Free California Insurance Exam Questions & Answers PDF: 1,086 Questions

Download the California PDF (212 pages, 1,086 questions)

Every question in the file has its correct answer, an explanation and the California Insurance Code section it tests in the answer key at the back. They are original practice questions written against the published exam objectives, not actual exam questions, and the file does not replace the California Department of Insurance's own candidate information.

If you are sitting the California Life-Only Agent, Accident and Health or Sickness Agent, or Property and Casualty Broker-Agent exam with PSI, this is a free, printable PDF of 1,086 practice questions for it. The first 90 are the California-law questions from this site's California mock exams - 30 life, 30 accident and health, 30 property and casualty - written from the Insurance Code, the Vehicle Code, the Labor Code and Title 10 of the Code of Regulations, each with its section cited. After them come the 996 national questions across the three lines. California folds its ethics and Insurance Code objectives into the General Insurance section of each exam rather than publishing a separate state-law count - the material a generic study guide leaves out. No registration, no email. Last updated September 2026.

What is in the California PDF

The cover page repeats the exam facts below. The California-law questions come first, grouped by line, so you can work them as a block; the national questions follow by line; the answer key at the end gives the correct letter, explanation and citation for all 1,086.

California exam facts (verified July 2026)

California's exams are delivered by PSI and pass at 60%. The Department does not publish how many questions are unscored pretest items.

Prelicensing: 20-hour per-line prelicensing repealed effective Jan 1, 2026 (AB 943); 12 hours of Ethics & California Insurance Code study still required before license issuance. The 12-hour course is a condition of the license being issued, not of scheduling or sitting the exam.

Verified July 2026 from CDI - Examinations: Time Limit and Number of Questions (+ CDI fee schedule and AB 943 notice) - check the current figures on the California Department of Insurance exam page. Where this table and the Department's page disagree, the Department's page is right. The Department's license examination objectives are the outline the California questions were written against.

Is this a California insurance exam study guide PDF?

Partly. Searches for a "California life and health insurance exam study guide PDF" usually want a textbook: chapter summaries, a glossary, a study plan. This file is not that. It is a question bank with a full answer key, and the explanations are written to teach the rule rather than just confirm the letter - each one states the section, the number the exam tests and the wrong answer it is most often confused with (the life senior free-look age is 60, the disability one is 65; a life policy's grace period is 60 days, a monthly-premium disability policy's is 10). Worked that way, 1,086 explained questions cover the ground a guide would, in the order the exam asks about it.

What it does not do: summarize the outline chapter by chapter, define terms, or tell you how many exam questions come from each section. The Department's examination objectives linked above carry the section weights; use them as the syllabus half of your preparation and this PDF as the practice half.

The California law topics this PDF covers

Every California question cites the section it tests. By line, the topics and their sections are:

Life (30 questions)

• Licensing and the Commissioner: the misdemeanor for transacting without a license, denial for bad reputation or a prior license denied for cause, appointments effective on signing - Cal. Ins. Code 1633, 1668, 1669, 1704
• Education: the 12-hour ethics and Insurance Code course required before license issuance, and the 8-hour initial and 4-hour renewal annuity training - Cal. Ins. Code 1749, 1749.8
• Fiduciary funds: diversion of premiums as theft, and the separate FDIC-insured trust account - Cal. Ins. Code 1733, 1734
• Twisting and the entire-contract rule that application statements are representations, not warranties - Cal. Ins. Code 781, 10113
• Senior protections: the duty of honesty, good faith and fair dealing to prospects 65 and older, insurer approval of agent advertising, the 24-hour to 14-day in-home meeting notice, and the tangible-net-benefit test for replacing a senior's annuity - Cal. Ins. Code 785, 787, 789.10, 10509.914
• Policy provisions: the 60-day grace period with 30-day lapse notice, the right to name a lapse designee, two-year incontestability, the surrender-charge notice on the policy jacket, interest on death proceeds unpaid after 30 days, and when a mailed policy is deemed received - Cal. Ins. Code 10113.71, 10113.72, 10113.5, 10127.13, 10172.5, 10113.6
• Free-look periods: 10 to 30 days under age 60, at least 30 days for senior citizens - Cal. Ins. Code 10127.9, 10127.10
• Replacement: the Notice Regarding Replacement at application, the three-working-day notice to the existing insurer and the 30-day unconditional refund - Cal. Ins. Code 10509.4, 10509.6
• Insurable interest, five-year record retention, and the 31-day group life conversion window - Cal. Ins. Code 10110.1, 10508, 10209
• The California Life and Health Insurance Guarantee Association's $300,000 death-benefit cap, life settlement rescission, and written informed consent for HIV testing - Cal. Ins. Code 1067.02, 10113.2, 799.03

