- OH P&C is the Ohio Department of Insurance's combined Property and Casualty producer exam, delivered by PSI as Series 11-36.
- The test has 150 multiple-choice questions, a 2-hour 30-minute limit, and requires a 70% score to pass.
- Property and Casualty Insurance Basics is the single largest domain, worth 16% of the exam.
- Resident candidates typically complete 40 hours of prelicensing education (20 hours Property, 20 hours Casualty).
What Exactly Is the OH P&C?
The OH P&C is the Ohio Property and Casualty Insurance Agent Exam - the licensing test that anyone who wants to sell property and casualty insurance products in Ohio must pass before the state will issue a producer license. It is not a voluntary professional designation you add to a resume for prestige; it's a regulatory requirement enforced by the Ohio Department of Insurance. If you plan to write homeowners policies, auto policies, commercial package policies, or workers compensation coverage in Ohio, this exam is the gate you have to pass through first.
Because the acronym "P&C" gets reused across the insurance industry for different state exams and different combinations of lines, it's worth being precise here: this article is exclusively about the Ohio-administered Property and Casualty combined exam, tested through PSI as Series 11-36. Nothing in this guide should be confused with a different state's version or a different kind of P&C credential.
If you want a deeper breakdown of the terminology and how the name maps to the actual license, the companion pieces What Is OH P&C? and OH P&C Meaning cover the naming conventions in more detail.
Who Administers the Exam
The Ohio Department of Insurance sets the licensing requirements and the content standards, but the actual test delivery is handled by PSI, a third-party testing vendor. PSI runs the exam under the code Series 11-36 and offers two ways to sit for it: at a physical test center or through online-proctored testing from home or another private location. Both delivery methods use the same 150-question format and the same 70% passing threshold - the only difference is logistics, not content difficulty.
This structure matters for planning purposes. Because PSI controls scheduling, seat availability, and rescheduling policies, candidates should check current testing windows before committing to a study timeline. The OH P&C Exam Dates 2026: Testing Windows, Deadlines & Scheduling guide walks through how to book a slot and what deadlines to watch for around education waiver expiration.
Exam Format, Fees & Scoring
The OH P&C combined Property and Casualty exam is built around a few fixed numbers that every candidate should memorize before they even start studying:
- 150 questions, all multiple-choice, delivered on computer
- 2 hours 30 minutes total time allowed
- 70% required to pass - that's roughly 105 correct answers out of 150
- $49 exam fee, paid at the time of scheduling through PSI
These numbers are not arbitrary trivia - they should directly shape how you pace yourself on test day. With 150 questions in 150 minutes, you have an average of one minute per question, which is generous if you know the material but unforgiving if you're stuck guessing on unfamiliar terminology. For a full breakdown of what the 70% threshold actually means in terms of raw questions and how scoring is calculated, see OH P&C Passing Score 2026: Exactly What You Need to Pass.
The 10 Content Domains
The exam is built from ten weighted content domains. Understanding the weighting is one of the highest-leverage things a candidate can do, because it tells you exactly where to spend your limited study hours instead of treating every topic as equally important.
| Domain | Weight |
|---|---|
| Property and Casualty Insurance Basics | 16% |
| Homeowners Policy | 14% |
| Auto Insurance | 14% |
| Commercial Package Policy (CPP) | 12% |
| Insurance Regulation | 10% |
| General Insurance | 9% |
| Businessowners Policy | 8% |
| Other Coverages and Options | 7% |
| Dwelling Policy | 6% |
| Workers Compensation Insurance | 4% |
Notice that the top four domains - Property and Casualty Insurance Basics, Homeowners Policy, Auto Insurance, and Commercial Package Policy - together account for well over half of the entire exam. That's not a coincidence; it reflects the products that Ohio producers actually sell most often once they're licensed.
Property and Casualty Insurance Basics (16%)
This is the largest single domain and covers the foundational vocabulary and concepts that every other domain builds on: policy structure, insurable interest, risk classification, underwriting basics, and how premiums are determined.
- Master core terminology first - it reappears inside every other domain's questions
- Expect questions that test definitions in applied scenarios, not just rote memorization
Homeowners Policy (14%) & Auto Insurance (14%)
Together these two domains make up 28% of the exam. Homeowners questions focus on policy forms, covered perils, exclusions, and endorsements. Auto Insurance questions cover liability limits, uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage, and the distinctions between personal and commercial auto exposures.
- Know the differences between the standard homeowners forms
- Be comfortable with how auto liability and physical damage coverages interact
Commercial Package Policy (12%) & Businessowners Policy (8%)
These two commercial-lines domains combine for 20% of the test. CPP questions test your ability to distinguish which coverage parts apply to which business exposures, while Businessowners Policy questions focus on the packaged coverage designed for smaller commercial risks.
- Learn what separates a CPP from a Businessowners Policy in terms of eligibility
- Study coverage parts individually before trying to combine them
The remaining domains - Insurance Regulation, General Insurance, Other Coverages and Options, Dwelling Policy, and Workers Compensation Insurance - carry smaller individual weights but still show up reliably on every exam form. A full domain-by-domain study breakdown, including sample question styles for each area, is available in OH P&C Exam Domains 2026: Complete Guide to All 10 Content Areas.
