- What Is NH-ADJ?
- Who Governs and Administers the Exam
- Exam Format and Registration Mechanics
- The 12 NH-ADJ Exam Domains
- Who Hires NH-ADJ Licensed Adjusters
- Resident vs. Nonresident Pathways
- License Validity, Renewal, and CE Requirements
- Building a Study Plan Around the Blueprint
- Frequently Asked Questions
- NH-ADJ is the Series 12-75 exam: 150 scored questions plus 5-10 unscored items in 2 hours 30 minutes.
- The exam costs $72 and is delivered by PSI at test centers or via remote proctoring.
- Property and Casualty Insurance Basics is the heaviest domain at 21% of the blueprint.
- No prelicensing course is mandatory for New Hampshire residents before sitting for Series 12-75.
What Is NH-ADJ?
NH-ADJ refers to the New Hampshire Adjuster's Property and Casualty Insurance Exam - the state licensing test that individuals must pass to become a resident property and casualty claims adjuster in New Hampshire. This exam is formally cataloged as Series 12-75, and it is the credentialing gateway for anyone who wants to legally investigate, evaluate, and settle property and casualty insurance claims on behalf of insurers, independent adjusting firms, or as a public adjuster within the state.
Unlike broad industry certifications that carry the same acronym but come from entirely different organizations, this NH-ADJ is a state-specific regulatory exam tied directly to New Hampshire insurance law. If you're researching this credential, it's worth bookmarking a dedicated NH-ADJ Certification overview alongside this page, since the two resources cover overlapping but distinct angles - one focuses on the exam itself, the other on the certification and licensing pathway as a whole.
Who Governs and Administers the Exam
The New Hampshire Insurance Department sets the licensing requirements and content blueprint for NH-ADJ, while the actual testing logistics - scheduling, delivery, and scoring - are handled by PSI, a third-party testing vendor used across many state insurance exams. This split is important to understand: policy questions about eligibility, license status, or continuing education go to the Insurance Department, while scheduling issues, test center logistics, and score reporting go to PSI.
Because the blueprint originates from a state regulator rather than a private certifying body, the content is tightly aligned to New Hampshire-specific statutes and the standard lines of property and casualty insurance recognized for adjusting purposes in the state. If you want a deeper breakdown of exactly what's tested and how heavily, the NH-ADJ Exam Domains 2026: Complete Guide to All 12 Content Areas walks through each domain in more depth than we can cover in a single overview article.
Exam Format and Registration Mechanics
NH-ADJ candidates sit for a computer-delivered exam consisting of 150 scored multiple-choice questions, plus an additional 5-10 unscored experimental items mixed in without identification. Total testing time is 2 hours and 30 minutes. Because the experimental items are indistinguishable from scored questions, candidates should treat every question on the screen with equal seriousness rather than trying to guess which ones "don't count."
The exam fee is $72 per attempt. Candidates can test at a physical PSI test center or opt for remote online proctoring, which allows the exam to be taken from a home or office location that meets PSI's proctoring requirements. There is no prelicensing education course mandated before sitting for the exam in New Hampshire, which means self-study and structured exam prep carry more weight than they might in states with mandatory coursework.
Key Takeaway
Because no prelicensing course is required, your entire preparation burden rests on self-directed study. A structured resource like the NH-ADJ Study Guide 2026: How to Pass on Your First Attempt can substitute for the classroom instruction other states require.
The 12 NH-ADJ Exam Domains
The Series 12-75 blueprint is organized into 12 domains, each carrying a different weight toward the 150 scored questions. This current blueprint is effective through September 14, 2026, with a revised version taking effect September 15, 2026 - so candidates testing near that boundary should confirm which version applies to their scheduled date.
| Domain | Weight |
|---|---|
| 1. Insurance Regulation | 7% |
| 2. Licensing and Regulation | 3% |
| 3. General Insurance Concepts | 10% |
| 4. Property and Casualty Insurance Basics | 21% |
| 5. Dwelling Policy Concepts | 6% |
| 6. Homeowners Policy Concepts | 13% |
| 7. Personal Automobile Policy | 10% |
| 8. Commercial Automobile Policy | 6% |
| 9. Commercial Property Policies | 7% |
| 10. Commercial General Liability | 6% |
| 11. Other Types of Insurance Policies | 2% |
| 12. Adjustment Process | 9% |
Property and Casualty Insurance Basics (21%)
This is the single largest domain on the exam, making it the highest-leverage area for study time. It covers foundational concepts that underpin nearly every other domain, so weakness here tends to ripple into lower scores across the whole test.
- Core policy structure: declarations, insuring agreements, conditions, and exclusions
- Fundamental terms like indemnity, insurable interest, and subrogation
- How basic underwriting and rating concepts interact with claims handling
Homeowners Policy Concepts (13%)
The second-heaviest domain, this section tests how well candidates understand the structure of homeowners forms, coverage parts, and common endorsements that adjusters encounter when settling residential property claims.
- Coverage A through F distinctions and how they apply to claims
- Perils covered vs. excluded across different homeowners form types
- Common endorsements that modify standard coverage
Adjustment Process (9%)
This domain is where adjusting practice meets policy knowledge - it tests the actual workflow an adjuster follows from claim intake through settlement.
- Claim investigation steps and documentation standards
- Loss valuation methods and settlement negotiation basics
- Ethical and regulatory duties during the claims process
General Insurance Concepts and Personal Automobile Policy each carry 10% weight, making them the next tier of priority after the two largest domains. Meanwhile, Licensing and Regulation and Other Types of Insurance Policies sit at the low end (3% and 2% respectively), meaning they deserve review but shouldn't consume disproportionate study time. For a granular, domain-by-domain study checklist, the NH-ADJ Exam Domains 2026: Complete Guide to All 12 Content Areas is the natural next stop after this overview.
