- TN-PC stands for the Tennessee Property & Casualty Insurance Producer Exam, split into two separate 77-question tests.
- Each exam (Property, Casualty) has 68 scored and 9 unscored pretest questions in 1 hour 45 minutes.
- A scaled score of 70 is required to pass, and no prelicensing course is mandatory in Tennessee.
- Test-center attempts cost $55; Pearson's OnVUE combination appointment for both exams is listed at $80.
What TN-PC Means
TN-PC stands for the Tennessee Property & Casualty Insurance Producer Exam. It is the state licensing test that anyone who wants to sell, solicit, or negotiate property and casualty insurance in Tennessee must pass. The name itself tells you exactly what's being tested: "TN" for Tennessee-specific law and regulation, and "P&C" for the two lines of coverage - property insurance (homes, buildings, and physical assets) and casualty insurance (liability, auto, workers' compensation, and related bonds).
It's worth being precise about this because the acronym "TN-PC" is sometimes confused with other credentials that share the same letters but have nothing to do with Tennessee insurance licensing. This article, and every page on this site, refers strictly to the Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance's Property and Casualty producer exam. If you landed here searching for a different "TN-PC," you're in the wrong place - but if you're trying to become a licensed P&C producer in Tennessee, you're exactly where you need to be.
Who Governs the Exam
The exam is governed by the Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance (TDCI), which sets the licensing requirements, defines the content outline, and enforces the rules producers must follow once licensed. Delivery and scoring are handled by Pearson VUE, the third-party testing vendor. TDCI decides what you need to know; Pearson VUE decides how and where you sit for the test.
This split matters when you're troubleshooting logistics. Questions about content, license classes, and continuing education go back to TDCI rules. Questions about scheduling, test-center locations, ID requirements, or online proctoring go to Pearson VUE. For a full walkthrough of who is eligible and what documentation is required before you can even schedule, see the TN-PC Requirements 2026: Eligibility, Prerequisites & How to Qualify guide.
Exam Format and Scoring
Understanding what "TN-PC" means also means understanding its structure, because the format shapes how you should prepare. Property and Casualty are administered as two independent exams, not one combined test with a shared pass/fail outcome.
- Each exam contains 77 total questions: 68 that count toward your score and 9 unscored pretest questions mixed in without identification.
- You get 1 hour and 45 minutes to complete each exam.
- A scaled score of 70 is required to pass.
- Test-center appointments cost $55 per exam; Pearson also offers an $80 OnVUE combination appointment that covers both Property and Casualty in one online sitting.
- Testing is entirely computer-based, multiple-choice, delivered either at a physical Pearson VUE test center or remotely through OnVUE online proctoring.
One detail that trips up candidates who choose the online route: OnVUE exams do not allow unscheduled breaks. If you step away from the screen mid-exam without prior authorization, you risk exam termination. You're also limited to two OnVUE attempts per exam line before you're required to test at a physical center. For a deeper comparison of how difficult these formats feel in practice, read How Hard Is the TN-PC Exam? Complete Difficulty Guide 2026.
Key Takeaway
Because the unscored pretest questions are indistinguishable from scored ones, don't waste time trying to guess which questions "count." Treat every question on the Property or Casualty exam as if it affects your score.
Breaking Down the Ten Domains
The content outline - effective October 15, 2025 - organizes both exams into ten domains total, five for Property and five for Casualty. Knowing the exact names and relative size of each domain is central to understanding what "TN-PC" actually tests.
Domain 1: Property - Types of Policies
Covers the structure of homeowners, dwelling, and commercial property forms. This is the single largest Property domain at 32.4% of that exam's content, so it deserves the bulk of your Property study time.
- Differences between HO forms and commercial property policies
- Named-peril vs. open-peril (all-risk) coverage structures
Domain 6: Casualty - Types of Policies, Bonds, and Related Terms
The largest domain across both exams at 33.8%. It covers general liability, auto, workers' compensation, umbrella policies, and surety/fidelity bonds.
- Bond terminology and how bonds differ from insurance policies
- Liability policy structures and endorsements
The remaining eight domains round out the two exams:
- Domain 2: Property - Insurance Terms and Related Concepts
- Domain 3: Property - Policy Provisions and Contract Law
- Domain 4: Property - Tennessee Laws, and Departmental Rules Common to Life, Accident and Health, Property and Casualty Insurance
- Domain 5: Property - Tennessee Laws, and Departmental Rules Pertinent to Property Insurance Only
- Domain 7: Casualty - Insurance Terms and Related Concepts
- Domain 8: Casualty - Policy Provisions
- Domain 9: Casualty - Tennessee Laws, and Departmental Rules Common to Life, Accident and Health, Property and Casualty Insurance
- Domain 10: Casualty - Tennessee Laws, and Departmental Rules Pertinent to Casualty Insurance Only
Because Domains 1 and 6 carry so much weight, allocating study time proportionally rather than evenly across all ten domains is one of the most important decisions you'll make. For a domain-by-domain breakdown of every topic and subtopic, check the TN-PC Exam Domains 2026: Complete Guide to All 10 Content Areas.
| Exam | Largest Domain | Approximate Weight |
|---|---|---|
| Property | Types of Policies | 32.4% |
| Casualty | Types of Policies, Bonds, and Related Terms | 33.8% |
Registration, Fees, and Eligibility
To sit for the exam, candidates must be at least 18 years old, complete a fingerprint-based background screening, and apply through NIPR (the National Insurance Producer Registry). Tennessee does not require a prelicensing course before testing, which is unusual compared to some other states and puts more responsibility on the candidate to self-study effectively.
