- The Series 16-19 exam is 60 scored items in 80 minutes; PSI may add 5-10 unscored questions in the same window.
- Passing score is 70%; the exam fee is $45 per attempt, paid to PSI Services LLC.
- Property and Casualty Insurance Basics carries the heaviest weight at 19% of the exam.
- Insurance Regulation and Adjustment Process each account for 15%, making up nearly a third of the exam together.
Exam Snapshot: The Numbers You Must Know
Before you touch a single practice question, memorize the mechanics of the exam itself. The Pennsylvania Public Insurance Adjuster Examination, Series 16-19, is administered by PSI Services LLC on behalf of the Pennsylvania Insurance Department. The candidate booklet governing the current version has been effective since July 1, 2025, and was last verified against PSI's published bulletin on September 5, 2026.
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Exam name | Pennsylvania Public Insurance Adjuster Examination, Series 16-19 |
| Administered by | PSI Services LLC, on behalf of the PA Insurance Department |
| Scored questions | 60, four-option multiple choice |
| Time allowed | 80 minutes (tutorial adds 15 minutes, not deducted) |
| Unscored items | 5-10 experimental questions, embedded within the same time |
| Passing score | 70% correct |
| Exam fee | $45 per attempt |
| Delivery options | Test center or remote-proctored |
| Reference materials | Closed-book; PSI-provided calculator permitted |
Because this is closed-book, you cannot bring a policy manual or notes into the session - everything tested must already be in your head. If you want a deeper walkthrough of exactly how the scoring and timing work, the PA-PADJ Passing Score 2026 guide breaks down the 70% threshold question by question.
All 10 Weighted Domains at a Glance
The official outline splits the exam into ten domains totaling 100% of the content. Knowing the weight of each domain tells you where to spend your limited study hours - a candidate who ignores Property and Casualty Insurance Basics is ignoring nearly a fifth of the exam.
Domain 3: Property and Casualty Insurance Basics - 19%
The single largest domain. Covers foundational P&C concepts that underpin every policy-specific domain later in the exam.
- Highest point value on the exam - master this before anything else
Domain 1: Insurance Regulation - 15%
Pennsylvania-specific statutes, licensing authority, and the Public Adjuster Law (Act 21 of 2012) that governs how licensees may operate.
- Tied for second-largest weight; regulatory questions are non-negotiable
Domain 10: Adjustment Process - 15%
The practical mechanics of investigating, documenting, and settling a claim from first notice of loss through final payment.
- Equal weight to Insurance Regulation; this is the "day job" domain
Domain 2: General Insurance Concepts - 14%
Core terminology and principles - indemnity, insurable interest, risk, and policy structure - that appear as building blocks in nearly every other domain.
- Fourth-largest weight; concepts here reappear inside policy-specific questions
The remaining six domains carry smaller individual weights but still add up to more than a third of the exam combined:
- Domain 5: Homeowners Policy Concepts - 10%
- Domain 6: Commercial Property Policies ('12) - 8%
- Domain 4: Dwelling Policy Concepts - 6%
- Domain 8: Businessowners ('13) Policy - Property - 6%
- Domain 9: Other Types of Insurance Policies - 4%
- Domain 7: Commercial Inland Marine - 3%
For a full breakdown of what each of these ten areas actually tests - sample topics, terminology, and how questions are typically phrased - see the PA-PADJ Exam Domains 2026: Complete Guide to All 10 Content Areas.
Key Takeaway
Four domains - Property and Casualty Basics, Insurance Regulation, Adjustment Process, and General Insurance Concepts - make up 63% of the exam. Allocate your study time proportionally, not evenly across all ten.
Question Format and Test-Day Mechanics
Every scored item on the Series 16-19 exam is a four-option, closed-book multiple-choice question. There are no fill-in-the-blank, matching, or scenario-simulation formats - every question resolves to picking one of four answers. This matters for your prep strategy: practicing with realistic four-option multiple choice questions builds the same pattern-recognition skill you'll use on test day, which is why timed practice tests are more useful than passive reading.
Candidates can sit for the exam at a physical test center or through remote proctoring. Either way, you'll get a 15-minute tutorial before the clock starts on your 80 scored minutes - the tutorial time does not eat into your exam time, so use every minute of it to get comfortable with the interface. PSI supplies an on-screen or physical calculator; you are not permitted to bring your own.
Registration and Fee Mechanics
Money and paperwork trip up candidates as often as content does. Here is the exact sequence and cost structure:
- Pay the exam fee. $45 per attempt, charged by PSI Services LLC each time you sit - including retakes.
- Pass the exam. You need 70% correct on the 60 scored items.
- Submit your license application through NIPR or Sircon.
- Complete IdentoGO fingerprinting as part of the background check requirement.
- Pay the initial license fee of $200 for an individual public adjuster license.