Who Hires NH-ADJ Licensed Adjusters
Holding a New Hampshire adjuster license opens doors with a range of employers involved in property and casualty claims work. Typical hiring paths include insurance carriers that write homeowners, dwelling, personal auto, or commercial lines in New Hampshire; independent adjusting firms that get dispatched by multiple insurers, particularly after storms or catastrophe events; and public adjusting firms that represent policyholders rather than insurers during claim disputes.
Because the exam blueprint spans both personal lines (homeowners, dwelling, personal auto) and commercial lines (commercial property, commercial auto, commercial general liability), license holders are qualified to work across a fairly broad claims environment rather than being pigeonholed into a single specialty. Candidates weighing whether the time and $72 exam fee are worth it relative to career outcomes may want to review Is the NH-ADJ Certification Worth It? Complete ROI Analysis 2026 and NH-ADJ Salary Guide 2026: Complete Earnings Analysis for a fuller picture of how licensure translates into employment opportunities.
Resident vs. Nonresident Pathways
New Hampshire treats resident and nonresident applicants differently. Resident applicants - those who live in New Hampshire - are generally required to pass the Series 12-75 exam to obtain their adjuster license. Nonresident applicants, on the other hand, typically qualify through one of two alternate routes: holding a license in good standing from their home state (or a designated-home-state license), or demonstrating 6 months of verifiable adjusting experience.
This distinction matters a great deal for anyone relocating to or from New Hampshire, or anyone who adjusts claims across state lines. If you're unsure which pathway applies to your situation, the detailed eligibility breakdown in NH-ADJ Requirements 2026: Eligibility, Prerequisites & How to Qualify lays out the specific criteria for each applicant type.
Key Takeaway
Only resident applicants are generally funneled toward the Series 12-75 exam itself; nonresidents with an existing home-state license or sufficient adjusting experience often bypass the New Hampshire-specific test entirely.
License Validity, Renewal, and CE Requirements
Once you pass NH-ADJ, your exam results remain valid for 2 years, so licensing paperwork should be completed within that window rather than delayed indefinitely. After a license is issued, it expires on the second October 1 following issuance, and then renews on that same 2-year cycle going forward.
Ongoing licensure isn't a one-time achievement. Residents and New Hampshire designated-home-state adjusters must complete 24 continuing education (CE) hours per renewal cycle, and that total must include between 3 and 10 hours specifically in ethics. Missing these CE requirements can put an otherwise active license at risk, so it's worth tracking renewal dates well ahead of the October 1 deadline rather than scrambling at the last minute.
Building a Study Plan Around the Blueprint
Because there's no mandated prelicensing course, the most efficient way to prepare is to structure study time proportionally to each domain's exam weight rather than spreading effort evenly across all 12 areas. Spending equal time on a 2%-weighted domain and a 21%-weighted domain is a common and costly mistake.
Foundations
- Study Property and Casualty Insurance Basics (21%) and General Insurance Concepts (10%) first, since these underpin later domains
- Review core terminology: indemnity, insurable interest, subrogation, and policy structure
Personal Lines
- Cover Homeowners Policy Concepts (13%), Dwelling Policy Concepts (6%), and Personal Automobile Policy (10%)
- Compare coverage parts and exclusions across the different personal lines forms
Commercial Lines and Process
- Study Commercial Property Policies (7%), Commercial Automobile Policy (6%), and Commercial General Liability (6%)
- Work through Adjustment Process (9%) scenarios to connect policy knowledge to real claim workflows
Regulation and Review
- Finish with Insurance Regulation (7%), Licensing and Regulation (3%), and Other Types of Insurance Policies (2%)
- Run full-length practice sessions timed to 2 hours 30 minutes to build stamina for all 150 scored plus experimental items
Spaced repetition works well for the terminology-heavy domains like General Insurance Concepts, while scenario-based review is more effective for Adjustment Process, where questions tend to describe a claims situation rather than ask for a definition. If you're still calibrating how much total time this preparation should take, How Hard Is the NH-ADJ Exam? Complete Difficulty Guide 2026 offers a candid look at where candidates typically struggle. Once you've built a study rhythm, running full practice exams on our practice test platform is one of the best ways to simulate the real 150-question, 2 hour 30 minute format before test day.
Before you schedule your test date, it also helps to know exactly what score you need and how PSI reports it - details covered in NH-ADJ Passing Score 2026: Exactly What You Need to Pass - as well as how to plan around testing windows using NH-ADJ Exam Dates 2026: Testing Windows, Deadlines & Scheduling.
Frequently Asked Questions
NH-ADJ stands for the New Hampshire Adjuster's Property and Casualty Insurance Exam, formally designated Series 12-75, which is the state licensing exam for property and casualty claims adjusters in New Hampshire.
The exam includes 150 scored multiple-choice questions plus 5-10 unscored experimental items, all within a 2 hour 30 minute testing window delivered by PSI.
No. New Hampshire does not require a prelicensing course before taking the Series 12-75 exam, which places more emphasis on independent study and structured exam prep.
The exam fee is $72. For a full breakdown of any additional licensing costs beyond the exam fee itself, see the NH-ADJ Certification Cost 2026: Complete Pricing Breakdown guide.
Passing exam results remain valid for 2 years, so licensing applications should be completed within that timeframe after passing Series 12-75.