Pennsylvania licenses resident public adjusters under their own statute, the Public Adjuster Law, 63 P.S. 1601 to 1608, through the Insurance Department. The examination is PSI’s Series 16-19, the Pennsylvania Public Insurance Adjuster Examination: 60 items in 80 minutes, with a 70% passing standard and no pre-licensing course requirement, followed by fingerprinting and a $20,000 surety bond. PassProfessor’s Pennsylvania Public Adjuster program is in the works, built on that statute and outline.
This program is part of the expanding PassProfessor catalog — join the notify list and we’ll email you when enrollment opens.
Pennsylvania does not license public adjusters inside its producer statute. The profession has its own law — the Public Adjuster Law, sections 1601 to 1608 of Title 63, filled out by Chapter 115 of the insurance regulations — and its own examination series to match. The license that results is a working license with a heavy compliance frame: a $20,000 bond, fingerprinting, a two-year renewal with continuing education, and a client’s statutory right to rescind the contract within three calendar days. PassProfessor’s Pennsylvania Public Adjuster program is in the works as part of the expanding PassProfessor catalog, built on Series 16-19 and the Law that creates the license.
Which license is this?
This page covers the Pennsylvania Resident Public Adjuster license only. It is distinct from every producer license the Insurance Department issues, and from insurer-side adjusting in the Commonwealth: the public adjuster is retained by the insured under the Public Adjuster Law, and 63 P.S. 1602.1 requires the applicant to document that they passed, or are exempt from, the public adjuster licensing examination — this examination, Series 16-19, and no other. Candidates preparing for a producer or appraiser examination are on a different page of the catalog.
What will the program cover?
Built section by section on the outline the Insurance Department publishes. PSI publishes the content outline for the Pennsylvania Public Insurance Adjuster Examination (Series 16-19), and the program in the works follows that outline as its table of contents — its sections, in its proportions. Practice items are original, written for this program from the outline and the state’s adjuster law; they are not examination items, not recalled items, and not another company’s items reworded.
A public adjuster’s exam, prepared as a public adjuster’s exam. The candidate this program serves will represent insureds, not insurers. The scenario work is therefore written from the insured’s side of the table: documenting a loss the insurer has undervalued, reading a denial against the policy language, and knowing exactly which Pennsylvania rules govern the contract the client signs. That orientation runs through the coverage material as well as the state-law material.
Section-level diagnostics. Results are organised by outline section rather than as a single score, because a single score cannot tell a candidate whether the next study hour belongs in the Adjustment Process and Insurance Regulation sections, the two most Pennsylvania-specific blocks or in the coverage forms. The outline’s heaviest sections get the deepest practice sets, in the outline’s own proportions.
Independent preparation, stated plainly. PassProfessor is an independent preparation provider, not affiliated with the Pennsylvania Insurance Department or PSI Services LLC. The program confers no license, no credit, and no exemption; the Insurance Department alone issues the license, and PSI alone administers the examination.
Series 16-19 spreads its sixty items across ten named areas, and two of them — Insurance Regulation and the Adjustment Process, at 15% each — are the most Pennsylvania-specific and the most practice-bound. Property and Casualty Insurance Basics leads the outline at 19%. The program weights its sets to that map, and teaches regulation from the Law and Chapter 115 themselves, because the regulation items are drawn from a statute most national study material has never opened.
What are the verified facts of the license?
| Fact of record | Detail |
|---|---|
| License | Resident Public Adjuster, under the Public Adjuster Law, 63 P.S. 1601 to 1608 (as amended by Act 21 of 2012), and 31 Pa. Code Chapter 115 |
| Regulator | Pennsylvania Insurance Department |
| Examination | Pennsylvania Public Insurance Adjuster Examination, Series 16-19, administered by PSI Services LLC |
| Format | 60 items; 80 minutes; computer-based. PSI may add 5 to 10 unscored experimental items |
| Passing standard | 70%, per the PSI candidate booklet for this examination |
| Pre-licensing course | None required |
| Application fee | $200 (third-party state fee, paid with the online application) |
| Surety bond | $20,000, filed before the licensee takes a first client |
| Fingerprinting and renewal | IdentoGO fingerprinting; renewal every two years with 24 hours of continuing education; a client may rescind a public adjuster contract within 3 calendar days |
How does preparation map to the examination outline?
