Property and casualty (P&C) insurance
Also known as: p&c insurance, property-casualty insurance
Property and casualty (P&C) insurance covers damage to a policyholder's belongings and their legal liability for harm to others. It spans homeowners, auto, renters, and most commercial insurance — everything outside life and health.
Property and casualty (P&C) insurance is the broad category of coverage that protects against loss of or damage to property and against legal responsibility for injuries or damage suffered by others. It is one of the two great divisions of the insurance industry, sitting opposite life and health insurance.
The property side is first-party coverage: it pays the insured for damage to their own assets — a house destroyed by fire, a car crumpled by hail, business equipment lost to theft. The casualty (or liability) side is third-party coverage: it pays on the insured's behalf when they are legally responsible for someone else's bodily injury or property damage, and it typically funds the legal defense as well.
Most familiar policies bundle both. A homeowners policy covers the dwelling and personal property (property) plus personal liability if a guest is injured (casualty). A personal auto policy pairs physical damage coverage for the insured's vehicle with liability coverage for harm the driver causes. On the commercial side, package policies combine commercial property coverage with commercial general liability.
P&C concepts are the foundation of state licensing exams for property, casualty, and personal lines producers. Those exams expect you to distinguish first-party from third-party coverage, identify which policy section responds to a given loss, and understand core doctrines like insurable interest and indemnity that run through every P&C contract.
Key takeaways
- P&C insurance combines property coverage (the insured's own assets) with casualty/liability coverage (harm to others).
- Property coverage is first-party; casualty coverage is third-party and usually includes legal defense.
- Homeowners, renters, auto, and most commercial policies are P&C products.
- P&C is distinct from life and health insurance, which covers people rather than property and liability.
- State licensing exams test whether you can match a loss scenario to the correct coverage type.