- NY-IA is the New York Independent General Adjuster Exam, Series 17-70, regulated by NYS DFS and administered by PSI.
- The exam has 100 scored questions, a two-hour limit, and requires a 70% passing score to pass.
- Adjusting Losses is the heaviest domain at 11%, followed by Homeowners (2011) Policy at 10%.
- The exam fee is $40, and no prelicensing course is required before sitting for it.
What Is a NY-IA, Exactly?
NY-IA stands for the New York Independent General Adjuster Exam, also identified by New York's licensing code as Series 17-70. It is not a designation you earn from a private trade association - it's a state licensing examination governed by the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) and administered on DFS's behalf by PSI, the testing vendor. Passing this exam is the gateway credential for anyone who wants to work as an independent adjuster in New York State.
Because "NY-IA" happens to be used loosely elsewhere online, it's worth being precise here: on this site, and in this article, NY-IA refers only to the Series 17-70 New York Independent Adjuster licensing exam. If you're researching this credential, everything below applies specifically to that exam - its domains, its fee structure, and its licensing rules.
Who Takes the NY-IA Exam and Why
Independent adjusters are hired by insurance carriers, third-party administrators, and independent adjusting firms to investigate and settle claims on the carrier's behalf, often on a contract or per-claim basis rather than as a direct employee. When a hurricane, hailstorm, or other catastrophe generates a surge of claims beyond what a carrier's in-house staff can handle, independent adjusters licensed in the relevant state - including New York - are activated to fill the gap.
Because the license covers "general" lines, NY-IA holders are approved to adjust a broad mix of property, casualty, and related claims rather than being restricted to a single line like auto or homeowners. That breadth is exactly why the exam's 16 domains span everything from dwelling policies to aviation liability - a working independent adjuster in New York may be assigned to any of these claim types.
If you're weighing whether pursuing this license makes sense for your career, the deeper analysis in Is the NY-IA Certification Worth It? Complete ROI Analysis 2026 and the market overview in NY-IA Jobs are useful next reads.
Exam Format: Questions, Timing, and Scoring
The Series 17-70 exam is closed-book and entirely multiple-choice. Here's exactly what you're walking into:
- 100 scored questions that count toward your result.
- Five to 10 unscored experimental questions may be mixed in - PSI uses these to evaluate future exam items, and you can't tell them apart from scored questions, so every question deserves full attention.
- A two-hour time limit to complete the entire exam.
- A 70% passing score on the scored portion.
With 100 scored questions and 120 minutes, you have roughly 72 seconds per question on average - tight, but workable if you're not stopping to puzzle through unfamiliar terminology mid-exam. That's one reason mastering policy language and claims vocabulary ahead of time matters more than raw test-taking speed. For a detailed breakdown of exactly how the 70% threshold translates into a number of correct answers, see NY-IA Passing Score 2026: Exactly What You Need to Pass.
Key Takeaway
Because unscored experimental questions are indistinguishable from scored ones, treat every question on the exam as if it counts - there's no way to identify and skip the "practice" items.
The 16 Domains You'll Be Tested On
The NY-IA exam blueprint is organized into 16 content domains, each weighted by the percentage of questions drawn from it. Understanding these weights is the single most useful piece of intelligence for planning your study time.
| Domain | Weight |
|---|---|
| Adjusting Losses | 11% |
| Homeowners (2011) Policy | 10% |
| Auto Insurance | 9% |
| Commercial Package Policy (CPP) | 9% |
| Businessowners (2010) Policy | 8% |
| Other Coverages and Options | 8% |
| Insurance Regulation | 6% |
| Insurance Basics | 6% |
| Accident and Health Insurance Basics | 6% |
| Dwelling (2014) Policy | 6% |
| Workers' Compensation Insurance | 6% |
| Understanding the Language of Medical Reports | 4% |
| Fidelity Coverages | 3% |
| Aviation Hull Coverages | 3% |
| Aircraft Liability Coverages | 3% |
| Surety Bonds | 2% |
Domain 3: Adjusting Losses (11%)
This is the largest single domain and covers the practical mechanics of claims handling itself - not a specific policy type, but the process every adjuster follows regardless of line of business.
- Investigating and documenting a loss
- Determining coverage and calculating loss value
- Settlement practices and communicating with insureds
Domain 7: Homeowners (2011) Policy (10%)
The second-heaviest domain focuses on the ISO 2011 homeowners form - a staple of residential property claims.
- Coverage forms and endorsements
- Perils insured against and common exclusions
- Conditions affecting claim settlement
Beyond these two heavyweights, Auto Insurance (9%) and Commercial Package Policy (9%) together make up nearly a fifth of the exam, meaning property and casualty claims content dominates the test far more than the narrower specialty lines like Aviation Hull Coverages, Aircraft Liability Coverages, or Surety Bonds, each of which sits at just 2-3%. A candidate who spends equal study time on all 16 domains is almost certainly misallocating effort. For a domain-by-domain study breakdown, read NY-IA Exam Domains 2026: Complete Guide to All 16 Content Areas.
Registration, Fees, and Testing Options
Compared to many professional licensing exams, the logistics behind the NY-IA are relatively simple:
- Exam fee: $40, payable when you schedule with PSI.
