Earning your CPCU® designation can help you advance your insurance career, but you must first complete a number of courses that can be quite challenging. In this post, we’ll go over everything you need to know about the CPCU 500 course and give you tips on how to pass this exam.
What’s in this post
- About CPCU 500
- What is the CPCU program?
- What is CPCU 500?
- How difficult is CPCU 500?
- About the CPCU 500 exam
- Topics covered in CPCU 500
- Topics you are most likely to see on the CPCU 500 exam
- Tips for passing CPCU 500 exam
- Learn about our CPCU 500 online study program
- Buy our CPCU 500 online study program
What is the CPCU program?
The Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU®) is a professional designation offered by an organization called The Institutes. After completing the program, you will have a solid understanding of how insurance industry works and can display the CPCU designation on your business cards, resume, etc.
Having this designation shows that you have done extra education, which can make you a stronger candidate for hire or promotion. Also, this might give customers, colleagues, and business partners more confidence in working with you because they know you have this foundational knowledge.
What is CPCU 500?
CPCU 500 is one of the five core courses that you are required to complete if you are following the traditional path to earn your CPCU designation.
This particular course is about the various types of risk and how they can be managed. The knowledge you gain from this course will help you understand different types of risks that an insurer or their insured’s might face, what kinds of strategies they can use to prevent losses or reduce the severity of those losses, and the role that insurance plays in helping insureds manage and minimize their risks.
How difficult is CPCU 500?
Compared to the other CPCU courses, many consider CPCU 500 to be the “easiest,” although you shouldn’t take that to mean that it won’t require you to diligently study. All of the CPCU courses are very challenging, so you still need to carefully prepare for your CPCU 500 exam.
If you are using The Institutes’ online course for CPCU 500, you may find that some sections can be tough to read through. Many students find more success using a different set of study materials, such our online course for CPCU 500, that teaches the concepts using plain language that is easier to understand.
About the CPCU 500 exam
In order to demonstrate that you have understood the material from this course, you will need to pass an online exam administered by The Institutes.
You must go through The Institutes' website to purchase and formally register for your exam. When registering, you must indicate which test window you plan to take the exam during. The four test windows that are available every year are:
- January 15 to March 15
- April 15 to June 15
- July 15 to September 15
- October 15 to December 15
You may pay for your exam fee at any time, and those who register before the test window opens will usually receive a discount. However, you can only launch the exam and complete it during the test window you chose at the time of purchase. If you need to reschedule your exam, a new fee will apply.
The exam consists of 50 questions that cover all the chapters from the course, with a time limit of 65 minutes. The exam is done online, and you must get a score of 70% or better to pass. You may retake the exam (and pay a new fee) if you do not pass, but please check The Institutes' policies regarding how often and how soon you can retake the exam, as that may change from time to time.
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Topics covered in CPCU 500
- Challenges that insurers have faced
- Risk management process
- Ways to classify risks
- Enterprise risk management
- Overview of various types of personal & commercial insurance
- Critical thinking process
- Collaborating & communicating with others
- Strategic management
How IEG can help: We have a comprehensive study program that covers every chapter from CPCU 500. We use plain language and effective illustrations to help you truly understand the content. We also provide our famous study guide that allows you to easily and efficiently review all the material.
Topics you are most likely to see on the CPCU 500 exam
The following list is based on student feedback regard what topics they felt were most heavily-featured on their exam.
Please remember that this is not a comprehensive list of all the topics that will be tested, and each person’s exam may different. Any of the material covered in the course may potentially appear on your exam, so you should prepare accordingly.
- Strategic management
- Distinguishing between different types of risks
- Steps in the risk management process
- Ways to value physical property
- What coverages apply to sample situation
How IEG can help: Our online study program includes extra-detailed explanations of all of these topics. We also provide tons of practice problems so you can get the hang of how to do all these calculations.
Tips for passing CPCU 500
1) Don’t underestimate this course just because it is the “easiest” one
Even though most students will say this is the “easiest” course, you still need to study diligently because the course is still challenging in many ways. There is a lot of material to cover, and there are quite a few statistical and mathematical concepts in CPCU 500.
How IEG can help: We have a online study program that covers every chapter from CPCU 500. We use plain language and effective illustrations to help you truly understand the content. We also provide our famous study guide that allows you to easily and efficiently re-review all the material before you take your exam.
2) Memorize the CPCU 500 formulas the easy way
While there is debate about whether or not it is necessary to memorize the formulas, many students find that it gives them a boost of confidence that is very comforting. Memorizing the formulas from CPCU 500 can seem very daunting, but it’s totally doable if you have a system. Every day, focus on memorizing just one new formula, then practice writing down all the prior formulas you learned plus the new formula from that day. When it comes to test time, take a moment at the start of the exam to write down all the formulas you memorized onto your scratch paper, which should be easy to do because you have been practicing. By doing this, you will have a handy cheat sheet AND can free your mind to concentrate on the test.
Keep in mind that simply memorizing the formulas is not enough. You need to understand what the formula is intended to measure and how to interpret the results, so you should practice doing the calculations and be able to explain what the results are revealing.
How IEG can help: Our CPCU 500 study program discusses every formula from CPCU 500 in great detail, with step-by-step explanations of how to do the various calculations. We also provide plenty of practice problems to help you make sure that you have truly grasped the material.
