- TN-PC refers to Tennessee's Property and Casualty Insurance Producer Exam, administered by Pearson VUE for the state's Department of Commerce and Insurance.
- Property and Casualty are two separate 77-question exams, each with 68 scored items and a 1-hour-45-minute limit.
- A scaled score of 70 is required to pass, and a test-center attempt costs $55 per exam.
- Tennessee requires no prelicensing course, but does require fingerprinting and an NIPR application.
What TN-PC Actually Means
TN-PC stands for the Tennessee Property and Casualty Insurance Producer Exam, the licensing test required by the Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance (TDCI) for anyone who wants to sell property or casualty insurance products in the state. The exam itself is developed under TDCI's authority but delivered through Pearson VUE, the testing vendor that runs the actual computer-based sessions at physical test centers and through its OnVUE remote-proctoring platform.
It's worth being precise here because the "TN-PC" abbreviation gets reused across unrelated fields. On this site, TN-PC always refers to the Tennessee insurance producer credential - nothing else. If you landed here searching for a broader definition, our companion pages on What Is TN-PC?, TN-PC Meaning, and What Does TN-PC Stand For? all confirm the same scope.
Exam Format and Registration Mechanics
Each TN-PC exam - Property and Casualty - follows the same structural blueprint:
- 77 total questions per exam: 68 scored questions plus 9 unscored pretest questions mixed in without identification.
- 1 hour 45 minutes of testing time.
- Passing score: a scaled score of 70 on each exam.
- Cost: $55 per exam at a Pearson VUE test center, or $80 for the OnVUE Property and Casualty combination appointment.
- Format: computer-based, multiple-choice questions, delivered at a Pearson VUE test center or remotely via OnVUE.
Because the unscored pretest questions look identical to scored items, there's no way to identify or skip them - you simply answer every question as if it counts. This is a mechanical detail worth internalizing before test day so you don't waste mental energy trying to spot the "extra" nine questions.
Online testing through OnVUE comes with a specific restriction: no unscheduled breaks are allowed during a remote session. If you leave your webcam view or step away without prior authorization, it can be flagged as a violation. Candidates are also limited to two OnVUE attempts per exam line before Tennessee requires you to test in person at a Pearson VUE center. If you've failed twice online, plan your next attempt at a physical location.
Key Takeaway
Budget your test-day environment as carefully as your study time. If you choose OnVUE, use the restroom and clear distractions beforehand - you won't get a scheduled break, and repeated online failures push you into test-center-only retakes.
Eligibility Before You Register
Tennessee does not require a prelicensing education course before sitting for either exam - a notable difference from many other states. However, applicants must:
- Be at least 18 years old.
- Complete fingerprint-based criminal background screening.
- Apply through the National Insurance Producer Registry (NIPR).
For the full breakdown of who qualifies and how the application sequence works, see TN-PC Requirements 2026: Eligibility, Prerequisites & How to Qualify. If you want the exact fee structure across every step - exam cost, OnVUE pricing, and licensing fees - that's covered in TN-PC Certification Cost 2026: Complete Pricing Breakdown.
The Ten Content Domains
The TN-PC content outline, effective October 15, 2025, splits into ten domains - five for Property, five for Casualty. Two domains carry outsized weight and deserve the majority of your study hours:
Domain 6: Casualty - Types of Policies, Bonds, and Related Terms (33.8%)
The single largest domain on the entire outline. Candidates must distinguish liability coverage types, bond categories, and the terminology that separates casualty products from property products.
- Know the structural differences between commercial general liability, workers' compensation, and surety bonds
- Master vocabulary specific to casualty contracts - this domain rewards precise definitions over general intuition
Domain 1: Property - Types of Policies (32.4%)
The second-largest domain, covering homeowners, dwelling, commercial property, and specialty property forms.
- Compare coverage triggers and exclusions across policy types
- Understand how endorsements modify a base property policy
Together, Domains 1 and 6 account for roughly two-thirds of the combined weight across both exams' largest categories - a strong signal that policy-type memorization should anchor your study plan rather than being an afterthought. The remaining eight domains round out the outline:
| Domain | Focus |
|---|---|
| Domain 2 | Property - Insurance Terms and Related Concepts |
| Domain 3 | Property - Policy Provisions and Contract Law |
| Domain 4 | Property - TN Laws & Departmental Rules Common to Life, A&H, P&C |
| Domain 5 | Property - TN Laws & Departmental Rules Pertinent to Property Only |
| Domain 7 | Casualty - Insurance Terms and Related Concepts |
| Domain 8 | Casualty - Policy Provisions |
| Domain 9 | Casualty - TN Laws & Departmental Rules Common to Life, A&H, P&C |
| Domain 10 | Casualty - TN Laws & Departmental Rules Pertinent to Casualty Only |
Notice that Tennessee splits its regulatory content into "common" law domains (4 and 9) versus product-specific law domains (5 and 10). This distinction matters: some state statutes apply across every insurance line, while others exist solely for property or solely for casualty contracts. Mixing these up is a common source of missed questions. For a domain-by-domain walkthrough with study priorities for each, read TN-PC Exam Domains 2026: Complete Guide to All 10 Content Areas.