- Testing locations: You can sit for the exam at a PSI test center or use remote proctoring from home or office.
- Prelicensing course: Not required for independent adjuster candidates in New York - you can go straight to scheduling the exam once you're ready.
- Bulletin reference: The current PSI candidate bulletin governing this exam was last updated April 28, 2023.
Because there's no mandated prelicensing course, the responsibility for building competence across all 16 domains falls entirely on your own study plan. That makes structured self-study - and knowing exactly which topics carry the most weight - more important than it would be for licenses that require classroom hours. See NY-IA Certification Cost 2026: Complete Pricing Breakdown for the full cost picture including licensing fees, and NY-IA Exam Dates 2026: Testing Windows, Deadlines & Scheduling for scheduling specifics.
Key Takeaway
With no required prelicensing course, your prep material and practice questions are doing all the heavy lifting - choose them based on the actual domain weights, not generic insurance trivia.
After You Pass: Licensing Mechanics
Passing the exam is a milestone, not the finish line. New York attaches several specific rules to what happens next for independent adjuster applicants:
- Two-year application window: You must apply for your license within two years of passing the exam, or your passing score effectively expires.
- Fingerprinting: Applicants must submit fingerprints as part of the licensing process.
- No bond or Certificate of Character: Unlike public-adjuster applicants, independent-adjuster applicants are not subject to bond or Certificate of Character requirements.
- License term and cost: Licenses are issued for up to two years, costing $100 for a term longer than one year or $50 for a term of one year or less.
- Expiration cycle: Independent-adjuster licenses expire on December 31 of even-numbered years, regardless of when during the cycle you were issued the license.
- Continuing education: Independent adjusters in New York are exempt from continuing education requirements - a notable difference from many other adjuster licenses nationwide.
These details matter for planning: if you pass the exam but delay applying, you risk having to retest. And because the license cycle is tied to fixed even-numbered-year expiration dates rather than a rolling anniversary, the actual length of your first license term depends on when in the cycle you apply. For the full eligibility checklist, see NY-IA Requirements 2026: Eligibility, Prerequisites & How to Qualify.
Building a NY-IA-Specific Prep Plan
Generic study advice - flashcards, timed drills, spaced repetition - works, but it only pays off when it's pointed at the right material. For the NY-IA exam, that means organizing your study calendar around domain weight, not domain order.
Heavyweight Domains
- Adjusting Losses (11%) - claims process, investigation, settlement
- Homeowners (2011) Policy (10%) - forms, perils, exclusions
Mid-Weight Property & Casualty Domains
- Auto Insurance (9%)
- Commercial Package Policy (9%)
- Businessowners (2010) Policy (8%)
- Other Coverages and Options (8%)
Foundational and Regulatory Domains
- Insurance Regulation (6%), Insurance Basics (6%)
- Dwelling (2014) Policy (6%), Workers' Compensation (6%)
- Accident and Health Insurance Basics (6%)
Specialty and Lower-Weight Domains
- Understanding the Language of Medical Reports (4%)
- Fidelity Coverages, Aviation Hull, Aircraft Liability (3% each)
- Surety Bonds (2%)
- Full-length timed practice exams simulating the two-hour, 100-question format
This weighted approach doesn't mean ignoring the lower-percentage domains - Aviation Hull Coverages and Aircraft Liability Coverages combined are still 6% of the exam, the same as Insurance Regulation alone. It simply means your first and deepest study passes should target where the bulk of the questions actually live. For a complete week-by-week methodology, read NY-IA Study Guide 2026: How to Pass on Your First Attempt, and for an honest assessment of how challenging candidates typically find this material, see How Hard Is the NY-IA Exam? Complete Difficulty Guide 2026.
Running timed, domain-tagged practice questions through a resource like our NY-IA practice test platform lets you see which of the 16 domains are actually weak spots for you personally, rather than guessing based on how the material felt while reading. Reviewing performance data from NY-IA Pass Rate 2026: What the Data Shows alongside your own practice scores can also help calibrate whether you're ready to schedule your test date.
If you're still getting oriented on the terminology itself - how "NY-IA" relates to "Series 17-70," what the license actually authorizes, and how it differs from other adjuster credential types - the companion pieces What Is NY-IA?, NY-IA Meaning, and What Does NY-IA Stand For? cover that ground in more depth. You can also browse NY-IA Certification and NY-IA Training for a broader view of the credential and preparation landscape, or return to the main practice test hub once you're ready to start testing your knowledge directly.
Frequently Asked Questions
No. The Series 17-70 exam is closed-book. You cannot bring reference materials, notes, or outside resources into the testing session, whether you test at a PSI center or via remote proctoring.
No prelicensing course is required for independent adjuster applicants in New York. You can register and sit for the exam directly through PSI once you're prepared.
There are 100 scored questions, plus PSI may add five to 10 additional unscored experimental questions. You have a two-hour time limit, and a 70% score is required to pass.
You have up to two years from your exam pass date to submit your license application. Waiting past that window means your passing result is no longer valid for licensing purposes.
No. Independent-adjuster licenses in New York are exempt from continuing education requirements, unlike many other adjuster license types in other jurisdictions.