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What Is A OR-PC?

TL;DR
  • The OR-PC is Oregon's Property and Casualty (Includes Law) Series 12-04 exam, administered by PSI Services LLC.
  • It has 150 scored multiple-choice questions in 160 minutes, plus up to 10 unscored pilot items, for $55.
  • A 70% score is required, and calculators or reference materials are not allowed at the closed-book test.
  • Property and Casualty Basics (14%) and Commercial General Liability (13%) are the two heaviest-weighted domains.

What Is the OR-PC?

The OR-PC is the common shorthand for the Oregon Property and Casualty Insurance Producer Exam, officially cataloged as Property and Casualty (Includes Law) Series 12-04. It is the licensing test that anyone who wants to sell, solicit, or negotiate property and casualty insurance in Oregon must pass before the state will issue a producer license. This is not a voluntary professional certification you add to a resume after years of experience - it is a mandatory regulatory checkpoint that stands between prelicensing coursework and an active Oregon P&C license.

If you have landed here searching for a general definition, our companion piece What Is OR-PC? covers the same ground from a slightly different angle, and OR-PC Meaning breaks down exactly what each letter in the acronym refers to. For a broader orientation to the credential itself, see OR-PC Certification.

Identity Check: In this context, OR-PC refers only to the Oregon Division of Financial Regulation's Property and Casualty producer exam. It has nothing to do with other credentials or professions that happen to share the same three-letter abbreviation elsewhere in other industries.

Who Regulates and Administers It

Two organizations sit behind the OR-PC. The Oregon Division of Financial Regulation is the state agency that sets licensing rules, defines who is eligible, and ultimately issues the producer license once you have satisfied every requirement. PSI Services LLC is the third-party testing vendor that actually builds, schedules, and delivers the exam itself, either at a physical test center or through a remote-proctored session from home.

This split is worth understanding because it explains where different rules come from. Prelicensing education hours, license fees, and renewal cycles come from the Division of Financial Regulation. Exam-day logistics - check-in procedures, what you can bring into the room, and how scores are reported - come from PSI. Candidates who mix these up sometimes show up expecting to use notes or a calculator, only to be told the exam is strictly closed-book.

Exam Format and Scoring

The OR-PC is a computer-based, closed-book exam consisting of 150 scored multiple-choice questions delivered within a 160-minute window. PSI may quietly insert an additional 5 to 10 unscored experimental questions into the exam to test them for future versions - these are mixed in with the scored items and you cannot tell them apart, so every question deserves your full attention.

To pass, you need a raw score of 70%. There is no partial credit for reasoning through a question halfway, and there is no formula-based curve; it is a straightforward percentage of correct answers against the 150 scored items. The exam costs $55 per attempt, and you can choose either an in-person test center appointment or a remote-proctored session, depending on what PSI offers in your area and what you're comfortable with.

No Calculators, No References: Unlike some licensing exams that permit a basic calculator for premium or loss-ratio math, the OR-PC is fully closed-book. Any arithmetic involving deductibles, coinsurance, or coverage limits has to be worked out mentally or on scratch material provided at the test site.

For a deeper breakdown of what "passing" actually requires - including how the 70% threshold interacts with the 150 scored questions - read OR-PC Passing Score 2026: Exactly What You Need to Pass. If you're weighing how tough this exam really is relative to other state licensing tests, How Hard Is the OR-PC Exam? Complete Difficulty Guide 2026 walks through the format in more detail, and OR-PC Pass Rate 2026: What the Data Shows looks at what outcome data is publicly available.

The 13 Content Domains

The OR-PC draws its 150 questions from thirteen distinct content domains, each assigned a percentage weight that tells you roughly how many questions to expect from that area. Two domains dominate the exam and deserve the most study time.

Domain 4: Property and Casualty Basics (14%)

The single largest domain on the exam. This covers foundational insurance principles - risk, indemnity, insurable interest, policy structure - that underpin every other domain.

  • Expect this domain to blend conceptual questions with applied scenarios
  • Weak fundamentals here will hurt your ability to answer policy-specific questions later

Domain 9: Commercial General Liability (13%)

The second-largest domain, testing your understanding of CGL coverage triggers, exclusions, and how liability policies respond to third-party claims.

  • Know the difference between occurrence and claims-made forms
  • Understand what falls under coverage A, B, and C of a standard CGL policy

The remaining eleven domains carry smaller but still meaningful weights:

  • Insurance Regulation (11%) - Oregon-specific licensing rules, producer duties, and unfair trade practices.
  • General Insurance Concepts (11%) - policy provisions, underwriting basics, and contract law as applied to insurance.
  • Homeowners Policy Concepts (9%) and Personal Automobile Policy (9%) - the two most common personal lines policies.
  • Commercial Package Policy (CPP) (7%) - how multiple commercial coverage parts combine into one policy.
  • Dwelling Policy (6%) - a narrower personal lines form distinct from homeowners.
  • Businessowners Policy (5%), Workers Compensation Law (5%), and Other Types of Property and Casualty Insurance (5%) - each a smaller but scoreable slice.
  • Commercial Automobile Policy (3%) and Federal Laws and Regulations (2%) - the lightest-weighted domains, but not ones to skip entirely.

Key Takeaway

Together, Property and Casualty Basics and Commercial General Liability account for roughly 27% of the exam - allocate your study calendar accordingly rather than spreading time evenly across all thirteen domains.

For a full walkthrough of every domain with more granular subtopics, see OR-PC Exam Domains 2026: Complete Guide to All 13 Content Areas. It pairs well with our OR-PC Cheat Sheet 2026: One-Page Review of Must-Know Facts for last-minute review.

