- Exam Structure Overview: Property vs. Casualty
- Property Exam Domains 1-7
- Casualty Exam Domains 8-14
- Domain Weight Comparison Table
- General Knowledge vs. Delaware Law Portions
- Who Actually Uses These 14 Domains on the Job
- Building a Study Schedule Around the 14 Domains
- Ethics Domains and Ongoing CE Requirements
- Frequently Asked Questions
- The DE-PC actually consists of two separate exams: Property (102 questions) and Casualty (114 questions).
- Domains 1-7 belong to the Property exam; Domains 8-14 belong to the Casualty exam.
- Types of Policies is the heaviest domain on both exams - 25.9% on Property, 24.2% on Casualty.
- Each exam has a general-knowledge portion and a Delaware-law portion, and you can retake just the portion you fail.
Exam Structure Overview: Property vs. Casualty
Before drilling into the 14 content areas, it helps to understand that "the DE-PC exam" is really shorthand for two separate Pearson VUE tests administered on behalf of the Delaware Department of Insurance. The Property exam runs 102 questions (85 scored, 17 unscored pretest items) and the Casualty exam runs 114 questions (95 scored, 19 pretest items). Both exams allow 2 hours and 15 minutes, and both are split into a general-knowledge portion and a Delaware-law portion.
Domain percentages in this guide are calculated from the scored-item counts published in the January 15, 2025 content outline - pretest questions don't count toward your weighting or your score, but you won't know which items are pretest, so treat every question on screen as if it counts.
For a deeper walkthrough of scheduling logistics, testing windows, and deadlines, see DE-PC Exam Dates 2026: Testing Windows, Deadlines & Scheduling. If you're still confirming whether you even need to sit for both lines, the DE-PC Requirements 2026 guide covers eligibility and licensure prerequisites, including the state and federal criminal-history reporting resident applicants must complete.
Property Exam Domains 1-7
The Property exam's seven domains cover everything from basic policy structure to Delaware-specific rules that apply only to property lines. Here's what each one actually tests.
Domain 1: Types of Policies (25.9%)
The single largest domain on the Property exam. Expect questions on homeowners forms, dwelling policies, commercial property forms, inland marine, and how coverage differs across policy types.
- Know which perils and property types each policy form is designed to cover
- Be able to distinguish named-peril policies from open-peril (all-risk) policies
Domain 2: Insurance Terms and Related Concepts (17.6%)
Foundational vocabulary and mechanics - deductibles, coinsurance, actual cash value versus replacement cost, endorsements, and how underwriting terms apply specifically to property risks.
- Practice distinguishing similar-sounding terms (e.g., ACV vs. replacement cost)
Domain 3: Policy Provisions and Contract Law (15.3%)
Standard policy conditions, cancellation and nonrenewal provisions, and the legal principles that make an insurance contract enforceable.
- Understand insurable interest, indemnity, and subrogation as applied to property claims
Domain 4: Delaware Statutes, Regulations, and Bulletins Pertinent to Life, Accident and Health, Property and Casualty Insurance (15.3%)
This is the broad, cross-line legal domain shared with the Casualty exam's structure - statutes and bulletins that touch multiple insurance lines, not just property.
Domain 5: Delaware Statutes, Rules, Regulations, and Bulletins Common to Both Property and Casualty Insurance (5.9%)
Smaller in weight but still tested - rules that apply equally whether you're writing a homeowners policy or a general liability policy.
Domain 6: Delaware Statutes, Rules, Regulations, and Bulletins Pertinent to Property Insurance Only (5.9%)
Property-exclusive state rules. Because this domain is narrow, it's efficient to master alongside Domain 1's policy-type content since the two overlap conceptually.
Domain 7: Insurance Ethics (14.1%)
A substantial ethics domain - roughly one in seven scored questions on the Property exam. Per the content outline, ethics contributes 12 scored questions to each state-law portion.
Key Takeaway
On the Property exam, Types of Policies (25.9%) and Insurance Terms (17.6%) together account for well over 40% of scored questions - prioritize these two domains before the narrower Delaware-only rules in Domains 5 and 6.
