- AL-LH is the $75 Alabama Life and Health combined producer exam with 150 questions and a 3-hour limit.
- You need 105 correct answers (70%) to pass, and no prelicensing certificate has been required since January 1, 2024.
- Life Insurance is the heaviest domain at 55 questions, followed by Health (45), General Life and Health (30), and Alabama Law (20).
- Fail once and retake immediately; a second failure triggers a 90-day wait, and later failures follow their own wait schedule.
What Is AL-LH?
AL-LH stands for the Alabama Life & Health Insurance Producer Exam - the state licensing test that anyone who wants to sell life insurance, health insurance, annuities, or related products in Alabama must pass. It is not a voluntary professional certification you add to a resume after years of experience; it is the mandatory gateway exam controlled by state insurance regulators. Passing it is what allows you to legally solicit, negotiate, or sell life and health insurance policies to Alabama consumers.
Because "AL-LH" is a fairly generic-looking abbreviation, it's worth being precise: this article is exclusively about the Alabama combined Life and Health producer licensing exam. If you've seen other exam prep sites mix in unrelated facts, fees, or pass rates under a similar-sounding name, that content does not apply here. Everything below reflects the actual Alabama exam structure.
If you're just starting your research, our AL-LH Certification overview and the companion piece AL-LH Meaning both dig deeper into the terminology and licensing context, while this page focuses on giving you the core facts in one place.
Who Governs and Administers the Exam
The Alabama Department of Insurance sets the licensing rules and content requirements for producers, but the day-to-day administration of the exam itself is handled by the University of Alabama through its Alabama Insurance Testing program. This structure - a state regulator setting requirements and a university-affiliated testing service delivering the actual exam - is common across many states, and it shapes some practical details candidates need to know:
- Exam registration, scheduling, and score reporting run through the Alabama Insurance Testing program, not directly through the Department of Insurance.
- Candidates can sit for the exam at approved in-person Alabama testing sites or remotely through ProctorU online proctoring, giving flexibility for people who don't live near a physical center.
- Licensing itself - the step after you pass - happens through NIPR (the National Insurance Producer Registry), which is the multi-state system most states use to process producer license applications.
Understanding this chain (Department of Insurance → University of Alabama testing → NIPR licensing) helps explain why some steps, like fingerprinting, happen after the exam rather than before.
Exam Format, Timing, and Fee
The AL-LH exam is a combined Life and Health test, meaning you don't take two separate exams for the two lines of authority - one sitting covers both. Here are the concrete mechanics:
| Exam Detail | Specification |
|---|---|
| Exam fee | $75 |
| Total questions | 150 multiple-choice |
| Time allowed | 3 hours |
| Passing score | 105 correct answers (70%) |
| Question format | Computer-based multiple choice |
| Testing options | Approved Alabama test sites or ProctorU online proctoring |
| Minimum age | 18 years old |
Every question is multiple choice and delivered on a computer, so there's no essay or scenario-writing component. That said, don't mistake "multiple choice" for "easy" - many questions are scenario-based, asking you to apply a rule to a specific client situation rather than just recall a definition. For a deeper breakdown of how tough the exam actually is in practice, see How Hard Is the AL-LH Exam? Complete Difficulty Guide 2026.
Key Takeaway
You need 105 of 150 questions correct to pass - there's no partial credit or curve, so treat every domain as scoring-relevant rather than skippable.
One important restriction: no outside materials are allowed in the testing room or proctored session. Books, personal study notes, calculators, and even your own paper or scrap paper are prohibited. Any scratch work must be done using materials provided by the testing site or proctor. This matters for your prep strategy - you can't lean on a formula sheet or notes during the real exam, so memorization and comfort with mental math (for basic premium or benefit calculations) need to happen before test day, not during it.
For a complete look at what the $75 fee does and doesn't cover, and other costs that show up along the way (fingerprinting, potential retake fees), check AL-LH Certification Cost 2026: Complete Pricing Breakdown.
The Four Content Domains
The AL-LH exam is built from four distinct content areas, and they are not weighted evenly. Knowing the exact question count per domain should directly shape how you allocate study time.
Domain 2: Part II - Life Insurance (55 questions)
This is the single largest domain and deserves the largest share of your study hours. It covers life insurance policy types, riders, underwriting concepts, beneficiary designations, settlement options, and how life policies are structured and serviced.
- Know the differences between term, whole, universal, and variable life products
- Understand policy riders and what each one modifies
- Be comfortable with beneficiary rules and settlement/payout options
Domain 3: Part III - Health Insurance (45 questions)
The second-largest domain, covering individual and group health concepts, disability income, long-term care, Medicare/Medicaid basics, and managed care structures.
- Distinguish between individual and group health plan mechanics
- Understand disability income insurance definitions and elimination periods
- Know the basics of Medicare supplement and long-term care products
Domain 1: Part I - General Life and Health Insurance (30 questions)
This domain covers foundational insurance concepts that apply across both life and health products - contract law basics, insurable interest, policy provisions, and the agent-client relationship.
- Master core insurance contract elements (offer, acceptance, consideration)
- Understand insurable interest requirements for life and health policies
- Know standard policy provisions and common exclusions
Domain 4: Part IV - Alabama Insurance Law (20 questions)
The smallest domain by question count, but it's entirely state-specific - meaning generic national study guides won't cover it well. It focuses on Alabama Department of Insurance rules, producer licensing requirements, and state-specific consumer protections.
