The Mississippi Casualty Producer License
Casualty is line (d) at Miss. Code Ann. §83-17-63(1), and Mississippi issues it as a standalone authority - you can hold Casualty without Property, which is unusual and which makes this the right line for a producer building a commercial liability or workers' compensation book without wanting dwelling fire exposure. It sits on the 70% side of the state's split standard: 70% raw on the Casualty exam, against 65% on the life and health exams.
20 hours of approved pre-licensing education under §83-17-251(2) applies; the House Bill 819 exemption enacted in 2024 reaches life-only applicants and nothing else. Taking the combined Property and Casualty route doubles the requirement to 40 hours, a figure the candidate handbook prints independently of the statute.
The striking thing about Mississippi casualty law is how much of it is not in the insurance code. The compulsory automobile liability limits are at §63-15-3(j), in Title 63, the Motor Vehicles and Traffic Regulations title, as part of the Motor Vehicle Safety Responsibility Law. Workers' compensation is Title 71, the Labor title, and is administered by the Mississippi Workers' Compensation Commission, not by the Insurance Department. The negligence rule that decides how a liability claim is apportioned is §11-7-15, in Title 11, Civil Practice and Procedure. A candidate who searches only Title 83 for casualty answers will come up empty on three of the most-tested subjects.
What is in Title 83 is the uninsured motorist article at §§83-11-101 to 83-11-103, and it contains Mississippi's most distinctive casualty rule: there is no separate underinsured motorist coverage in this state. Underinsurance is a clause inside the statutory definition of an uninsured motor vehicle. A producer who writes "UM/UIM" on a Mississippi application is describing one coverage, not two.
Casualty Alone or Property and Casualty Together
The standalone Casualty Producer exam is 60 scored questions plus 10 unscored pretest questions in 120 minutes, passing at 70% - 42 of the 60 scored items. The combined Property and Casualty Producer exam is 90 scored plus 10 pretest in 150 minutes, also at 70%, which is 63 of 90.
As everywhere in Mississippi, the counts come from examination content outline #122501 (December 2024) and the seat time from candidate handbook #122500 (July 2025); neither document carries the other's numbers, which is why third-party summaries of Mississippi exams are so often half-complete.
The pretest questions are embedded, unmarked and ungraded. On the standalone Casualty exam you will answer 70 items and be scored on 60, without knowing which ten did not count. There is no way to identify them and no benefit in trying.
The decision between the standalone and combined routes has a cost dimension worth working out. Mississippi charges the $50 examination fee per attempt regardless of whether the exam is single-line or combined, and it charges the $100 licence fee per licence rather than per line of authority. Property and Casualty taken together is therefore one $50 exam, one $100 licence and 40 hours of coursework. Taken separately it is two $50 exams, the same $100 licence if filed at once - or $100 plus a $25 amendment under §27-15-87(2) if the second line is added later - and the same 40 hours of coursework in total. The combined route is cheaper and faster; the separate route lets a failure on one side cost you only that side.
Casualty is one of the four Mississippi producer exams still available through OnVUE remote proctoring. That option, its limits, and the reason the other three exams lost it are covered in full in the next section.
Most Tested Topics on the Mississippi Casualty Exam
Mississippi's casualty rules diverge from the national baseline in ways that are easy to state and easy to get wrong, and the divergences cluster in two places: how the state handles underinsured motorists, and how it caps workers' compensation. The table below is the state-specific set.
