PassProfessor’s Hawaii program is in the works. The 9,128-question Hawaii practice bank is built and audited, and enrollment opens soon. Join the notify list and we will email you the day it launches — then use this guide to plan your path to the exams.
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The Hawaii P&C exams, in one paragraph
Hawaii licenses property and casualty producers through two separate exams, both administered by Pearson VUE for the Hawaii Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, Insurance Division. The Property Producer exam (Pearson code InsHI_Prop03) presents 93 questions — 83 scored and 10 unscored pretest — across two separately timed parts totaling 120 minutes. The Casualty Producer exam (code InsHI_Cas04) presents 103 questions — 91 scored and 12 pretest — across two parts totaling 135 minutes. Each exam is passed, on its own, with a scaled score of 70. Hawaii requires no pre-licensing education for these licenses, so the path is direct: pass both exams, complete a fingerprint background check through Fieldprint, and apply for the license through NIPR. There is no combined Hawaii property and casualty exam, and there is no combined score.
Who can take the Hawaii P&C exams?
Hawaii’s front door is unusually open, because the state does not pre-screen exam candidates. To be licensed as a resident insurance producer with Property and Casualty lines of authority, you must:
- Be at least 18 years old. The Insurance Commissioner cannot issue or extend a license to anyone under 18.
- Pass the licensing exam for each line of authority — the Property Producer exam for the Property line, the Casualty Producer exam for the Casualty line — to the satisfaction of the Insurance Commissioner.
- Be fingerprinted before submitting your license application, through the state’s fingerprint vendor, Fieldprint (see §5).
- Apply electronically through NIPR and pay the license application fee (see §5 and §6).
And the requirement that is not on the list:
- No pre-licensing education. The candidate handbook states it plainly: the Hawaii Insurance Division “does not require a specific program of pre-licensing education, or otherwise pre-screen examination candidates.” There are no mandated course hours, no completion certificate to present, and no approved-provider gate before either exam. How you prepare is entirely your decision. (Some third-party websites describe a mandatory Hawaii pre-licensing course. That is not Hawaii’s rule; the handbook is.)
Exceptions and special cases worth knowing:
- Limited licenses. Applicants for limited licenses under Hawaii Revised Statutes §431:9A-107.5 are not subject to the standard examination requirement described here.
- Recently licensed in Hawaii. The handbook provides that the examination requirement does not apply to applicants who held an insurance license in this state within the last two-year period. (The Insurance Division’s website phrases a related reinstatement window as one year; if this applies to you, confirm the current rule with the Division before relying on either figure.)
- Licensed in another state. An individual previously licensed for the same lines of authority in another state is not required to complete the examination if they are currently licensed in another state, or if the application is received within 90 days of the cancellation of the previous license and the prior state certifies the applicant was in good standing at cancellation.
- No designation exemptions. Unlike some states, Hawaii does not allow professional insurance designations as exemptions from its licensing examinations — NIPR’s Hawaii rules state this explicitly. However you earned your expertise, the exams themselves are the gate.
- Non-U.S. citizens must submit a copy of a valid work permit or permanent resident card through NIPR’s Attachments Warehouse with the application.
The exams, piece by piece
Each exam is built the same way: a general-knowledge part covering national insurance product knowledge, terms, and concepts, and a Hawaii-specific part covering state statutes and rules. The two parts are timed separately — which matters for pacing, because time does not carry across the parts — and the questions within each exam are multiple choice. The outlines below are Pearson VUE’s Hawaii Insurance Content Outlines, publication #121201, effective January 1, 2026.
