- What Is a PA-PC?
- Who Administers the Exam and How It's Structured
- The 13 Domains You'll Be Tested On
- Registration, Fees, and Test-Day Mechanics
- Requirements and What Changed in 2025
- Who Hires PA-PC License Holders
- How to Prepare Without Wasting Time
- After You Pass: Renewal and Continuing Education
- Frequently Asked Questions
- PA-PC is the Pennsylvania Property & Casualty Insurance Producer Exam, administered by PSI Services for the Pennsylvania Insurance Department.
- The exam costs $55, has 150 scored questions, runs 170 minutes, and requires 70% (105 correct) to pass.
- Insurance Regulation is the heaviest domain at 20% of the exam - study it first.
- Pennsylvania dropped mandatory prelicensing education as of April 29, 2025, but the exam itself is unchanged.
What Is a PA-PC?
PA-PC stands for the Pennsylvania Property and Casualty Insurance Producer Exam - officially the Producer's Property and Casualty Insurance Series 16-06. It's the state licensing exam that anyone who wants to sell, solicit, or negotiate property and casualty insurance in Pennsylvania must pass. Think auto policies, homeowners coverage, commercial general liability, workers compensation, and a dozen other lines that make up the backbone of the P&C insurance industry in the state.
If you've landed here searching "what is a PA-PC," you're likely either starting a career at an agency, switching from another line of authority, or trying to understand why your employer keeps mentioning this exam before you can start writing policies. This guide breaks down exactly what the credential is, how the test is built, and what it takes to earn it - with zero fluff and zero borrowed facts from unrelated certifications that happen to share the same three letters.
Who Administers the Exam and How It's Structured
The Pennsylvania Insurance Department sets licensing rules and oversees who's allowed to sell insurance in the state, but the actual exam is delivered by PSI Services LLC, a third-party testing vendor. PSI runs the Producer's Property and Casualty Insurance Series 16-06 exam at physical test centers and also offers online proctoring for candidates who prefer to test remotely.
Here's the exam in numbers:
- Cost: $55 per attempt
- Format: Closed-book, computer-based, multiple-choice
- Length: 150 scored questions
- Time limit: 170 minutes
- Passing score: 70% (105 correct answers out of 150)
- Materials allowed: None - no reference books, no calculators
Because it's closed-book, you can't lean on a formula sheet or lookup table during the test. Everything - from regulatory definitions to policy exclusions - has to be memorized and understood well enough to apply to scenario-based questions. For a full breakdown of exactly what "70%" means in practice and how questions are typically weighted, see our PA-PC Passing Score guide.
Key Takeaway
170 minutes for 150 questions gives you roughly 68 seconds per question on average - tight enough that you need domain fluency, not just familiarity, walking into the test center.
The 13 Domains You'll Be Tested On
The PA-PC exam isn't a single blob of "insurance knowledge." It's broken into 13 distinct content domains, each with its own percentage weight on the exam. Understanding these weights is the single most useful thing you can do before you open a study guide, because it tells you where to spend your limited study hours.
| Domain | Weight |
|---|---|
| 1. Insurance Regulation | 20% |
| 2. General Insurance Concepts | 8% |
| 3. Property and Casualty Basics | 14% |
| 4. Dwelling Policy | 4% |
| 5. Homeowners Policy Concepts | 7% |
| 6. Personal Automobile Policy | 10% |
| 7. Commercial Automobile Policy | 5% |
| 8. Commercial General Liability | 7% |
| 9. Commercial Crime | 2% |
| 10. Commercial Property Policies | 7% |
| 11. Businessowners Policy | 3% |
| 12. Workers Compensation Law | 5% |
| 13. Other Types of Property and Casualty Insurance | 8% |
Domain 1: Insurance Regulation (20%)
The single largest domain by a wide margin. This is where the Pennsylvania Insurance Department's authority, licensing rules, producer duties, and unfair practices statutes live. Nearly one in five questions on the exam comes from this area.
- Producer licensing requirements and renewal cycles
- Department powers, penalties, and complaint handling
- Unfair trade practices and rebating rules
Domain 3: Property and Casualty Basics (14%)
Combined with Insurance Regulation, this domain and Domain 1 make up more than a third of the entire exam. It covers foundational concepts like insurable interest, policy structure, endorsements, and underwriting basics that show up again inside the line-specific domains.
- Contract elements and legal principles
- Policy provisions common across P&C lines
- Loss valuation and settlement concepts
Notice that the four highest-weighted domains - Insurance Regulation, Property and Casualty Basics, Personal Automobile Policy, and Other Types of Property and Casualty Insurance - together account for more than half the exam. Domains like Commercial Crime and Businessowners Policy each carry only a couple of percentage points, so they deserve review but not the bulk of your time. For a domain-by-domain breakdown with subtopics and sample question logic, our PA-PC Exam Domains 2026 guide covers all 13 areas in depth.
Registration, Fees, and Test-Day Mechanics
Getting scheduled for the PA-PC exam is straightforward, but the mechanics matter because mistakes here cost money and time. The exam itself is $55, paid to PSI when you schedule your test date. Once you pass, you'll separately submit a $55 license application to the Pennsylvania Insurance Department along with completing a fingerprint-based background check.
Test-day options include:
- In-person testing at a PSI-approved test center
- Online proctoring from a private location that meets PSI's remote testing requirements
Either way, expect a closed-book environment: no notes, no phone, no calculator. If you're the type who wants to know exactly when testing windows open, how far in advance to book, and what to do if you need to reschedule, check out our PA-PC Exam Dates 2026 guide. And if you're trying to budget the whole process - exam fee, license application, fingerprinting, and study materials - the PA-PC Certification Cost breakdown lays out every line item.
