Rates are set through the Title Insurance Rating Bureau of Pennsylvania (TIRBOP), licensed by the Pennsylvania Insurance Department. Rather than filing rates individually, an insurer joins TIRBOP and authorises the Commissioner to accept TIRBOP's filing on its behalf. 22 insurers are members — First American, Fidelity National, Chicago Title, Commonwealth, Old Republic, Stewart and the rest. That is effectively the whole market.
The manual is binding on members and their agents unless a company files a specific deviation and the Department approves it. So the honest framing is this: the premium is uniform in practice because essentially everyone writing in Pennsylvania uses the same approved manual. It is not a legal price fix, but for a consumer comparing quotes, the effect is the same.
Comparing owner's policy premiums between Pennsylvania title companies is wasted effort. They will match. Compare on responsiveness, on whether they answer the phone after 5PM, and on whether they catch problems early.
Pennsylvania uses two schedules: the Sale Rate, which applies to owner's policies, and the Non-Sale Rate, which applies to standalone loan policies such as a refinance.
| Purchase price | Owner's policy (Sale Rate) | As % of price |
|---|---|---|
| $100,000 | $1,025.00 | 1.03% |
| $150,000 | $1,310.00 | 0.87% |
| $200,000 | $1,595.00 | 0.80% |
| $250,000 | $1,880.00 | 0.75% |
| $300,000 | $2,165.00 | 0.72% |
| $400,000 | $2,735.00 | 0.68% |
| $500,000 | $3,305.00 | 0.66% |
Calculated from the filed rate table. The rate is tiered: $569 covers the first $30,000, then $7.41 per $1,000 to $45,000, $6.27 per $1,000 to $100,000, $5.70 per $1,000 to $500,000, and it keeps stepping down above that.
A real closing can differ from the table, because the policy is written on the full consideration — including assumed liens and unpaid municipal charges, not just the contract price — and because endorsements and additional-work charges may apply.
For a figure on your own numbers, use the rate calculator.
This is the most commonly misstated line in Pennsylvania closing cost guides. Under the simultaneous issue rule, when an owner's policy and a loan policy are issued at the same time on the same property, they are treated as a single policy for rating. One Sale Rate premium is charged on whichever policy has the higher limit — which in a purchase is the owner's policy.
The lender's policy adds $0 in premium. If you are handed a Philadelphia closing statement showing a separate lender's premium alongside an owner's premium on a purchase, ask about it.
An owner's policy must be issued unless the buyer waives it in writing. If it is waived, the loan policy is then charged at the Sale Rate — the higher schedule — rather than the Non-Sale Rate.
So a buyer who skips owner's coverage gets no protection for their own equity and still pays the higher rate on the loan amount. The lender's policy protects the bank's lien, not your money.
Pennsylvania used to have three tiers: a Basic Rate, a Reissue Rate at 90% of basic where the property had been insured within the previous 10 years, and a Refinance Rate at 80% of the reissue rate. Those were abolished on 1 July 2012 and replaced by the Sale Rate and Non-Sale Rate.
There is no look-back period, no prior-policy requirement and no evidence-of-prior-policy discount in Pennsylvania today. The word "reissue" does not appear in the current manual.
You will still find Pennsylvania title company pages advising buyers to "ask for the reissue rate if your prior policy is under 10 years old," sometimes with invented discount tiers of 30% or 40%. That advice has been wrong for over a decade. If a company's own rate page is fourteen years out of date, that tells you something.
Pennsylvania is an all-inclusive rate state, as a matter of law rather than courtesy. The filed rate covers the search, the title examination, escrow and settlement services, and the insurance risk itself. The manual is explicit that search and examination are inside the Sale and Non-Sale Rates.
Also included: the commitment, the closing statement, the policy and its endorsements, mail delivery, issuing cheques, and delivering documents for recording.
Which means a separately itemised "title search fee" or "title examination fee" on a Pennsylvania purchase is not a filed charge. It is already in the premium. Generic national closing cost guides quoting "$500–$1,500 in title search and settlement fees" are template content written for other states.
| Charge | Amount |
|---|---|
| Closing Protection Letter | $125.00 per transaction |
| Escrow service charge (funds held after closing) | from $25.00 |
| Cancellation after the commitment issues | from $100.00 |
| Record Owner and Lien Certificate, 1–4 family | $350.00 per chain of title |
| Tax, water, sewer and municipal lien searches | capped at the government agency's own charge |
| Government recording fees | pass-through |
| Notary | $5.00 per acknowledgment (state maximum) |
| Document preparation, wires, couriers | not filed — set by the agent |
Note the pass-through rule: searches and certifications from government agencies are capped at what the agency itself charges. No mark-up is permitted.
Not the premium. But these are worth a question:
By custom in Pennsylvania — Philadelphia and the collar counties alike — the buyer pays both the owner's and the lender's title charges. It is allocated by contract and is negotiable; sellers do cover it through concessions in slower markets.
What genuinely differs between Philadelphia and the suburbs is not title insurance. It is the realty transfer tax: 4.578% in the city against roughly 2% in most suburban municipalities. That is a tax, not a title charge, and the two get conflated constantly.
The Homeowner's Policy of Title Insurance is a broader product priced at the Sale Rate plus 10%. It folds in a set of endorsements that otherwise cost extra.
It may only be issued to a homeowner who will live in a one-to-four family residence. An LLC or a non-occupant investor cannot have it — they get the standard owner's policy at the plain Sale Rate. Cheaper, but materially narrower coverage. If you are comparing your quote to an owner-occupant friend's, that is why the numbers differ.
Since the premium is fixed by filing, the only thing left to choose is who you want handling the file. We answer after 5PM, at weekends and on holidays.
Last reviewed 13 September 2026 against the TIRBOP rate manual approved through 1 August 2024, with the member list updated 1 January 2026. Premium figures are calculated from the filed table and are approximate for any specific file. General information, not legal advice.
Talk to a title professional who works in Philadelphia every day — including after 5PM, on weekends, and on holidays.
Order Title Now