PassProfessor’s Rhode Island program is part of the expanding PassProfessor catalog. The 9,994-question Rhode Island practice bank — covering both the separate Property Producer and Casualty Producer exams — 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 exams.
This program is part of the expanding PassProfessor catalog — join the notify list and we’ll email you when enrollment opens.
1. The Rhode Island P&C exams, in one paragraph
Rhode Island licenses property and casualty producers through two separate exams administered by Pearson VUE for the Rhode Island Department of Business Regulation (DBR), Insurance Division: the Property Producer exam (level 03) and the Casualty Producer exam (level 04). The Property exam has 76 scored questions — 50 on general property knowledge and 26 on Rhode Island law; the Casualty exam has 82 scored questions — 50 on general casualty knowledge and 32 on Rhode Island law. Each exam allows two hours, mixes in unscored pretest questions you cannot identify, and is passed with a scaled score of 70, with each exam scored as a whole. Rhode Island requires no pre-licensing education, so the exams are the gate: pass both, complete a state background check, and apply for your license through NIPR within one year.
2. Who can take the Rhode Island P&C exams?
Rhode Island’s front door is simple, but it has more steps after the exams than most candidates expect. For a resident producer license in the Property and Casualty lines of authority, you must:
- Be at least 18 years old and be a Rhode Island resident applicant for a resident license.
- Pass the licensing exam for each line of authority you want — the Property Producer exam for the Property line, the Casualty Producer exam for the Casualty line. A pass on one does not substitute for the other.
- Complete no pre-licensing education. Rhode Island does not require pre-licensing education for a producer license, and DBR states plainly that it does not review or approve pre-licensing education courses. Preparation is entirely your choice — which makes the quality of your preparation the variable you control.
- Submit a B.C.I. background check. After you apply, you obtain a Bureau of Criminal Identification (B.C.I.) background check from the Rhode Island Attorney General and email it to DBR together with your NIPR transaction number (see §5). Be ready to answer the application’s background questions fully: DBR’s FAQ explains that a “yes” answer to the felony-related background questions requires a written explanation, the charging document, and the document showing the resolution — and DBR then determines whether federal law (18 U.S.C. §§ 1033/1034) affects the application.
- Carry errors and omissions insurance once licensed. DBR’s FAQ notes that Rhode Island resident producers are required to carry E&O insurance, although you are not required to file proof of it with the department.
Two routes that are not the standard resident path:
- Nonresident applicants who hold an active resident license in good standing in their home state generally obtain a Rhode Island license by reciprocity through NIPR without taking Rhode Island’s exams. The resident nonresident fee is higher than the resident fee (see §5).
- Personal Lines is a different license. Rhode Island also offers a Personal Lines – Property and Casualty line of authority with its own separate exam. It is not the full Property and Casualty authority; candidates who want to sell commercial lines need the Property and Casualty exams covered in this guide.
3. The exams, piece by piece
Each exam is built in two timed parts — a general-knowledge part (75 minutes) and a Rhode Island state part (45 minutes) — but Pearson VUE is explicit that each exam is one-part for scoring purposes and is scored as a whole: the general and state questions combine into a single scaled score per exam. There is no separate pass mark for the state part. There are, however, two entirely separate scores across the two exams: your Property result and your Casualty result have nothing to do with each other.