Renewal happens on a biennial, birth-month cycle, and the standard renewal fee is also $200. If you let your license lapse, expect a $400 lapsed-renewal fee within the 60-day reinstatement window - double the standard rate, so calendar reminders matter more than they seem to at first glance. A full cost breakdown, including how these figures compare across the lifecycle of the credential, is available in the PA-PADJ Certification Cost 2026: Complete Pricing Breakdown.
Eligibility is straightforward on paper: applicants must be at least 18 years old and meet the Department's fitness, competence, and reliability standards. There is no prelicensing education requirement, but there is a background and character review baked into the fitness standard. The PA-PADJ Requirements 2026: Eligibility, Prerequisites & How to Qualify page covers exactly what "fitness, competence, and reliability" means in practice.
Key Takeaway
Pass the exam first, then apply for the license, then get fingerprinted - attempting these steps out of order is one of the most common paperwork delays reported by new applicants.
After You Pass: Bond, License, and CE
Passing the exam is the academic hurdle. Pennsylvania adds two more gates before you can legally transact business as a public adjuster:
- Surety bond of at least $20,000. This is a bond amount, not a premium - you don't pay $20,000 out of pocket, you pay a bonding company a much smaller premium to underwrite that bond amount.
- Department-approved client contract. You need a compliant contract template in place before you can sign your first client.
Once licensed, your initial term runs up to two years, after which you renew biennially in your birth month. Ongoing education requires 24 continuing education (CE) hours per two-year renewal period, and up to 24 eligible hours can carry forward into the next cycle if you complete extra hours early. That carry-forward rule rewards front-loading your CE rather than scrambling near a renewal deadline.
Final-Week Review Plan by Domain Weight
In the last stretch before exam day, don't spread your remaining hours evenly across all ten domains - spend them proportional to weight, heaviest first. This is the one place a structured weekly rhythm is worth borrowing, but it's built entirely around the Series 16-19 weighting, not a generic study template.
Property and Casualty Insurance Basics (19%) + General Insurance Concepts (14%)
- Drill core P&C terminology and foundational concepts first - these underpin every other domain
- Take a timed practice set focused only on these two domains
Insurance Regulation (15%) + Adjustment Process (15%)
- Review the Public Adjuster Law provisions and licensing authority rules
- Walk through the claim lifecycle: notice of loss, investigation, documentation, settlement
Homeowners (10%), Dwelling (6%), Commercial Property (8%), Businessowners (6%)
- Compare policy forms side by side rather than studying each in isolation
- Flag overlapping coverage terms that differ subtly between forms
Other Types of Insurance Policies (4%) + Commercial Inland Marine (3%) + Full Review
- Cover the two lightest domains last since they carry the smallest point value
- Run a full-length timed practice exam to simulate the 80-minute window
If you're building this schedule from scratch, the PA-PADJ Study Guide 2026: How to Pass on Your First Attempt lays out a longer-horizon version of this same weight-based approach for candidates starting further out from their exam date.
Mistakes That Cost Candidates Points
- Treating all ten domains equally. Spending the same number of hours on Commercial Inland Marine (3%) as Property and Casualty Insurance Basics (19%) is a poor use of limited prep time.
- Skipping timed practice. With 80 minutes for up to 70 total items, pacing is a real constraint - running through untimed flashcards won't reveal whether you can sustain that pace.
- Assuming no prelicensing course means no structured prep is needed. The absence of a required course means the burden of structure shifts entirely to you.
- Forgetting the post-exam steps. Passing the exam does not authorize you to transact business - you still need the license, the $20,000 bond, and an approved client contract.
- Letting a license lapse. A lapsed renewal costs $400 within the 60-day window, double the standard $200 biennial renewal fee.
Curious how your overall odds look once you account for these factors? The PA-PADJ Pass Rate 2026: What the Data Shows article and the Is the PA-PADJ Certification Worth It? Complete ROI Analysis 2026 guide both dig into what separates candidates who pass on the first attempt from those who don't.
FAQ
There are 60 scored questions, plus PSI may add 5-10 unscored experimental items, all within an 80-minute window. A 15-minute tutorial precedes the exam and does not count against your 80 minutes.
You need 70% correct on the scored portion of the exam. Unscored experimental items are not identifiable and do not count toward your result.
Property and Casualty Insurance Basics at 19% is the single largest domain, followed by Insurance Regulation and Adjustment Process, each at 15%, and General Insurance Concepts at 14%. Together these four domains cover 63% of the exam.
No. Pennsylvania does not require prelicensing education for the public adjuster exam. Applicants must simply be at least 18 and meet fitness, competence, and reliability standards.
You submit a license application through NIPR or Sircon, complete IdentoGO fingerprinting, pay the $200 initial license fee, and secure a $20,000 surety bond plus a Department-approved client contract before transacting any business.