candidates study independently using the domain weightings as their roadmap. A simple way to sequence preparation is to front-load the heaviest domains first, then use remaining time on the smaller, more technical ones.
Foundational Weight
- Property and Casualty Insurance Basics (17%) and General Insurance Concepts (14%) - these two domains alone cover nearly a third of the exam
Regulation and Personal Lines
- Insurance Regulation (13%) and Personal Automobile Policy (11%), including New Hampshire-specific licensing rules
Homeowners and Commercial Lines
- Homeowners Policy Concepts (10%), Commercial Property Policies (9%), and Commercial General Liability (9%)
Smaller Domains and Full Review
- Businessowners Policy, Dwelling Policy Concepts, Commercial Automobile Policy, Workers' Compensation Laws, Federal Laws and Regulations, and Other Types of Property and Casualty Insurance
This sequencing isn't a rigid formula - it's simply a way to allocate more hours to the domains carrying more scored questions. For a structured week-by-week plan built specifically around this content outline, see NH-PC Study Guide 2026: How to Pass on Your First Attempt. If you want a condensed reference for last-minute review, NH-PC Cheat Sheet 2026: One-Page Review of Must-Know Facts summarizes the highest-yield facts across all 13 domains.
Running full-length practice sessions under the same 150-question, 2-hour-30-minute structure at the main practice test site helps you gauge pacing before test day, since the added experimental items mean you can't budget time by assuming exactly 150 questions will appear.
Key Takeaway
Spend your first study block on Domains 3 and 4 - together they make up 31% of the exam and set up everything else you'll learn.
How Difficulty and Scoring Fit Together
Because Series 12-64 mixes scored and unscored questions without labeling which is which, candidates often ask how tough the exam actually feels compared to its raw content list. The honest answer depends on how well you've internalized policy language versus memorized isolated facts - a distinction explored in How Hard Is the NH-PC Exam? Complete Difficulty Guide 2026. Similarly, candidates frequently want to know the exact score needed to pass rather than a vague "study hard" answer; that specific threshold is broken down in NH-PC Passing Score 2026: Exactly What You Need to Pass. If you're researching how other candidates have performed historically, NH-PC Pass Rate 2026: What the Data Shows reviews the available data without guesswork.
Working through timed drills at a full-length practice test platform before your scheduled date is one of the more direct ways to see how the 150-item, experimental-question format actually plays out under real time pressure.
Frequently Asked Questions
NH-PC stands for the New Hampshire Property & Casualty Insurance Producer Exam, administered by PSI on behalf of the New Hampshire Insurance Department under the internal code Series 12-64.
No. New Hampshire does not require a prelicensing course before sitting for Series 12-64, though many candidates still choose self-study materials to prepare for the content outline.
The exam fee is $72 per attempt, covering the 150 scored questions plus any additional unscored experimental items PSI includes.
Yes. Candidates can test at a PSI center or via remote proctoring. The July 2026 remote-testing cutoff that applies to Life and combined Life, Accident and Health exams does not apply to Series 12-64.
Resident applicants must submit their producer license application and fees electronically through NIPR after passing Series 12-64 - passing the exam alone does not automatically issue a license.