Property Producer exam — 76 scored questions, 2 hours
| Part / section | Scored questions | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| General knowledge | 50 | |
| I. Types of Policies | (within the 50) | Homeowners, dwelling policies, commercial lines, inland marine, the National Flood Insurance Program, and other property forms |
| II. Insurance Terms and Related Concepts | (within the 50) | Risk, perils, hazards, insurable interest, valuation, coinsurance/insurance to value, deductibles, indemnity, binders, endorsements, vacancy, cancellation and nonrenewal |
| III. Policy Provisions and Contract Law | (within the 50) | Declarations, insuring agreement, conditions, exclusions, duties of the insured, mortgagee rights, proof of loss, appraisal, subrogation, contract elements, the Fair Credit Reporting Act, privacy, TRIA |
| Rhode Island statutes, rules, and regulations | 26 | |
| I. Common to Property and Casualty Insurance | (within the 26) | The Commissioner/Director, definitions, licensing, unfair trade practices, fiduciary responsibilities, the Rhode Island Property & Casualty Insurance Guaranty Association, premium financing, privacy of consumer information |
| II. Pertinent to Property Insurance Only | (within the 26) | The Rhode Island Joint Reinsurance Association, flood notice requirements, insurance coverage for lead poisoning, notice of material change, hurricane and windstorm deductibles |
| Total scored | 76 | Plus unscored pretest questions mixed in (see below) |
Casualty Producer exam — 82 scored questions, 2 hours
| Part / section | Scored questions | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| General knowledge | 50 | |
| I. Types of Policies, Bonds, and Related Terms | (within the 50) | Commercial general liability, personal and business auto, workers’ compensation and employers liability, crime, bonds, professional liability, umbrella/excess liability, businessowners policies |
| II. Insurance Terms and Related Concepts | (within the 50) | Risk, hazards, indemnity, insurable interest, negligence, liability, occurrence, binders, warranties, representations, concealment, deposit premium/audit, certificates of insurance, law of large numbers, damages, endorsements |
| III. Policy Provisions | (within the 50) | Declarations, insuring agreement, conditions, exclusions, definition of the insured, duties after a loss, cancellation and nonrenewal, supplementary payments, proof of loss, arbitration, subrogation, loss settlement, TRIA |
| Rhode Island statutes, rules, and regulations | 32 | |
| I. Common to Property and Casualty Insurance | (within the 32) | The same common core as the Property exam: Commissioner/Director, definitions, licensing, unfair trade practices, fiduciary responsibilities, the P&C Guaranty Association, premium financing, privacy |
| II. Pertinent to Casualty Insurance Only | (within the 32) | Automobile insurance, workers’ compensation, liability/medical malpractice |
| Total scored | 82 | Plus unscored pretest questions mixed in (see below) |
Four structural facts that shape how you should prepare:
- The Rhode Island-law share is large — and it repeats. State law is 26 of 76 questions on Property (34%) and 32 of 82 on Casualty (39%). The “common” section is substantially the same body of rules on both exams, so mastering it once pays off twice; the line-specific sections (property-only on one exam, casualty-only on the other) are where the two exams genuinely diverge.
- Rhode Island tests its own institutions by name. The property-only section names the Rhode Island Joint Reinsurance Association — RIJRA, better known as the Rhode Island FAIR Plan, the residual-market association created in 1969 that makes basic property insurance available to applicants who cannot get it in the voluntary market. Both exams test the Rhode Island Property & Casualty Insurance Guaranty Association. These are not generic national topics with a state label; they are Rhode Island bodies with Rhode Island rules.
- Each exam stands alone. Passing Property does not soften a Casualty failure, and the two scores never combine. Prepare to a passing standard on each exam separately.
- Within each exam, there is one score. A strong general part can offset a weaker state part inside the same exam, because the exam is scored as a whole — the reverse is also true, and it is not a strategy: the state part is more than a third of each exam.
Pretest questions. Each exam also contains unscored pretest questions — tryout items Pearson VUE is evaluating for future exams. They are mixed in with the scored questions, are not identified, and do not affect your result. (Secondary reproductions of the outlines disagree on the exact pretest count per exam; the handbook’s mechanics are what matter: you cannot identify them, so the only correct strategy is to treat every question as scored.)
Timing inside the exam. The handbook allots the two parts separately — 75 minutes for the general part and 45 minutes for the state part — for a two-hour total per exam. Budget your pace part by part rather than assuming time flows freely between them.
4. The passing standard, explained
You pass each exam with a scaled score of 70.
A scaled score is not a percentage of questions answered correctly. Pearson VUE’s handbook explains the mechanics: each exam exists in multiple versions (forms) built from the same outline, forms vary slightly in difficulty, and a statistical procedure called equating corrects for those differences so no candidate gains or loses from the form they happen to draw. Raw results are converted to scaled scores that range from 0 to 100, and the handbook states directly that the scaled score reported to you is neither the number of questions you answered correctly nor the percentage you answered correctly. The passing standard itself was set by DBR in conjunction with Pearson VUE after a comprehensive study for each examination.
What you actually see:
- If you pass, your score report reads “pass” — no numeric score is reported. The report also includes information on how to apply for your license.
- If you fail, you receive the numeric scaled score — which tells you how close you came, not how many questions you missed — plus diagnostic information for the general section, broken down by major area, so you can see where the attempt was lost and rebuild your preparation around it.
- Results are in hand at the test center when you test in person; online candidates retrieve the score report through their Pearson VUE account. Results are confidential, released only to you and the state licensing agency, and are never given out by telephone.
One caution on calibration: neither DBR nor Pearson VUE publishes a Rhode Island pass rate for these exams in the materials consulted for this guide, so any pass-rate figure you see quoted for Rhode Island elsewhere is not an official number. What the structure tells you is enough: two exams, each more than a third state law, each with a real failure mode. Candidates who prepare against the outlines pass these exams routinely; candidates who prepare from national material alone walk in missing the largest single block on each test.