Eligibility & Prelicensing Education
Before you can sit for the OH P&C exam as a resident applicant, Ohio generally requires 40 hours of approved prelicensing education, split evenly as 20 hours for Property and 20 hours for Casualty. This education has to come from an approved provider, and once you finish, you'll receive a course completion certificate.
Here's a detail that trips up a surprising number of candidates: course completion certificates and education waivers are only valid for 180 days. If you complete your prelicensing hours but then delay scheduling your exam, you risk having your certificate expire before you actually test - which means redoing the education. Build your exam date around this window, not the other way around.
Resident applicants also need to complete BCI and FBI fingerprint-based background checks as part of the licensing process. This step runs somewhat independently of the exam itself but is required before a license is issued, so it's worth starting early rather than treating it as an afterthought.
Key Takeaway
Schedule your PSI exam date as soon as you finish your 40 hours of prelicensing education - don't let the 180-day certificate window run out while you're still deciding when to test.
For the complete eligibility checklist, including age, residency, and application-sequencing details, see OH P&C Requirements 2026: Eligibility, Prerequisites & How to Qualify.
Who Actually Needs This Credential
The OH P&C exam isn't just for people who want to work at a large carrier. It's required for anyone acting as an insurance producer selling property and casualty lines in Ohio, which covers a wide range of employers and career paths:
- Independent insurance agencies writing personal and commercial lines
- Captive agents working under a single carrier's brand
- Insurance brokerages placing coverage across multiple carriers
- Bank and credit union insurance divisions
- Commercial lines account managers who need licensing to bind or discuss coverage
Because the license is tied to the individual, not just the employer, passing the OH P&C exam gives you a portable credential you can carry between jobs within Ohio's insurance market. For a look at how this license translates into actual job openings and hiring patterns, browse OH P&C Jobs. If you're weighing whether pursuing the license is worth the time and cost relative to the career opportunities it unlocks, Is the OH P&C Certification Worth It? Complete ROI Analysis 2026 and OH P&C Salary Guide 2026: Complete Earnings Analysis go into more depth.
How to Prepare Without Wasting Time
Generic study advice doesn't help much here - what matters is aligning your prep time with the actual domain weights. Since Property and Casualty Insurance Basics, Homeowners Policy, Auto Insurance, and Commercial Package Policy make up the bulk of the exam, your study calendar should reflect that from day one rather than moving evenly through all ten domains.
Foundations
- Property and Casualty Insurance Basics (16%) - build vocabulary and core concepts
- General Insurance (9%) and Insurance Regulation (10%) - Ohio-specific rules
Personal Lines
- Homeowners Policy (14%) - forms, perils, exclusions
- Dwelling Policy (6%) - how it differs from homeowners
- Auto Insurance (14%) - liability, UM/UIM, physical damage
Commercial Lines
- Commercial Package Policy (12%)
- Businessowners Policy (8%)
- Workers Compensation Insurance (4%)
Review & Practice
- Other Coverages and Options (7%)
- Full-length timed practice exams under the 2.5-hour limit
- Targeted review of missed-question domains
Running practice questions under real time pressure matters just as much as content review, since 150 questions in 150 minutes leaves little room for second-guessing. A structured version of this plan, with recommended resources for each week, is laid out in OH P&C Study Guide 2026: How to Pass on Your First Attempt. If you're still calibrating how much total time to budget, How Hard Is the OH P&C Exam? Complete Difficulty Guide 2026 breaks down what makes certain domains harder than others. You can also review known exam facts quickly using the OH P&C Cheat Sheet 2026: One-Page Review of Must-Know Facts and check general performance trends in OH P&C Pass Rate 2026: What the Data Shows.
Practicing with realistic, timed questions before test day is one of the most effective ways to close the gap between "I've read the material" and "I can apply it under pressure." You can start working through scenario-based questions modeled on the actual domain weighting at the OH P&C practice test platform.
What Happens After You Pass
Passing the OH P&C exam is a milestone, not the finish line. Once you clear the 70% threshold, you'll still need to complete the license application process with the Ohio Department of Insurance, which includes finalizing your BCI/FBI background check results and paying any associated licensing fees. Only after the state processes your application will you be authorized to act as a licensed property and casualty producer in Ohio.
From there, most producers go on to work within an agency or brokerage structure, often specializing in either personal lines (homeowners, auto, dwelling) or commercial lines (CPP, Businessowners, Workers Compensation) based on the employer's book of business. Understanding the exam's domain structure early actually pays off here too - the lines you studied hardest for often become the lines you end up specializing in professionally.
For readers who arrived at this page still sorting out the terminology, related explainers like What Does OH P&C Stand For?, What Does OH P&C Mean?, What Is A OH P&C?, and What Is OH P&C Certification? all approach the same core definition from slightly different angles. For a broader overview of the credential itself, see OH P&C Certification and OH P&C Training. When you're ready to test your knowledge against realistic exam-style questions, head back to the main practice test hub and start a timed session.
Frequently Asked Questions
It stands for the Ohio Property and Casualty Insurance Agent Exam, the licensing test administered by PSI (Series 11-36) on behalf of the Ohio Department of Insurance.
The combined Property and Casualty exam has 150 multiple-choice questions with a 2-hour 30-minute time limit.
You need 70% correct to pass the OH P&C exam.
The exam fee is $49, though total licensing costs also include prelicensing education and background check fees.
Resident applicants generally complete 40 hours of approved prelicensing education: 20 hours for Property and 20 hours for Casualty. Completion certificates are valid for 180 days.