On the fee side: a standard test-center appointment for either the Property or Casualty exam runs $55. If you want to knock out both in one sitting through Pearson's remote-proctoring platform, the OnVUE combination appointment is listed at $80. For the complete cost picture - including how fees stack if you need retakes - see TN-PC Certification Cost 2026: Complete Pricing Breakdown. And if you're still confirming eligibility basics, the requirements guide covers the fingerprinting and NIPR application steps in more detail.
Who Actually Needs a TN-PC License
The TN-PC credential is the entry point for anyone working as an insurance producer in property and casualty lines in Tennessee. That includes:
- Independent agents selling homeowners, auto, and commercial P&C policies across multiple carriers
- Captive agents employed directly by a single insurance carrier
- Insurance agency staff who negotiate or bind coverage on behalf of clients
- Bond producers who work with surety and fidelity bonds under the Casualty umbrella
Employers hiring for these roles - regional agencies, national carriers with Tennessee branches, and independent brokerages - generally expect an active resident license before a candidate can write business unsupervised. If you're weighing whether this career path is worth pursuing, the analysis in Is the TN-PC Certification Worth It? Complete ROI Analysis 2026 and the market overview in TN-PC Salary Guide 2026: Complete Earnings Analysis are useful starting points. For open roles specifically tied to this license, browse TN-PC Jobs.
Mapping a Study Approach to the Meaning
Because "TN-PC" really refers to two distinct exams with ten named domains, the most efficient prep plan treats Property and Casualty as separate study tracks rather than one blended review. Spaced repetition works well here specifically because the domain weights are so lopsided - you want more repeated exposure to Domain 1 and Domain 6 than to the smaller law-and-rules domains.
Property Foundations
- Study Domain 1 (Types of Policies) and Domain 2 (Insurance Terms) since together they cover the bulk of the Property exam
- Build a glossary of Property-specific terms and endorsements
Property Law and Rules
- Cover Domains 3, 4, and 5 - contract law, provisions, and Tennessee-specific Property rules
- Take a Property-only practice set to check readiness
Casualty Foundations
- Focus heavily on Domain 6, the largest domain on either exam
- Layer in Domain 7 terminology alongside it
Casualty Law and Final Review
- Finish Domains 8, 9, and 10
- Run full-length timed practice exams for both Property and Casualty before scheduling
This structure isn't a generic template - it's built directly around the fact that the Property and Casualty content outlines are separate, and around the specific domain weights published for the exam. For a more detailed week-by-week plan and question-style breakdown, see the TN-PC Study Guide 2026: How to Pass on Your First Attempt. To calibrate exactly how many correct answers you need, review TN-PC Passing Score 2026: Exactly What You Need to Pass, and if you want a look at how the outline changes are affecting outcomes, TN-PC Pass Rate 2026: What the Data Shows is a helpful companion read.
After You Pass: Renewal and CE
Passing the exam is the licensing milestone, but it isn't the end of the compliance story. Tennessee resident P&C licenses renew on a biennial basis, and renewal requires completing 24 continuing-education hours, of which 3 hours must be ethics-focused. Building a habit of tracking CE credits early - right after you pass - saves a scramble near your renewal deadline.
If you haven't scheduled your exam yet, it's worth reviewing current testing windows and appointment lead times before you lock in a study timeline; see TN-PC Exam Dates 2026: Testing Windows, Deadlines & Scheduling. And for a compact reference you can review the morning of your test, the TN-PC Cheat Sheet 2026: One-Page Review of Must-Know Facts condenses the domain names, format numbers, and passing score into one page.
To reinforce everything covered here with realistic practice questions modeled on the actual domain weighting, you can start working through timed sets on the main practice test platform - it's built specifically around the current TN-PC content outline rather than a generic P&C question bank. Many candidates also return to the practice test homepage repeatedly during their final review week to simulate the 1-hour-45-minute time pressure of the real exam.
Frequently Asked Questions
TN-PC is shorthand for the Tennessee Property & Casualty Insurance Producer Exam, but in practice it's administered as two separate 77-question exams - one for Property, one for Casualty. Most producers need to pass both.
No. Tennessee does not mandate a prelicensing course. Candidates must be 18 or older, complete fingerprint-based background screening, and apply through NIPR, but self-study or a study guide can substitute for a formal course.
A scaled score of 70 is required to pass either the Property exam or the Casualty exam. Each is scored independently based on 68 scored questions out of the 77 total presented.
Yes, through Pearson's OnVUE remote proctoring, including an $80 combination appointment covering both Property and Casualty. Online sessions do not allow unscheduled breaks, and you're limited to two OnVUE attempts per exam line before test-center testing is required.
Resident Tennessee P&C licenses renew biennially, requiring 24 continuing-education hours per renewal cycle, including 3 hours specifically in ethics.