5. Fees and registration, step by step
Keep the payments separate in your mind — they go to different places at different times, and one of them has a pricing quirk worth planning around.
| Payment | Amount | Paid to | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| Exam fee — test center, one exam | $80 | Pearson VUE | At reservation |
| Exam fees — test center, both exams back-to-back in one session | $80 total (buy one, get one free) | Pearson VUE | At reservation |
| Exam fee — online (OnVUE), per exam | $50 ($100 for both; back-to-back scheduling is not available online) | Pearson VUE | At reservation |
| License application — resident producer | $120 | The state, via NIPR | After you pass |
| B.C.I. background check | The Attorney General’s process (obtain through the RI Attorney General) | RI Attorney General | With your application |
Exam fees are non-refundable and non-transferable, except as the handbook’s change/cancel policy allows.
The sequence, in order:
- Reserve your exams. Create an account and book on Pearson VUE’s Rhode Island insurance page (pearsonvue.com/ri/insurance) or by calling (800) 274-3739. Online reservations must be made at least 24 hours before the desired exam date; walk-in examinations are not available. First-time P&C candidates must register for both the Property Producer and the Casualty Producer exams. At a test center, the two may be taken back-to-back in one session — the only way to get the buy-one-get-one-free pricing, and a four-hour testing day you should rehearse for. Online through OnVUE, each exam is scheduled and taken separately. Payment is due at reservation by credit card, debit card, or voucher; fees are not accepted at the test center. Your registration name must match your identification exactly. Both exams are also offered in Spanish at test centers (Spanish versions are not offered through OnVUE), and Spanish-version candidates may switch between Spanish and English during the exam.
- Take the exams. Arrive at least 30 minutes early with the identification described in §7. You leave the test center with your official score report in hand.
- Wait for your results to load. DBR’s FAQ is specific: if you want to apply right away, wait 3–5 business days after passing before going to NIPR, because the application searches for your passing exam automatically and the result takes a few days to reach the electronic database.
- Get your B.C.I. Obtain a Bureau of Criminal Identification background check from the Rhode Island Attorney General, and email it to DBR at dbr.inslic@dbr.ri.gov with your NIPR transaction number. If any application background answer is “yes,” upload the supporting documents (explanation, charging document, resolution document) through NIPR’s Attachment Warehouse or email them to DBR.
- Apply for the license. Submit the resident producer application through NIPR (nipr.com) and pay the $120 state fee. The license is a two-year license; the same $120 is the renewal fee. You have up to one year after passing to apply (see §6).
- Get appointed. A license gives you the authority; an appointment by an insurance company is what lets you sell that company’s products. Appointments are filed by insurers electronically and follow licensure.
6. Score validity, retakes, and the one-year clock
You have up to one year after passing to apply for your license. DBR’s FAQ says it plainly: if you are not licensed within one year of passing the exam, the exam result expires and you must retake it. Two consequences follow from that clock. First, the other items on the path — the B.C.I. check, the NIPR application, the E&O insurance — are not reasons to delay; they are the items to finish promptly while the result is fresh. Second, if your plans slip past the year for any reason — a job search, a move, a family obligation — budget for a retake rather than assuming the old result can be revived.
Retakes, as the handbook lays them out:
- Each failed exam is retaken separately. Failing Casualty does not disturb a Property pass, and vice versa.
- You may retake as often as needed, and you re-register each time through Pearson VUE, paying the exam fee again. There is no stated waiting period between attempts in the handbook’s retake rules — but do not treat that as permission to retest unprepared: a failed score report’s diagnostic information (see §4) tells you exactly which general-section areas to rebuild first, and the outline (§3) tells you the state-law weight you must be able to carry.
- Score reports are generated at the test center when you test in person (online candidates retrieve them through their Pearson VUE account), so every attempt gives you fresh diagnostic information to work from.
The license itself, once issued, runs on a two-year cycle — the $120 fee is both the initial application fee and the renewal fee, and resident producers carry E&O insurance as described in §2.
7. Test day: what to expect, in person and online
At a test center:
- Arrive at least 30 minutes early. Your appointment time is the start of your session, and late arrival can cost you the appointment (and the fee, under the change/cancel policy).
- Bring two forms of identification, one of which must be a government-issued photo ID with your signature. Your registration name must match your identification exactly — a mismatch is the most avoidable way to lose a test day.
- Expect a secure environment: Pearson VUE test centers prohibit personal items in the testing room (you will be assigned a locker or storage), and the exam is delivered on a computer workstation with an on-screen tutorial before the timed sections begin.
- Spanish versions are available at test centers and let you switch between Spanish and English during the exam — a meaningful option if English is not your first language.