Who Takes the TN-PC Exams and Why
The TN-PC exams exist as gatekeepers for a specific career path: becoming a licensed property and casualty insurance producer in Tennessee. That designation opens the door to selling homeowners, auto, commercial liability, bonds, and related coverage lines through agencies, carriers, or as an independent producer.
People sitting for these exams typically fall into a few groups:
- New agency hires who need licensing before they can legally quote or bind policies.
- Career-changers entering insurance sales from adjacent fields like real estate or banking.
- Multi-line producers already licensed in another state or line who need Tennessee-specific P&C credentials.
- Agency owners expanding into personal or commercial lines who need at least one licensed producer on staff.
Because Tennessee waives the prelicensing course requirement, motivated self-studiers can move from decision to licensed producer relatively quickly compared to states that mandate 20-40 hours of classroom time first. That said, skipping a formal course puts more responsibility on you to structure your own review - which is exactly the gap resources like the practice tests on our main site are built to fill.
How to Prepare Without Wasting Time
Because there's no mandatory course, your prep plan is entirely self-directed. That's an advantage if you use it well and a liability if you don't. A simple way to sequence four weeks of study, weighted toward the heaviest domains:
Property Foundations
- Study Domain 1 (Types of Policies) in depth - it's 32.4% of the Property exam
- Skim Domain 2 terminology alongside it since terms and policy types overlap heavily
Property Rules and Provisions
- Cover Domain 3 (provisions/contract law) and Domains 4-5 (Tennessee-specific rules)
- Drill the difference between "common to all lines" rules and property-only rules
Casualty Core
- Focus heavily on Domain 6 (Types of Policies, Bonds, Related Terms) - the single largest domain at 33.8%
- Layer in Domain 7 terminology in parallel
Casualty Rules and Full Review
- Finish Domains 8-10 (provisions and Tennessee casualty law)
- Run full-length timed practice sessions mimicking the 77-question, 1:45 format
Notice the plan doesn't treat "study technique" as separate from content - it schedules the two heaviest domains (1 and 6) in weeks where you have the most energy, and pairs each policy-type domain with its related terminology domain so vocabulary reinforces structure rather than being memorized in isolation. For a more detailed week-by-week breakdown built specifically around the TN-PC outline, see TN-PC Study Guide 2026: How to Pass on Your First Attempt.
Key Takeaway
Don't split study time evenly across ten domains. Domains 1 and 6 alone represent well over half the combined content weight - allocate your hours accordingly.
If you're trying to gauge how much runway to give yourself, it helps to read a candid assessment of exam difficulty and typical sticking points - see How Hard Is the TN-PC Exam? Complete Difficulty Guide 2026. And before you lock in a test date, check TN-PC Exam Dates 2026: Testing Windows, Deadlines & Scheduling for how Pearson VUE scheduling actually works day to day.
For last-minute review, a condensed one-pager covering must-know terms across all ten domains can be faster to review than flipping through full notes - see TN-PC Cheat Sheet 2026: One-Page Review of Must-Know Facts. And to test your readiness under realistic conditions, running full-length timed sets on our practice test platform before test day is one of the most reliable ways to confirm you're actually ready, not just familiar with the material.
After You Pass: Licensing and Renewal
Passing both the Property exam and the Casualty exam isn't the finish line - it's the qualifying step toward an active Tennessee resident producer license. Once licensed, Tennessee resident producers must renew biennially, and each renewal cycle requires 24 continuing education hours, including 3 hours specifically on ethics.
This ongoing requirement is worth planning for early, since CE hours accumulate over the two-year cycle rather than all at once close to your renewal date. Producers who front-load a few CE hours per quarter tend to avoid the scramble that comes with cramming 24 hours into the final weeks before a license lapses.
If you're still deciding whether the licensing path is worth the time investment relative to career outcomes, our analysis in Is the TN-PC Certification Worth It? Complete ROI Analysis 2026 and TN-PC Salary Guide 2026: Complete Earnings Analysis lay out the practical tradeoffs. And once you're licensed, TN-PC Jobs outlines the kinds of roles that typically require this credential.
Frequently Asked Questions
TN-PC covers two separate exams - Property and Casualty - each with its own 77 questions (68 scored, 9 unscored pretest), 1 hour 45 minute time limit, and required scaled score of 70.
No. Tennessee does not require a prelicensing education course. You do need to be at least 18, complete fingerprint-based background screening, and apply through NIPR.
Each exam costs $55 at a Pearson VUE test center. Pearson also offers an $80 OnVUE combination appointment covering both Property and Casualty in one online session.
Yes, through Pearson's OnVUE platform, though online sessions don't allow unscheduled breaks and you're limited to two OnVUE attempts per exam line before test-center testing is required.
Casualty Types of Policies, Bonds, and Related Terms leads at 33.8%, followed by Property Types of Policies at 32.4% - together the two heaviest domains across both exams.