The Property Producer exam (InsHI_Prop03) — 83 scored + 10 pretest, 120 minutes
General knowledge — 50 scored questions + 5 pretest, 75 minutes
| Section | Scored questions | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| I. Types of Policies | 22 | Homeowners forms (HO-2 through HO-8), dwelling policies (DP-1, DP-2, DP-3), commercial property lines, inland marine, the National Flood Insurance Program, and other property forms — earthquake, mobile homes, watercraft, farm owners, windstorm |
| II. Insurance Terms and Related Concepts | 17 | Risk, hazards, perils, loss and loss valuation (actual cash value, replacement cost, market value), insurable interest, proximate cause, coinsurance, negligence and liability concepts |
| III. Policy Provisions and Contract Law | 11 | Declarations, insuring agreements, conditions, exclusions, duties of the insured, mortgagee rights, proof of loss, appraisal, subrogation, and the elements of a contract |
| General subtotal | 50 |
Hawaii-specific — 33 scored questions + 5 pretest, 45 minutes
| Section | Scored questions | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| I. Hawaii Laws and Rules Common to Life, Accident and Health, Property, Casualty and Personal Lines Insurance | 23 | The Insurance Commissioner, insurer definitions and authorization, licensing, marketing practices, and the Guaranty Association — the rules for every Hawaii producer |
| II. Hawaii Laws and Rules Common to Property and Casualty Insurance Only | 4 | Adjuster definitions and qualifications, unauthorized insurers (surplus lines), and rate regulation for casualty, surety, property, marine, and transportation lines |
| III. Hawaii Laws and Rules Pertinent to Property Insurance Only | 6 | Property and marine/transportation insurance definitions, the Standard Form Fire Policy, overinsurance, the Hawaii Property Insurance Association (HPIA), the Hawaii Hurricane Relief Fund, and the Condominium Property Act |
| Hawaii subtotal | 33 | |
| Property exam total scored | 83 | Plus 10 pretest = 93 on screen |
The Casualty Producer exam (InsHI_Cas04) — 91 scored + 12 pretest, 135 minutes
General knowledge — 50 scored questions + 5 pretest, 75 minutes
| Section | Scored questions | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| I. Types of Policies, Bonds, and Related Terms | 23 | Commercial general liability, personal and business auto, workers’ compensation and employers liability concepts, crime, surety and fidelity bonds, professional liability, umbrella and excess liability, and the Business Owners Policy |
| II. Insurance Terms and Related Concepts | 15 | Risk and hazards, indemnity, insurable interest, loss valuation, negligence, liability, occurrences, binders, warranties and representations, and damages |
| III. Policy Provisions | 12 | Declarations, insuring agreements, conditions, exclusions and limitations, duties after a loss, cancellation and nonrenewal, supplementary payments, proof of loss, and subrogation |
| General subtotal | 50 |
Hawaii-specific — 41 scored questions + 7 pretest, 60 minutes
| Section | Scored questions | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| I. Hawaii Laws and Rules Common to Life, Accident and Health, Property, Casualty and Personal Lines Insurance | 23 | The same common core as the Property exam: the Commissioner, definitions, licensing, marketing practices, and the Guaranty Association |
| II. Hawaii Laws and Rules Common to Property and Casualty Insurance Only | 3 | Adjusters, unauthorized insurers (surplus lines), and rate regulation |
| III. Hawaii Laws and Rules Pertinent to Casualty Insurance Only | 15 | The definition of casualty insurance; the Hawaii Motor Vehicle Insurance Law — compulsory coverages and limits, abolition of tort liability, Personal Injury Protection (PIP) benefits and premium determination, the Hawaii Joint Underwriting Plan, renewal/nonrenewal/cancellation, transportation network companies and peer-to-peer programs; financial responsibility; uninsured and underinsured motorists; motorcycle and motor scooter insurance; and Hawaii workers’ compensation, including the Hawaii Employers Mutual Insurance Company (HEMIC) |
| Hawaii subtotal | 41 | |
| Casualty exam total scored | 91 | Plus 12 pretest = 103 on screen |
Four structural facts that shape how you should prepare:
- Hawaii law is the largest block on both exams. It is 33 of 83 scored questions on Property (about 40%) and 41 of 91 on Casualty (about 45%). A candidate who prepares from a national textbook alone walks in unprepared for roughly two-fifths of each test.
- The Hawaii-law core repeats. The 23-question “common to all lines” section appears on both exams, and the small “common to P&C only” section overlaps as well. Studying Hawaii law once, thoroughly, pays on both score reports.
- The general parts are the same size but different subjects. Each exam’s general part is 50 scored questions, but Property’s is weighted toward policy forms (22 of 50 on Types of Policies) while Casualty’s spreads across liability, auto, workers’ compensation, crime, and bonds (23 of 50 on Types of Policies, Bonds, and Related Terms).
