- NH-PC is the New Hampshire Property & Casualty Insurance Producer Exam, administered by PSI as Series 12-64.
- The exam costs $72, has 150 scored items plus 5-10 unscored pretest questions, and runs 2 hours 30 minutes.
- No prelicensing course is required before sitting for the exam.
- Property and Casualty Insurance Basics is the heaviest domain at 17% of the exam.
What NH-PC Actually Refers To
NH-PC stands for the New Hampshire Property & Casualty Insurance Producer Exam. It is the state licensing exam that anyone who wants to sell, solicit, or negotiate property and casualty insurance in New Hampshire must pass. The exam is overseen by the New Hampshire Insurance Department, which sets the licensing framework, and it is delivered under the vendor code Series 12-64. If you've landed here after searching for a broader explanation, our companion pieces What Is NH-PC?, NH-PC Meaning, and What Does NH-PC Stand For? cover the terminology from slightly different angles, but this page focuses specifically on what the certification is and how it's structured.
It's worth being precise here because "NH-PC" as a string of letters could theoretically be confused with other credentials in other industries. On this site, and in this article, NH-PC means one thing only: the New Hampshire property and casualty producer licensing exam, delivered through PSI under the candidate bulletin dated August 4, 2026.
Who Administers the Exam and How
The New Hampshire Insurance Department sets licensing policy, but the exam itself is delivered by PSI, a third-party testing vendor used by many state insurance departments. Under the current candidate bulletin, the New Hampshire Property & Casualty exam runs as Series 12-64. This bulletin, dated August 4, 2026, is the authoritative source for scheduling rules, allowed materials, and testing-center policies, so candidates should always check the latest version before registering.
Candidates have two ways to sit for the exam: in person at a PSI test center, or remotely through online proctoring. If you've read about a July 2026 cutoff date for remote testing elsewhere and wondered whether it affects you, it's important to know that cutoff applies specifically to the Life and combined Life, Accident and Health producer exams - not to Series 12-64. Remote proctoring remains available for the property and casualty exam under the current bulletin.
Once you pass, licensing doesn't happen automatically at the test center. Resident applicants must separately submit their producer license application and pay the associated fees electronically through NIPR (the National Insurance Producer Registry). Passing the exam is a prerequisite step, not the final one - treat it as clearing the biggest hurdle, then follow through with the NIPR filing promptly.
Exam Format, Timing, and Fees
Understanding the mechanics of the test helps you plan your pacing and budget realistically. Here's what the candidate bulletin specifies for Series 12-64:
| Exam Detail | Specification |
|---|---|
| Exam fee | $72 |
| Scored questions | 150 |
| Unscored (experimental) questions | 5 to 10 additional items |
| Time limit | 2 hours 30 minutes |
| Prelicensing course required? | No |
| Testing options | PSI test center or remote proctoring |
That means your total seat time could include up to 160 questions, even though only 150 count toward your score. You won't know which questions are experimental, so the practical advice is to treat every question on screen as if it counts. With 150 scored items in 150 minutes, you have roughly a minute per question on average, though PSI's actual item pool includes varying question lengths and scenario-based prompts, so budgeting time by section rather than by strict per-question math tends to work better in practice.
For a full breakdown of what that $72 fee does and doesn't include - and what else factors into your total cost of getting licensed - see NH-PC Certification Cost 2026: Complete Pricing Breakdown.
Key Takeaway
You get 2 hours 30 minutes for up to 160 questions (150 scored). Don't burn excessive time second-guessing early questions - pace yourself so you have time to review flagged items near the end.
The 13 Content Domains
The NH-PC exam blueprint is organized into 13 domains, each carrying a different weight toward your final score. Knowing these weights lets you prioritize study time where it actually pays off, rather than spreading effort evenly across topics that aren't tested evenly.
Domain 4: Property and Casualty Insurance Basics (17%)
This is the single largest domain on the exam, and it covers the foundational vocabulary and concepts - policy structure, underwriting basics, and core P&C terminology - that everything else builds on.
- Master this domain first; weakness here compounds into every other domain
Domain 3: General Insurance Concepts (14%)
Covers contract law fundamentals, insurable interest, and the underlying legal principles that apply across all insurance products, not just property and casualty lines.
Domain 1: Insurance Regulation (13%)
New Hampshire-specific licensing rules, producer duties, and regulatory oversight. Expect scenario questions testing whether you know what a licensed producer can and can't do.
The remaining ten domains range from 2% to 11% each:
- Domain 7: Personal Automobile Policy (11%) - coverage parts, exclusions, and endorsements on personal auto policies.
- Domain 6: Homeowners Policy Concepts (10%) - HO policy forms, perils, and liability sections.
- Domain 9: Commercial Property Policies (9%) and Domain 10: Commercial General Liability (9%) - core commercial lines coverage structures.
- Domain 11: Businessowners Policy (4%) - the BOP as a packaged commercial product.
- Domain 5: Dwelling Policy Concepts (3%), Domain 8: Commercial Automobile Policy (3%), and Domain 12: Other Types of Property and Casualty Insurance (3%).
- Domain 2: Federal Laws and Regulations (2%) and Domain 13: Workers' Compensation Laws (2%) - smaller but still tested slices.
