What This License Is
A North Carolina Property license lets you sell coverage protecting homes, buildings, and personal property against loss — homeowners and dwelling property coverages, commercial property, inland marine, and flood in North Carolina. It is issued by the North Carolina Department of Insurance.
Licensing runs through the same process as every North Carolina producer line — the difference is the focused Property exam. Note that North Carolina requires 20 hours of pre-licensing education for this line before you can sit for the exam.
Exam Options & Format
The Property exam is Property Agent (Pearson VUE, two-part exam): 60 total (55 scored + 5 pretest) questions, 1 hr 15 min, $45 per attempt. Passing standard: 70 (scaled).
North Carolina does not offer a combined exam for these lines — each line of authority is its own exam, so producers who want both simply take both exams.
Pre-Licensing Education - 40 Hours for Full P&C
North Carolina requires 20 hours of approved pre-licensing education per line. Because Property and Casualty are separate lines, full P&C authority means 40 hours total - 20 for Property and 20 for Casualty.
Approved providers teach to the candidate-handbook content outline, which is the exam blueprint. Your exam authorization window is limited (commonly 90 days or up to five attempts), so schedule pre-licensing and the exam close together.
TESTivity recommends [Achievable](https://app.achievable.me/study/insurance-property/purchase#a_aid=getthelicense) to satisfy your North Carolina 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 North Carolina requires.
One important distinction: TESTivity is not an approved pre-licensing provider in North Carolina 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.
Apply Through NIPR, Then Fingerprint
Complete your resident application and pay fees on NIPR (www.nipr.com) before scheduling an exam. NIPR reserves your NPN and Pearson VUE emails your authorization with a 6-month eligibility window.
Submit Live Scan electronic fingerprints within 30 days at a local law enforcement agency that offers the service - NC does not use IdentoGO. Bring the SBI Release form and photo ID, then upload the certified pages to the NIPR Attachment Warehouse.
After your exam result and SBI/FBI background check clear, NCDOI issues the license and you print it through SBS Connect, typically 48-72 hours after the issuance email.
What the Property & Casualty License Costs
Plan on two exam fees (Property + Casualty) at $45 each, a $50 registration fee per line ($100 for both), and a one-time $38 SBI/FBI criminal-check fee. NIPR adds a small transaction fee, and your local Live Scan site may charge a small fee.
That puts state and exam costs near $228 before your pre-licensing course (priced by the provider). North Carolina charges no producer renewal fee.
North Carolina-Specific P&C Topics You'll Be Tested On
North Carolina's auto market is unusual and heavily tested. NC is an at-fault (tort) state with NO no-fault or PIP, and it follows pure contributory negligence - a claimant even 1% at fault can be barred from recovery, one of the strictest standards in the country.
Auto minimum liability limits rose to 50/100/50 effective July 1, 2025 ($50,000 bodily injury per person / $100,000 per accident / $50,000 property damage), up from the 30/60/25 figures in place since 1999. Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage is mandatory and must equal the liability limits, and the old liability set-off against UIM was abolished on the same date, so UIM now stacks on top of liability.
The North Carolina Rate Bureau (not ISO) promulgates the Personal Auto Policy and the Homeowners forms (adapted from the ISO HO-2011 program). Drivers who cannot get coverage in the voluntary market go through the NC Reinsurance Facility, and the Consent to Rate rule lets an insurer charge above the Bureau rate with the insured's written consent.
Coastal exposure shows up as the NC Beach Plan / FAIR Plan (Essential Property Insurance for Beach Area Property) - the wind-and-hail residual market for the coastal counties. Workers' compensation runs through the North Carolina Industrial Commission.
Keeping the License: Continuing Education
Resident producers complete 24 CE hours every two years, including 3 hours of ethics. P&C licensees also carry a flood CE obligation (commonly 3 hours every 4 years) based on the lines held. Your compliance date is the last day of your birth month in the year matching your birth year (odd/even).
There is no separate renewal application or renewal fee; CE is what keeps the license active. Excess hours carry over, Prometric administers CE for NCDOI, and a missed deadline triggers a 4-month grace window plus a reinstatement fee before the license goes inactive.
After You Pass
A license does not by itself authorize sales - you must be appointed by at least one insurer and can only sell the products of carriers that appoint you. Update your mailing, residential, and email addresses with NCDOI within 10 days of any change.
Common next steps from full P&C: add the Surplus Lines license (requires the Property line and Property/Casualty licensure) to place hard-to-write risks with non-admitted insurers, or pick up the Adjuster license.
Quick Reference
Official Links
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