Eligibility and Prelicensing Education

Before you can even schedule the OR-PC, Oregon expects resident candidates to meet a short list of prerequisites. You generally must be at least 18 years old and complete approved prelicensing education - 20 hours per line if you're pursuing only Property or only Casualty, or 40 hours if you're pursuing the combined Property and Casualty license. The completion certificate from that coursework is only valid for one year, so timing your study and exam date matters - don't finish prelicensing education and then let months pass before scheduling.

One notable exception: candidates who already hold the CPCU designation may qualify for a waiver of the prelicensing education requirement. If that applies to you, confirm the specifics with the Division of Financial Regulation before assuming you're exempt.

A complete rundown of every eligibility rule, including age, residency, and education specifics, is available in OR-PC Requirements 2026: Eligibility, Prerequisites & How to Qualify.

After You Pass: License, Fees, and Renewal

Passing the exam is a milestone, not the finish line. Initial applicants still need to complete fingerprinting and submit a $75 license application to the Division of Financial Regulation before a producer license is actually issued. Combined with the $55 exam fee, that's the core cost structure candidates should budget for - a full breakdown of every fee involved is in OR-PC Certification Cost 2026: Complete Pricing Breakdown.

Once licensed, Oregon producers must renew every two years, completing 24 continuing-education hours during each renewal period. That total must include at least 3 hours of ethics and 3 hours specifically on Oregon statutes and administrative rules - a reminder that the state wants ongoing familiarity with its own regulatory framework, not just general insurance knowledge.

RequirementDetail
Exam fee$55
Scored questions150
Time allowed160 minutes
Passing score70%
Prelicensing hours (single line)20 hours
Prelicensing hours (combined P&C)40 hours
License application fee$75
License renewal cycleEvery 2 years
Continuing education per cycle24 hours (incl. 3 ethics, 3 Oregon law)

Who Takes the OR-PC and Why

The OR-PC is taken by people entering - or already working in - Oregon's insurance distribution channel. That includes new hires at independent agencies, captive agents joining a carrier's Oregon operation, career-changers moving from adjacent financial services roles, and existing agents adding a Property and Casualty line to a license they already hold in another state or line of authority. Agencies frequently sponsor prelicensing coursework for new producers specifically so they can sit for this exam and start writing business.

Because the license is a legal prerequisite for selling P&C products in Oregon, nearly every entry-level producer job posting in the state will list "must obtain P&C license" or "must pass OR-PC" as a condition of employment, sometimes with a grace period to complete it after hire. If you're evaluating whether this path fits your career goals, OR-PC Jobs looks at the kinds of roles that require this license, and OR-PC Salary Guide 2026: Complete Earnings Analysis examines compensation patterns for licensed producers. For a broader cost-versus-benefit view, Is the OR-PC Certification Worth It? Complete ROI Analysis 2026 weighs the licensing investment against career outcomes.

Building an OR-PC Study Plan

Because the exam weights domains unevenly, an effective study plan front-loads the heaviest content and treats the smallest domains as final review rather than a starting point. A simple way to sequence this over a few weeks:

Week 1

Foundations First

  • Study Property and Casualty Basics (14%) and General Insurance Concepts (11%) - these underpin everything else
  • Review Insurance Regulation (11%) alongside them since regulatory questions often reference basic policy terms
Week 2

Commercial Lines

  • Focus on Commercial General Liability (13%), the second-heaviest domain
  • Layer in Commercial Package Policy (7%) and Businessowners Policy (5%), which share overlapping concepts with CGL
Week 3

Personal Lines and Auto

  • Cover Homeowners Policy Concepts (9%), Dwelling Policy (6%), and Personal Automobile Policy (9%)
  • Compare and contrast these forms since exam questions often test what distinguishes one policy type from another
Week 4

Remaining Domains and Full Review

  • Finish Commercial Automobile Policy (3%), Workers Compensation Law (5%), Other Types of P&C Insurance (5%), and Federal Laws and Regulations (2%)
  • Run timed practice sessions that mirror the 160-minute, 150-question format

A full week-by-week study guide with more detail on pacing, practice testing, and common weak points is available at OR-PC Study Guide 2026: How to Pass on Your First Attempt. You can also check OR-PC Exam Dates 2026: Testing Windows, Deadlines & Scheduling to plan your PSI appointment around your study timeline, and use our practice tests to simulate exam-day timing before you sit for the real thing.

Practice Under Real Conditions: Since calculators and reference materials aren't allowed during the actual OR-PC, practice sessions should mimic that constraint. Working through questions on our practice test platform without outside aids builds the mental math habits you'll need on test day.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does OR-PC actually stand for?

OR-PC refers to the Oregon Property and Casualty Insurance Producer Exam, formally titled Property and Casualty (Includes Law) Series 12-04, administered by PSI Services LLC under the Oregon Division of Financial Regulation. See What Does OR-PC Stand For? for more.

How many questions are on the OR-PC and how long do I have?

The exam has 150 scored multiple-choice questions with a 160-minute time limit. PSI may also include 5 to 10 additional unscored experimental questions that are indistinguishable from scored ones.

Can I use a calculator during the exam?

No. The OR-PC is a closed-book exam, and calculators or outside reference materials are not permitted at either test centers or remote-proctored sessions.

Do I need prelicensing education before taking the OR-PC?

Resident candidates generally need 20 hours of approved prelicensing education per line, or 40 hours for a combined Property and Casualty license, and must typically be at least 18 years old. The completion certificate is valid for one year, though CPCU designation holders may qualify for a waiver.

What happens after I pass the exam?

Passing is one step toward licensure. You'll also need to complete fingerprinting and submit a $75 license application. Once licensed, renewal occurs every two years and requires 24 continuing-education hours, including 3 hours of ethics and 3 hours on Oregon statutes and administrative rules.

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