Getting Your Pennsylvania Personal Lines License
Personal Lines is the leanest P&C credential when your market is individuals and households: prepare, pass the Series 16-16 exam, apply through Sircon or NIPR, and submit fingerprints. Pennsylvania removed mandatory pre-licensing coursework in 2025, but the exam still spans personal property-casualty products and Pennsylvania law, so prepare seriously.
You must be at least 18, maintain a Pennsylvania residence or business location, and be able to read and write English. If you expect to write commercial accounts as well, consider sitting the full P&C exam (16-06) once instead of limiting yourself to personal lines.
The Personal Lines Exam (Series 16-16)
The Personal Lines exam is 100 scored multiple-choice questions with a 120-minute (2-hour) limit, and you need 70% to pass. PSI adds 5–10 unscored experimental questions that do not count toward your score, and the clock already accounts for them.
Expect the three standard PSI formats — incomplete sentence, direct question, and 'all of the following EXCEPT' — with the ability to flag and return to items before time expires. Pennsylvania personal-auto law features heavily, so do not treat it as an afterthought. Test at a PSI center or by remote online proctoring; retakes are unlimited but never same-day.
What It Costs
Budget about $135 for a clean first-time pass: a $45 exam fee (Series 16-16), a $55 resident application fee, roughly $12.50 in online service fees, and about $23 for fingerprinting.
Exam fees are non-refundable and non-transferable, so only book when you are ready. Fingerprinting is paid at the IdentoGO center by card, certified check, or money order — no cash, no personal checks.
Fingerprinting & Background Check
Initial resident producers must be fingerprinted at an IdentoGO center for an FBI criminal-history check. Register first at uenroll.identogo.com (or 844-321-2101) using Insurance Department service code 1KGBGJ — the correct code routes your check to the right agency.
Mind the timing: do not submit prints until after you pass the exam and file your application. Fingerprints with no matching application are destroyed, forcing you to pay and reprint.
Submitting Your Application
Right after passing, use the PSI kiosk — or your own computer — to apply online through Sircon (sircon.com/pennsylvania) or NIPR (nipr.com), paying the $55 resident fee and ~$12.50 service fee by credit card.
You have one year from your pass date to apply. The Department no longer mails licenses; once approved, print yours from insurance.pa.gov. A license by itself does not authorize sales — you also need at least one company appointment, filed by the carrier.
Keeping Your License Active
Important CE details: 24 hours every 2 years, including at least 3 hours of ethics AND 2 hours of flood-insurance CE. Like full P&C producers, Personal Lines producers must complete the flood hours even if they never sell a flood policy. Renewal is on your birth month on a 2-year cycle, and up to 24 hours may carry over.
Personal Lines producers complete 24 hours of CE every two years, including 3 hours of ethics and 2 hours of flood-insurance training. The flood hours are mandatory even if you never sell flood — the same rule that applies to full P&C producers.
Renewal lands on your birth month on a 2-year cycle, and you can carry up to 24 hours forward. Finish every required hour before you file the renewal.
Quick Reference
Official Links
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