- You leave with your score report in hand — “pass” or, if you failed, your numeric scaled score and diagnostic information.
Online through OnVUE:
- The same exams, the same content, a different room — yours. OnVUE delivers the exam at home under live remote proctoring, with a system test and a workspace check before you begin. Your room must be private, quiet, and free of other people and prohibited items during the session.
- Schedule each exam separately — the back-to-back, buy-one-get-one-free pricing is a test-center-only arrangement, so online both exams cost $50 each.
- Spanish versions are not offered through OnVUE. If you need the Spanish version, test at a center.
- You retrieve your score report through your Pearson VUE account after the session rather than receiving a printed report at a desk.
Timing and pacing, whichever way you test: two hours per exam, split 75 minutes general / 45 minutes state, with the parts timed separately — so pace each part on its own clock, and treat the state part, with its 26 or 32 questions in 45 minutes, as the section where familiarity with Rhode Island specifics pays off fastest (see §3).
8. How to prepare: a study plan that matches the outlines
The exam outlines (§3) are your syllabus — and the state-law share is the reason a generic national course is not enough. A plan that respects the actual weights:
- Learn the general material first, but study it against the outline order. Types of policies, terms and concepts, provisions and contract law — these carry 50 of 76 and 50 of 82. A national P&C course covers this ground well, but keep the outline open beside it and check off each topic as you cover it, because the exam tests the outline, not the course’s table of contents.
- Then go deep on Rhode Island law, because it is a third of each exam and it repeats. The common core (Commissioner/Director, definitions, licensing, unfair trade practices, fiduciary responsibilities, and the rest) appears on both exams — learn it once, and it pays on both days. Then add each exam’s own section: RIJRA, flood notice, and lead-paint coverage rules for Property; auto insurance, workers’ compensation, and liability/medical malpractice for Casualty. PassProfessor’s Rhode Island bank devotes 2,500 questions to this state-law material precisely because it is the largest single block on either test.
- Practice under the real clock. Two hours per exam, 75 minutes general / 45 minutes state, with no time flowing between parts. Take full timed practice exams in that format, and rehearse the four-hour back-to-back day if you plan to test that way — two exams’ worth of concentration is a skill of its own.
- Use your failures diagnostically. Every failed attempt’s score report breaks down the general section by major area. Treat a failure as a map: rebuild the weakest areas, re-test, and repeat until your practice scores clear the scaled-70 bar with margin.
- Mind the calendar. Results stay valid for one year (§6). Schedule your exams so that passing leaves you time — comfortably, not barely — to complete the B.C.I. check, the NIPR application, and the appointment process before the clock runs out.
PassProfessor’s Rhode Island Insurance Exam Prep program — 9,994 practice questions for $29, covering both the separate Property Producer and Casualty Producer exams — is part of the expanding PassProfessor catalog; join the notify list on the Rhode Island program page and we’ll email you the moment enrollment opens.
9. Frequently asked questions
Do I need pre-licensing education before taking the Rhode Island P&C exams?
No. Rhode Island does not require pre-licensing education for a producer license — the exams are the gate.
Do I have to take both exams?
First-time P&C candidates must register for both the Property Producer and the Casualty Producer exams. Each is scored separately, and each must be passed.
Can I take both exams in one day?
Yes, at a test center — back-to-back in one session, for $80 total (buy one, get one free). Online, each exam is scheduled separately at $50 each.
How long do I have to apply after passing?
Up to one year. If you are not licensed within one year of passing, the result expires and you must retake the exam.
What score do I need?
A scaled score of 70 on each exam. A scaled score is not a percentage of questions answered correctly — it is an equated score on a 0–100 scale.
What happens if I fail?
You receive your numeric scaled score and diagnostic information for the general section, and you may retake the failed exam as often as needed, re-registering and paying the fee each time.
Does Rhode Island require E&O insurance?
Yes — DBR’s FAQ notes that resident producers are required to carry errors and omissions insurance, although the details of timing and limits are not specified in the FAQ.
Is there a Personal Lines license?
Yes — Rhode Island also offers a Personal Lines – Property and Casualty line of authority with its own separate exam, distinct from the Property Producer and Casualty Producer exams covered here.
Can I take the exams in Spanish?
Yes, at test centers — and you may switch between Spanish and English during the exam. Spanish versions are not offered online through OnVUE.
This guide summarizes the Rhode Island Department of Business Regulation’s licensing requirements and Pearson VUE’s Rhode Island insurance candidate handbook as published at the time of writing. Exam outlines, fees, and procedures change; confirm the current requirements with DBR and Pearson VUE before registering. PassProfessor is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by the Rhode Island Department of Business Regulation or Pearson VUE.