The published outline for this examination organises the sitting as follows. Preparation in the program in the works is organised on the same sections, in the same proportions.
| Outline section | Weight / character |
|---|---|
| Insurance Regulation | 15% |
| General Insurance Concepts | 14% |
| Property and Casualty Insurance Basics | 19% |
| Dwelling Policy | 6% |
| Homeowners Policy | 10% |
| Commercial Property Policies | 8% |
| Commercial Inland Marine | 3% |
| Adjustment Process | 15% |
| Businessowners and other coverages | 10% combined |
Insurance Regulation (15%). Regulation items test the licensing machinery itself: who may act as a public adjuster, what the application and renewal require, which acts are prohibited, and what discipline the regulator can impose. The efficient method here is worked examples: short scenarios, answered and reviewed, rather than rereading notes.
General Insurance Concepts (14%). The basics block tests the vocabulary and architecture of insurance itself: risk, peril and hazard, insurable interest, indemnity, valued policy and agreed-value concepts, underwriting, and the parties to the contract. Preparation for this section should be built from the outline’s own subtopics, worked at examination pace.
Property and Casualty Insurance Basics (19%). Terms and concepts items are definitional on the surface and applied underneath: actual cash value against replacement cost, coinsurance, proximate cause, negligence, liability, subrogation, and the standard conditions vocabulary. Candidates most often underrate this section because its items look familiar from practice; the examination tests the published version, not the remembered one.
Dwelling Policy (6%). Dwelling policy items concentrate on the DP forms: which perils each form insures, how Coverage A through E are structured, fair rental value and additional living expense treatment, and the valuation basis the form applies. Study this section from the primary text first and from summaries second; its items are written closely to the source.
Homeowners Policy (10%). Homeowners items work through the HO forms section by section: Section I property coverages and their internal limits, Section II liability, the named-perils against open-perils distinction, and the exclusions and conditions that decide real claims. The efficient method here is worked examples: short scenarios, answered and reviewed, rather than rereading notes.
Commercial Property Policies (8%). Commercial property items cover the commercial package and commercial property forms: causes-of-loss forms, coinsurance at commercial scale, business income and extra expense, equipment breakdown, and the endorsements that move coverage. Preparation for this section should be built from the outline’s own subtopics, worked at examination pace.
Commercial Inland Marine (3%). Commercial inland marine items test the floater tradition inside commercial lines: builders risk, contractors equipment, bailee and transportation exposures, and the difference between controlled and uncontrolled forms. Candidates most often underrate this section because its items look familiar from practice; the examination tests the published version, not the remembered one.
Adjustment Process (15%). The adjustment process block is the practice block: duties after a loss, investigation and documentation, estimating and valuation, the proof of loss, negotiation, the appraisal clause, and settlement options. Study this section from the primary text first and from summaries second; its items are written closely to the source.
Businessowners and other coverages (10% combined). Businessowners policy items test the BOP as a packaged product: its property and liability sections, eligibility by business class and size, the standard endorsements, and where the package stops and a commercial package policy begins. The efficient method here is worked examples: short scenarios, answered and reviewed, rather than rereading notes.
Who earns this license?
Pennsylvania candidates serve a state of older housing stock, rowhouse and twin construction in the southeast, and commercial property across the old industrial corridor — losses where the documentation of age, condition, and prior maintenance decides claims. The pool draws from restoration contracting, from insurer and independent adjusting, and from the Commonwealth’s established public adjusting firms. The three-day rescission right shapes the profession’s first conversation with every client, and candidates should expect the examination to treat client-facing law as core material rather than as an appendix.
What is the route to the license?
