Texas Insurance License Exam Guide: P&C vs Life & Health, What's on Each, and How to Pass
A complete guide to Texas insurance licensing exams — the difference between Property & Casualty and Life & Health, what each exam covers, and what TDI requires before you can sell insurance.
Published March 31, 2026
Texas requires anyone selling insurance to hold a license from the Texas Department of Insurance (TDI). But there are multiple license types, and the exams are different — passing the wrong one means you cannot sell the products you want. This guide explains the main Texas insurance license categories, what each exam covers, and how to prepare efficiently.
The Main Texas Insurance License Categories
| License Type | Questions | Time Limit | Passing Score | What You Can Sell |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| General Lines — Property & Casualty | 150 | 150 min | 70% | Home, auto, commercial property, liability |
| General Lines — Life, Accident & Health | 150 | 150 min | 70% | Life insurance, annuities, health insurance, disability |
| Personal Lines Property & Casualty | 80 | 90 min | 70% | Personal auto and homeowners only |
| Life Only | 80 | 90 min | 70% | Life insurance and annuities only |
All Texas producer license exams require a 70% passing score — higher than California's 60% threshold. They are administered by Pearson VUE on behalf of TDI at testing centers statewide or via online proctoring.
Pre-Licensing Education Requirements
Before scheduling your Texas insurance exam, you must complete a state-approved pre-licensing course:
- General Lines P&C: 40 hours
- General Lines Life, Accident & Health: 40 hours
- Personal Lines P&C: 20 hours
- Life Only: 20 hours
After completing the required hours, your education provider submits your completion to TDI electronically. Once TDI records your completion, you can schedule your exam through Pearson VUE.
Property & Casualty: What the Exam Covers
The Texas General Lines P&C exam is 150 questions covering both general insurance concepts and Texas-specific regulations:
General Insurance Concepts (approximately 70% of the exam)
- Insurance fundamentals — insurable interest, indemnity, subrogation, proximate cause, the law of large numbers, types of risk
- Policy structure — declarations, insuring agreement, conditions, exclusions, endorsements; how each section functions
- Property insurance — dwelling policies, homeowners policy forms (HO-2, HO-3, HO-5), valuation methods (actual cash value vs replacement cost), coinsurance, causes of loss forms
- Casualty insurance — personal auto (PAP), commercial auto, general liability, workers' compensation, umbrella policies
- Commercial lines — commercial package policy (CPP), businessowners policy (BOP), commercial property, commercial general liability (CGL)
Texas Insurance Code and Regulations (approximately 30%)
- TDI authority and the Insurance Commissioner's role
- Texas-specific auto insurance requirements — mandatory coverage minimums (30/60/25 as of September 2023)
- Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA) — the state-backed insurer for coastal properties
- Texas FAIR Plan — insurer of last resort for properties that cannot obtain standard market coverage
- Producer licensing requirements, renewal, and continuing education obligations
- Unfair claims settlement practices under Texas Insurance Code Chapter 541
- Texas Prompt Payment of Claims Act — timelines for acknowledging, accepting, or denying claims
- Anti-rebating and anti-twisting provisions
Life, Accident & Health: What the Exam Covers
The Texas General Lines Life, A&H exam is also 150 questions and covers a completely different subject area from P&C:
Life Insurance (largest section)
- Term life — level term, decreasing term, annual renewable term; premium structure
- Permanent life — whole life, universal life, variable life, indexed universal life
- Policy provisions — grace period (31 days in Texas), incontestability clause (2 years), free look period (10 days), suicide clause, aviation exclusions
- Beneficiary designations — primary vs contingent, per capita vs per stirpes
- Policy loans, cash surrender values, and nonforfeiture options
- Settlement options — lump sum, fixed period, fixed amount, life income
- Replacement regulations — Texas-specific disclosure requirements when replacing existing coverage
Annuities
- Fixed, variable, and indexed annuities; accumulation vs annuitization phase
- Immediate vs deferred annuities
- Surrender charges and free-withdrawal provisions
- Suitability requirements for annuity sales in Texas
Health Insurance
- Medical expense policies — individual vs group, major medical, managed care (HMO, PPO, EPO)
- Disability income — short-term vs long-term, elimination period, benefit period, own-occupation vs any-occupation definitions
- Long-term care insurance — Texas-specific partnership program, benefit triggers
- ACA provisions affecting Texas health insurance markets
- COBRA continuation coverage rights
Texas-Specific Life and Health Regulations
- Texas Department of Insurance authority over life and health products
- Texas Life and Health Insurance Guaranty Association — protects policyholders when admitted insurers become insolvent
- Required policy provisions under Texas Insurance Code
- TDI continuing education requirements (30 hours per 2-year cycle, including ethics)
The Texas-Specific Section Is Where Most Candidates Fail
The pattern is consistent across both Texas exam types: candidates who study only national prep materials pass the general insurance sections but underperform significantly on the Texas-specific regulatory content. The Texas Insurance Code sections on auto minimums, TWIA, the Prompt Payment Act, TDI licensing mechanics, and unfair practices provisions appear in larger numbers than their percentage weight suggests.
Specific Texas facts to memorize before exam day:
- Texas auto liability minimums: 30/60/25 (updated September 1, 2023 from 30/60/25 — verify current requirements with TDI before your exam)
- Free look period: 10 days for most policies
- Life policy grace period: 31 days
- Incontestability clause: 2 years
- TDI CE requirement: 30 hours per 2-year renewal cycle
- Prompt payment timelines: 15 days to acknowledge, 15 days to accept/deny after receiving all items, 5 business days to pay after acceptance
Scheduling and Logistics
Texas insurance exams are scheduled through Pearson VUE at pearsonvue.com/tx-ins or by calling (800) 274-7406. You must have your TDI pre-licensing completion on file before scheduling. The exam fee is $43 per attempt. Results are shown on screen immediately. You can retake immediately with no mandatory waiting period, paying the fee again for each attempt.
After passing, apply for your license through TDI's licensing portal at opic.texas.gov. The license is valid for 2 years and requires 30 hours of CE including ethics for renewal.