- The parts are timed separately. Property gives you 75 minutes for the general part and 45 for the Hawaii part; Casualty gives 75 and 60. Unused minutes in one part do not transfer to the other, so pace each part on its own clock.
Pretest questions. Both exams mix unscored pretest items in with the scored questions — 10 on Property, 12 on Casualty. Pearson VUE is collecting statistical information on them for future exams. They are not identified, they do not affect your score, and there is no way to game them: the only correct strategy is to treat every question as scored.
The passing standard, explained
You pass each exam with a scaled score of 70. Each exam is scored and passed separately — a strong Property result does nothing for a Casualty shortfall, and the two are never averaged.
A scaled score is not a percentage of questions answered correctly. There are multiple versions (forms) of each examination, and forms can differ slightly in difficulty because different questions appear on each. Pearson VUE uses a statistical procedure called equating to correct for those differences, then converts raw scores to scaled scores. The handbook is unusually direct about what this means: the scaled score reported to you is neither the number of questions you answered correctly nor the percentage of questions you answered correctly, and with a passing score of 70, any score below 70 indicates how close the candidate came to passing rather than an exact count or percentage.
Three consequences follow:
- “70%” study targets are misleading. You cannot convert a practice percentage into a predicted scaled score with precision. The safe approach is to practice until your full, per-exam simulation scores sit comfortably above the passing zone, with no outline section left weak — because the scaled result draws on the whole exam.
- Passing candidates do not receive a numeric score. To avoid misuse of score information, numeric scores are reported only to candidates who do not pass. If you pass, your score report says so and points you to the license application.
- Failing candidates get a diagnostic starting point. A failing score report includes the numeric score and diagnostic information relating to the general portion of the examination, plus reexamination information. Note the limit: the diagnostics described in the handbook cover the general portion, so your own section-by-section practice data remains the best map of your Hawaii-law readiness on a retake.
As for how hard these exams are in practice: neither Pearson VUE’s Hawaii handbook nor the Insurance Division publishes a Hawaii pass rate in the sources for this guide, so this page makes no pass-rate claim. What the structure alone tells you is enough — two exams, a 70 scaled threshold on each, and a state-law block of roughly two-fifths of every exam. Candidates who prepare against the published outlines pass these exams routinely; candidates who treat Hawaii law as an afterthought are the ones retaking them.
Fees and registration, step by step
Keep the payments separate in your mind — they go to different places at different times.
| Payment | Amount | Paid to | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| Exam fee | $75 | Pearson VUE | When you reserve your exam appointment |
| Fingerprinting | Fieldprint’s fee (collected by Fieldprint, including state and federal submission fees) | Fieldprint | When you attend your fingerprint appointment, before applying |
| License application | $150 per application (state fee; NIPR transaction fees are additional) | The State of Hawaii, via NIPR | After you pass and are fingerprinted — within 60 days of fingerprinting |
Exam fees are non-refundable and non-transferable, except as the handbook’s Change/Cancel Policy allows. NIPR notes there is no additional state fee for adding a line of authority to an existing license — but both Property and Casualty are normally sought on the initial application.
The sequence, in order:
- Reserve your exam(s). Create an account and book on Pearson VUE’s Hawaii insurance page, or call 800-274-2608. Reservations must be made at least 24 hours before the desired examination date; walk-in testing is not available. Your account name must match your government-issued identification exactly — the name you register under is the name that appears on your score report and licensing records. Payment ($75) is by credit card, debit card, or voucher at the time of reservation; fees are not accepted at the test center.
- Choose your delivery mode. Both exams are offered at Pearson VUE test centers in Hawaii and online through OnVUE proctoring. One difference matters for P&C candidates: at a test center you may take up to two exams in one session, so Property and Casualty can be sat back-to-back in a single visit. Exams cannot be combined in one session on OnVUE. (The two-exam allowance has two exceptions — the Adjuster and Personal Lines exams must be taken separately — and neither is part of this pair.)