| Concept | Mississippi rule | Authority |
|---|---|---|
| Compulsory auto liability limits | $25,000 bodily injury per person, $50,000 per occurrence, $25,000 property damage - 25/50/25, set in the MOTOR VEHICLES title, not the insurance code | §63-15-3(j) |
| Uninsured motorist, mandatory unless rejected | UM must be provided unless the named insured rejects it IN WRITING; a signed departmental rejection form creates a presumption of "an informed, knowing rejection and waiver" | §83-11-101(1), (4) |
| UM rejection, carried forward to renewals | Once rejected, UM "need not be provided in any renewal policy," any substantially similar replacement policy from the same insurer, or a transferred policy from a licensed affiliate in the same holding company, unless the insured requests it in writing | §83-11-101(1) |
| Underinsured motorist, where it lives | Mississippi has NO separate UIM coverage - an underinsured vehicle is clause (iii) inside the definition of an "uninsured motor vehicle," being one whose liability limits are less than the injured person's own UM limits | §83-11-103(c)(iii) |
| UM limits ceiling | UM may be increased at the insured's option only "to limits not to exceed those provided in the policy of bodily injury liability insurance of the insured" - UM cannot exceed your own liability limits | §83-11-101(1) |
| UM property damage deductible | The property damage provision "may provide an exclusion for the first Two Hundred Dollars ($200.00)" of damage; the insured may reject UMPD and keep UMBI, but may not keep UMPD without UMBI | §83-11-101(2), (3) |
| Negligence rule | PURE comparative negligence - contributory negligence "shall not bar a recovery," damages are only diminished in proportion to fault, and there is no 50% bar | §11-7-15 |
| Workers' compensation, coverage threshold | Employers with FIVE (5) or more workmen or operatives regularly in the same business, excluding non-profit charitable, fraternal, cultural or religious organisations | §71-3-5 |
| Workers' compensation, elective owner exemption | Where a sole proprietor, partner or 15%-or-more shareholder elects out in writing, that person is "excluded from the total number of workers or operatives toward reaching the mandatory coverage threshold level of five (5)" | §71-3-5 |
| Workers' compensation, who is not covered | Domestic servants, farmers and farm labour - though the farm exemption "does not apply to the processing of agricultural products when carried on commercially" - and transportation and maritime employments governed by federal law | §71-3-5 |
| Temporary total disability rate | 66-2/3% of the injured employee's average weekly wage, subject to the statutory maximum, for not more than 450 weeks | §71-3-17(b) |
| The 450-week figure, what it caps | BOTH - a 450-week ceiling on duration AND, at 450 weeks times 66-2/3% of the state average weekly wage, the aggregate dollar ceiling on total recovery | §§71-3-13(2), 71-3-17(b) |
| Workers' compensation claim deadline | Two years from the DATE OF INJURY or death, with a separate requirement of actual notice to the employer within 30 days of the occurrence | §71-3-35 |
| Workers' compensation compliance | Insure with an authorised carrier, qualify as an individual self-insurer on proof of financial ability, or pool with employers in a common business as a group self-insurer - all through the Commission | §71-3-75(1), (2), (3) |
The underinsured motorist row is the highest-value item on this exam, and the reason is that it is a structural difference rather than a numerical one. In most states a producer sells UM and UIM as two named coverages, and a candidate learns them as a pair. Mississippi never created UIM. §83-11-103's definition of an "uninsured motor vehicle" has a clause (iii) that sweeps in "[a]n insured motor vehicle, when the liability insurer of such vehicle has provided limits of bodily injury liability for its insured which are less than the limits applicable to the injured person provided under his uninsured motorist coverage." Underinsurance is therefore triggered by a comparison against your own UM limits, not against the compulsory minimums - which is precisely why the ceiling rule at §83-11-101(1) matters commercially: because UM cannot exceed the insured's own bodily injury liability limits, an insured who buys minimum liability has no meaningful underinsured protection available to them at all.
The 450-week row is the workers' compensation item candidates most often get half right. §71-3-17(b) caps temporary total disability at 450 weeks. §71-3-13(2) separately provides that "[t]he total recovery of compensation hereunder, exclusive of medical payments under Section 71-3-15 ... shall not exceed the multiple of four hundred fifty (450) weeks times sixty-six and two-thirds percent (66-2/3%) of the average weekly wage for the state." So 450 appears twice and does two different jobs. Note also that the weekly maximum is not a fixed dollar figure in the statute - it is 66-2/3% of the state average weekly wage, redetermined annually, which is why any published Mississippi maximum carries a year attached to it and goes stale.
The pure comparative negligence row is short and absolute, and it is worth reading the statute rather than a summary. §11-7-15 provides that the fact of contributory negligence "shall not bar a recovery, but damages shall be diminished by the jury in proportion to the amount of negligence attributable to the person injured." There is no 50% bar and no 51% bar. A claimant found ninety-nine percent at fault recovers one percent of their damages. Roughly a dozen states run this rule and most run a modified version with a bar, so a candidate carrying material from a modified-comparative state will answer this wrong with confidence.
OnVUE Remote Testing for the Mississippi Casualty Exam
Mississippi is currently in an unusual position on remote testing: it offers it for four of its seven producer exams and not for the other three, and its own candidate handbook does not say so.
What is available today. Pearson VUE's live Mississippi insurance page carries a notice reading, verbatim: "OnVUE Online Testing is currently unavailable for the following exams: MS Life Producer, MS Life, Accident & Health or Sickness Producer, MS Accident & Health or Sickness Producer." Those three are the whole of the life and health side. That leaves OnVUE available for Casualty, Property, the combined Property and Casualty exam, and Personal Lines.
What the handbook says, and why you should not follow it. Candidate handbook #122500, cover date July 2025, contains an "Available as OnVUE" column in its examination table, and it prints Yes against all seven producer exams - Life, Accident & Health or Sickness, Property, Casualty, Personal Lines, Life/Accident & Health combined and Property and Casualty combined. (It prints No against Industrial Fire, Public Adjuster, Workers Compensation Adjuster, Bail Agent and the P&C Adjuster with Workers Compensation exam.) The handbook is a static PDF with a July 2025 cover date; the live page is Pearson VUE's operational status and is updated continuously. Where they conflict, the live page governs. No date is given for when the life and health suspension began and no restoration timeline is published.