Requirements and What Changed in 2025
One of the biggest recent shifts in Pennsylvania's licensing process: as of April 29, 2025, the state eliminated mandatory prelicensing education for producer applicants. That means you're no longer required to complete a set number of prelicensing course hours before sitting for the PA-PC exam.
What remains required for resident applicants:
- Pass the PA-PC exam - 150 questions, 170 minutes, 70% to pass
- Submit the license application along with the $55 fee
- Complete a fingerprint-based background check
Removing the prelicensing education mandate raises the stakes on self-study, because there's no built-in classroom requirement forcing structured exposure to the material anymore. It's entirely on the candidate to build that knowledge base independently. For the complete, current list of eligibility rules and application steps, see our PA-PC Requirements 2026 guide.
Key Takeaway
With prelicensing education no longer mandatory, self-directed study - through a structured guide, practice questions, and domain-by-domain review - is now the primary way most candidates prepare for the PA-PC exam.
Who Hires PA-PC License Holders
A Pennsylvania P&C producer license opens the door to roles that involve selling, servicing, or advising on property and casualty policies. Typical employers and paths include:
- Independent insurance agencies that represent multiple carriers and need licensed producers to write personal and commercial lines policies
- Captive agents working exclusively for a single insurance carrier's branded agency network
- Insurance brokerages handling commercial accounts across general liability, commercial auto, and businessowners policies
- Carriers' direct sales or underwriting-support teams that require producer licensure for certain customer-facing roles
Because the exam spans everything from dwelling and homeowners policies to commercial crime and workers compensation law, license holders are qualified to work across both personal and commercial lines rather than being boxed into one narrow specialty. If you're weighing whether the license is worth pursuing relative to the effort and cost involved, our Is the PA-PC Certification Worth It? analysis and PA-PC Salary Guide dig into that question in more detail. For active listings and role types, browse PA-PC Jobs.
How to Prepare Without Wasting Time
Generic study advice - spaced repetition, timed drills, active recall - works for any exam. What makes preparation for PA-PC specifically effective is mapping that method onto the domain weights above instead of studying every topic equally.
Insurance Regulation & P&C Basics
- These two domains alone are 34% of the exam - master them before moving on
- Drill producer licensing rules, unfair trade practices, and contract fundamentals
Personal Automobile & Other P&C Types
- Personal Auto is 10%; Other Types of P&C Insurance is 8% - cover both together since they overlap on endorsements
Homeowners, Commercial GL, Commercial Property
- Each carries 7% - group them since coverage forms and exclusions rhyme across all three
Remaining Smaller Domains
- Dwelling Policy, Commercial Auto, Workers Comp Law, Businessowners, Commercial Crime - lower weight but still testable
Full-length practice exams
- Simulate the 170-minute, 150-question format under closed-book conditions
- Review missed questions by domain, not just overall score
If you'd rather follow a ready-made plan than build your own, our PA-PC Study Guide 2026 walks through this same logic with more detail on resources and pacing. And once you're closer to test day, the PA-PC Cheat Sheet 2026 condenses the must-know facts from all 13 domains onto a single page for last-minute review. You can also run through realistic practice questions on our practice test platform to get comfortable with the exam's question style before you sit for the real thing.
Curious how the exam actually feels in terms of difficulty relative to other state licensing tests? Our How Hard Is the PA-PC Exam? guide and PA-PC Pass Rate article both go deeper into what candidates typically find challenging, without relying on made-up numbers.
After You Pass: Renewal and Continuing Education
Passing the exam and getting licensed isn't the finish line - Pennsylvania producer licenses operate on a two-year renewal cycle. To renew, you need 24 continuing education (CE) hours, which must include:
- 3 ethics hours (required for all producers, regardless of line of authority)
- 2 flood insurance hours (required specifically for producers holding property and casualty authority)
Building CE tracking into your calendar early - rather than scrambling in the final weeks before renewal - keeps your license active without last-minute stress. Since flood coverage hours are tied specifically to P&C authority, make sure any CE provider you use offers courses that satisfy that requirement, not just general ethics credit.
Frequently Asked Questions
PA-PC refers to the Pennsylvania Property and Casualty Insurance Producer Exam - the state licensing test for anyone who wants to sell property and casualty insurance in Pennsylvania. For more on the terminology itself, see our PA-PC Meaning and What Does PA-PC Stand For? pages.
The exam has 150 scored multiple-choice questions and allows 170 minutes to complete them, administered on a closed-book computer format with no reference materials or calculators allowed.
No. Pennsylvania eliminated the mandatory prelicensing education requirement effective April 29, 2025. You can go straight to scheduling and taking the exam, though self-study becomes more important without that structured coursework.
You need 70%, which is 105 correct answers out of the 150 scored questions. See our PA-PC Passing Score guide for more on how that threshold is applied.
Start with Insurance Regulation, which accounts for 20% of the exam - the largest single domain - followed by Property and Casualty Basics at 14%. Together they represent more than a third of all exam content.
Whether you're just starting to research the license or already scheduling your exam date, understanding exactly what the PA-PC is - its domains, its mechanics, and its renewal requirements - puts you well ahead of candidates who walk in without a plan. Explore more detailed breakdowns across this site, including our PA-PC Certification overview, or head to our practice test platform to start testing your knowledge against exam-style questions today.