What This License Is
The Texas Personal Lines Property & Casualty license, issued by the Texas Department of Insurance (TDI), authorizes property and casualty sales to individuals and families for personal or household use — private passenger auto, homeowners, renters, and similar products.
Know the map before choosing it: unlike some states, Texas's full General Lines — P&C license already includes personal lines authority. The Personal Lines license exists as the narrower, cheaper credential — a shorter exam with no commercial material — which is why high-volume personal-lines carriers sponsor it for their agents. The trade is a ceiling: the day a commercial account walks in, you're upgrading to General Lines.
Texas also fields Limited Lines and County Mutual licenses below this one; both are niche, and the county mutual exam isn't even at Pearson VUE — it's run by the appointing insurer after a 5-hour class.
Exam Options & Format
The Personal Lines exam is delivered by Pearson VUE at Texas test centers only — Texas discontinued online-proctored insurance exams in 2024, so plan for a drive, not a webcam. The format: 100 scored questions (75 general + 25 Texas-specific) plus 10 unscored pretest items, 2 hours, $39 paid at booking (payment is not accepted at the test center). Spanish versions are available; ESL candidates can request extended time.
Texas grades on a scaled score: 70 passes, on a 0–100 scale that is not a percentage of questions correct.
The broader alternative is the General Lines — P&C exam: 130 scored questions, 2 hours 30 minutes, $49, and it covers everything this license does plus the entire commercial side. Appointments can be booked up to one calendar day before you test; reschedule or cancel by phone (888-754-7667) at least 48 hours ahead or the fee is forfeited.
Pearson VUE's refreshed content outlines take effect September 1, 2026 with the same question counts — study from the current outline if your test date straddles the change.
Most Tested Topics on the Texas Personal Lines Exam
The 25 Texas questions concentrate on auto coverage rules and the cancellation/nonrenewal timetable. From the TESTivity Texas regulations curriculum, statute-verified:
| Concept | The Texas rule |
|---|---|
| Minimum auto limits | 30/60/25 — $30,000 bodily injury per person / $60,000 per occurrence / $25,000 property damage |
| UM/UIM | Must be offered; the insured may reject — but only in writing |
| PIP | Automatically included in every Texas auto policy unless rejected in writing — pays regardless of fault |
| Negligence rule | Modified comparative — the 51% bar ("proportionate responsibility"): more than 50% at fault recovers nothing |
| Residual market | TAIPA — the Texas Automobile Insurance Plan Association |
| New-policy window | The insurer's freer-cancellation period is the first 60 days |
| Cancellation notice | Homeowners: 30 days inside the window · auto: 10 days · nonpayment or cause: 10 days |
| Nonrenewal notice | 60 days for both lines |
| Stating the reason | Personal lines: in writing at the insured's request (commercial: must appear in the notice itself) |
| Claims-based nonrenewal | Residential policies can't be nonrenewed for natural-cause losses; otherwise the 3-claims-in-3-years rule applies, with a required warning after 2 |
The PIP rule is the most-missed Texas fact on this exam: in most states PIP is either mandatory or optional-by-election, but Texas includes it by default and requires a written rejection to remove it — same mechanic as UM/UIM. And note the notice asymmetry runs the opposite direction from most states: homeowners gets the longer cancellation notice (30 days) and auto the shorter (10).
Pass or Fail: What Happens the Moment You Finish
You leave with the answer. Every Texas candidate walks out of the test center holding an official printed score report — no waiting, no portal-checking. Pearson VUE reports results to TDI electronically.
Understand the scaled score before you read it. Texas converts your raw performance to a 0–100 scaled score, with 70 passing. A 65 does not mean you answered 65% correctly — the handbook is explicit that a failing number "indicates how close the candidate came to passing, rather than the actual number or percentage of questions the candidate answered correctly." Don't waste energy reverse-engineering question counts from it.
If you pass: the score is valid for 12 months. File your application (Sircon or NIPR, $50) promptly — remember Texas's apply-first fingerprint sequence below — because the year evaporates faster than you'd think.
If you fail: Texas is generous here in a way few states are — no waiting period beyond next-day scheduling and no limit on attempts. Fail Tuesday, book Wednesday, retest Thursday, $39 each time. That freedom cuts both ways: with no forced cooling-off period, the discipline to stop and actually re-study between attempts has to come from you.
Retest strategy: treat two consecutive near-misses as a signal to change methods, not just repeat the attempt — at $39 a sitting, three impulsive retakes cost more than a question bank that would have ended it in one.
Fingerprinting for Your Texas License, Step by Step
Every resident applicant is fingerprinted for Texas DPS and FBI checks through IdentoGO by IDEMIA — and Texas sequences it differently than most states, so follow the order exactly:
Step 1 — Apply first. Submit your license application through Sircon or NIPR before touching IdentoGO. TDI's current process issues fingerprint service codes per applicant: once your application registers, TDI emails you your service code. Older guides list a universal Texas service code — that process is obsolete; a stale code can misroute your prints.
Step 2 — Book with the emailed code. Take the service code to IdentoGO's scheduling (or call 888-467-2080), pick a site, and book — appointments are required; there are no same-day walk-ins. IdentoGO operates locations across the state; the fee (about $40; the exact figure displays at booking) is payable by card, business check, or money order — no personal checks, no cash.
Step 3 — The appointment. Bring a current government-issued photo ID. Prints are captured electronically and transmitted to the Texas DPS and the FBI. If electronic capture isn't available in your area, TDI's instructions cover an ink hard-card alternative.
Step 4 — Keep the receipt. TDI requires a copy of the IdentoGO receipt showing your prints went to DPS — attach it to your application and keep the original. That receipt is your proof if anything goes sideways in matching prints to your file.
One exemption worth knowing: Texas waives fingerprinting entirely for nonresident applicants — if you're licensing into Texas from your home state, skip this section and see the reciprocity walkthrough in the P&C guide.
What It Costs
About $130 on a first-attempt pass: $39 per exam attempt to Pearson VUE, roughly $40 to IdentoGO (exact fee at booking), and $50 to TDI through Sircon or NIPR. No pre-licensing course requirement — and since retakes are unlimited at $39, front-loading your budget into real prep materials is the only financially rational move.
Eligibility Requirements
Minimum age 18, with fingerprint-based DPS/FBI background checks on every resident application. Criminal history is evaluated case-by-case under the Insurance Code's standards — fraud and breach-of-trust offenses weigh heaviest — and undisclosed history discovered in the FBI check is treated far more harshly than disclosed history. Answer everything; attach documentation.
Keeping Your License Active
Important CE details: At least 3 of the 24 hours must be ethics; at least half must be classroom or classroom-equivalent. Deficient hours draw a $50-per-hour fine, capped at $500 per license.
Texas licenses run two years (expiring with your birth month) on 24 CE hours including 3 of ethics — at least half in a classroom or classroom-equivalent setting. Deficiencies draw a $50-per-hour fine capped at $500. The full renewal timetable — the 90-day early window, the late tiers, reinstatement without re-examination inside a year, and the 20-year exemption — lives in the P&C guide.
Quick Reference
Official Links
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