The attempt asymmetry is the thing to plan around. This is the single most consequential difference between the two channels, and it is stated plainly in the handbook: "Candidates are limited to 2 attempts per exam via OnVue. Candidates who do not pass their first attempt via OnVue are required to wait 14 days before retesting." At a test centre the rule is the opposite in both dimensions: "Candidates must wait one (1) day before scheduling a reexamination," and, in the sentence immediately after, "Testing at a test center is unlimited."
Work that through for the Casualty exam. Online: attempt one, then a fourteen-day wait, then attempt two, and if that fails your online route is closed for this exam type entirely - the next attempt is at a centre. At a test centre: attempt one, one calendar day, attempt two, one calendar day, attempt three, and onward - the handbook puts no ceiling on it at all. A candidate who is confident of passing on the first try loses nothing by testing at home. A candidate who is honestly uncertain is buying a two-attempt ceiling and a two-week delay in exchange for not driving to Ridgeland.
Retakes cannot be booked at the centre either way. The handbook states that "[r]eservations for reexamination are not made at the test center." Whichever channel you failed in, the rebooking happens online at pearsonvue.com/us/en/ms/insurance.html or by telephone on (888) 293-4222.
Cost and cancellation are identical across channels. The fee is $50 per attempt for the Casualty exam whether you sit it at home or at a centre, and the 48-hour rule applies to both: call at least forty-eight hours before the appointment to change or cancel and you may transfer the fee or request a refund; inside that window the fee is forfeited in full.
Before you commit to OnVUE, run the system test. Pearson VUE's technical requirements for OnVUE - the supported operating systems, the webcam and bandwidth thresholds, the browser check, the identification and room-scan procedure, and what is and is not permitted on the desk - are set by Pearson VUE rather than by Mississippi, and they change without notice. Rather than restate them here where they would go stale, we point you at the system test on the OnVUE pages linked from the Mississippi insurance page. Run it on the actual machine, in the actual room, at roughly the time of day you intend to test. A failed check-in is not a rescheduled appointment; it is a forfeited attempt against a cap of two.
One practical consideration specific to this state. Mississippi's rural broadband coverage is uneven, and OnVUE is unforgiving of a connection that drops mid-exam. If you live somewhere the connection is variable, the fourteen-day penalty for a failed online attempt is a real risk to weigh against the drive - particularly given that the state has thirteen testing cities and fifteen sites, which the Property guide lists.
Mississippi Casualty License Fees
| Item | Amount | Paid to | Authority |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-licensing course, Casualty | 20 hours, provider-priced | Approved education provider | §83-17-251(2) |
| Pre-licensing course, combined P&C | 40 hours, provider-priced | Approved education provider | §83-17-251(2); handbook #122500 |
| Casualty Producer examination | $50 per attempt, test centre or OnVUE | Pearson VUE | Handbook #122500 fee table |
| Cancellation inside 48 hours | Full $50 forfeited | - | Handbook #122500 |
| Resident producer licence | $100 per licence, not per line | Mississippi Insurance Department | §27-15-87(1) |
| Adding Property later | $25 to amend, plus a further $50 exam | Mississippi Insurance Department; Pearson VUE | §27-15-87(2) |
| Portal transaction fee | About $1 | NIPR or Sircon | NIPR and Sircon fee schedules |
| Fingerprinting | Not required for producers | - | no producer authority in Title 83 |
| Appointment, paid by the insurer | $50 since 1 July 2026, formerly $25 | Mississippi Insurance Department | §83-5-73, as amended by Senate Bill 2409 (2026) |
The row that carries no dollar figure is the one worth the most attention. A failed OnVUE attempt and a failed test-centre attempt cost the same $50 - but the online failure also spends one of only two online attempts and buys a fortnight of waiting. Priced in time rather than money, remote testing is the more expensive way to fail. If a second $50 would hurt, sit the exam in a chair.
Two figures on this table are commonly misquoted to casualty applicants. The $100 is a licence fee, not a line fee: §27-15-87(1) attaches it to the individual, so Casualty alone and Casualty plus Property filed together cost the same. And the appointment fee is not yours - §83-5-73 charges it to the insurer filing the certificate of authority, and Senate Bill 2409 doubled it to $50 effective 1 July 2026 as a funding mechanism inside a hurricane-mitigation act. Expect to see both figures on MID's own site for a while yet: the Licensing Forms and Fees page still prints $25. You can hold this licence indefinitely without a single appointment.
