CU Practice Test

The Certified Underwriter (CU) exam from Vskills is open to freshers and experienced professionals alike, because there are no prerequisites or minimum qualification. This page explains how the exam is delivered and scored, then gives you free practice sets by topic, worked questions with full reasoning, a study plan and answers to common candidate questions.

CU Exam at a Glance

What changed for CU in 2026

• Oct 27, 2026: Retake policy changed to Paid retake for candidates who were unsuccessful or absent (previously Paid retake for candidates who failed or were absent).^[2]

What the CU is and how it works

According to Vskills, “NO prerequisites or NO minimum qualification for taking the Vskills Certification Exam, so it is can be pursued by freshers as well as experienced professionals.”^[3]

The Certified Underwriter (CU) credential is offered by Vskills for people who work in, or want to move into, insurance underwriting. Vskills does not set any prerequisites or minimum qualification, so you can sit the exam as a fresher or as an experienced professional.

The exam is taken online, anywhere and anytime. It has 50 questions and a time limit of 60 minutes. There is no negative marking, so a wrong answer costs you nothing beyond the missed mark. The maximum score is 50 marks and the passing mark is 25, which is 50%. Results are declared immediately when you submit the exam.

Once you pass, the certification is valid for life and has no expiry, so there is no renewal to track. If you are unsuccessful, or absent on your scheduled date, Vskills sells a paid retake product. The fee, the booking steps and any changes to the rules are not listed here, so check the Vskills retake page before you plan around it.

The official content outline is not reproduced on this page, because we have not verified it. Read the outline on the Vskills Underwriter certification page and compare it with the topic sets below. Our questions are written by us with AI tools and are not real exam questions. Use them to find weak spots, and treat the Vskills material as the authority on what is examined.

Worked examples: how to reason through CU questions

These are practice questions written for this site, not questions from the real exam. Each explanation shows why the right answer is right and why the others are wrong.

Example 1

Question: Which reinsurance arrangement requires the cedent to offer and the reinsurer to accept every risk within defined parameters?

1. Facultative obligatory
2. Facultative facultative
3. Obligatory treaty
4. Surplus lines

Answer: C. Obligatory treaty

Explanation:

Obligatory treaty is correct. Under a treaty, the cedent must cede every risk that falls inside the agreed parameters and the reinsurer must accept it, so neither side picks and chooses.

Facultative obligatory is wrong because it is a hybrid: the cedent may choose whether to offer a risk, while the reinsurer is bound to accept what is offered. Facultative facultative is wrong because every risk is negotiated individually and either party can decline. Surplus lines is wrong because it describes a market for direct insurance placed with non-admitted insurers, not a way of structuring reinsurance between a cedent and a reinsurer.

Rule to remember: ask who has the choice. If both sides are bound, it is obligatory treaty. If the cedent chooses but the reinsurer is bound, it is facultative obligatory. If both can say no, it is facultative.

Example 2

Question: What does 'moral hazard' mean in underwriting?

1. Insurance fraud by agents.
2. Increased risky behavior by insured individuals
3. Underwriting process errors.
4. Errors in claim settlement.

Answer: B. Increased risky behavior by insured individuals

Explanation:

Increased risky behavior by insured individuals is correct. Moral hazard is the change in conduct that can follow once a person is protected by insurance. Someone who knows a loss will be paid may take fewer precautions, which raises the chance or size of a loss.

Insurance fraud by agents is wrong because it is misconduct by an intermediary, not a change in the behavior of the insured. Underwriting process errors is wrong because it describes internal mistakes in how risks are reviewed, not a feature of the risk itself. Errors in claim settlement is wrong because it concerns the claims function after a loss.

Rule to remember: moral hazard is about the insured person's incentives and behavior. Underwriters respond through application questions, deductibles, coverage terms and pricing.

Example 3

Question: The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA) imposes several requirements on financial institutions, including insurance companies, to protect consumer information. Which of the following is a key provision of the GLBA that directly impacts the underwriting process?

1. Mandating that all insurance policies be written in plain language.
2. Requiring insurers to provide consumers with an annual notice of their privacy policies and practices.
3. Setting minimum capital and surplus requirements for insurers.
4. Prohibiting discrimination in the setting of premium rates based on credit history.

Answer: B. Requiring insurers to provide consumers with an annual notice of their privacy policies and practices.

Explanation:

Requiring insurers to provide consumers with an annual notice of their privacy policies and practices is correct. This comes from the Privacy Rule of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, which asks financial institutions to explain how they share information and to safeguard sensitive data.

Mandating plain language in all policies is wrong because policy readability is generally dealt with in state insurance rules, not in this Act. Setting minimum capital and surplus is wrong because solvency standards are a separate area of insurance regulation. Prohibiting discrimination in premium rates based on credit history is wrong because the Act deals with privacy and data protection, not rate-setting rules.

Rule to remember: when a question mentions GLBA, think privacy notices, information sharing and safeguarding customer data.

How to use these practice tests

Start with the official Vskills Underwriter certification page and note the topics it lists. Then match those topics to the practice sets above. Do not start with the set you like best; start with the one where you feel least sure.

Work through a set untimed. For every miss, read the explanation and write a short sentence in your own words stating the rule behind the right answer. Include the questions you got right by guessing, because those are the weakest knowledge you have.

Next, rotate across the sets so that core principles, policies and contracts, regulation, fraud, credit analysis and reinsurance keep coming back. Spaced repetition works better than finishing one topic and never returning to it.

Close to test day, run a timed session that copies the real format: 50 questions in 60 minutes. Since there is no negative marking, practise answering every question, and mark hard ones to revisit. Aim to clear the passing mark of 25 comfortably in practice, since 50% is the line on the real exam.

Before you sit the exam, check your device, connection and booking details on the Vskills site, because it is taken online.

Sources & last verified

1. Vskills — number of questions, time limit, passing score, validity (official source). “No. of questions: 50” Verified Oct 27, 2026.
2. Vskills — retake policy (official source). “The product is applicable if the candidate had been unsuccessful or absent for their scheduled Vskills assessment exam.” Verified Oct 27, 2026.
3. Vskills — renewal, eligibility, score release (official source). “Vskills certification is valid for Lifetime and doesn't have any expiry.” Verified Oct 27, 2026.

How we verify: editorial & fact-checking policy. Report an error: contact us.