DC Property & Casualty common mistakes
DC Property & Casualty · Understand the traps and how to avoid them.
On any item that turns on when insurable interest must exist, the candidate answers "at the time the policy is written" for a property loss.
Life insurance rules (interest at inception) are taught first and get carried over; both lines collapse into one memorized phrase, so the property rule never gets its own slot.
What to do instead
Drill the split out loud: property/casualty - insurable interest must exist at the time of loss and the insured must actually suffer the loss; life - at inception. Restate the rule on every practice question that mentions insurable interest, even when it is not the tested point.
On producer-authority items, the candidate picks "express" or "implied" authority when the fact pattern shows the insurer letting a producer act in a way it never actually authorized and the customer reasonably relied on that appearance.
The three authority types are memorized as a list without the reliance/estoppel trigger that signals apparent authority, so the fact pattern is never screened for it.
What to do instead
Screen with three questions: was the act within a written or verbal grant (express)? customary to that producer's role (implied)? outside both, but the insurer clothed the producer with the appearance of authority and the customer reasonably relied (apparent)? If reasonable reliance is in the stem, the answer is apparent authority and the insurer is bound.
Treating the HO-3 as open-peril on both the dwelling and the personal property, so a question about an unexplained loss to contents gets answered "covered."
HO-3 is nicknamed the "special form" and candidates stop at the nickname; the asymmetry between Coverage A and Coverage C perils is never memorized.
What to do instead
Build a three-row grid before answering: HO-3 open perils on the dwelling, named perils on personal property; HO-5 open perils on both; HO-8 named perils with functional replacement cost. Identify which coverage part (A, B, C, D) suffered the loss first, then apply that part's peril list.
In coinsurance penalty problems, the candidate deducts the deductible from the loss before applying the limit-to-required ratio, or applies the penalty even though the limit already met the coinsurance requirement.
The formula is memorized as one jumbled string, so the order of operations is never fixed and the threshold check is skipped entirely.
What to do instead
Fix the sequence and write it in the margin of every coinsurance item: (1) required = coinsurance % x value at time of loss; (2) if limit is at least required, pay loss minus deductible and stop; (3) if not, pay (limit / required) x loss, then subtract the deductible. Work three numeric examples end to end.
Measuring a business income loss from the date of physical damage to the date repairs are finished, rather than to the date the business could reasonably resume operations at a similar level.
"Period of restoration" feels synonymous with "repair period," and the civil-authority waiting period and extended period of indemnity are treated as afterthoughts.
What to do instead
Write the definition each time: begins at the time of loss (or after the specified waiting period for civil authority) and ends when the property is or could be repaired with reasonable speed and similar quality. Add that extra expense carries no coinsurance and is not reduced by the business income limit.
Answering negligence-damages questions with comparative-fault math by default, reducing a DC claimant's recovery by their percentage of fault.
Prep material is largely national and most states use comparative fault, so the one-line District rule is skimmed and never tagged to the question.
What to do instead
Tag the jurisdiction rule before doing any damages arithmetic. The District retains contributory negligence: a claimant whose own negligence contributed to the injury is barred from recovery, subject to narrow exceptions such as last clear chance. On a DC stem asking about "reduction," the answer is usually a bar, not a percentage reduction.
Applying the collision deductible to a comprehensive/other-than-collision loss, or assuming one deductible governs all of Part D.
Collision is the deductible candidates actually see on their own policy; the separate treatment of other-than-collision and the towing/rental sublimits gets skimmed.
What to do instead
Map Part D explicitly: collision, other-than-collision (comprehensive), and towing/rental each with its own limit or deductible. On any Part D calculation, name the cause of loss first (animal strike and glass are other-than-collision, not collision), then apply that coverage's deductible.
Answering that an umbrella pays only after the underlying limits are used up, missing the drop-down when the underlying policy excludes the loss or when the insured's retained limit applies.
"Excess" and "umbrella" are treated as synonyms, which erases the broader-coverage function and the self-insured retention.
What to do instead
State the two functions before answering: (1) excess over the required underlying limits, and (2) broader coverage, where the umbrella drops down subject to a self-insured retention. If the stem says the underlying policy excludes the loss, the umbrella responds above the SIR, not above an exhausted underlying limit.
Marking a claim covered under a claims-made professional liability policy when the wrongful act happened during the policy period but the claim was first made after expiration and outside any extended reporting period.
The occurrence trigger is learned first and becomes the default mental model, so the candidate checks only the date of the act.
What to do instead
For every claims-made item, circle two dates in the stem: when the act occurred (versus any retroactive date) and when the claim was first made. Coverage requires the claim to be made during the policy period or an applicable extended reporting period, and the act to be on or after the retroactive date.
Answering District licensing and market-conduct items with generic NAIC model numbers - appointment and termination notice timing, license term and renewal, continuing education hours and ethics component, reporting of administrative actions, and unfair-trade-practice definitions.
Most study guides are national or built around a large state, and DC's small size invites the assumption that the model law applies verbatim.
What to do instead
Keep a one-page DC-only sheet keyed to the DC Code and regulations for each of those figures, and re-verify every number against the current DC source before the exam. If a figure cannot be confirmed from an authoritative DC source, flag the item for review instead of guessing from the model act.