NDLH Exam Domains 2026: Complete Guide to All 9 Content Areas

What the NDLH Exam Actually Tests

The North Dakota Life & Health Insurance Producer Exam - specifically the Life and Annuity (Product and Laws) version that this site focuses on - is administered by PSI on behalf of the North Dakota Insurance Department. It is not a certification you study for out of general curiosity; it's the gatekeeper exam every resident producer must pass before applying for a life insurance and annuity license in North Dakota. That context matters when you plan your study time, because the exam's nine domains are weighted to mirror what a working producer needs to know on day one, not an academic survey of insurance theory.

Understanding the domain structure is the single highest-leverage thing you can do before you start studying. If you want a broader orientation to eligibility and the licensing process itself, our NDLH Requirements guide covers age, residency, and background-check steps. This article focuses purely on content: what's tested, how much of the exam each topic occupies, and what that means for your prep sequence.

The 9 Content Areas, Ranked by Weight

Every question on the exam falls into one of nine domains published by the North Dakota Insurance Department and PSI. The weights below tell you exactly how many of your 110 scored questions will come from each area - this is the closest thing to a study map you'll get.

Notice how top-heavy this distribution is. The top three domains alone - North Dakota Laws and Regulations, Policy Provisions/Options/Riders, and Types of Life Insurance Policies - account for over 56% of scored content. If your study time isn't roughly proportional to that weighting, you're spending hours on material that barely moves your score. Our NDLH Cheat Sheet condenses these weighted priorities into a one-page reference for quick review.

Domain-by-Domain Breakdown

Why the North Dakota Law Domain Dominates

Domain 2 - North Dakota Laws and Regulations Pertaining to Life Insurance and Annuities - makes up 25.5% of the exam, more than double the weight of the next-largest domain. That's not an accident. State insurance regulators write these exams to confirm that new producers understand the specific statutes governing replacement, disclosure, suitability, and unfair practices in North Dakota, because those are the rules producers are legally bound to follow the moment they're licensed. Generic product knowledge is testable everywhere; state law is only testable here.

This is also the domain most candidates underestimate, because it doesn't map neatly onto "insurance knowledge" the way policy types or riders do. It's statute-based, which means memorization and pattern recognition matter more than intuition. If you're deciding how difficult this exam is likely to feel relative to your background, the How Hard Is the NDLH Exam guide breaks down where most candidates lose points - and Domain 2 is consistently the answer.

Question Format and Test-Day Mechanics

Knowing the domains only helps if you also understand how the exam is delivered. The NDLH Life and Annuity exam is computer-based and closed-book: no reference materials, no calculator, and if you test remotely via proctoring, no scratch paper and no breaks during the session. That last detail catches people off guard - plan your 150 minutes assuming you won't step away from the screen if you choose the remote option.

Registration costs $64, and there's no prelicensing course requirement in North Dakota, so nothing stands between you and scheduling except readiness. Once you pass, you have one year to complete your license application, including the fingerprint-based background check. For a full walkthrough of fees and what's included, see the NDLH Certification Cost breakdown; for scheduling logistics and testing windows, check NDLH Exam Dates.

On the scoring side, you need 77 correct answers out of 110 scored questions - a 70% threshold. PSI may slip in 5-10 additional unscored experimental questions that look identical to real ones, so there's no reliable way to identify or skip them; answer every question as if it counts. For a deeper look at how that threshold is calculated and what it means in practice, our NDLH Passing Score guide walks through the math.

Mapping a Study Plan to Domain Weight

You don't need a generic study methodology here - you need one that respects the lopsided weighting of these nine domains. A simple, effective approach is to sequence your review in descending order of domain weight, spending roughly proportional time on each before moving to full-length practice.

If you want a more detailed week-by-week structure with specific resource recommendations, the NDLH Study Guide expands on this framework. And once you've reviewed all nine domains, running full-length timed practice tests on our practice test platform is the best way to confirm your pacing holds up under real exam conditions - 110 questions in 150 minutes moves faster than most candidates expect.

Who Actually Uses This Exam

Passing this exam is the required step toward a North Dakota resident life and annuity producer license - it's not an optional add-on credential. Insurance agencies, independent brokers, and captive carriers operating in North Dakota all require this license before a producer can legally sell life insurance or annuity products in the state. After licensure, producers renew biennially with 24 continuing-education hours, including 3 hours of ethics, and additional specialized training applies for annuity or long-term-care product lines when relevant.

If you're weighing whether pursuing this license fits your career goals, the Is the NDLH Certification Worth It guide lays out the practical tradeoffs, and the NDLH Salary Guide discusses earning considerations for licensed producers. For current pass-rate context drawn from available data, see the NDLH Pass Rate analysis. You can also explore practice questions organized by domain to see exactly how these topics show up in exam-style format before you sit for the real thing.

Frequently Asked Questions