ABOUT CPCU® 551 EXAM 

The CPCU^® 551 is the fifth CPCU® exam in a series of eight required exams to complete your CPCU® commercial insurance designation. This exam consists of 85 multiple choice questions broken up into two sections, part A and part B.

• Part A: Concept questions – The first section of the exam will be approximately 60 concept questions; these questions will test your understanding of a definition or topic. The multiple-choice answers will generally provide 2 or 3 partially correct answers and one “best” answer.
• Part B: Case questions – The second section of the exam will be approximately 25 case questions; these questions will require you to apply your knowledge to a specific scenario or event. You will be given a real-life scenario; your job will be to select the best recommendation to solve the given scenario.

For more info about what to expect on the exam, see our blog about the CPCU^® 551 Exam Overview (coming soon).

CPCU^® 551 DIFFICULTY

This exam is tough because there is so much content to memorize. In particular, there are a ton of different insurance products and coverages that you need to memorize.

We have personally reviewed the content and counted over 20 different commercial insurance products (such as flood coverage, equipment breakdown, and ocean marine) that you need to be familiar with for this exam. Almost every single question on the CPCU® 551 exam will be based on some type of coverage, exclusion, or endorsement.

For comparison purposes, this exam is most similar to the CPCU^® 555 and CPCU^® 557 exams (except this one is based on commercial property insurance). Much like the CPCU^® 555 exam, for the CPCU^® 551 exam you will be required to memorize every aspect of each insurance product including the coverages, conditions, exclusions, and endorsements. In total, there are over 20 commercial insurance products that you need to memorize to pass this exam.

The hardest part of the CPCU^® 551 will be memorizing each coverage, condition, exclusion, and every minor aspect of each commercial insurance product. The reason people fail this exam is because they underestimate the amount of content. There is a LOT to memorize.  For each commercial insurance product, such as the building and personal property coverage form (one of the most important topics of the 551 exam), you must know the insurance limit, covered losses, optional coverages, additional coverages, coverage extensions, loss conditions, coverage conditions, exclusions, and endorsements. You have to know this for EACH of the 20+ commercial insurance products covered in this exam (that’s a lot to memorize).

For more insight, see our blog about the CPCU^® 551 Difficulty.

CPCU^® 551 EXAM TOPICS

The CPCU® 551 exam focuses on the commercial property insurance products, including topics such as the building and personal property coverage form (BPP), businessowners policy (BOP), business income insurance (BIC), and commercial crime insurance.

In total, there are over 20 commercial insurance products that you need to memorize to pass this exam.

For more info about the most important topics see our blog about the CPCU^® 551 Exam Topics (coming soon).

CPCU^® 551 STUDY TIPS

The exam is tricky. The multiple choice questions will try to trick you by mixing the optional coverages, loss conditions, and insurance limits of the various products. Pay close attention to the minor details of each commercial insurance product. You must be able to confidently state the coverages, conditions, and exclusions of each insurance product covered in the study material.

We recommend you focus first on memorizing the definition of the insurance product and coverage. Then memorize the minor details and differences between each different insurance product. The 551 will try to trick you by asking about the minor differences between products. The exam will even makeup the name of a commercial insurance form to try and trick you!

Here are three study tips that we recommend to help you master the CPCU® 551 content:

1) Study each chapter: Treat each chapter like its own textbook. Read each chapter and memorize the insurance products and coverages as you go. Don’t wait until the end to memorize the coverages, exclusions, and conditions. You will be overwhelmed.

2) Make a study guide: Taking notes and making a personal study guide is a great way to improve your ability to recall information on the exam. Make sure your study guide is short and easy to quickly review; this will help you keep track of those minor details and creates a reference sheet for you to review rather than re-reading the textbook.

3) Practice, practice, practice: Take as many practice exam and quizzes as you possibly can. This will help you familiarize yourself with the CPCU^® 551 question format and help you determine which topics you need to re-study. Once you go through a few practice quizzes and exams, return to your notes and review any section that you failed.

For more information about the type of questions you will see on the exam see our blog about the CPCU^® 551 Exam Questions (coming soon).

CPCU^® 551 VIDEO SERIES

Here’s all eight videos to our CPCU^® 551 four -part video series, covering everything you need to know to prepare for your CPCU^® 551 exam.

MORE CPCU^® 551 RESOURCES

For more information about the CPCU^® 551 exam, checkout some of our other free resources:

• CPCU^® 551 exam questions
• CPCU^® 551 exam format
• CPCU^® 551 exam difficulty
• CPCU^® 551 Video series
• CPCU® 551 Slide Series
• CPCU^® Designation Overview
• CPCU^® Designation Salary
• CPCU^® Cost
• CPCU^® Exam Pass Rates
• CPCU® Video Series
• CPCU® Slide Series

Disclaimer

Remember, every CPCU^® exam is different. No single exam is the same. Be sure to study ALL topics (not just our recommendation). This resource is intended to provide you with a general idea of where your focus should be. Make sure to thoroughly study every topic of this exam.

Difficulty rank, importance rank, and the advice provided in this resource are solely the opinion of AssociatePI. This resource is intended to provide you with a general idea of where your focus should be. Each exam administered by The Institutes is different. AssociatePI is not affiliated with The Institutes or involved in the exam writing process. Please be sure to thoroughly study every chapter and every topic of this course.

CPCU^® exams are administered by the American Institute for Chartered Property Casualty Underwriters (“The Institutes”). AssociatePI does not administer the actual exams, we are an independent resource of free content, advice, and study material for professional insurance education. This blog is intended for informational purposes only, to inform prospective students of the benefit of the CPCU^® designation.

CPCU^® and API^™ are trademarks of the American Institute for Chartered Property Casualty Underwriters (“The Institutes”). AssociatePI LLC is not affiliated with, associated with, endorsed by or otherwise supported or recognized by The Institutes in any way. AssociatePI LLC is not authorized by The Institutes to offer courses, practice examinations, or any other resources related to the Institutes’ designations or other programs.

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