- What Is DC-PC Certification, Exactly?
- Who Administers the DC-PC Exam
- Property vs. Casualty: Two Separate Exams
- Exam Format, Timing, and Fees
- The 12 Content Domains at a Glance
- Passing Score and Scoring Mechanics
- Licensing Requirements Before and After the Exam
- Continuing Education and Renewal
- Who Hires DC-PC Licensed Producers
- Building a Study Plan Around the Domain Weights
- Frequently Asked Questions
- DC-PC certification means passing the DC Department of Insurance, Securities and Banking's Property and Casualty producer exams, delivered by Pearson VUE.
- Property has 85 questions (75 scored, 10 pretest); Casualty has 90 questions (80 scored, 10 pretest); each costs $75 with a two-hour limit.
- Combination exams are no longer offered - Property and Casualty are now separate tests you schedule and pay for individually.
- A scaled score of 70 passes each exam, and you must apply for licensure within one year of passing.
What Is DC-PC Certification, Exactly?
"DC-PC" on this site refers specifically to the District of Columbia Property & Casualty Insurance Producer Exam - the licensing test the DC Department of Insurance, Securities and Banking (DISB) requires before you can sell property or casualty insurance products in the District. It is not a designation you frame on a wall; it's a state licensing credential earned by passing a Pearson VUE-administered exam and completing the associated application steps with DISB.
Because "DC-PC" is a common shorthand across several unrelated industries, it's worth being precise: this article, and every resource linked below, covers only the insurance producer exam pathway. If you've landed here from a search and are unsure whether this is the right credential, our overview of what DC-PC actually stands for and what the term means in this context can help confirm you're in the right place before you spend time or money.
Who Administers the DC-PC Exam
Two organizations are involved, and it helps to know each one's job:
- DISB (District of Columbia Department of Insurance, Securities and Banking) - sets the licensing rules, approves the content outline, and issues the actual producer license after you pass.
- Pearson VUE - the testing vendor that delivers the exam at test centers, collects your $75 fee per exam, and reports your scaled score.
The content outline currently in effect was published with an effective date of September 2, 2025, so any prep materials you use should be aligned to that version. If you're comparing outdated study guides against current ones, our complete guide to all 12 content areas reflects the current structure.
Property vs. Casualty: Two Separate Exams
A key structural fact that trips up new candidates: DC no longer offers a combined Property-and-Casualty exam. You must sit for Property and Casualty as two distinct exams, each with its own fee, its own two-hour time limit, and its own scaled score.
- Property exam: Domains 1-6, covering property-specific policy types, terminology, contract law, and DC law.
- Casualty exam: Domains 7-12, covering casualty/liability policy types, bonds, terminology, contract provisions, and DC law.
Some producers only need one line of authority; others need both. Either way, you'll register, pay, and test for each line separately - there's no shortcut that bundles them into a single sitting anymore.
| Detail | Property Exam | Casualty Exam |
|---|---|---|
| Total questions | 85 | 90 |
| Scored questions | 75 | 80 |
| Pretest (unscored) questions | 10 | 10 |
| Time allowed | 2 hours | 2 hours |
| Fee | $75 | $75 |
| Passing scaled score | 70 | 70 |
| Domains covered | 1-6 | 7-12 |
Exam Format, Timing, and Fees
Every DC-PC candidate faces the same basic mechanics, regardless of which line they're testing on:
- Questions are scored plus a small pool of pretest items you can't identify during the test - treat every question as if it counts.
- Each exam has a strict two-hour window at a Pearson VUE test center.
- Each exam costs $75, paid separately for Property and for Casualty.
- Scores are reported as scaled scores, with 70 as the passing threshold on each exam.
For a full breakdown of what you'll actually spend end-to-end - prelicensing coursework, exam fees, and licensing costs - see DC-PC Certification Cost 2026: Complete Pricing Breakdown. And if you want scheduling logistics, including how to plan around testing windows, check DC-PC Exam Dates 2026: Testing Windows, Deadlines & Scheduling.
Key Takeaway
Budget for two separate $75 fees if you need both lines of authority - Property and Casualty are billed and scheduled independently, not as a package.
The 12 Content Domains at a Glance
DISB organizes the exam content into twelve domains, six per line, each carrying a specific percentage of the scored questions. Percentages are calculated from each exam's own scored-item count - Property's weights are independent of Casualty's, and vice versa.
Domain 1: Types of Policies (29.3% of Property exam)
The single heaviest Property domain. Candidates must distinguish coverage forms, endorsements, and policy structures used in dwelling and commercial property lines.
- Know the differences between named-peril and open-peril forms
Domain 4: DC Laws, Rules, and Regulations Common to Life, A&H, Property, and Casualty (26.7% of Property / 25.0% of Casualty)
This domain appears on both exams and tests general DC producer law - licensing standards, unfair trade practices, and DISB authority - rather than line-specific rules.
- Expect overlapping questions in spirit across both exams, even though each exam scores it independently
Domain 7: Types of Policies, Bonds, and Related Terms (28.8% of Casualty exam)
The largest single domain on the Casualty exam, covering liability policy types, surety and fidelity bonds, and related terminology.
- Bond terminology is frequently underestimated - don't skip it while focusing only on liability forms
Domain 6 & Domain 12: Line-Specific DC Law (2.7% Property / 8.8% Casualty)
These are the smallest domains on their respective exams, but Casualty's line-specific law domain (8.8%) is proportionally larger than Property's (2.7%) - worth noting when you allocate review time.