Casualty Exam Domains 8-14
The Casualty exam mirrors the Property exam's structure but swaps in liability-focused content, bonds, and casualty-specific state rules.
Domain 8: Types of Policies, Bonds, and Related Terms (24.2%)
The largest Casualty domain. Covers general liability, commercial auto, workers' compensation, umbrella/excess policies, and surety bonds.
- Know how bonds differ structurally from insurance policies
- Be comfortable with the major liability policy triggers (occurrence vs. claims-made)
Domain 9: Insurance Terms and Related Concepts (15.8%)
Casualty-side vocabulary: negligence, vicarious liability, limits of liability, and defense-cost provisions.
Domain 10: Policy Provisions (12.6%)
Standard liability policy conditions, exclusions, and endorsements that modify base coverage.
Domain 11: Delaware Statutes, Regulations, and Bulletins Pertinent to Life, Accident and Health, Property and Casualty Insurance (13.7%)
The cross-line legal domain again, weighted slightly differently than its Property-exam counterpart (Domain 4).
Domain 12: Delaware Statutes, Rules, Regulations, and Bulletins Common to Both Property and Casualty Insurance (5.3%)
Shared rules - nearly identical in scope to Domain 5 on the Property exam, just weighted for the Casualty item bank.
Domain 13: Delaware Statutes, Rules, Regulations, and Bulletins Pertinent to Casualty Insurance Only (15.8%)
Notably heavier than its Property-only counterpart (Domain 6 at 5.9%) - casualty-specific state rules deserve real study time, not a last-minute skim.
Domain 14: Insurance Ethics (12.6%)
Like Domain 7 on the Property exam, ethics contributes 12 scored questions to this exam's state-law portion.
Notice that Domain 13's 15.8% weighting is nearly three times heavier than Domain 6's 5.9% weighting on the Property side - a good example of why treating "Delaware law" as one monolithic study block is a mistake. For a compact, printable reference of these distinctions, bookmark the DE-PC Cheat Sheet 2026.
Domain Weight Comparison Table
Use this table to see, at a glance, which domains deserve the most study time on each exam.
| Property Domain | Weight | Casualty Domain | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Types of Policies | 25.9% | 8. Types of Policies, Bonds & Related Terms | 24.2% |
| 2. Insurance Terms & Related Concepts | 17.6% | 9. Insurance Terms & Related Concepts | 15.8% |
| 3. Policy Provisions & Contract Law | 15.3% | 10. Policy Provisions | 12.6% |
| 4. DE Statutes (Multi-Line) | 15.3% | 11. DE Statutes (Multi-Line) | 13.7% |
| 5. DE Statutes (Common to Both) | 5.9% | 12. DE Statutes (Common to Both) | 5.3% |
| 6. DE Statutes (Property Only) | 5.9% | 13. DE Statutes (Casualty Only) | 15.8% |
| 7. Insurance Ethics | 14.1% | 14. Insurance Ethics | 12.6% |
General Knowledge vs. Delaware Law Portions
Each DE-PC exam - Property and Casualty - is split into two graded portions: a general-knowledge portion (covering Domains 1-3 or 8-10, plus terms and concepts) and a Delaware-law portion (covering the statute, regulation, and ethics domains). This split matters practically:
- If you fail one portion, you only retake that portion - not the whole exam.
- Both portions must be passed within one year of each other, so don't let a passed portion expire while you delay a retake.
- Delaware requires no prelicensing education, so there's no state-mandated course hour count standing between you and exam day - but that also means the burden of preparation falls entirely on self-study.
Because ethics questions are embedded in the Delaware-law portion (12 scored items per state portion on each exam), a weak grasp of ethics can drag down an otherwise strong law-portion score. For a full breakdown of exactly how many questions you need right to pass each portion, read DE-PC Passing Score 2026: Exactly What You Need to Pass.
Key Takeaway
Track your practice performance separately by portion - general knowledge and Delaware law - not just by overall score, so you know which portion needs a retake strategy if either falls short.
Who Actually Uses These 14 Domains on the Job
The domain breakdown isn't just an exam artifact - it reflects what licensed producers actually do day to day in Delaware. Producers who focus on personal and commercial property lines lean heavily on Domains 1-3 knowledge (policy types, terms, and provisions) when quoting homeowners, dwelling, and commercial property coverage. Producers on the casualty side use Domain 8-10 knowledge constantly when placing general liability, commercial auto, and bonded-contractor coverage.
