PassProfessor’s Oregon program is part of the expanding PassProfessor catalog. The 9,993-question Oregon practice bank is built and audited, and enrollment opens as the catalog expands. Join the notify list and we will email you when enrollment opens — then use this guide to plan your path to the exam.
This program is part of the expanding PassProfessor catalog — join the notify list and we’ll email you when enrollment opens.
1. What this exam is
Oregon’s Property and Casualty license is a combined license: one exam, one license, both lines of authority. The exam is PSI’s Property and Casualty (Includes Law) exam, Series 12-04, and it covers both property and casualty content in a single sitting. Pass it and you can sell and service both kinds of coverage — homeowners, auto, commercial property, general liability, workers’ compensation, and more.
- The combined structure is the exception, not the rule. Most states split property and casualty into two exams. Oregon tests both in one 150-question sitting, so your study plan has to cover both sides.
- One license, both lines. You don’t apply for property and casualty separately. The single license authorizes both.
- The state-specific weight is real. Roughly a third of the exam is Oregon law and regulation — not national concepts you can carry in from another state.
2. Who can sit for the exam
Anyone 18 or older can take the Oregon Property and Casualty exam. Oregon does not require state residency, and it does not impose a minimum education level beyond the pre-licensing coursework below. The requirements are:
- Be 18 or older — the only age rule, and the only hard gate before coursework.
- Complete 40 hours of approved pre-licensing education — 20 hours on property, 20 hours on casualty, from a provider approved by the Oregon Division of Financial Regulation.
- Pass a fingerprint-based background check — required for the license application, not for the exam itself, but worth starting early since it can take a few weeks.
- Have no disqualifying felony record — the state reviews criminal history case by case; a record is not an automatic bar, but it is reviewed.
The 40-hour pre-licensing education requirement, in full
The 40 hours are the single biggest time commitment before the exam, so they’re worth understanding precisely. The split is fixed: 20 hours of property content and 20 hours of casualty content, delivered by a provider the Division has approved. The course covers the same outline the exam is drawn from, and it ends with a completion certificate you need before you can schedule the exam. That certificate is what PSI checks when you book — no certificate, no seat.
You can take the course online or in a classroom, and you can spread it over days or weeks. What matters is that the provider is on the Division’s approved list; a course from an unapproved provider does not count, however good it is. Expect the course to take a full working week if you do it full-time, or two to three weeks at a part-time pace.
- Take the property hours first if you can. The property material — dwelling forms, commercial property, inland marine, and the Oregon-specific property rules — is the more self-contained half, and it builds vocabulary the casualty half reuses.
- Then the casualty hours. Liability, auto, workers’ compensation, and the Oregon-specific casualty rules sit on top of the property foundation, and the casualty section is where most candidates say the exam feels hardest.
- Keep your completion certificate safe. You will need the certificate number when you schedule, and the license application asks for it again. A lost certificate means a call to your provider, not a retake — but the delay is avoidable.
- Schedule the exam while the course is fresh. The longer the gap between the course and the exam, the more re-study you owe yourself. A week or less is ideal; a month is where forgetting starts to cost real points.
3. The exam itself: format, outline, and passing score
The exam is 150 scored questions plus 5 pretest questions that do not count toward your score. You get 180 minutes, and the passing score is 70% correct — 105 of the 150 scored questions. The pretest questions are mixed in and unlabeled, so treat every question as if it counts.
| Section | Weight | Questions (of 150) | What it covers |
|---|---|---|---|
| General Insurance | 10% | 15 | Risk, insurance concepts, and how policies work |
| Property and Casualty Insurance Basics | 17% | 25 | Policy structure, common provisions, and the lines themselves |
| Dwelling Policy | 5% | 8 | DP-1, DP-2, DP-3 and the dwelling forms |
| Homeowners Policy | 10% | 15 | HO-2, HO-3, HO-4, HO-5, HO-6, HO-8 and endorsements |
| Auto Insurance | 15% | 22 | Oregon’s auto rules, liability, physical damage, and uninsured/underinsured motorist |
| Commercial Package Policy | 10% | 15 | CPP structure, commercial property, and commercial general liability |
| Businessowners Policy | 3% | 5 | BOP eligibility, coverage, and endorsements |
| Workers’ Compensation Insurance | 5% | 8 | Oregon’s workers’ comp system, employer duties, and benefits |
| Other Coverages and Options | 3% | 5 | Umbrella, surety, crime, and the smaller lines |
| Insurance Regulation — General | 7% | 10 | Licensing, the Division’s authority, and producer conduct |
| Insurance Regulation — Oregon Specific | 15% | 22 | Oregon statutes, rules, and the state-specific requirements |
| Total | 100% | 150 |
Four structural facts are worth memorizing before you walk in:
- 150 scored, 5 pretest. The pretest questions are experimental and unscored, but you can’t tell them apart, so answer everything.
