Free North Carolina Personal Lines Practice Questions

Moral hazard equals dishonesty. It's the risk that someone deliberately causes or exaggerates a loss to profit, like torching a failing business for the payout. Don't mix it up with morale hazard (carelessness, choice B) or physical hazard (the actual physical conditions in A and D).

Buying insurance is the classic risk transfer: you hand the financial consequences of a loss to the insurer in exchange for a premium. Avoidance means not doing the risky thing at all, retention means keeping the risk yourself (like a deductible), and reduction means lowering the odds or severity (smoke detectors). Insurance equals transfer.

Indemnity is the whole heartbeat of insurance: you get made whole, not rich. The goal is to put you back where you were financially right before the loss, no better, no worse. That's why you can't insure a $20,000 car for $80,000 and cash in. Insurance reimburses a loss; it doesn't hand out winnings.

Adverse selection is the insurer's headache: the people most likely to have a loss are also the most eager to buy and keep coverage. If underwriting didn't push back, the risk pool would fill up with bad risks and the math would collapse. It's exactly why underwriting and exclusions exist.

Treaty reinsurance is the automatic, blanket deal: the reinsurer agrees in advance to take a whole category of risks. Facultative is the opposite, case-by-case, where the reinsurer can accept or decline each risk individually. Treaty equals automatic and broad; facultative equals optional and specific.

The company giving away (ceding) the risk is the ceding company; the company taking it on is the reinsurer. Easy hook: to 'cede' is to give up, so the one giving up the risk is the ceding company.

Apparent authority is about appearances: what a reasonable customer believes the agent can do based on how the insurer let the agent act (business cards, signage, company applications). Express authority is spelled out in the contract; implied is what's needed to carry out the express. Apparent is the 'looks legit' bucket.

Express authority is the authority written right into the agency agreement, the powers the insurer explicitly hands the agent. Implied authority fills in the gaps needed to use that express authority, and apparent authority is what the public reasonably assumes. Express equals expressly stated.

A contract of adhesion is written by one party (the insurer) and accepted as-is by the other, with no line-by-line negotiating. The practical kicker: because the insured didn't get to write it, any ambiguity is interpreted in the insured's favor. That's a courtroom rule worth knowing.

Concealment is staying silent about a material fact you know the insurer would want, and if it's intentional, it can void the policy. It's the sin-of-omission version of misrepresentation (which is an active false statement). Both turn on the fact being 'material,' meaning it would have affected the insurer's decision.

Depreciation is the loss in a property's value from age, use, and obsolescence. It's subtracted from replacement cost to arrive at actual cash value. Hook: depreciation is the wear-and-tear value the insurer subtracts under ACV.

Under named perils, the insured must show the loss was caused by a listed peril. Under open perils (all-risk or special form), coverage is presumed unless the insurer proves an exclusion applies, so the burden shifts to the insurer. Open perils is the broader coverage. Hook: named perils, the insured proves it's covered; open perils, the insurer proves it's excluded.

A direct loss is the immediate physical damage a peril causes, like a fire burning a building. It contrasts with indirect (consequential) losses that follow from it. Hook: direct loss is the physical damage itself, the fire burning the house.

The coinsurance clause pushes insureds to insure their property to an agreed percentage of value (commonly 80%). Carry less, and a penalty reduces partial-loss payments. It keeps premiums fair across policyholders. Hook: coinsurance nudges you to insure to value, or share the loss.

The limit of insurance is the most the insurer will pay for a covered loss; amounts above it are the insured's responsibility. Hook: the limit is the ceiling on what the insurer pays.

Property insurance is first-party (it pays the insured for their own loss), while liability insurance is third-party: it pays others the insured has harmed and is legally responsible to. The three parties are the insured, the insurer, and the injured third party. Hook: liability pays the third party you injured, not yourself.

Compensatory damages reimburse the victim's actual losses (special damages like medical bills and lost wages, plus general damages like pain and suffering). Punitive damages go beyond that to punish egregious conduct and deter others. Hook: compensatory makes the victim whole; punitive punishes the wrongdoer.

Comparative negligence reduces the claimant's award by their percentage of fault, so someone 30% responsible recovers 70% of their damages. It's more forgiving than the older contributory negligence rule, which could bar recovery entirely for any fault at all. Hook: comparative negligence trims your recovery by your share of the blame.

A pro rata provision splits a loss among insurers in proportion to each policy's limit, so a policy carrying half the total coverage pays half the loss. It keeps the insured from collecting more than the actual loss. Hook: pro rata splits the loss by each policy's share of the total limits.