Agencies hiring newly licensed producers typically want someone who can move fluidly between explaining a replacement-cost provision to a homeowner and explaining an occurrence-based liability trigger to a small-business client - which is exactly why both exams test policy types as the heaviest domain. If you're evaluating whether pursuing this license fits your career plans, DE-PC Jobs outlines the kinds of roles that require this license, and Is the DE-PC Certification Worth It? Complete ROI Analysis 2026 weighs the licensing effort against career outcomes. Compensation expectations across producer roles are covered separately in the DE-PC Salary Guide 2026.
Building a Study Schedule Around the 14 Domains
Rather than studying "Property" and "Casualty" as two undifferentiated blobs, allocate time domain by domain, weighted toward the percentages above. A simple four-week structure for candidates preparing for both exams might look like this:
Property Foundations
- Domain 1 (Types of Policies) and Domain 2 (Insurance Terms) - the two heaviest Property domains
- Build flashcards for policy-form distinctions before moving to provisions
Property Law and Ethics
- Domain 3 (Policy Provisions and Contract Law)
- Domains 4-7 (Delaware statutes and ethics) - pay extra attention to Domain 7's ethics weight
Casualty Foundations
- Domain 8 (Types of Policies, Bonds & Related Terms) and Domain 9 (Insurance Terms)
- Focus extra time on bond mechanics since they don't appear on the Property exam
Casualty Law, Ethics, and Full Review
- Domain 10 (Policy Provisions) and Domains 11-14, with special attention to Domain 13's outsized 15.8% weight
- Run full-length timed practice sessions to simulate the 2-hour-15-minute limit
For a more detailed, day-by-day walkthrough of this kind of preparation - including how to interleave practice questions with domain review - see the DE-PC Study Guide 2026: How to Pass on Your First Attempt. And if you're still calibrating how much runway to give yourself, How Hard Is the DE-PC Exam? Complete Difficulty Guide 2026 puts the domain structure in context against overall difficulty.
Whichever schedule you follow, running timed practice questions against DE-PC Exam Prep's practice tests lets you see performance broken down by domain, so you can spot whether Domain 13's casualty-only rules or Domain 4's multi-line statutes are your weak point before test day.
Ethics Domains and Ongoing CE Requirements
Insurance Ethics shows up twice in this outline - Domain 7 on Property (14.1%) and Domain 14 on Casualty (12.6%) - and in both cases contributes 12 scored questions to that exam's Delaware-law portion. That's a meaningful chunk of the law-portion score, so treat ethics as a real content domain rather than "common sense" filler.
Ethics doesn't end at licensure, either. Resident producers must complete 24 continuing-education hours per biennium, including 3 ethics hours, to keep the license active. Producers who write National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) business also need a 2-hour flood course counted within the general-credit requirement. None of this affects your initial exam domains directly, but it's worth planning for now so CE deadlines don't sneak up on you after you pass.
If you're comparing your practice-test performance against how other candidates typically fare across these domains, DE-PC Pass Rate 2026: What the Data Shows is a useful companion read, and for definitional basics before you dive into domain study, What Is DE-PC? and DE-PC Certification lay out the licensing context. You can also run full domain-tagged practice sets any time at DE-PC Exam Prep.
Frequently Asked Questions
There are 14 total domains: Domains 1-7 make up the Property exam and Domains 8-14 make up the Casualty exam. Each exam is scored and weighted independently using its own scored-item counts.
Types of Policies is the heaviest domain on both exams - 25.9% on Property (Domain 1) and 24.2% on Casualty (Domain 8).
That depends on which lines of authority you're pursuing. If you're sitting for both major lines on the same day, Delaware charges one combined $90 fee rather than two separate fees.
You retake only the portion you failed, not the entire exam, as long as you pass both the general-knowledge and Delaware-law portions within one year of each other.
No. Delaware does not require prelicensing education, so all domain preparation is self-directed - which is why structuring your study time around the official domain weights matters so much.