- 70% is the line. 105 correct out of 150. There is no partial credit and no curve.
- 180 minutes, no breaks on the clock. That’s 72 seconds per scored question on average — enough if you know the material, tight if you don’t.
- The state-specific block is the swing section. General and Oregon regulation together are 22% of the exam, and they are where out-of-state transfer candidates lose the most points.
What the score report gives you
Pass or fail, you get a breakdown by section. If you fail, that breakdown is your study plan for the retake: it shows which sections were below the line, and the retake is a different form of the exam, not the same questions. The report does not show your exact questions or answers — just the section-level performance.
- If you pass, the report is a formality. Move on to the license application.
- If you fail, the report is the most useful document you will get. Study the weakest sections first, not the whole outline again.
- You can retake after a waiting period. Oregon does not impose a long mandatory wait, but you do have to re-register and pay the exam fee again.
And the pattern that matters most for preparation: the exam rewards breadth over depth. You need a working answer in all twelve sections, not a perfect answer in six. Candidates who drill only the big national sections and skip Oregon regulation walk in missing a fifth of the exam.
4. Scheduling the exam
You schedule through PSI, online or by phone. When you book, you need your pre-licensing completion certificate and a government-issued photo ID. Oregon offers the exam at PSI test centers statewide and as a remotely proctored online exam, so you can take it from home if your setup meets the proctoring requirements. Either way, you pick a date and time and you get a confirmation email — bring that confirmation and your ID to the test center, or have them ready for the remote check-in.
The one scheduling mistake to avoid: booking before your pre-licensing course is complete. PSI verifies the certificate at booking, and a failed verification means rebooking, not a refund of your time.
5. What it costs
The exam fee is $64, paid to PSI when you schedule. The license application fee is separate — $27, paid to the Division when you apply after passing. Budget for both, plus the cost of your pre-licensing course, which varies by provider.
| Fee | Amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Exam fee | $64 | Paid to PSI at scheduling |
| License application fee | $27 | Paid to the Division after passing |
| Fingerprint/background check | Varies | Paid to the fingerprinting vendor; confirm the current rate before you book |
The retake math is simple and worth knowing before you walk in: every attempt costs another $64. That is the real price of an unprepared first attempt, and it is why a structured practice bank — one that covers the state-specific sections, not just the national concepts — pays for itself on the first pass.
6. After you pass: the license application
Passing the exam is step one; the license is step two. After you pass, you apply to the Oregon Division of Financial Regulation through the National Insurance Producer Registry (NIPR), pay the $27 application fee, and submit your fingerprints for the background check if you haven’t already. The Division reviews the application, and once it is approved you are licensed to sell and service property and casualty insurance in Oregon.
Two timing notes: apply promptly after passing — don’t let months go by, because the background check and the application are both time-sensitive — and keep your PSI score report until the license is in hand, in case the Division asks for it.
7. The Oregon-specific topics that trip people up
The national concepts are the same in every state. The Oregon-specific material is where this exam earns its reputation, and it is where most candidates underprepare. The topics that show up again and again:
- Oregon’s auto insurance rules. Oregon requires bodily injury liability, property damage liability, personal injury protection (PIP), and uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage. Know the minimum limits, the PIP benefit structure, and how UM/UIM stacks — or doesn’t — with other coverage.
- Oregon’s workers’ compensation system. Oregon’s system is distinctive: the state fund (SAIF) competes with private carriers, and the rules around employer duties, compensability, and benefits are state-specific. The exam tests the system’s structure, not just the national workers’ comp concepts.
- Oregon’s insurance regulation. The Division’s authority, the producer licensing rules, the continuing education requirements, and the unfair practices statutes are all Oregon-specific and all heavily tested.
- Oregon’s property rules. The state’s rules on cancellation, nonrenewal, and the standard fire policy provisions differ from the national forms in ways the exam probes directly.