- Change or cancel at least 48 hours ahead, if you must. Candidates who change or cancel a reservation with at least 48 hours’ notice may transfer the fee to a new reservation or request a refund. Inside 48 hours, the exam fee is forfeited.
- Take the exam(s) and receive your result the same day (see §8).
- Get fingerprinted. See §6 — this step comes before the application, and it starts a 60-day clock.
- Apply through NIPR within that window, with the $150 fee.
After you pass
Passing the exams makes you eligible to apply; it does not make you licensed. The post-pass sequence in Hawaii runs in a specific order, and the fingerprint step is the one candidates most often sequence wrong:
- Schedule fingerprinting with Fieldprint at fieldprinthawaii.com. Fingerprinting is required for resident license applications and must be completed prior to submitting the license application. When scheduling, enter the code HI-DCCA-INS — that code identifies the Insurance Division as the intended recipient of your fingerprint result. Fieldprint collects the fingerprinting fees, including the state and federal submission fees. One practical note from the Insurance Division: if you submit applications for two licenses simultaneously, one fingerprinting covers both; if you apply for a second license later, you will be fingerprinted again.
- Apply electronically through NIPR within 60 days of the date of fingerprinting. The Insurance Division’s instruction is explicit: submit your completed license application and the applicable licensing fee within 60 days of fingerprinting. The resident Insurance Producer application fee is $150 (the state fee; NIPR adds its own transaction fee). NIPR verifies your exam results before allowing the application to be submitted. Any supporting documents — for example, documentation for a “yes” answer to a background question, or a non-citizen’s work permit or permanent resident card — go through NIPR’s Attachments Warehouse within 7 days of submitting the application.
- Get appointed. An appointment form does not need to be submitted with your application, but under Hawaii law (HRS §431:9A-114) a producer may not act as an insurer’s agent until appointed by that insurer. Appointments are arranged with each carrier you will represent, after licensure.
Score validity. Your passing scores remain usable for two years — NIPR lists Hawaii exam scores as valid for two years. In practice, the 60-day fingerprint-to-application window is the deadline that governs most candidates’ behavior: pass, fingerprint, and apply in one continuous motion, and the two-year validity never becomes a question.
Retakes and score validity
Retake rules differ by how you tested — this is one of the places the Hawaii program’s two delivery modes genuinely diverge:
- Test center retakes. If you take an exam at a test center and do not pass, you must wait 24 hours before retesting that exam at a test center, after each unsuccessful attempt. Reservations for a reexamination cannot be made at the test center, and in all cases you must wait at least 24 hours before making a reexamination reservation.
- OnVUE retakes. If you take an exam through online proctoring and do not pass, you must wait two weeks before retesting that exam on OnVUE if it was your first online attempt. Each additional OnVUE retest after that requires a wait of four weeks after each unsuccessful result.
- The $75 exam fee applies to each reservation, whichever mode you choose.
- There is no suggestion in the handbook of an annual attempt cap; the waiting periods above are the operative limits, and they are per exam — a Property retake clock does not affect your Casualty scheduling.
- Score validity is two years, as covered in §6. A license once issued is a separate matter, maintained through renewal and continuing education under the Insurance Division’s rules — beyond the scope of the exam itself.
The practical reading: if you fail narrowly and need momentum, a test-center retake after 24 hours is the fastest legal path back in. If you tested online, the two-week wait is built in — use it on the sections your score report and your practice data identify, because a second attempt with the same preparation usually produces the same result.
Test day
At a test center:
- Arrive at least 30 minutes early to complete registration. Your identification will be reviewed and you will be photographed for the score report.
- Bring two forms of current signature identification. The primary ID must be government-issued, photo-bearing, and signed (a driver’s license, passport, military ID, or similar from the handbook’s list); the secondary ID must carry a valid signature. Identification must be in English, the name must exactly match your registration, and expired ID is expired — Pearson VUE does not recognize state grace periods for renewing identification. Candidates without the required identification are denied admission, counted absent, and forfeit the fee.
