- Overview: The Ten Weighted Domains
- Domain 1: Insurance Regulation (15%)
- Domain 2: General Insurance Concepts (14%)
- Domain 3: Property and Casualty Insurance Basics (19%)
- Domain 4: Dwelling Policy Concepts (6%)
- Domain 5: Homeowners Policy Concepts (10%)
- Domain 6: Commercial Property Policies (8%)
- Domain 7: Commercial Inland Marine (3%)
- Domain 8: Businessowners Policy - Property (6%)
- Domain 9: Other Types of Insurance Policies (4%)
- Domain 10: Adjustment Process (15%)
- Scheduling Study Time Around Domain Weight
- Question Format and Delivery Mechanics
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Ten domains total 100%; Property and Casualty Insurance Basics is largest at 19%.
- Insurance Regulation and Adjustment Process tie for second at 15% each.
- Exam has 60 scored items plus up to 10 unscored items in 80 minutes.
- Passing score is 70% correct on the Series 16-19 Pennsylvania Public Insurance Adjuster Examination.
Overview: The Ten Weighted Domains
The Pennsylvania Public Insurance Adjuster Examination, Series 16-19, administered through PSI Services LLC on behalf of the Pennsylvania Insurance Department, is built from ten officially weighted content domains. Together they account for the full 60 scored questions on the exam, with weighting that tells you exactly where to invest your preparation hours. Understanding these domains isn't optional trivia - it's the single most efficient way to plan your study time before sitting for the test.
This breakdown pairs each domain's official weight with the practical skills a working public adjuster needs. If you haven't yet reviewed how these domains fit into a broader prep plan, our PA-PADJ Study Guide 2026 walks through the full first-attempt strategy, and our practice test platform lets you drill each domain individually until your recall is solid.
Domain 1: Insurance Regulation (15%)
Tied for second-largest, Insurance Regulation covers the statutory and administrative framework that governs how public adjusters may operate in Pennsylvania. This domain draws directly from Act 21 of 2012, the Public Adjuster Law, and from Pennsylvania Insurance Department licensing rules.
Insurance Regulation
Candidates must understand licensing eligibility, prohibited practices, and the contractual and financial obligations placed on licensed adjusters.
- Licensing prerequisites: minimum age 18, fitness, competence, and reliability standards
- Surety bond requirement of at least $20,000 and a Department-approved client contract before transacting business
- Grounds for license denial, suspension, or revocation under the Public Adjuster Law
- Renewal cycle mechanics and continuing education obligations
For the exact statutory basis behind these rules, our PA-PADJ Requirements guide covers eligibility in depth, and the PA-PADJ Certification Cost breakdown explains how bonding and licensing fees interact.
Domain 2: General Insurance Concepts (14%)
General Insurance Concepts is the foundation layer beneath every specific policy type tested later in the exam. Expect questions on risk, insurable interest, indemnity, and the basic mechanics of how insurance contracts function.
General Insurance Concepts
This domain tests whether you understand the vocabulary and logic that every other domain assumes you already know.
- Definitions: peril, hazard, indemnity, insurable interest, subrogation
- Policy structure: declarations, insuring agreement, conditions, exclusions
- Underwriting basics and how loss exposure is classified
Domain 3: Property and Casualty Insurance Basics (19%)
This is the single largest domain on the entire exam, and it deserves the largest single block of your study calendar. Property and Casualty Insurance Basics blends core policy language with the fundamentals that carry forward into dwelling, homeowners, and commercial coverage later in the outline.
Property and Casualty Insurance Basics
Because this domain is worth nearly one-fifth of the scored exam, weak recall here has an outsized effect on your overall score.
- Named-peril versus open-peril (all-risk) policy structures
- Coinsurance clauses and how they affect claim payouts
- Actual cash value versus replacement cost valuation
- Deductibles, limits, and how endorsements modify base coverage
Key Takeaway
Because Domain 3 alone represents nearly a fifth of your score, run repeated practice sets on valuation methods and coinsurance math until the calculations are automatic - the PSI-provided calculator helps, but only if you know which formula to apply.
Domain 4: Dwelling Policy Concepts (6%)
Dwelling policies are a smaller slice of the exam but remain a frequent claim scenario for working public adjusters, particularly on non-owner-occupied or seasonal properties.
Dwelling Policy Concepts
- Dwelling policy forms and their coverage differences
- Coverage for the dwelling structure versus other structures and personal property
- Loss of use and additional living expense provisions
Domain 5: Homeowners Policy Concepts (10%)
Homeowners policies represent the largest share of residential claims a Pennsylvania public adjuster will encounter, and this domain reflects that with a 10% weighting.
Homeowners Policy Concepts
- Homeowners forms and the scope of coverage each provides
- Liability coverage and medical payments to others
- Exclusions commonly disputed in claims - flood, earth movement, wear and tear
- Endorsements that expand or restrict standard homeowners coverage
Domain 6: Commercial Property Policies (8%)
Commercial claims involve higher dollar amounts and more complex policy structures, and the 2012 commercial property forms tested here reflect that complexity.