- Oregon’s fraud and enforcement provisions. The state takes insurance fraud seriously, and the exam tests the reporting duties and the penalties.
The through-line: if a topic has an Oregon statute or rule behind it, it is fair game, and it is weighted more heavily than the equivalent national topic.
8. How to study
The honest version: this exam rewards breadth and repetition, not cramming. A study plan that works:
- Start with the outline, not a textbook. Work through the twelve sections in order, and rate your confidence in each before you drill.
- Drill the state-specific sections twice. Oregon regulation, Oregon auto, and Oregon workers’ comp deserve a second pass, because they are the sections where candidates lose the most points.
- Use practice questions that mirror the real weighting. If your practice bank is 90% national concepts, it is not preparing you for an exam that is 22% state regulation.
- Time yourself. 180 minutes for 150 questions is generous only if you are practiced. Take at least two full timed runs before exam day.
- Read the question, then the answers, then the question again. The exam’s distractors are plausible by design, and the most common error is answering the question you expected, not the one that was asked.
- Don’t neglect the small sections. Businessowners at 3% and Other Coverages at 3% are still 10 questions combined — more than the gap between passing and failing for most candidates.
9. How to study for it
The outline is the syllabus — PSI publishes exactly what the exam covers, section by section, with weights, and the weights above are percentages of your score, not suggestions. A plan built on that structure:
- Sequence your year before you spend it. Your Certificate of Completion starts a one-year clock the day your course ends. Finish the 40 hours, then move directly into intensive practice and an exam date — candidates who “take a break” after the course spend their freshest knowledge on the break, and candidates who drift past the year retake the course itself.
- Start with the 36%: regulation, general concepts, basics. These three sections are about 54 questions, and two of the three are statute- and definition-dense — the fastest points on the exam to secure, because the material is concrete: licensing rules, disciplinary actions, contract elements, valuation methods, coinsurance math. Secure them first and the passing line stops depending on the hardest product sections.
- Treat Oregon law as a thread, not a chapter. Build a dedicated Oregon list as you study: the Insurance Guaranty Association and its statutory home, cancellation and nonrenewal rules for commercial liability, property, and auto, binders, Oregon PIP definitions and benefits, UM/UIM rules and rejection, the financial responsibility law and its required limits, the FAIR Plan Association and the Joint Underwriting Association, and the ORS Chapter 656 workers’ compensation framework — exclusive remedy, covered employment, notice, benefits. Every one of those appears in the published outline, attached to the section where the exam will ask it.
- Give CGL its 13%. Commercial general liability is roughly 20 questions — occurrence vs. claims-made, triggers, retroactive dates, products/completed operations, contractual liability. It is the section personal-lines candidates most often shortchange, and at a 70% pass line, 20 questions is not a section you can concede.
- Practice at full length, against the real clock. 150 questions in 160 minutes is just over a minute per question — with up to 10 unscored experimental questions possibly added on top. Full generated practice exams weighted to the outline percentages build pacing and knowledge together; twenty-question quizzes build only one of them, and they flatter your percentage.
- Aim above the line, in every section. Because Oregon’s 70% is a straight percentage, your practice data translates directly: schedule the real exam when full simulations sit consistently in the 80s with no section collapsing — not when a single good run touches 72%.
- Read every explanation, especially on the questions you got right. A right answer held for a wrong reason is a coin flip on exam day, where the same concept arrives wearing different facts. Explanations are where scenario knowledge actually forms — and where Oregon’s statutory details stop being trivia and start being points.
This program’s Oregon practice bank (9,993 questions, explanations on all of them) is built on this same outline structure — including 1,083 Insurance Regulation questions, 435 Personal Automobile Policy questions, and 308 Workers’ Compensation Laws questions carrying Oregon-specific material. The Oregon Insurance Exam Prep program page shows the full coverage table — and the notify list there will email you when enrollment opens. It is preparation only: it does not replace, shorten, or satisfy any hour of the 40-hour requirement above.
10. Frequently asked questions
How many questions are on the Oregon P&C exam?
150 questions, in 2 hours and 40 minutes. PSI may administer 5 to 10 additional experimental questions that are not scored and cannot be identified, so the sitting may run slightly longer than the 150 outline questions suggest.
What is the passing score for the Oregon insurance exam?
70% correct. PSI states the Oregon standard as a percentage of questions answered correctly — it is not a scaled score. (The Crop Insurance Adjuster exam, at 80%, is the program’s one exception.) Your score appears on screen when you finish and your score report is emailed to you.