Mississippi Casualty License Eligibility
The bar to entry is low and short: eighteen, under §83-17-61, and a uniform application you have signed as true. Then 20 hours of approved coursework for the casualty line - 40 if you are filing for Property alongside it.
Controlled business is the eligibility rule a casualty producer should read first, because casualty is the line where it is easiest to trip. §83-17-1(h) treats a violation as "deemed to be probable" once, over any rolling 24-month window, aggregate commissions attributable to the producer's own interests or those of "family, relatives, employers, employees or business associates" pass 35%. Notice the word employers sitting in that list. A producer who places the workers' compensation, commercial auto and general liability of the company that employs them is building precisely the book the paragraph is aimed at, and the two exceptions written into it - a person associated with a motor vehicle sales agency covering vehicles it sells, services or finances, and a lender or its affiliate covering its own insurable interest - do not reach that situation. Track the ratio deliberately rather than discovering it at renewal.
Designations buy you class time, not a pass on the exam. §83-17-251(2)(e) exempts a current and valid AAI, ARM, CIC or CPCU from the coursework "for the property and casualty lines of authority." It does nothing to §83-17-39(1), which is where Mississippi keeps its examination waivers and which lists no designation of any kind. The Property & Casualty guide sets the two statutes side by side; the short version is that an ARM sits the sixty-question Casualty exam like everyone else.
Nothing else is a filter. No fingerprint card, because Mississippi runs no producer record check. No bond, no net-worth test, no residency period, no character references. The screening happens on the application form and afterwards, through the fourteen grounds at §83-17-71 - the Health guide owns that material.
One point specific to this line, because it surprises people arriving from a commercial background: workers' compensation adds no licensing requirement of its own here. Benefits are administered by the Workers' Compensation Commission under Title 71, and the producer placing the coverage is licensed by MID under Title 83 on the ordinary casualty authority. There is no endorsement to obtain, no certification to hold and no training to complete. The Workers Compensation Adjuster licence is a separate credential with its own Pearson VUE examination and is not a producer qualification.
Mississippi Casualty Producer Continuing Education
Important CE details: 12 hours where the licence has been in effect for a term of eighteen months or less, or 24 hours including 3 of ethics for a longer term, under §83-17-251(3). Holding Casualty alongside Property and Personal Lines does not multiply the requirement - it is 24 hours in total for the producer licence, not per line. Nothing carries forward, a repeated course counts once inside the same period, and the provider files the completion through Sircon within 15 calendar days. Note that workers' compensation, which is a substantial part of a Mississippi casualty book, is administered by the Workers' Compensation Commission rather than by MID, and carries no separate producer training or CE requirement of its own.
§83-17-251(3) ties the requirement to the length of the licence term: 12 hours where the licence "has been in effect for a term of eighteen (18) months or less," and 24 hours for a longer term, "of which three (3) hours shall have a course concentration in ethics." The ethics component is attached only to the twenty-four-hour sentence, so a first term of eighteen months or less carries no ethics obligation at all.
The requirement is per licence, not per line. A producer holding Casualty, Property and Personal Lines owes the same twenty-four hours as a producer holding Casualty alone. Adjusters are a separate licence type and have their own requirement; bail agents run on a different track entirely, at sixteen hours over two years with none required in the first year of an original licence.
Nothing carries forward. Surplus hours are lost at the compliance date, and a course repeated inside the same licence period earns credit only the first time. Approved providers file completions to MID through Sircon within fifteen calendar days of the completion date; the licensee files nothing and should keep the certificate anyway.
Workers' compensation adds nothing. A large share of a Mississippi casualty producer's book will be workers' compensation, and that business is regulated on the benefits side by the Workers' Compensation Commission under Title 71 rather than by MID. There is no Mississippi workers' compensation producer training requirement, no separate certification, and no CE carve-out for it. The Workers Compensation Adjuster licence is a different licence with its own Pearson VUE examination, and it is out of scope for a producer.
Exemptions are at §83-17-251(4) and there are five: the §83-17-39(1)(b), (c), (e) and (g) exam-waiver categories; limited lines and limited line credit producers; non-residents who meet the CE requirement of the state in which they reside, where Mississippi has a reciprocal agreement with that state; non-active agents as defined in §83-17-1; and an individual who is sixty-five or older and has been continuously licensed for twenty-five years or more as of 17 April 2023, evidenced by a sworn affidavit on the Commissioner's form. That last one is grandfathered to a fixed date and closed to anyone who reaches twenty-five years afterwards.
Renewal itself - the biennial birth-month calendar, the ninety-day online window, the $150 late-renewal arithmetic and the twelve-month cliff after which you re-take the exam - is owned by the Property & Casualty guide.
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