When an insurer pays for a loss, it generally gains rights to the salvage, the damaged property, which it can then sell to recover part of what it paid. Hook: salvage is the leftover the insurer can sell after paying the claim.

Coverage D pays additional living expenses and fair rental value when a covered loss makes the home unfit to live in, covering the extra cost of hotels, meals, and similar expenses while repairs are made. Hook: Coverage D keeps a roof over your head, the extra living costs while your home is fixed.

Section I is the property side, Coverages A through D (dwelling, other structures, personal property, loss of use). Section II is the liability side, Coverages E and F (personal liability and medical payments). Hook: Section I is property A through D; Section II is liability E and F.

The dwelling under Coverage A is generally settled on a replacement cost basis, as long as the insured carries at least the required percentage, usually 80%, of replacement cost. Personal property defaults to actual cash value unless a replacement-cost endorsement is added. Hook: the dwelling is replacement cost if insured to value; contents default to ACV.

Coverage E pays sums the insured is legally liable for when they cause bodily injury or property damage to others, and it also pays the cost of legal defense. It is third-party coverage. Hook: Coverage E covers what you owe others when you are legally liable.

Medical Payments covers others, not the named insured or regular household residents. Their own injuries fall outside this coverage and would be handled by their own health insurance. Hook: Coverage F is for others, never the insured or household members.

The base liability section covers bodily injury and property damage. A personal injury endorsement broadens it to cover offenses such as libel, slander, defamation, and invasion of privacy. Hook: the personal injury endorsement adds the reputation harms, libel and slander.

Items like jewelry, cash, furs, and firearms carry special low sublimits, especially for theft, because they are high in value, easily stolen, and hard to verify. To insure them fully, the owner schedules them. Hook: jewelry, cash, and guns hit special low sublimits, so schedule them for full value.

Raising Coverage C does not lift the special jewelry theft sublimit. Scheduling the ring on a personal articles floater (scheduled personal property endorsement) insures it for its full appraised value, usually on an open-perils basis and often with no deductible. Hook: beat the jewelry sublimit by scheduling the item, not by raising Coverage C.

The loss settlement condition usually requires carrying at least 80% of the dwelling's replacement cost to be paid full replacement cost on partial losses. Carry less and the payout is reduced. Hook: insure the dwelling to at least 80% of replacement cost to get full replacement on partial losses.

Coverage D responds when a covered peril renders the home unfit to live in, paying the additional living expenses incurred while it is repaired or rebuilt. A voluntary remodel does not trigger it. Hook: Loss of Use kicks in when a covered loss forces you out, not when you choose to leave.

In split limits the first number is the per-person bodily injury cap, the second is the per-accident bodily injury cap, and the third is the property damage cap per accident. So 100/300/50 is 100,000 per person, 300,000 per accident, 50,000 for property. Hook: split limits read per person, per accident, then property damage.

A combined single limit gives one pool of money per accident that can be used for bodily injury and property damage in any combination, instead of separate per-person and per-accident caps. It offers more flexibility on large losses. Hook: combined single limit is one bucket for everything per accident.

Liability coverage includes the insurer's duty to defend the insured against covered claims, and those defense costs are usually paid in addition to the policy limits, not subtracted from them. Hook: liability buys you a lawyer, and the defense cost normally sits on top of your limit.

For the named insured and resident family members, Med Pay follows the person: it applies when they are struck by a vehicle as pedestrians or while riding in other autos, not only in the insured's car. Other passengers are covered while occupying the insured auto. Hook: for you and your family, Med Pay follows the person, not just the car.

Collision covers damage from the insured's auto colliding with another vehicle or object, or from overturning (upset). Losses like theft, fire, and hail fall under other-than-collision instead. Hook: collision is crashing into something or flipping over.

Other-than-collision, often called comprehensive, covers the non-crash perils: theft, fire, hail, falling objects, vandalism, glass breakage, and animal strikes. Crashing or overturning is collision, not comprehensive. Hook: comprehensive is everything but the crash, fire, theft, hail, and Bambi.

A deductible is the insured's share of each physical damage loss, paid before the insurer pays the remainder. Choosing a higher deductible lowers the premium. Hook: the deductible is your slice of the loss you pay first.

Auto physical damage is normally paid on an actual cash value basis, which is replacement cost minus depreciation, reflecting the car's worth at the moment of loss. Vehicles lose value over time, so ACV is usually less than what was paid. Hook: cars are paid ACV, depreciated value, not what you paid for them.

Insurance covers fortuitous, accidental losses, so intentional damage caused by the insured is excluded. Allowing it would invite fraud and is against public policy. Hook: on-purpose damage is never covered, insurance is for accidents.