Accident and health (30 questions)

• The required individual disability policy provisions, one question each: entire contract, time limit on certain defenses, grace period by premium mode, reinstatement, notice of claim, claim forms, proof of loss, time of payment, payment of claims, physical examination and autopsy, legal actions, change of beneficiary - Cal. Ins. Code 10350.1 through 10350.12
• Senior rules: the 30-day examination period for buyers 65 and older, and the administrative penalties for violating the senior article - Cal. Ins. Code 786, 789.3
• Medicare supplement: the six-month open enrollment and the annual birthday window, 63-day guaranteed issue after losing employer coverage, the 200 percent first-year commission cap, and the 30-day right to return - Cal. Ins. Code 10192.11, 10192.12, 10192.16, 10192.17
• Long-term care: the eight-hour training cycle, the 30-day return right, lapse notice to a designee with five-month reinstatement for cognitive impairment, and the mandatory 5 percent compound inflation offer - Cal. Ins. Code 10234.93, 10232.7, 10235.40, 10237.1
• Licensee duties: 24 hours of continuing education with three of ethics, and 30-day notice of a change in background information - Cal. Ins. Code 1749.33, 1729.2
• Health benefit plans: coverage of newborns from birth, the 30-day prompt-pay deadline with 15 percent interest, the ban on preexisting-condition provisions and waiting periods, forms the Commissioner may not approve, the limited grounds for terminating an individual policy, and 36 months of Cal-COBRA - Cal. Ins. Code 10119, 10123.13, 10198.7, 10291.5, 10273.6, 10128.57

Property and casualty (30 questions)

• Financial responsibility: the 30/60/15 minimum limits in force since 2025, the 10-day DMV accident report, the uninsured motorist offer, and the low-cost automobile program's limits - Cal. Veh. Code 16056, 16000; Cal. Ins. Code 11580.2, 11629.71
• Proposition 103: prior approval of rates, mandatory hearings above 7 percent for personal lines, the Good Driver Discount and who qualifies as a good driver - Cal. Ins. Code 1861.01, 1861.05, 1861.02, 1861.025
• Auto policy notice: the permitted cancellation grounds, 20 days' notice (10 for nonpayment), and 30 days for nonrenewal - Cal. Ins. Code 661, 662, 663
• Residential property: cancellation limits after 60 days, the 75-day nonrenewal notice, the 60-day premium grace after a declared emergency, the mandatory earthquake offer, the California Earthquake Authority, the FAIR Plan's basic property insurance, and the standard fire policy's 12-month suit limit - Cal. Ins. Code 676, 678, 2062, 10081, 10089.6, 10091, 2071
• Commercial policies: 60-to-120-day nonrenewal notice and 30-day (10 for nonpayment) cancellation notice - Cal. Ins. Code 678.1, 677.2
• Claims: the 40-day accept-or-deny and 30-day payment clocks, the 15-day response rule, the unfair claims settlement practices, civil penalties under the Unfair Practices Act, and claim-referral kickbacks - 10 Cal. Code Regs. 2695.7, 2695.5; Cal. Ins. Code 790.03, 790.035, 750
• Guaranty and workers' compensation: CIGA's $500,000 covered-claim cap, workers' compensation fraud penalties, and how an employer secures compensation - Cal. Ins. Code 1063.1, 1871.4; Cal. Lab. Code 3700
• Licensee duties: 24 hours of continuing education with ethics and fraud content, and the license number on business cards and quotes - Cal. Ins. Code 1749.3, 1725.5

Sample California questions with answers

Three questions from the file, one per line, reproduced exactly as they appear in the answer key.

Question 1 (Life). A California individual life policy issued today must give the owner what minimum grace period after a premium due date, and how far ahead of a lapse for nonpayment must the insurer mail notice?

• A. 30-day grace period; notice 10 days before termination
• B. 31-day grace period; notice 15 days before termination
• C. 60-day grace period; notice 15 days before termination
• D. 60-day grace period; notice at least 30 days before termination

Answer: D. California requires individual life policies to provide a grace period of not less than 60 days from the premium due date, with the policy remaining in force during that time. A policy may not lapse for nonpayment unless the insurer mails notice to the owner, any designee named under Section 10113.72, and any known assignee at least 30 days before the effective date of termination. The 30- and 31-day grace periods belong to other lines and other states. See Cal. Ins. Code 10113.71.

