- The AL-LH exam has 4 domains across 150 questions; you need 105 correct (70%) to pass.
- Life Insurance is the heaviest domain at 55 questions, followed by Health Insurance at 45.
- Alabama Insurance Law is the smallest domain (20 questions) but is entirely state-specific content.
- Alabama no longer requires a prelicensing completion certificate as of January 1, 2024.
Exam Structure Overview
The Alabama Life & Health Insurance Producer Exam (AL-LH) is a single, combined 150-question computer-based test governed by the Alabama Department of Insurance and administered through the University of Alabama's Alabama Insurance Testing program. Candidates get three hours to work through the exam and must answer at least 105 questions correctly - a flat 70% - to pass. There's no separate "Life exam" and "Health exam" to schedule; both lines of authority are tested together in one sitting, which is one reason candidates often underestimate how much material they need to review.
Every question on the exam falls into one of four content domains. Understanding how those domains are weighted - and what each one actually tests - is the single most useful thing you can do before you start studying. If you haven't already reviewed the broader mechanics of the license, the AL-LH requirements page covers eligibility basics like the age-18 minimum, and the AL-LH passing score breakdown explains exactly how the 105-question threshold is calculated.
Domain 1: Part I - General Life and Health Insurance
This domain contains 30 questions and functions as the foundation layer beneath the Life and Health domains that follow. It covers insurance concepts that apply broadly across both lines - contract law basics, the parties to an insurance contract, insurable interest, policy provisions that show up regardless of product type, underwriting fundamentals, and the general regulatory framework producers operate within.
Domain 1 Focus Areas
Candidates should be comfortable with terminology and legal principles that don't change whether you're describing a life policy or a health policy.
- Insurance contract fundamentals: offer, acceptance, consideration, insurable interest
- Producer licensing concepts, appointments, and fiduciary duty
- Underwriting basics: risk classification, rating factors, adverse selection
- Common policy provisions and general regulatory terms used across Life and Health products
Because this section sets vocabulary and concepts you'll reuse in Domains 2 and 3, it's a poor place to rush. A shaky grasp here tends to cause missed points later, even on questions technically filed under Life or Health.
Domain 2: Part II - Life Insurance
At 55 questions, Life Insurance is the largest single domain on the exam - more than a third of the total test. This is where the bulk of your preparation time should go, and it's also the domain most candidates find conceptually dense because of the number of product types and policy features involved.
Domain 2 Focus Areas
Expect scenario-based questions that ask you to identify the correct product, provision, or rider for a described situation.
- Term, whole, universal, and variable life product mechanics
- Policy riders (waiver of premium, accelerated death benefit, guaranteed insurability)
- Nonforfeiture options, dividends, and settlement/payout options
- Annuities: types, tax treatment, and free-look provisions
- Group life insurance and conversion privileges
Given its 55-question weight, this domain alone can make or break your 105-correct-answer target. If you're trying to gauge how demanding this section feels relative to the rest of the exam, How Hard Is the AL-LH Exam? walks through where candidates typically report the most friction.
Domain 3: Part III - Health Insurance
Health Insurance carries 45 questions, the second-largest share of the exam. This domain shifts focus to individual and group health products, disability income, and the array of provisions specific to health contracts rather than life contracts.
Domain 3 Focus Areas
Candidates need to distinguish between product categories and understand how specific provisions function in practice.
- Individual and group health insurance plan structures (HMO, PPO, indemnity)
- Disability income insurance, including definitions of disability and elimination periods
- Medicare, Medicaid, and long-term care insurance basics
- Health policy provisions: coordination of benefits, pre-existing conditions, renewability
Key Takeaway
Together, Domains 2 and 3 (Life and Health) account for 100 of the 150 questions on the exam - two-thirds of your score depends on these two domains alone.
Domain 4: Part IV - Alabama Insurance Law
The smallest domain at 20 questions, Alabama Insurance Law is also the most distinctly state-specific section of the exam. Unlike the general concepts tested in Domains 1-3, this section draws directly from Alabama Department of Insurance statutes and regulations, meaning outside study material written for other states won't reliably cover it.
Domain 4 Focus Areas
This domain rewards familiarity with Alabama-specific rules rather than industry-wide theory.
