How Hard is the Pennsylvania Insurance Exam?

How Is the Pennsylvania Insurance Exam Set Up?

The Pennsylvania Insurance DepartmentInsurance Licensing Licensees Initial Insurance Producer Licensing Process Agencies licenses insurance producers, and PSI administers the exams at test centers and through remote proctoring.

• Single line exams: Life, Accident and Health, Property, Casualty and Personal Lines each have 100 questions with a 2 hour time limit.
• Combined exams: Life, Accident and Health and Property and Casualty each have 150 questions and a longer time limit. Check the current PSI bulletin for the exact timing.
• Unscored questions: your exam may include a few experimental questions that do not count toward your score.
• Passing score: 70 percent. Our passing score guidePre License What Score Do You Need To Pass The Pennsylvania Insurance Exam Resources breaks down how scoring works.

On a single-line exam, 100 questions in 120 minutes gives you a little over a minute per question. That is enough time if you know the material and tight if you are reasoning every answer from scratch.

How Does Pennsylvania Compare to Other States?

Pennsylvania's setup looks a lot like other PSI states. WashingtonPre License How To Pass The Washington Insurance Exam On Your First Try Resources and New YorkPre License How Do You Pass The New York Insurance Exam On Your First Try Resources also require 70 percent. North CarolinaPre License How Hard Is The North Carolina Insurance Exam And How Should You Prepare Resources works differently: it tests through Pearson VUE with shorter 55 question exams and a scaled passing score of 70.

Which Topics Trip People Up on the Pennsylvania Exam?

Most points are lost in the same four places.

• Contract law. Terms like indemnity, insurable interest, adhesion and warranty look simple until two of them show up as answer choices on the same question.
• Policy provisions. Grace periods, reinstatement, riders and settlement options on Life, and coverage forms, conditions and exclusions on Property and Casualty, all reward exact knowledge.
• Underwriting. Questions about applications, policy delivery and what happens when information is missing or misstated test the process, not just vocabulary.
• Pennsylvania law. Licensing requirements, producer conduct and the state's own rules form a section that general insurance knowledge will not cover.

Watch the wording, too. Questions that hinge on one word, such as NOT or EXCEPT, catch people who read fast and answer faster.

How Long Should You Study for the Pennsylvania Insurance Exam?

For a single line exam, plan on two to four weeks. For a combined exam, plan on four to seven weeks. The fastest end of each range assumes an hour or more of study most days.

Here is a week by week plan for a combined exam:

1. Week one: general insurance concepts and contract law, plus one diagnostic practice exam to find your weak spots.
2. Weeks two and three: line content, such as policy types, provisions and riders for Life and Health or coverage forms for Property and Casualty.
3. Week four: Pennsylvania regulation as its own unit, with quizzes until the rules feel automatic.
4. Week five: full timed practice exams, then review every miss until you can explain the right answer.
5. Final days: light review only, plus a quick check that your ID and appointment details are ready.

Want more techniques that work? Try these study strategiesPre License How To Study Insurance Licensing Exam Resources.