Financial responsibility laws make drivers demonstrate the ability to pay for harm they cause, generally by carrying at least the state minimum liability limits. An SR-22 is a filing the insurer makes to confirm that coverage is in force. Hook: financial responsibility means prove you can pay, and SR-22 is the proof on file.

An owner-occupant of a typical home is the target customer for a homeowners policy, which bundles broad property and liability coverage. The dwelling policy is the fallback for homes that do not fit homeowners. Hook: live there yourself and qualify, you want homeowners, not a DP.

Among dwelling forms, the DP-3 gives the broadest protection on the structure by covering open perils. The DP-2 is broad but still named-perils, and the DP-1 is the narrowest. Hook: broadest dwelling form is the DP-3, open perils on the building.

Coverage C is personal property belonging to the named insured. On a rental dwelling it covers the owner's property at the location, not the tenant's belongings, which the tenant insures separately. Hook: Coverage C is personal property, the insured's stuff.

Coverage E is Additional Living Expense, paying the extra costs an owner-occupant runs up living elsewhere while a covered loss is repaired. Coverage D, by contrast, is for lost rent on a rented dwelling. Hook: Coverage E is ALE for the owner who lives there; Coverage D is lost rent for a rental.

In its base form the DP-1 covers fire, lightning, and internal explosion. Extended Coverage and optional endorsements broaden it from there. Hook: the bare DP-1 starts with fire, lightning, and internal explosion.

The DP-2 Broad Form expands the named-perils list well beyond the DP-1, adding perils like weight of ice and snow, accidental water discharge, and falling objects. It remains named perils, just a longer list. Hook: DP-2 is still named perils, just a much longer list than DP-1.

The DP-1 settles dwelling losses at actual cash value, which deducts depreciation from replacement cost. The broader DP-2 and DP-3 can pay full replacement cost when the insured-to-value condition is met. Hook: DP-1 pays ACV; step up to DP-2 or DP-3 for replacement cost.

When a DP-2 or DP-3 dwelling is insured to the required percentage of replacement cost (commonly 80%), partial losses are paid at replacement cost without a depreciation deduction. Underinsuring drops the insured back toward ACV or a prorated amount. Hook: insure a DP-3 to value and partial losses pay full replacement cost.

Dwelling forms do not build in theft the way homeowners does; theft is added by endorsement, and the coverage is broader for owner-occupied dwellings than for rentals. Hook: theft is not standard on a DP; add it by endorsement.

The DP-2 keeps the named-perils approach but lengthens the peril list and, unlike the DP-1, settles the dwelling on a replacement cost basis. Open perils is the DP-3, not the DP-2. Hook: DP-2 adds perils and upgrades the dwelling to replacement cost, still named perils.

A commercial umbrella adds limits above primary liability lines like CGL, business auto liability, and employers liability. It is excess liability, not excess property coverage. Hook: the commercial umbrella tops up the liability lines, not property.

Because flood is excluded from standard property forms, owners buy it through the NFIP or a private flood insurer. Hook: flood is its own policy, NFIP or private, never the homeowners form.

Homeowners policies give limited coverage for small, low-powered watercraft, but larger or faster boats require a dedicated boatowners or yacht policy. Hook: little boats may ride on the homeowners; real boats need their own policy.

Large or powerful vessels exceed the homeowners watercraft limits and exclusions, so their liability and physical damage belong on a dedicated boatowners or yacht policy. Hook: the bigger the boat, the more it needs its own watercraft policy.

Aviation risks (hull and liability for aircraft) are excluded from standard personal lines and must be written on specialized aviation policies. Hook: planes need aviation insurance, never the home or auto policy.

Because they are driven on the road, motor homes and RVs need auto-style liability and physical damage coverage, often on a specialized RV policy that also addresses their living-quarters contents. Hook: if it drives on the road, it needs auto-type coverage, even a motor home.

A fidelity bond covers an employer for losses caused by dishonest employees, such as theft or embezzlement. It is about employee dishonesty, not third-party liability. Hook: fidelity bonds guard against the crooked employee.

A performance bond is a surety bond guaranteeing the contractor will complete the project according to the contract; if not, the surety makes the obligee whole. Hook: performance bonds guarantee the job gets finished.

Most insurance covers future accidental losses, but title insurance looks backward, covering title defects that already exist, and it is paid for with a one-time premium at closing. Hook: title insurance is paid once and looks backward at past defects.

The residual or shared market is the insurer of last resort, providing coverage (auto through assigned risk plans, property through FAIR Plans) to applicants the voluntary market turns down. Hook: the residual market is the last resort for risks no one else will write.