Question 2 (Accident and health). A California insurer sells a disability policy to a 70-year-old. What examination (free-look) period must the policy provide, and how quickly must premiums be refunded if it is returned?

• A. 10 days; refund within 10 days
• B. 20 days; refund within 45 days
• C. 30 days after receipt; refund within 30 days after the insurer receives the returned policy
• D. 60 days; refund within 60 days

Answer: C. Disability policies and certificates issued to individuals age 65 or older in California must allow an examination period of 30 days after receipt during which the buyer may return the policy for a full refund of premiums and fees. The insurer must refund within 30 days after it receives the returned policy, or interest at the legal rate on judgments begins to accrue. Note the age trigger here is 65, whereas the life-insurance senior free-look uses age 60. See Cal. Ins. Code 786.

Question 3 (Property and casualty). What are the minimum automobile liability limits required under California's financial responsibility law for a policy in force in 2026?

• A. $15,000 per person / $30,000 per accident / $5,000 property damage
• B. $30,000 per person / $60,000 per accident / $15,000 property damage
• C. $25,000 per person / $50,000 per accident / $25,000 property damage
• D. $50,000 per person / $100,000 per accident / $25,000 property damage

Answer: B. Effective January 1, 2025, Vehicle Code 16056 raised California's minimum limits to $30,000 for bodily injury or death of one person, $60,000 for two or more persons in one accident, and $15,000 for property damage. The old 15/30/5 limits no longer satisfy the law, and the statute schedules a further increase to 50/100/25 beginning January 1, 2035. See Cal. Veh. Code 16056.

Rules that changed recently

Four California rules in this file are still wrong in older study material. Each is stated in the answer key as the cited section reads now:

• Prelicensing (January 1, 2026). AB 943 repealed the 20-hour per-line prelicensing courses. What remains is a 12-hour course on ethics and the California Insurance Code, including one hour on insurance fraud, which must be completed before the license is issued - not before scheduling or taking the exam - Cal. Ins. Code 1749.
• Auto minimum limits (January 1, 2025). The financial responsibility minimums rose from 15/30/5 to $30,000 per person, $60,000 per accident and $15,000 property damage, with a further step to 50/100/25 scheduled for January 1, 2035 - Cal. Veh. Code 16056.
• Ethics continuing education (March 1, 2023). The three ethics hours inside the 24-hour renewal requirement must include one hour on insurance fraud, for life and accident and health agents and for property and casualty broker-agents alike - Cal. Ins. Code 1749.33, 1749.3.
• Residential nonrenewal notice. For residential property policies expiring on or after July 1, 2020, the notice period is 75 days; the 45-day figure many guides still print is the older subdivision - Cal. Ins. Code 678.

When a cited section is amended, the affected question is rewritten and the PDF regenerated, and the "last updated" line at the top of this page changes with it.

How to study with this PDF

1. Answer your line's California section cold - 30 life, 30 accident and health, or 30 property and casualty questions - before you look at the key. Sitting the combined Property and Casualty Broker-Agent exam does not change this; the 30 questions cover both halves.
2. Read every explanation, not just the ones you missed. California's exam is a test of paired numbers: the senior age is 60 for life but 65 for disability; auto cancellation takes 20 days' notice but 10 for nonpayment; residential nonrenewal is 75 days, auto nonrenewal 30. The explanations name the pair each time.
3. Take the timed California mock for your line: life and accident and health run 75 questions in 90 minutes, property and casualty 150 in 180, with the California questions mixed into the national bank as the real exam mixes them.
4. Work the national section for your line last, with the Department's examination objectives open beside it for the section weights. The national material is most of the exam; the California section is the part a general guide cannot teach.

Practice California questions online

• California life insurance practice exam - 75-question, 90-minute timed mock with explanations, national bank plus the 30 California-law questions
• California accident and health insurance practice exam - 75-question, 90-minute timed mock with explanations, national bank plus the 30 California-law questions
• California property and casualty practice exam - 150-question, 180-minute mock matching the combined Property and Casualty Broker-Agent exam, with the 30 California-law questions

Other free PDFs

The national question banks for each line, and the hub page that explains them:

• Free insurance exam questions and answers PDFs - all lines
• Life insurance PDF - 306 national questions
• Health insurance PDF - 300 national questions
• Property and casualty PDF - 390 national questions

Download the California PDF (90 California questions)

This PDF and the practice tests are an independent study resource with no connection to the California Department of Insurance or PSI. Confirm current license requirements, exam fees and exam formats with the Department before you schedule.