The Minnesota Property & Casualty License at a Glance
A Minnesota Property & Casualty license lets you sell home, auto, commercial property, liability, and related coverages statewide. It is a resident producer license issued by the Minnesota Department of Commerce.
You can qualify three ways: the combined Property & Casualty exam, or the standalone Property and Casualty exams separately. Most candidates take the combined exam - one $45 sitting, one license, both lines.
The route is the same shape as every Minnesota line: finish approved pre-licensing, pass the PSI exam, get fingerprinted, then apply on Sircon or NIPR within 36 months.
What's on the Minnesota P&C Exam
The combined exam is 130 scored questions in 180 minutes, 70% to pass, with a handful of unscored pretest items that use clock time but do not affect your score.
About 100 of the scored questions are general knowledge - homeowners and dwelling forms, commercial property and the CPP, BOP, inland marine, general liability (CGL), commercial and personal auto, workers' compensation concepts, crime and fidelity, bonds, professional liability, plus the universal terms and policy provisions. The remaining 30 questions are Minnesota law.
The general portion mirrors the national P&C body of knowledge, so a solid product-and-terms foundation carries you a long way - but Minnesota's auto rules are where many candidates lose easy points.
Pre-Licensing Education (20 Hours Per Line)
Minnesota requires 20 hours of Commerce-approved pre-licensing education per line of authority before you sit for the exam (Minn. Stat. 60K.36 Subd. 4). Because a combined license covers two lines, the typical combined producer completes roughly 40 hours of approved coursework - though many providers package the combined track as a single course; confirm hours with your chosen school.
The course must be approved by the Commissioner before you attend, and the school's education coordinator signs your Course Completion Certificate. Certificates do not expire - but you must bring a PAPER copy to the test center.
Heads up if you carry a designation: Minnesota waives pre-licensing for certain credentials. Life applicants holding CEBS, ChFC, CIC, CFP, CLU, FLMI, or LUTCF are exempt; Health applicants with RHU, CEBS, REBC, or HIA are exempt; and Property/Casualty/Personal Lines applicants with AAI, ARM, CIC, or CPCU are exempt. You will need a current letter of good standing (under 30 days old) from the granting organization.
TESTivity recommends [Achievable](https://app.achievable.me/study/insurance-property-casualty/purchase#a_aid=getthelicense) to satisfy your Minnesota pre-licensing requirement. Achievable is an approved provider, its insurance courses were built by the same subject-matter expert behind TESTivity, and completing the Achievable course earns you the certificate of completion Minnesota requires.
One important distinction: TESTivity is not an approved pre-licensing provider in Minnesota and does not issue certificates of completion. The TESTivity learning tools and study packages will absolutely help you pass the exam — but treat them as a supplement to your Achievable course, not a substitute for it.
Disclosure: TESTivity has a partnership with Achievable and may earn a commission if you enroll through links on this page.
Fingerprinting & Background Check
Every Minnesota producer applicant must submit fingerprints for a state and national criminal history check. The smoothest path is to get printed electronically at your PSI test site, during regular hours, the same day you test - PSI forwards the prints straight to the Department of Commerce.
The fingerprinting fee is $63.75, paid at the test site by Visa, Mastercard, American Express, or Discover. You will sign a background check authorization form first; that authorization expires one year after signing, so if more than a year passes before you apply, you have to be reprinted and pay again.
Skipping fingerprints on exam day does not stop you from testing, but it will delay your license - so just knock it out the same trip.
Scheduling Your Exam with PSI
Every Minnesota insurance exam runs through PSI. The fastest route is online at test-takers.psiexams.com/mnins - create an account using your name exactly as it appears on your government photo ID, pick Test Center or Remote Proctored, choose a date and time, and pay the $45 fee by card. You can also schedule by phone at (866) 395-1006.
PSI has test centers in Blaine, Brainerd, Duluth, Eagan, Mankato, Rochester, St. Paul, Willmar, and Woodbury, plus remote online proctoring if you would rather test from home on a compatible computer.
Need to reschedule? Do it at least two days before your appointment and you keep your fee. Miss the window - or no-show - and the $45 is gone. A voicemail or email does not count as a cancellation; use the website or talk to a live PSI rep.
What to Expect on Exam Day
Arrive 15 minutes early for check-in and ID verification. You need one valid, unexpired, signed photo ID - a driver's license, state ID, passport, or military ID (military ID is not allowed for remote testing).
Before the clock starts you get an optional 15-minute tutorial that does not eat into your exam time, plus a few sample questions to warm up. Questions appear one at a time, you can flag and revisit anything, and a running timer sits at the top of the screen.
It is a closed-book, proctored test - no phones, notes, smart watches, or outside materials, and at a test center you may get a piece of scratch paper and a pencil to return at the end. The moment you finish you see a pass/fail result on screen, and a score report lands in your email.
Strongly recommended: get fingerprinted at the PSI site the same day you test. The $63.75 fee is paid right there, and skipping it just delays your license.
Applying for Your License
Once you pass, file your producer application online at Sircon (sircon.com/minnesota) or through the NIPR. You have 36 months from your exam date to apply before the passing result expires.
Minnesota charges the license fee per line of authority: $50 per line, so a combined L&H or combined P&C license (two lines each) runs $100, plus a $20 technology fee and a small Sircon/NIPR transaction fee (around $5.60). Budget roughly $228.75 in fixed exam, fingerprint, and application costs before any pre-licensing course tuition.
An individual can hold a producer license before being appointed by a carrier, but you need at least one company appointment to actually transact business in Minnesota (Minn. Stat. 60K.49). Appointments are submitted electronically by the appointing insurer.
Minnesota-Specific Topics You'll Be Tested On
The 30-item state section splits into rules common to all lines and rules specific to property and casualty. The common block covers the Commissioner's powers, licensing and appointments (including agency, managing general agent, and surplus lines licenses), license termination, and trade practices - unfair claims settlement, rebating, misrepresentation, defamation, discrimination, and penalties.
On the property side, know the Minnesota Standard Fire Policy, the FAIR Plan (purpose, eligibility, application), homeowners cancellation and nonrenewal rules, and binder requirements. Adjuster definitions show up here too.
The casualty side is dominated by the Minnesota No-Fault Automobile Insurance Act (Minn. Stat. 65B): required limits and coverages, basic economic loss benefits (PIP), uninsured and underinsured motorist rules, the right to sue thresholds, the Assigned Claims Plan, the Minnesota Automobile Insurance Plan (assigned risk), comparative negligence, and auto stacking. Workers' compensation - purpose, benefits, and the assigned risk plan - rounds it out.
Both sides share the Minnesota guaranty association and the Notice of Policyholder Rights.
Keeping Your License: Continuing Education
Minnesota producers complete 24 hours of CE every two-year cycle, including 3 hours of ethics, with renewal due the last day of your birth month. No more than 12 of those hours can be company-sponsored, there is no carryover, and you cannot repeat a course for credit inside the same cycle.
Minnesota generally lets you take CE in any line of authority, so a P&C producer can count Life & Health courses toward the 24 hours - with a few carve-outs like flood and LTC training.
One P&C-specific gate to know: before you can sell flood insurance, you must complete a one-time 3-hour NFIP Flood Insurance certification course. It is required for Property/Casualty and Personal Lines producers.
Quick Reference
Official Links
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