- Know Alabama's specific licensing and continuing education rules
- Understand state-mandated disclosures and unfair trade practice definitions
- Be familiar with the Department of Insurance's regulatory authority
For a full walkthrough of every subtopic within these four parts, our dedicated guide, AL-LH Exam Domains 2026: Complete Guide to All 4 Content Areas, breaks each one down further. And if you want to see exactly how the 70% threshold plays out against these domain weights, AL-LH Passing Score 2026: Exactly What You Need to Pass walks through the math.
Eligibility and the Path to Licensure
Getting to exam day involves a few concrete steps, and Alabama's requirements have changed recently in one important way: as of January 1, 2024, the state no longer requires a prelicensing education completion certificate before you can sit for the exam. This is a meaningful shift from how many other states - and Alabama itself in earlier years - have handled licensing prep.
- Age requirement: Candidates must be at least 18 years old.
- No prelicensing certificate needed: You can register and sit for the exam without submitting proof of a completed prelicensing course.
- Fingerprinting after passing: Resident applicants complete fingerprinting once they've passed the exam, not before.
- Apply through NIPR: After fingerprinting, resident applicants submit their license application through the National Insurance Producer Registry.
This sequencing - exam first, then fingerprinting, then NIPR application - is worth internalizing so you don't waste time trying to complete steps out of order. For the complete eligibility checklist including residency considerations, see AL-LH Requirements 2026: Eligibility, Prerequisites & How to Qualify.
Retake Rules If You Don't Pass
Not everyone passes on the first attempt, and Alabama's retake policy has a specific escalating structure that's worth memorizing before you ever sit for the exam, since it affects how you plan a second attempt if needed.
- First failure: No waiting period - you can schedule a retake right away.
- Second failure: A 90-day waiting period applies before you can retake.
- Third failure: No waiting period.
- Fourth failure: A 180-day waiting period applies.
- Beyond the fourth failure: A 180-day wait follows every two subsequent failures.
This pattern means the real cost of failing isn't just the retake fee - it's the compounding delay if you fail multiple times in a row without adjusting your approach between attempts. If you're aiming to avoid this scenario entirely, our AL-LH Study Guide 2026: How to Pass on Your First Attempt is built specifically around passing on attempt one.
Who Actually Takes the AL-LH Exam
The AL-LH exam is taken by people entering - or expanding into - insurance sales roles in Alabama. That includes:
- New insurance agents joining a captive or independent agency that sells life and health products
- Career changers moving into financial services, insurance brokerage, or benefits consulting
- Existing property and casualty producers adding life and health lines of authority
- Employees of insurance carriers, banks, or credit unions who need licensing to sell insurance products alongside other financial services
Because this is a state-mandated license rather than an optional credential, virtually anyone selling life or health insurance products to Alabama residents - whether independently or as a captive agent for a specific carrier - needs to hold it. If you're evaluating whether this career path fits your goals, AL-LH Jobs covers the kinds of roles this license opens up, and AL-LH Salary Guide 2026: Complete Earnings Analysis looks at how compensation structures typically work in this field.
Preparing for the Content, Not Just the Clock
With 150 questions and 3 hours on the clock, pacing is rarely the biggest challenge for well-prepared candidates - that works out to roughly 70 seconds per question on average, which is enough time if you know the material. The real challenge is depth across four uneven domains. A reasonable way to sequence preparation is to mirror the question distribution: spend the most time on Life Insurance content, a strong second block on Health Insurance, a solid but shorter block on General Life and Health concepts, and a focused final push on Alabama Insurance Law, since it's the most state-specific and least likely to be covered by generic national materials.
Life Insurance Foundations
- Study policy types, riders, and underwriting basics tied to Domain 2's 55 questions
Health Insurance Core Concepts
- Cover individual/group health, disability income, and Medicare basics for Domain 3
General Principles + Alabama Law
- Review contract law fundamentals (Domain 1) alongside Alabama-specific rules (Domain 4)
Full Practice Exams
- Take timed 150-question practice runs to build stamina for the 3-hour format
Since no calculators, notes, or scratch paper of your own are allowed, practicing without those crutches from day one helps you build the habits you'll actually rely on during the real test. Running full-length timed practice tests on our practice test platform is one of the most direct ways to simulate that no-materials, timed-question environment before you ever walk into an approved test site or start a ProctorU session.
If you want a condensed reference of the highest-yield facts across all four domains for last-minute review, the AL-LH Cheat Sheet 2026: One-Page Review of Must-Know Facts is designed for exactly that purpose. And before you lock in a test date, confirm current scheduling windows using AL-LH Exam Dates 2026: Testing Windows, Deadlines & Scheduling.
Frequently Asked Questions
It's a single combined exam. The 150 questions cover both life and health content within one 3-hour sitting, rather than requiring two separate tests.
No. Alabama has not required a prelicensing completion certificate since January 1, 2024, so you can register for the exam without that certificate.
You can test at approved Alabama testing sites in person or remotely through ProctorU online proctoring, depending on which option fits your schedule and location.
There's no waiting period after a first failure, so you can retake immediately. A second failure requires a 90-day wait, the third failure has no wait, a fourth failure requires a 180-day wait, and every two failures after that trigger another 180-day wait.
Resident applicants complete fingerprinting after passing, then apply for their producer license through NIPR, the National Insurance Producer Registry.
No. Books, study materials, calculators, and even your own paper or scrap paper are prohibited during the exam; any scratch work must use materials provided by the testing site or proctor.