California Property & Casualty Course Notes

Personal-lines property questions are solved by identifying who or what is insured, the policy form, the damaged property, the cause of loss, and the applicable limit, deductible, valuation, exclusion, endorsement, and loss-settlement rule. California adds heavily tested earthquake and FAIR Plan distinctions.

• Treating Coverage A as the limit for every structure and every item of property.

• Use the five-question filter: Who is insured? What property? What peril? What coverage part? What limit/condition applies?

Personal-lines casualty questions center on legal responsibility, who qualifies as an insured, which auto is covered, which liability or physical-damage coverage responds, and how limits, deductibles, exclusions, umbrellas, and California financial-responsibility rules change the result.

• Using outdated pre-2025 California auto minimum limits.

• First classify the loss as liability to others, medical expense, or damage to the insured auto.

Commercial casualty coverage is exposure-driven. Match the business's third-party liability, vehicles, employees, professional services, contracts, and catastrophe limits to CGL, Business Auto, Workers' Compensation/Employers Liability, professional liability, surety, and umbrella or excess coverage.

• Using CGL for employee work injuries.

• Match the claimant first: customer/public → CGL; employee → workers' comp/employers liability; client alleging professional error → E&O; auto claimant → BAP.

Commercial property coverage protects business property and continuity. Match building, business personal property, property of others, inland marine, equipment breakdown, crime, business income/extra expense, and catastrophe exposures to the correct form or endorsement.

• Treating every piece of machinery as equipment breakdown exposure even when the real issue is transit or mobility.

• Classify the property: fixed building/BPP, mobile property, machinery breakdown, money/securities/crime, or income.

General property insurance questions test the legal and contractual framework beneath every policy: risk, insurable interest, indemnity, producer authority, insurer regulation, fiduciary handling of premiums, and fair claim practices under California law.

• Equating legal title with the only possible insurable interest.

• On ethics questions, ask first: Is the person licensed and acting within authority?

Property fundamentals are calculation-and-contract questions: direct versus indirect loss, valuation, limits, deductibles, coinsurance, named versus open perils, exclusions, conditions, policy parts, and California claim-handling deadlines.

• Calling coinsurance a fixed deductible or a simple percentage split of every claim.

• Calculation order: covered loss → valuation → coinsurance/other condition → deductible → limit, unless the question supplies a different contractual sequence.

Casualty general insurance combines risk/contract principles with California producer authority, auto financial responsibility, fiduciary duties, cancellation/nonrenewal, and fair claims practices. The exam rewards the lawful action, not the convenient one.

• Treating customer consent as a substitute for a required license.

• When the question is California-law heavy, identify the actor first: producer, insurer, claimant, employer, or driver.

Liability fundamentals require a two-step analysis: first establish legal liability, then determine whether the policy responds. Negligence, damages, comparative fault, occurrence versus claims-made triggers, CGL A/B/C, exclusions, limits, defense, other insurance, and claim timing are the high-yield points.

• Skipping the negligence elements and jumping directly to insurance coverage.

• Legal liability first; policy coverage second.

Pet-insurance questions are contract-comparison questions: identify covered conditions, preexisting-condition exclusions, waiting periods, deductibles/coinsurance, reimbursement method, limits, provider access, renewal changes, and whether a wellness arrangement is actually insurance.

• Choosing the lowest premium without comparing reimbursement and exclusions.

• Compare pet policies like a formula: Coverage - Exclusions - Deductible - Coinsurance, capped by limits.