The Commonwealth’s route runs: pass Series 16-19 through PSI, complete IdentoGO fingerprinting, apply online with the $200 fee, and file the $20,000 bond before taking a first client. No pre-licensing course stands in front of the examination. The examination score is valid for one year under the regulations (31 Pa. Code 115.16), which gives the post-examination steps a deadline candidates should plan around. The companion guide walks the route and the full outline.
What makes this examination demanding?
Sixty items in eighty minutes, spread across ten content areas, is an examination of allocation: no single area dominates, so a candidate cannot pass on one strength. The regulation and adjustment blocks together are nearly a third of the sitting and the least national material on it, while the long tail of small areas — inland marine at 3%, dwelling at 6% — punishes candidates who studied only where the weights were large. Breadth, held at pace, is the demand.
An honest note on format
PassProfessor practice works in the format this examination uses — computer-based, multiple-choice, timed at the examination’s pace. The vendor does not release its examination items, and no provider can offer them. Practice results are a study gauge, not a prediction of a licensing outcome, and the examination decision and the licensing decision both belong to bodies other than PassProfessor.
How should you use this page while the program is in the works?
- Join the notify list today. Enrollment is not open yet, and the notify list is how you hear the moment it is. While you wait, read the exam guide — it walks the licensing route, the outline section by section, the sitting itself, and a preparation plan in full.
- Confirm the license before the syllabus. Read the ‘Which license is this?’ section above twice if your background is insurer-side adjusting or producing; in Pennsylvania, the public adjuster credential is its own license with its own examination route.
- Start the application clock-watching early. The steps around the examination — in this state, fingerprinting, a $20,000 surety bond, and the application the Insurance Department decides — have their own lead times, and candidates who start them during preparation do not lose a season to paperwork after a pass.
- Study from the primary documents alongside any preparation. The vendor’s handbook or bulletin and the state’s adjuster law are the examination’s sources, and both are published for candidates.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Pennsylvania Resident Public Adjuster license? It is the license the Insurance Department issues to the adjuster who represents the insured — the policyholder — in a claim, rather than the insurer. Resident Public Adjuster, under the Public Adjuster Law, 63 P.S. 1601 to 1608 (as amended by Act 21 of 2012), and 31 Pa. Code Chapter 115. The holder is retained by the insured, for compensation, to document, evaluate, and negotiate the insured’s claim.
Who regulates public adjusters in Pennsylvania? the Pennsylvania Insurance Department. The regulator writes or administers the licensing rules, receives the application, and issues the license; the examination vendor administers the test and nothing more.
What examination must Pennsylvania public adjuster candidates pass? The Pennsylvania Public Insurance Adjuster Examination (Series 16-19), administered by PSI. 60 items; 80 minutes; computer-based. PSI may add 5 to 10 unscored experimental items
What is the passing standard? 70%, per the PSI candidate booklet for this examination
Is there a pre-licensing education requirement? None required
What else does licensure require besides the examination? Licensure sits alongside fingerprinting, a $20,000 surety bond, and the application the Insurance Department decides. The examination is one input into the application; the Insurance Department issues the license on the completed file, and no candidate may act as a Pennsylvania resident public adjuster before it issues.
How is a public adjuster different from an independent adjuster? By client. An independent adjuster adjusts claims on behalf of insurers; a public adjuster is retained by and represents the insured. The licenses, the duties, and in Pennsylvania the licensing treatment are distinct, and preparation for one does not substitute for preparation for the other.
Does passing the examination make me a licensed resident public adjuster? No. Passing satisfies the examination requirement; the license issues when the Insurance Department approves the completed application. Acting as a public adjuster before the license issues is unlicensed practice, however the examination went.
When will the PassProfessor Pennsylvania program open? The program is in the works and enrollment is not open yet. Join the notify list on this page and you will be emailed when enrollment opens; the companion exam guide is available to read now for planning your preparation.
Is PassProfessor affiliated with the Insurance Department or PSI? No. PassProfessor is an independent preparation provider, not affiliated with the Pennsylvania Insurance Department or PSI Services LLC. The regulator owns the license and the vendor administers the examination; this program is preparation only.