What This License Is
The Arizona Personal Lines line of authority licenses you to sell property and casualty coverage to individuals and families for personal use — private passenger auto, homeowners, renters, and similar products. It is issued by the Arizona Department of Insurance and Financial Institutions (DIFI).
A structural fact many candidates get wrong: the full P&C license does not automatically include Personal Lines — Arizona maintains it as a separate line of authority. In practice the P&C license covers the same personal-lines products within its broader scope, so the Personal Lines license exists as the narrower, purpose-built credential: it's what large personal-lines carriers typically sponsor for their agents because the exam skips the commercial material entirely.
If a future in commercial insurance is plausible, weigh the combined P&C exam instead — the comparison is in the next section.
Exam Options & Format
The Personal Lines exam is Series 13-44 through PSI: 100 scored questions plus 5–10 unscored pretest items, 2 hours, $50 per attempt, 70% to pass. Its outline mirrors the personal-lines half of the P&C exam — auto, homeowners, dwelling, and the Arizona regulations — with the commercial chapters removed, which is exactly why carriers use it for high-volume sales roles.
The broader alternative is the combined Property & Casualty exam (Series 13-34): 150 questions, 2 hours 30 minutes, $59, and it opens commercial doors the Personal Lines license never will. The trade: more material to study, including commercial package policies, BOP, and workers comp.
Both exams are offered at PSI's ten Arizona test centers (all listed with addresses in the Property guide) and by live online proctoring (rules in the Health guide).
Most Tested Topics on the Arizona Personal Lines Exam
Cancellation and nonrenewal law is the most heavily tested Arizona-specific territory on the personal-lines exam — the notice periods differ by line, by reason, and by policy age, which makes them perfect exam material. From the TESTivity Arizona regulations curriculum, statute-verified:
| Concept | The Arizona rule |
|---|---|
| New-policy window | 60 days for BOTH auto and homeowners — inside it, the insurer may cancel more freely; after it, only on enumerated statutory grounds |
| Homeowners cancellation notice | 5 days — inside the new-policy window, and the same 5 days for nonpayment and other permitted grounds |
| Auto cancellation notice | 10 days for reasons other than nonpayment — and the notice must state the specific facts, the right to complain to the Director within 10 days, and assigned-risk eligibility |
| Auto nonpayment | A 7-day grace period for premiums after the first; after it, cancellation is effective the date the notice is sent — no additional advance notice |
| Nonrenewal notice | Auto: 45 days. Homeowners: 30 days. |
| Stating a reason | Required proactively on both cancellation and nonrenewal, for both lines |
| Condition-of-premises nonrenewal | Homeowners get 30 days to cure the condition — plus another 30 on payment of premium |
The pattern worth memorizing: homeowners notice periods are short (5 and 30 days) while auto's are long (10 and 45 days) — most candidates assume they match. And the auto nonpayment rule is the exam's favorite curveball: after the 7-day grace period there is no advance notice at all; the cancellation is effective the day the notice is sent.
Auto liability limits (25/50/15), Arizona's pure comparative fault rule, and the optional status of UM/UIM coverage are tested here too — the Casualty guide covers that cluster in depth, and the concepts appear on both exams.
Pass or Fail: What Happens the Moment You Finish
You will not wait to find out. Your score displays on screen the instant you submit, and a score report is emailed to you (it also stays available in your PSI account). PSI reports results to DIFI electronically — there's nothing you need to mail anywhere.
If you pass: the score is valid for 12 months, and DIFI must receive your complete application — fingerprints done, $120 fee paid through NIPR — inside that window. The Life guide walks the NIPR application step by step, and the Casualty guide covers fingerprinting. Don't celebrate for six months first; the candidates who lose passing scores are the ones who treated the year as long.
If you fail: the emailed score report includes a diagnostic breakdown showing your strengths and weaknesses by topic — study it before anything else, because it tells you exactly which chapters to drill. You cannot rebook the same day, but there's no waiting period beyond that: fail on a Wednesday, call Thursday, and you can retest as early as Friday if a seat is open.
The limits: Arizona allows four attempts per line of authority in any 12-month period (ARS §20-284(H)). Fail a fourth time and you are barred from that line's exam for a full year. Each attempt costs the full $50 — fees are neither refundable nor transferable — which is the practical argument for not scheduling until your practice-exam scores sit comfortably above 80%.
What It Costs
About $201 on a first-attempt pass: $50 PSI exam fee, $30.69 fingerprinting ($22.44 DPS/FBI + $8.25 Fieldprint), $120 application fee to DIFI through NIPR. No pre-licensing course exists to pay for. Every retake adds $50, which makes over-preparing the cheapest insurance in this process.
Eligibility Requirements
Minimum age 18, Arizona residence or legitimate business presence, and fingerprint-based DPS/FBI background checks (ARS §20-285). Background questions answered incompletely are a ground for denial on their own — disclose, document, and let DIFI evaluate the actual history.
Keeping Your License Active
Important CE details: At least 6 of the 48 hours must be ethics. Personal-lines producers selling federal flood insurance complete the one-time 3-hour NFIP course by first renewal.
48 CE hours every four-year license period, including 6 ethics hours (ARS §20-2902); the license expires on the last day of your birth month. Personal-lines producers who sell NFIP flood coverage owe the one-time 3-hour flood course by first renewal, creditable toward the 48. Renewal timing, the late-renewal window, and the once-per-course rule are detailed in the P&C guide.
Quick Reference
Official Links
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