Getting your Idaho Property & Casualty license
Idaho keeps the P&C path simple: no mandatory pre-licensing course, no seat-time requirement. Pass the required exams, clear a fingerprint background check, and apply through NIPR.
The structural piece: Idaho has no single 'Property & Casualty' exam. To carry both lines you take two separate exams - the Property exam and the Casualty exam. Both lines then sit on one producer license under one application.
So the full P&C path is: study -> pass the Property exam -> pass the Casualty exam -> get fingerprinted through Pearson VUE -> apply online at NIPR -> get licensed.
Two exams, each split into separately scored sections
Each Idaho exam has a General (national) section and a State (Idaho law) section, scored separately, with 70% required on each.
The Property exam runs 105 minutes with 68 scored questions (50 General + 18 State). The Casualty exam also runs 105 minutes with 70 scored questions (50 General + 20 State). Both include a few unscored pretest questions you can't identify, so answer everything.
Idaho's candidate-friendly rule applies here too: pass one section and fail the other, and you only retake the failed section - your passing section stands, as long as you finish within 180 days of your first attempt.
What the Property & Casualty exams actually cover
On the Property side, the General section is dominated by Types of Policies (homeowners HO-2 through HO-8, dwelling DP-1/2/3, commercial property, BOP, builders risk, inland marine, flood) and a large terms-and-concepts block (ACV vs. replacement cost, coinsurance, indemnity, perils, hazards, proximate cause). Then policy provisions and contract law.
On the Casualty side, the General section centers on Types of Policies, Bonds & Related Terms - commercial general liability (occurrence vs. claims-made), personal and commercial auto, workers' compensation and employers liability, crime, surety and fidelity bonds, professional liability, and umbrella/excess - plus the shared terms and policy-provisions blocks.
The Idaho State section shares the all-lines common block (Director's powers, definitions, licensing, marketing practices) and the P&C-common block (insurance-contract renewal/nonrenewal/cancellation, countersignature requirements, rate filings, the Idaho Property & Casualty Guaranty Association Act, binders). Property then adds the Standard Fire Policy, marine/inland marine, and NFIP; Casualty adds financial responsibility, UM/UIM, the mature-driver discount, the assigned risk plan, Idaho workers' compensation (Title 72), and comparative negligence.
Test center vs. OnVUE, what to bring, and retakes
Test at a Pearson VUE center (Boise, Coeur d'Alene, Nampa, Post Falls, Pocatello, Twin Falls, Idaho Falls, Lewiston, or Spokane WA) or from home via OnVUE online proctoring. Reserve online at least 48 hours ahead (24 hours by phone) - there are no walk-ins. A nice Idaho perk: exams are offered in both English and Spanish.
Bring one valid, unexpired primary ID that is government-issued, photo-bearing, and signed (driver's license, passport, military ID). The name must exactly match your exam registration, and Pearson doesn't recognize ID grace periods - expired is expired. You'll get your results the moment you finish, and at a test center you leave with a printed score report.
Retakes: you can re-book 24 hours after a failed attempt, and there's no limit on the number of attempts - but every section must be passed within 180 days of your first try, and each attempt costs another $65. If you want both lines, book the Property and Casualty exams as two appointments - Idaho doesn't bundle them into one test.
From passing scores to an actual license
Idaho folds fingerprinting into the Pearson VUE system. Schedule an electronic fingerprint appointment (InsID-FPELC) right in your Pearson account - same-day fingerprinting may be available at the Boise, Pocatello, and Spokane locations - or use the hard-card option (InsID-FPHC). Don't mail cards or fees directly to the Department or Pearson. Your prints stay valid for six months.
Then apply online at NIPR and pay the $80 resident producer license fee. You must apply within 180 days of passing, and your exam results are valid for 180 days, so don't let either clock run out. You'll also submit your exam pass slip and a signed Criminal History Record Information (CHRI) release to the Department.
Because Idaho licenses by individual lines of authority in any combination, your Property and Casualty lines ride on a single producer license and a single $80 application - you're not paying per line. Passing the exam doesn't guarantee a license; the Department still reviews and approves your full application.
Costs, continuing education, and renewal
Budget roughly: $65 per exam ($130 for Property + Casualty), $65 for fingerprinting, and $80 for the license - about $275 all-in for the P&C path, assuming first-try passes.
Idaho licenses renew every two years by the last day of your birth month. Complete and post all CE before applying to renew - the Department won't process a renewal until your CE is on file (they recommend wrapping up 30+ days early).
Continuing education is 24 hours per two-year term, including at least 3 hours of ethics, in the lines you hold. Carry-forward of excess credits isn't the norm, so plan each cycle on its own.
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