Virginia Property & Casualty Course Notes

15% of the scored exam (20 items). Know Virginia licensing/appointments, SCC/Bureau authority, recordkeeping and fiduciary rules, unfair trade practices, CE, privacy/FCRA, federal insurance-fraud law, and the NAIC. Virginia questions are often deadline- or authority-driven: identify who acts, what must be reported, and the exact time limit.

• Calling the Bureau of Insurance a separate regulator from the SCC.

• Memorize the Virginia numbers: 30 days for agent reports; 3 previous calendar years for transaction records; CE 16/24 with 3 ethics.

9% of the scored exam (12 items). This domain is vocabulary-heavy but scenario-based. Master risk terms and risk-handling methods, characteristics of insurers, agency authority, and contract law. The exam rewards precise distinctions: peril vs hazard, moral vs morale hazard, admitted vs nonadmitted, domestic/foreign/alien, and express/implied/apparent authority.

• Calling a hazard the cause of loss instead of a condition increasing loss potential.

• Translate scenarios into definitions before looking at answer choices.

13% of the scored exam (18 items). This is the mechanics domain: underwriting, negligence/liability, causes of loss, valuation, policy structure, and common provisions. Expect calculations and 'which clause applies?' scenarios. Also know the Virginia-specific property provisions listed in the outline, including guaranty association concepts, required flood/earthquake notices, cancellation/nonrenewal, optional ordinance/law and water-backup offers, and binders.

• Using the wrong coinsurance ratio orientation.

• For calculations, write the formula before plugging in numbers.

5% of the scored exam (7 items). Know which Dwelling Property form broadens the cause-of-loss basis and what Coverages A–E mean. DP questions often ask whether the insured needs Basic, Broad, or Special coverage and whether the loss belongs to the dwelling, other structures, personal property, fair rental value, or additional living expense.

• Calling DP-2 open-perils; it is broader named-perils.

• Memorize the form ladder: 1 Basic, 2 Broad, 3 Special.

13% of the scored exam (18 items). Homeowners questions combine form selection, Section I property coverage, Section II liability, perils/exclusions, additional coverages, duties after loss, and endorsements. Learn the HO-3/4/5/6 distinctions cold and remember that open-perils coverage is still limited by exclusions and conditions.

• Treating HO-4 as landlord/building coverage.

• Form mnemonic: 4 renter, 6 condo, 3 standard special, 5 broader comprehensive.

16% of the scored exam (21 items), the largest domain. Know Virginia statutory liability/UM-UIM rules and cancellation timing, then master PAP and commercial-auto coverage. Numerical Virginia questions are high-yield: current minimum liability limits are 50/100/25 for policies effective on or after January 1, 2025; cancellation/nonrenewal is generally 45 days, nonpayment at least 15 days, and Commissioner review must generally be requested within 15 days of receipt.

• Using pre-2025 Virginia minimums.

• Memorize 50/100/25 + 45/15/15.

12% of the scored exam (16 items). CPP is broad: package structure, CGL, commercial property, crime, inland marine, equipment breakdown, farm coverage, and selected endorsements. Study by exposure: liability lawsuit, fixed property, time-element loss, crime, movable property/transit, machinery breakdown, or farm.

• Using Coverage C for liability indemnity instead of medical payments.

• First classify the exposure, then choose the coverage part.

5% of the scored exam (7 items). A BOP packages property and liability for eligible small-to-midsize businesses. Know Section I Property, Section II Liability, Section III Common Policy Conditions, plus common selected endorsements. BOP questions are usually recognition questions rather than deep calculations.

• Sending a property claim to Section II.

• Memorize I Property / II Liability / III Common Conditions.

7% of the scored exam (9 items). Virginia workers’ compensation is number-heavy and fact-pattern driven. The high-yield rules are the 3-or-more-employee coverage threshold, broad employee counting (including many part-time workers and executive officers), statutory-employer/subcontractor issues, compensable injury vs occupational disease, wage-loss benefit formulas, the 7-day waiting period/21-day retroactive rule, exclusive remedy, and assigned-risk/self-insurance options.

• Saying only full-time employees count.

• Memorize 3+ employees; 66⅔%; 7 days; >21 days pays the first seven.

5% of the scored exam (7 items). This is a recognition domain: umbrella/excess, professional and other specialty liability, surplus lines, surety, D&O/EPL, NFIP, watercraft/DIC, and Virginia’s basic-property residual market. Learn each product’s purpose and the trigger/parties that make it distinctive.

• Calling umbrella primary coverage automatically.

• For specialty liability, identify the profession/activity first.