- Alabama producer licensing rules, appointments, and renewal requirements
- Unfair trade practices and unfair claims settlement practices under Alabama law
- Alabama-specific replacement and disclosure requirements
- Penalties, license revocation, and administrative procedures specific to the state
Because it's only 20 questions, some candidates deprioritize this domain - but missing several questions here because of unfamiliarity with Alabama-specific rules (rather than a lack of general insurance knowledge) is an avoidable mistake. A dedicated pass through Alabama-specific rules late in your prep, close to test day, tends to help this section stick.
Why the Weighting Matters
Not all domains deserve equal study time, and the exam's question distribution tells you exactly where to invest hours. Spending equal time on all four domains means under-preparing for Life Insurance (the largest domain) and over-preparing for Alabama Insurance Law (the smallest).
| Domain | Questions | Approx. Share of Exam |
|---|---|---|
| Part II - Life Insurance | 55 | ~37% |
| Part III - Health Insurance | 45 | ~30% |
| Part I - General Life and Health Insurance | 30 | ~20% |
| Part IV - Alabama Insurance Law | 20 | ~13% |
This distribution is worth memorizing on its own - it's essentially a study time budget. For a condensed, printable version of this breakdown alongside other must-know numbers, see the AL-LH Cheat Sheet.
Mapping a Study Plan to the Domains
Rather than studying "the exam" generically, build your schedule around the four domains in proportion to their question counts. A simple approach: front-load the two largest domains, then use remaining time to reinforce the general foundation and Alabama-specific law.
General Life and Health Foundations
- Learn core contract law terms and underwriting vocabulary from Domain 1
- Build flashcards for terms that reappear in Domains 2 and 3
Life Insurance Deep Dive
- Work through product types, riders, and nonforfeiture options from Domain 2
- Practice scenario questions since this domain is 55 of 150 questions
Health Insurance Deep Dive
- Cover health plan structures, disability income, and Medicare/Medicaid basics
- Compare Health provisions against Life provisions to avoid mixing them up
Alabama Law and Full Review
- Focus specifically on Alabama Department of Insurance statutes for Domain 4
- Take timed full-length practice runs to simulate the three-hour, 150-question format
This structure pairs well with a formal review plan - for a fuller walkthrough of study techniques tied to these domains, see the AL-LH Study Guide 2026: How to Pass on Your First Attempt.
Registration and Test-Day Mechanics
The AL-LH exam costs $75 for the combined Life and Health test and is offered at approved Alabama testing sites as well as through online proctoring via ProctorU, giving candidates flexibility on where they sit for it. On test day, no books, study materials, calculators, or scrap paper are allowed - everything must be done using only what the testing system provides.
If you don't pass on the first attempt, there's no waiting period before you can retake it. A second failure triggers a 90-day wait, a third failure has no wait, and a fourth failure requires a 180-day wait, with 180-day waits applying after every two subsequent failures beyond that. Resident applicants who pass complete fingerprinting and then apply for licensure through NIPR.
For a full accounting of what licensure costs beyond the exam fee, check the AL-LH Certification Cost 2026 breakdown, and if you're weighing scheduling options around testing sites and ProctorU windows, the AL-LH Exam Dates 2026 guide covers logistics in more depth.
Once you're licensed, understanding where this credential leads matters too - the AL-LH Jobs overview and AL-LH Salary Guide 2026 both look at how producers use the license in practice, while Is the AL-LH Certification Worth It? weighs the overall return. To sharpen your recall of these four domains before test day, run through timed questions on our AL-LH practice test platform, and revisit weak domains using additional sets on the practice site as your exam date approaches.
Frequently Asked Questions
Life Insurance has 55 questions, Health Insurance has 45, General Life and Health Insurance has 30, and Alabama Insurance Law has 20, totaling 150 questions.
Many candidates start with Domain 1 (General Life and Health Insurance) since its vocabulary and concepts underpin the Life and Health domains that follow, then move into Life Insurance given its 55-question weight.
It's the smallest domain at 20 questions, but because it draws from Alabama Department of Insurance statutes rather than general industry concepts, generic study material may not fully cover it - dedicated review of state-specific rules is recommended.
No. Alabama has not required a prelicensing course completion certificate since January 1, 2024, though candidates still need to meet other eligibility requirements, including being at least 18 years old.
There is no waiting period after a first failure. A 90-day wait follows a second failure, no wait follows a third, a 180-day wait follows a fourth, and 180-day waits apply after every two subsequent failures.