- Sign the Candidate Rules Agreement and expect strict testing-room rules: no personal items (phones, watches, wallets, hats, bags, books, notes, pens) in the room; items go in a secure storage area with electronics switched off. The administrator provides materials for notes or calculations, which may not be written on before the exam begins or removed afterward. Eating, drinking, and gum are prohibited during the exam; if you take an unscheduled break you must leave the testing room, the exam clock keeps running, and you may not leave the floor or building.
- A tutorial comes first. You will have an opportunity to take a tutorial on the testing computer; tutorial time does not reduce your examination time. The exam begins the moment you look at the first question.
- Results are immediate. You leave the test center with an official score report in hand, marked pass or fail.
Through OnVUE (online proctoring): log in to your Pearson VUE account 30 minutes ahead of your appointment; your official score report is delivered electronically in your account on completion. OnVUE requires a quiet, private location, a reliable device with a webcam, and a strong internet connection; you must remain in view of the proctor, and breaks are not permitted during an online exam. Run Pearson’s system tests in advance. And remember the structural difference from §5: online exams cannot be combined, so Property and Casualty are separate OnVUE appointments.
Pacing. The parts are timed separately, so think in four clocks, not two: Property general — 50 scored plus 5 pretest questions in 75 minutes (about 1 minute 22 seconds per question on screen); Property Hawaii — 38 questions on screen in 45 minutes; Casualty general — 55 on screen in 75 minutes; Casualty Hawaii — 48 on screen in 60 minutes. Across both exams the pace is roughly a minute and a quarter per question. Flag-and-return discipline within each part is the skill: a hard question costs the same time whether you wrestle it now or after the ones you know, but there is no returning to the other part once its clock ends.
How to study for these exams
The outlines are the syllabus — Pearson VUE publishes exactly what each exam covers, section by section, and the weights above are question counts, not suggestions. A plan built on that structure:
- Start with the Hawaii-law common core. Twenty-three scored questions on each exam come from the same section — the Commissioner, insurer definitions and authorization, licensing, marketing practices, and the Guaranty Association. It is the single highest-yield block in the entire P&C program because every hour spent on it counts twice.
- Then take each exam’s line-specific Hawaii material. For Property: the Standard Form Fire Policy, overinsurance, the Hawaii Property Insurance Association, the Hawaii Hurricane Relief Fund, and the Condominium Property Act — six questions, all concrete. For Casualty: fifteen questions dominated by the Hawaii Motor Vehicle Insurance Law — compulsory limits, PIP, the Joint Underwriting Plan, cancellation rules, transportation network companies — plus workers’ compensation and HEMIC. This is factual, memorizable material, and it separates prepared candidates from national-textbook candidates.
- Give the general Types of Policies sections their weight. Property’s 22 and Casualty’s 23 are the largest general sections on their exams. Learn policy forms comparatively — what each covers, what it excludes, how it pays — because the exams test the contrasts between forms as much as the forms themselves.
- Learn terms inside scenarios, not off a list. The two Terms and Related Concepts sections (17 Property, 15 Casualty) test vocabulary through situations. Definitions learned inside questions stick; definitions learned off a glossary leak.
- Practice each exam separately, at full length, against its own clocks. Four separately timed parts means four pacing problems. Full generated practice exams weighted to each exam’s outline build both the knowledge and the pacing; short quizzes build only one. Because Hawaii parts cannot borrow time from each other, practice finishing each part with minutes to spare.
- Schedule when your per-exam simulations say so — consistently comfortable scores on full Property simulations and full Casualty simulations, with the Hawaii-law sections no longer your weakest block on either. If one exam is ready before the other, nothing in Hawaii’s rules requires you to sit them together; the one-session option at test centers is a convenience, not an obligation.
This program’s Hawaii practice bank (9,128 questions, including 1,634 on Hawaii statutes and rules) is built section-by-section on these same outlines, with generated practice exams available for the Property exam, the Casualty exam, or both combined for study. The Hawaii Insurance Exam Prep program page shows the full coverage table — and the notify list there will email you when enrollment opens.
Frequently asked questions
How many questions are on the Hawaii property and casualty exams?
There are two exams, not one. The Property Producer exam shows 93 questions: 83 scored (50 general + 33 Hawaii law) and 10 unscored pretest. The Casualty Producer exam shows 103 questions: 91 scored (50 general + 41 Hawaii law) and 12 pretest. Pretest questions are mixed in and cannot be identified.