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3) Learn how to identify the main categories of risk
In CPCU 500, you will learn that there are many different types of risks, and there are lots of ways to categorize or label them. You are almost certain to get exam questions that give you an example of a risk and then ask you what category it falls under. Be sure to study the various types/categories of risk and what their main characteristics are so that you can identify which labels would be most fit for describing a particular risk, because you are bound to encounter this type of question on your exam.
4) Spend time to master the calculation-based questions
Students are often intimidated by exam questions that require them to apply a formula or otherwise calculate a number, but we believe that it is actually ideal to encounter these types of questions on the exam because you will know pretty much right away that you got it correct if the result you got is one of the answer choices. Knowing that you scored those points can help you move through the rest of the exam with a boost of confidence.
5) Don’t waste too much time on long questions or questions that you are stuck on
Every test question is worth only one point, no matter how simple or complex it is. If you find that you are spending a lot of time on one particular problem, you are better off guessing for now and using the option to flag the question so you can return to it later. You don’t want to spend so much time that you run out of time before you can get to all the other questions that might have been easier for you to score points on.
6) Put an answer for every question
You do not get minus points for getting a question wrong, so don’t leave any questions blank.
7) Get as much practice as possible
The best way to ensure that you know how to apply the concepts you learning is to practice doing so, and practice quizzes are the perfect way to do this. On top of that, doing practice questions gets you comfortable with seeing the concepts in the same question-answer format you will see on your exam.
Both the Institutes’ online course and our online study program for CPCU 500 includes tons of practice questions. The Institutes’ also offers a separate Smart QuizMe app that includes an entire bank of practice questions for every course. The app is free to download but you need to pay a small fee (about $10 per course at the time of this writing) to access the full bank of questions for any particular course. NOTE: As of this writing (September 16, 2023), the Smart QuizMe app has not been updated to reflect the updated content in the new version of CPCU 500. It is unknown when The Institutes will be updating the app.
8) Aim to understand the practice questions and not just memorize them
The questions on the actual exam are not made up of the practice questions, so you cannot just rely on memorizing those answers for any practice quizzes and simulated exams you take. Read each explanation and re-review the material until you understand why you got a question wrong.
9) Don’t rely solely on The Institutes’ study materials
The Institutes’ way of explaining things is not necessarily the best way, so take advantage of other resources available to you. Some students don’t use The Institutes’ study materials at all and prefer to go with another study option, such as our comprehensive online study programs. We use plain English to explain all of the concepts, include helpful illustrations that help you see how a concept works, and show you how different elements of something relate to one another.
You can also turn to Google and YouTube to look for explanations and examples from other sources too.
10) Join the CPCU Candidates Facebook group
One of the best things you can do during your CPCU journey is to join the CPCU Candidates Facebook group, which is a wonderful community of current and former CPCU students. Here, you can get help with test questions that might be stumping you, ask for advice on propelling your insurance career, and find a healthy dose of moral support and motivation.
CPCU 500 Study Materials
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For buyer's personal use only (non-transferrable and not for resale)
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Based on CPCU 500: Becoming a Leader in Risk Management and Insurance (1st edition)
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Delivery for online study program: Instant access provided after purchase
- Delivery for printables-only bundle: PDF instantly sent by email after purchase
Full Study Program
Everything you need to fully prepare- Online video lessons (with searchable transcripts)
- Downloadable MP3 audio lessons
- Comprehensive study guide (PDF)
- Bonus Printables (PDF) (see full list below)
- Chapter quizzes
- Simulated exam (unlimited attempts)
- Free lifetime updates
Why our study programs work
Lots of companies offer study materials too, but here is why our study programs stand out:
See the concepts in action
You will be tested on your ability to apply the concepts to different situations, so we provide plenty of examples to show you how things work.
Less is NOT always more
Some things won't make sense until you have enough background info. We give extra context where you'd need it to fully grasp the material.
Learn AND remember
Besides learning the content, you have to remember it all. Our paid study programs include our famous study guides that make it super easy to refresh your memory.
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About your instructor
Insurance Exam Guides (IEG) was founded by Stacy Trinh, CPCU®, who first started her teaching journey at the request of her co-workers who were preparing for their CPCU exams. Because of her reputation as an adept trainer and motivator, Stacy's co-workers had asked her to lead a class. The feedback on her sessions and study materials was overwhelming positive, and her students encouraged her to share what she had to offer with the rest of the CPCU community.
Since then, Stacy created a library of study materials for both CPCU® and AINS® that have helped thousands of students pass their exams. As an accounting major and former claims adjuster, her style of instruction incorporates both a financial and operational perspective that makes her study materials well-rounded. She looks forward to helping many more students continue to succeed, including you!
Disclaimers: The Institutes, CPCU®, and AINS® are trademarks of the American Institute For Chartered Property Casualty Underwriters, d/b/a The Institutes. InsuranceExamGuides.com is not affiliated or associated with The Institutes in any way, and The Institutes do not endorse, approve, support, or otherwise recognize InsuranceExamGuides.com or its products or services. CPCU® and AINS® are registered trademarks of The Institutes. All rights reserved.