Commercial Property Policies ('12)
- Building and personal property coverage forms
- Business income and extra expense coverage
- Causes-of-loss forms: basic, broad, and special
Domain 7: Commercial Inland Marine (3%)
The smallest weighted domain on the exam, Commercial Inland Marine still appears on nearly every form of the test. Don't skip it just because it's a small percentage - a handful of missed questions across several small domains adds up quickly against a 70% threshold.
Commercial Inland Marine
- Nationwide and floater coverage concepts
- Property in transit and property at scheduled locations
- Distinctions between inland marine and standard commercial property coverage
Domain 8: Businessowners Policy - Property (6%)
The Businessowners Policy (BOP) bundles property and liability coverage for small to mid-sized businesses. This domain focuses on the property side of the 2013 BOP form.
Businessowners ('13) Policy - Property
- Eligibility criteria for BOP coverage
- Property coverage components bundled into the BOP form
- Key differences from a standalone commercial property policy
Domain 9: Other Types of Insurance Policies (4%)
This catch-all domain covers policy types that don't fit neatly into the dwelling, homeowners, or commercial categories but still generate claims a public adjuster may handle.
Other Types of Insurance Policies
- Farm and agricultural property coverage basics
- Condominium and cooperative unit-owner policies
- Umbrella and excess liability concepts as they intersect with property claims
Domain 10: Adjustment Process (15%)
Tied with Insurance Regulation as the second-largest domain, Adjustment Process is where policy knowledge meets real-world claim handling. This is arguably the most job-relevant domain on the entire exam.
Adjustment Process
Candidates must demonstrate they understand how a claim actually moves from first notice of loss to settlement - the practical core of a public adjuster's daily work.
- Claim investigation and documentation standards
- Proof of loss requirements and timelines
- Negotiation duties and the public adjuster's fiduciary obligations to the client
- Appraisal, mediation, and dispute resolution options when settlement stalls
Because this domain overlaps heavily with day-to-day practice, it's worth reviewing alongside our PA-PADJ Jobs overview, which describes what firms and independent adjusters actually look for once you're licensed.
Scheduling Study Time Around Domain Weight
Rather than studying domains in outline order, allocate time proportionally to weight. A simple approach: spend roughly two study sessions on Domain 3 (19%) for every one session on Domain 7 (3%). This isn't generic study advice - it's a direct response to how the Series 16-19 outline is weighted.
High-Weight Foundations
- Property and Casualty Insurance Basics (19%)
- Insurance Regulation (15%)
Adjustment Process and Core Concepts
- Adjustment Process (15%)
- General Insurance Concepts (14%)
Residential Policy Types
- Homeowners Policy Concepts (10%)
- Dwelling Policy Concepts (6%)
Commercial and Remaining Topics
- Commercial Property Policies (8%)
- Businessowners Policy - Property (6%)
- Other Types of Insurance Policies (4%)
- Commercial Inland Marine (3%)
Full-length timed drills matter too. Use timed sessions on the practice test platform to simulate the 80-minute window and get comfortable with pacing before test day.
Question Format and Delivery Mechanics
Knowing the domains is half the battle - knowing how they're actually tested is the other half. The exam is delivered as computer-based, four-option multiple choice, closed-book, with 60 scored items. PSI may insert 5 to 10 additional unscored experimental questions within the same 80-minute window, and there is no way to distinguish scored from unscored items during the test, so every question deserves full attention.
| Exam Element | Detail |
|---|---|
| Scored questions | 60 |
| Possible unscored questions | 5-10 (embedded, indistinguishable) |
| Time allotted | 80 minutes |
| Tutorial time | 15 minutes, does not reduce exam time |
| Passing score | 70% correct |
| Question format | Four-option multiple choice, closed-book |
| Delivery options | Test center or remote-proctored |
| Retake fee | $45 per attempt |
You're allowed to use a PSI-provided calculator, which matters for the coinsurance and valuation math embedded in Domain 3 and Domain 4 questions. For a full breakdown of what "passing" actually requires numerically, see our PA-PADJ Passing Score guide, and if you're weighing whether the format is genuinely difficult, our How Hard Is the PA-PADJ Exam guide breaks down the difficulty factors domain by domain.
Frequently Asked Questions
There are ten official weighted domains covering topics from Insurance Regulation to Adjustment Process, together making up 100% of the 60 scored questions on the Series 16-19 exam.
Property and Casualty Insurance Basics is the largest domain at 19%, followed by Insurance Regulation and Adjustment Process, each weighted at 15%.
No. Commercial Inland Marine is only 3% of the exam, but since passing requires 70% correct across all 60 scored questions, ignoring any domain reduces your margin for error.
60 questions are scored. PSI may add 5 to 10 additional unscored experimental items within the same 80-minute window, but candidates cannot tell which questions are which.
Our PA-PADJ Cheat Sheet 2026 condenses the must-know facts from every domain onto a single reviewable page for last-minute study.