Is there a combined Hawaii P&C exam?
No. Hawaii licenses Property and Casualty as separate lines of authority with separate Pearson VUE exams, separate sittings (or one test-center session containing both), and separate pass/fail results. Any product or course describing a single “Hawaii P&C exam” is describing its own combined study program, not a state exam.
What is the passing score for the Hawaii insurance exams?
A scaled score of 70, on each exam separately. A scaled score is an adjusted score that makes different versions of the exam equally hard to pass; the handbook states it is neither the number nor the percentage of questions answered correctly.
Does Hawaii require pre-licensing education?
No. The Hawaii Insurance Division does not require a specific program of pre-licensing education and does not pre-screen exam candidates, per the candidate handbook. You prepare on your own, pass the exams, get fingerprinted, and apply. (Any PassProfessor program is exam preparation only and provides no education credit — in Hawaii’s case there is no education requirement for it to satisfy.)
How much do the Hawaii P&C exams cost?
The exam fee is $75, paid to Pearson VUE when you reserve. After passing, fingerprinting through Fieldprint carries a fee collected by Fieldprint, and the resident producer license application fee is $150, paid through NIPR (plus NIPR’s transaction fee). Exam and license fees are separate payments to separate parties.
How do I register for the Hawaii insurance exams?
Reserve through Pearson VUE’s Hawaii insurance page or by calling 800-274-2608, at least 24 hours before your exam date. Walk-ins are not available. The name on your account must match your government-issued ID exactly.
Can I take the Hawaii insurance exam online?
Yes. Both exams are offered at Pearson VUE test centers and online through OnVUE proctoring. Two differences: online exams cannot be combined into one session (test centers allow two exams per session), and online retakes carry longer waiting periods than test-center retakes.
Can I take the Property and Casualty exams on the same day?
At a test center, yes — Pearson VUE allows up to two exams in one session, and Property plus Casualty is a permitted pair. On OnVUE, no — online exams are scheduled separately.
What happens after I pass the Hawaii P&C exams?
Get fingerprinted through Fieldprint (code HI-DCCA-INS) — fingerprinting must be completed before you apply — then submit your license application electronically through NIPR within 60 days of fingerprinting, with the $150 fee. Once licensed, you must be appointed by an insurer before acting as that insurer’s agent.
How long is my Hawaii exam score valid?
Two years, per NIPR. The deadline that matters day-to-day is shorter: your application is due within 60 days of your fingerprinting date.
If I fail, how soon can I retake the Hawaii exam?
At a test center, after a 24-hour wait. On OnVUE, after two weeks for a first online retake, and after four weeks for each subsequent online retake. The $75 fee applies to each new reservation, and each exam’s retake rules run independently.
What Hawaii-specific topics do the exams cover?
Beyond the common licensing and marketing rules, the Property exam tests the Hawaii Property Insurance Association, the Hawaii Hurricane Relief Fund, the Standard Form Fire Policy, and the Condominium Property Act. The Casualty exam tests the Hawaii Motor Vehicle Insurance Law (including PIP and the Joint Underwriting Plan), financial responsibility, motorcycle and motor scooter insurance, and Hawaii workers’ compensation including HEMIC. Together, Hawaii law is 33 of 83 scored questions on Property and 41 of 91 on Casualty.
What identification do I need on exam day?
Two forms of current signature identification: a primary government-issued, photo-bearing ID with a signature, and a secondary ID with a valid signature, both in English, with your name matching your registration exactly.
Are PassProfessor’s questions the actual exam questions?
No. They are original questions written to Pearson VUE’s published Hawaii content outlines and Hawaii insurance law. Real exam content is Pearson VUE’s copyrighted property, and distributing or using it violates the candidate rules — the handbook says so directly.
Disclaimer
PassProfessor is an independent exam-preparation provider and is not affiliated with the Hawaii Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, Insurance Division, Pearson VUE, or any state agency or exam vendor. This guide is general information about the Hawaii licensing exam, current as of October 2026; Hawaii Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs and Pearson VUE publications govern if anything here differs from them.