Does Oregon require pre-licensing education for a P&C license?
Yes — 20 hours of approved training for property and 20 hours for casualty, 40 hours total for the combined license, completed before the exam. You must hold your Certificate of Completion before registering with PSI and bring it to the test center. The certificate expires one year to the day after issuance, and you must pass the exam and apply for licensure before it expires. CPCU holders are exempt from the education requirement.
How much does the Oregon P&C exam cost?
The exam fee is $55, paid to PSI when you reserve, and again for each retake. Fingerprinting at an Oregon PSI site costs $61.25 on exam day. After you pass, the license application fee is $40 and the issuance fee is $60 — the schedule in effect since September 1, 2026 — paid together through NIPR, plus any NIPR transaction fee.
How do I register for the Oregon insurance exam?
After you hold your Certificate of Completion, book through PSI’s Oregon insurance portal or by calling (855) 340-3901. You choose a test center or remote online proctoring when you book, and your account name must match your government-issued ID exactly. You may cancel or reschedule without forfeiting the fee if notice is received 2 days before the exam date — but not by voicemail.
Can I take the Oregon insurance exam online?
Yes — PSI offers remote online proctored testing as well as test-center testing. Remote rules are stricter in specific ways: no scratch paper, no breaks, continuous camera proctoring, and a smartphone second-camera requirement the Division announced for remote tests beginning August 3, 2026. One licensing errand still favors the test center: electronic fingerprinting is available at Oregon PSI sites on exam day.
What happens after I pass the Oregon P&C exam?
Complete your electronic fingerprints and submit a complete electronic application through NIPR with the $40 application and $60 issuance fees — before your Certificate of Completion expires. After Division approval, your license status appears online and you can print your license. To actually sell, you must also be employed by or under contract to an authorized insurer or licensed business entity and be appointed — a license without affiliation does not authorize transacting insurance.
How long is my Oregon exam score valid?
The operative deadline in the bulletin is your certificate: pass the examination and apply for licensure before the Certificate of Completion expires, one year after it was issued. Your fingerprints separately expire six months after printing. Apply promptly after passing and both clocks are satisfied.
If I fail, how soon can I retake the Oregon exam?
Not the same day — but quickly: the bulletin’s example has a candidate who fails on Wednesday calling Thursday and retesting as soon as Friday, space permitting. Attempts are unlimited during your certificate’s one-year eligibility, at $55 per attempt, and you must bring your Certificate of Completion to the retake.
What Oregon-specific topics does the exam cover?
Oregon regulation and licensing law; Oregon laws and required provisions including the Insurance Guaranty Association and Oregon cancellation/nonrenewal, binder, rate, and form rules; dwelling and homeowners special provisions — Oregon (including earthquake and home day care); the Oregon Motor Vehicle Financial Responsibility Law, personal injury protection, and uninsured/underinsured motorist law; Oregon workers’ compensation law under ORS Chapter 656 and the state’s assigned-risk plan; and the Oregon FAIR Plan Association and Joint Underwriting Association in residual markets.
Who is exempt from Oregon’s pre-licensing education?
Adjusters and consultants, Surplus Lines examination candidates, CLU holders applying for life/health lines, and CPCU holders applying for the Property and Casualty license — with designation verification submitted to the Division with the application. A waiver letter from the Division must be brought to the test center in its original form. This is an exemption from the education requirement.
What is the Oregon temporary producer license?
The bulletin and outline reference a temporary license category (ORS 744.073). It is a narrow Division-administered provision, not a standard entry path — if you believe one applies to your situation, confirm the current terms with the Division of Financial Regulation at (503) 947-7981 before relying on it.
Do I need to be fingerprinted if I already have an Oregon insurance license?
No. Candidates who hold an existing, valid Oregon insurance license and are testing for another class of insurance do not need to be fingerprinted again. Everyone else: prints are required, they must be taken for insurance licensing specifically (prior prints for other purposes cannot be reused, and ink cards are not accepted), and they expire after six months.
Disclaimer
PassProfessor is an independent exam-preparation provider and is not affiliated with the Oregon Division of Financial Regulation, PSI, or any state agency or exam vendor. This guide is general information about the Oregon licensing exam, current as of October 2026; Division of Financial Regulation and PSI publications govern if anything here differs from them.