For the full list of all twelve domains with every percentage and topic breakdown, see DC-PC Exam Domains 2026: Complete Guide to All 12 Content Areas. Between the two exams, "types of policies" and the common DC law domain consistently carry the most weight - a pattern worth building your study time around rather than spreading effort evenly across all six domains per line.
Passing Score and Scoring Mechanics
Both exams use a scaled score, and 70 is the passing mark on each. Because scaled scores aren't a simple raw percentage, a candidate can't reliably estimate their result by counting how many questions "felt right" during the test. What matters is consistent performance across the domains, since pretest questions are mixed in with scored questions without being labeled.
If you want a deeper explanation of how the scaled score is derived and what a "70" actually represents in practice, read DC-PC Passing Score 2026: Exactly What You Need to Pass. It's also worth reviewing how many candidates typically clear that bar on the first attempt - see DC-PC Pass Rate 2026: What the Data Shows - to calibrate how much preparation time to set aside.
Licensing Requirements Before and After the Exam
Passing the exam is a necessary step, but it isn't the finish line. DISB requires the following around the exam itself:
- Before testing: proof of completing a prelicensing course of study. DISB does not set a mandatory 40-hour minimum, so the course length can vary by provider - confirm your provider's course satisfies the "proof of study" requirement rather than assuming a fixed hour count.
- After passing: you must apply for licensure within one year of your passing exam date. Wait too long, and you may need to retest.
These application-timing and prerequisite details are easy to overlook when you're focused only on studying content. For the full eligibility checklist - background requirements, application steps, and documentation - see DC-PC Requirements 2026: Eligibility, Prerequisites & How to Qualify.
Continuing Education and Renewal
Once licensed, resident producers renew every two years. DISB's continuing education requirements are specific:
- 24 total CE hours per two-year renewal cycle
- 3 of those hours must be ethics
- At least 6 hours must relate to each line of authority you hold
- Property or Casualty producers must complete 3 flood hours during their first renewal period
That flood requirement is easy to miss because it only applies to the first renewal cycle after initial licensure, not every renewal - plan your first CE cycle accordingly so you're not scrambling near the deadline.
Who Hires DC-PC Licensed Producers
Holding a DC Property and/or Casualty producer license opens the door to roles at independent agencies, captive/direct-writer insurance companies, brokerages, and MGAs operating in the District. Typical entry points include personal lines producer, commercial lines account representative, and customer service roles that require an active license to discuss or bind coverage. Because Property and Casualty are licensed separately, some employers specifically seek candidates with both lines active, while others only need one depending on their book of business.
If you're weighing whether the time and cost of licensing pays off for your career goals, our analysis in Is the DC-PC Certification Worth It? Complete ROI Analysis 2026 and the compensation patterns in DC-PC Salary Guide 2026: Complete Earnings Analysis can help frame the decision before you commit to a prelicensing course.
Building a Study Plan Around the Domain Weights
Generic study techniques - spaced repetition, timed practice blocks, active recall - work fine for the DC-PC exams, but they only pay off when applied to the right domains at the right time. Given that Types of Policies carries the largest weight on both exams (29.3% Property, 28.8% Casualty), and the common DC law domain is the second-heaviest on both (26.7% and 25.0%), those two domains deserve the earliest and most repeated review sessions.
Policy Types Foundation
- Work through Domain 1 (Property policy types) or Domain 7 (Casualty policy types, bonds) depending on which line you're testing first
- Build flashcards for coverage forms and endorsements rather than memorizing definitions in isolation
DC Law and Terminology
- Study Domain 4/10 (common DC law) alongside Domain 2/8 (insurance terms) since terminology questions often reference the same statutory concepts
Contract Provisions and Line-Specific Law
- Cover Domain 3/9 (policy provisions and contract law) plus the smaller line-specific domains (5, 6 or 11, 12)
- Take a full-length timed practice exam under two-hour conditions
Review and Weak-Area Drilling
- Retest on missed domains, prioritizing whichever domain carried the most weight on your practice exam
- Finish with a light review day before your scheduled Pearson VUE appointment
For a more detailed week-by-week breakdown with domain-specific tactics, see DC-PC Study Guide 2026: How to Pass on Your First Attempt. If you're unsure how much total time to budget, our difficulty analysis at How Hard Is the DC-PC Exam? Complete Difficulty Guide 2026 breaks down where most candidates lose points.
Key Takeaway
Don't split study time evenly across six domains per exam - the top two domains on each line account for roughly half the scored questions, so master those first.
Whichever study method you choose, running full-length timed practice questions on our DC-PC practice test platform is the most direct way to see how your domain-by-domain knowledge translates into scaled-score performance before exam day. Reviewing missed questions by domain on the practice site also helps you spot patterns Pearson VUE's real exam is likely to probe again.
Frequently Asked Questions
It's a licensing exam pathway. Passing the Property and/or Casualty exam is a required step toward DISB issuing your resident producer license - it isn't a standalone certificate you hold independently of licensure.
No. Combination exams are no longer offered. You must schedule, pay for, and pass Property and Casualty as two separate Pearson VUE exams.
Property has 85 total questions with 75 scored and 10 pretest items. Casualty has 90 total questions with 80 scored and 10 pretest items. You won't know which questions are pretest during the exam.
DISB requires proof of a prelicensing course of study but does not mandate a specific 40-hour minimum. Confirm with your course provider that their program satisfies DISB's proof-of-study requirement.
DISB requires licensure applications within one year of passing the exam. Missing that window can mean you need to retake the exam before applying for licensure.