For a domain-by-domain deep dive with subtopics and example question angles, read NH-PC Exam Domains 2026: Complete Guide to All 13 Content Areas. And if you want a condensed reference to keep open while you review, the NH-PC Cheat Sheet 2026: One-Page Review of Must-Know Facts summarizes the highest-yield facts across all 13 areas.
Licensing Pathways and Waivers
Not every candidate takes the identical path through Series 12-64. A few alternate routes exist depending on your background:
- CPCU designees: If you already hold the CPCU designation, you may qualify for the state-law-only Series 12-81 route instead of the full content exam, since your designation already demonstrates mastery of the technical P&C material.
- Exam waivers for new residents: Qualifying new residents who held equivalent producer authority in another state within the previous 90 days may be eligible for an exam waiver entirely, letting them transfer their existing competency rather than retesting from scratch.
- Standard resident path: Most first-time candidates simply register for Series 12-64, sit for the full 150-question exam, and then file their producer application through NIPR upon passing.
These pathways matter because they change your study strategy entirely - someone using the CPCU route needs to focus almost exclusively on New Hampshire-specific regulation rather than product knowledge. For the full eligibility breakdown, including who qualifies for each pathway, see NH-PC Requirements 2026: Eligibility, Prerequisites & How to Qualify.
Who Actually Needs NH-PC Certification
Passing the NH-PC exam is the gateway to becoming a licensed property and casualty producer in New Hampshire. That license is what independent agencies, captive insurance agencies, brokerages, and carriers require before they'll let someone sell home, auto, commercial property, or liability policies to New Hampshire residents and businesses. It's also frequently a baseline requirement for account management and underwriting-support roles at agencies, even when the person isn't purely in a sales role.
Because no prelicensing course is mandated by the state, some candidates come to the exam through employer-sponsored training programs, others through self-study, and others through a mix of both. That flexibility is a double-edged sword: it lowers the barrier to entry but also means the exam itself has to do more of the work of verifying competency, since there's no guaranteed classroom hours behind every candidate.
If you're evaluating whether pursuing this license fits your career plans, two resources are worth reading before you register: NH-PC Salary Guide 2026: Complete Earnings Analysis covers what licensed producers typically earn, and Is the NH-PC Certification Worth It? Complete ROI Analysis 2026 weighs the licensing cost and time investment against the career upside. For a look at what roles actually list this license as a requirement, check NH-PC Jobs.
Building a Domain-Weighted Study Plan
Because the domain weights are so uneven - 17% down to 2% - a generic "study everything equally" approach wastes time. The smarter move is to sequence your preparation around exactly how much each domain is worth, front-loading the heavyweights.
Foundations (Domains 4, 3, 1 - 44% combined)
- Build core P&C vocabulary and policy structure knowledge (Domain 4)
- Study contract law fundamentals and insurable interest (Domain 3)
- Learn New Hampshire producer regulation and licensing duties (Domain 1)
Personal Lines (Domains 7, 6, 5 - 24% combined)
- Personal auto coverage parts and exclusions
- Homeowners forms and liability sections
- Dwelling policy basics
Commercial Lines (Domains 9, 10, 11, 8 - 25% combined)
- Commercial property and general liability structures
- Businessowners policy packaging
- Commercial auto coverage
Remaining Topics and Full Review (Domains 12, 2, 13 - 7% combined)
- Other P&C types, federal law basics, workers' comp
- Full-length timed practice runs
- Targeted review of weak areas from earlier weeks
This isn't the only valid sequence, but it reflects the actual point distribution rather than an arbitrary study order. For a more detailed week-by-week plan with specific resource recommendations, see NH-PC Study Guide 2026: How to Pass on Your First Attempt. And if you're unsure how difficult the exam feels relative to the time you're putting in, How Hard Is the NH-PC Exam? Complete Difficulty Guide 2026 breaks down what makes certain domains harder than others.
Whatever plan you follow, timed practice under exam-like conditions matters as much as content review. Working through full-length practice tests on our practice test platform lets you experience the pacing pressure of 150 scored questions in 150 minutes before it counts for real. Running several sessions through the practice exam simulator also helps you spot which of the 13 domains still need attention before test day.
Frequently Asked Questions
Passing the NH-PC exam is a required step toward obtaining your New Hampshire property and casualty producer license, but it isn't the license itself. After passing, you still need to submit your producer application and fees electronically through NIPR to complete licensure.
No. The current candidate bulletin does not require a prelicensing course before sitting for Series 12-64. Many candidates still choose structured prep, but it's not a state mandate.
Yes. Candidates can test at a PSI test center or through remote proctoring. A separate July 2026 remote-testing cutoff applies only to the Life and combined Life, Accident and Health producer exams, not to the property and casualty exam (Series 12-64).
Property and Casualty Insurance Basics (Domain 4) carries the most weight at 17%, followed by General Insurance Concepts (14%) and Insurance Regulation (13%). Together these three domains make up nearly half the exam, so they're the logical starting point.
Qualifying new residents who held equivalent producer authority within the previous 90 days may be eligible for an exam waiver. CPCU designees may also qualify for the shorter, state-law-only Series 12-81 exam instead of the full Series 12-64 content exam.