- NDLH refers to the North Dakota Life & Health Insurance Producer Exam, administered by PSI for the ND Insurance Department.
- The Life and Annuity exam has 110 scored questions in 150 minutes; 70% (77 correct) passes.
- North Dakota Laws and Regulations Pertaining to Life Insurance and Annuities is the heaviest domain at 25.5%.
- No prelicensing course is required, but you must be 18+, pass fingerprinting, and apply within one year of passing.
What NDLH Actually Means
On this site, NDLH stands for the North Dakota Life & Health Insurance Producer Exam - the state licensing test that aspiring life and health insurance producers in North Dakota must pass before they can legally sell insurance products in the state. It is worth being precise about this because the same four letters get used elsewhere for entirely unrelated credentials. If you searched for NDLH and landed here, you're in the right place only if you're pursuing a North Dakota resident producer license in the life and annuity or accident and health lines.
This is not a voluntary professional certification you add to a resume for prestige - it's a regulatory requirement. Without passing it, and completing the licensing steps that follow, you cannot legally act as a life or health insurance producer in North Dakota. For a broader breakdown of what the credential involves day to day, see our NDLH Certification overview, or start with the basics in What Is NDLH? and NDLH Meaning.
Who Administers the Exam
The North Dakota Insurance Department sets the licensing rules, but the actual test delivery is handled by PSI, a third-party testing vendor. PSI operates the physical test centers and the remote-proctoring infrastructure, builds the exam content outline in coordination with the state, and reports your pass/fail result. When you register, you're scheduling through PSI's system, not directly with the Insurance Department.
Understanding this division matters practically: rescheduling, ID requirements, and day-of testing rules come from PSI's policies, while licensing eligibility, background checks, and license issuance come from the state. If you're unclear on the full eligibility checklist before you even get to scheduling, review NDLH Requirements 2026: Eligibility, Prerequisites & How to Qualify.
Exam Format and Registration Mechanics
The Life and Annuity exam is deliberately structured and timed. Knowing the exact numbers before test day removes one entire category of anxiety.
| Detail | Specification |
|---|---|
| Scored questions | 110 |
| Possible unscored (experimental) questions | 5-10, added by PSI |
| Time allowed | 150 minutes |
| Passing score | 70% (77 correct out of 110) |
| Exam fee | $64 |
| Format | Computer-based, closed book |
| Testing options | Test center or remote proctoring |
A few operational details catch candidates off guard. There is no calculator and no reference material allowed - this is a closed-book exam from start to finish. If you choose remote proctoring for convenience, be aware that remote sessions do not allow scratch paper or breaks, which is stricter than many other state exams. If you know you'll need to jot down calculations or step away mid-test, an in-person test center may suit you better.
Because PSI mixes 5-10 unscored questions into the 110 scored ones, you won't be able to tell which questions "count." Treat every question on the screen as if it's scored - there's no way to identify the experimental ones during the test. For a deeper walk-through of exactly what the passing threshold means in practice, read NDLH Passing Score 2026: Exactly What You Need to Pass, and for a full cost breakdown beyond just the exam fee, see NDLH Certification Cost 2026: Complete Pricing Breakdown.
Key Takeaway
Budget the full 150 minutes even if you expect to finish early - 110 scored questions plus up to 10 unscored ones means pacing yourself at roughly 75-80 seconds per question is safer than rushing.
The Nine Content Domains
The exam content outline is divided into nine domains, each weighted differently. This weighting is the single most useful piece of information for planning your study time, because it tells you exactly where the exam concentrates its questions.
Domain 2: North Dakota Laws and Regulations Pertaining to Life Insurance and Annuities (25.5%)
This is the largest domain by a wide margin - a quarter of the entire exam. It covers state-specific statutes, producer licensing rules, unfair trade practices, and replacement regulations unique to North Dakota.
- State licensing requirements and producer conduct standards
- Replacement and disclosure rules for life and annuity products
- Unfair trade practices specific to North Dakota insurance law
Domain 7: Life Insurance Policy Provisions, Options, and Riders (18.2%)
The second-largest domain, testing your grasp of how policies actually function once issued - nonforfeiture options, settlement options, and common riders.
- Grace periods, reinstatement, and incontestability clauses
- Nonforfeiture options and policy loan provisions
- Common riders (waiver of premium, accidental death, etc.)
Domain 6: Types of Life Insurance Policies (12.7%) & Domain 5: Life Insurance Basics (11.8%)
Together these two domains make up nearly a quarter of the exam. They test whether you understand core life insurance mechanics and can distinguish between term, whole, universal, and variable products.
- Term vs. permanent insurance distinctions
- Underwriting basics and risk classification
- Policy ownership, beneficiary designations, and premium structures
Domain 1: Insurance Regulation (10.9%)
Broader regulatory concepts that apply beyond just North Dakota-specific statutes - general licensing authority, producer roles, and regulatory oversight structure.
Domains 3, 4, 8, and 9 (Federal Laws, General Concepts, Annuities, Federal Tax)
These four domains are individually smaller (2.7%-7.3% each) but collectively still worth studying carefully, since they cover annuity fundamentals, general insurance principles, and the federal tax treatment of life insurance proceeds and annuity distributions.
For the complete breakdown of every domain with subtopics and sample question angles, see our dedicated NDLH Exam Domains 2026: Complete Guide to All 9 Content Areas. If you want a condensed reference to keep open during final review, the NDLH Cheat Sheet 2026: One-Page Review of Must-Know Facts pulls the highest-yield facts from each domain into one page.
Who Needs to Pass This Exam
The NDLH exam is a prerequisite for anyone who wants to be licensed to sell life insurance, annuities, or accident and health products as a resident producer in North Dakota. This includes:
- Career changers entering the insurance industry, often recruited by captive or independent agencies
- Financial services professionals adding life and annuity products to an existing book of business
- New producers hired by insurance carriers, agencies, or brokerages operating in North Dakota
- Existing producers licensed in other states who are establishing resident status in North Dakota
Notably, North Dakota does not require a prelicensing course before you sit for the exam. That's a meaningful difference from states that mandate a set number of prelicensing education hours - it puts more responsibility on the candidate to self-study effectively rather than relying on a classroom to cover the material. If you're weighing whether the investment in studying and testing pays off relative to the career outcome, our Is the NDLH Certification Worth It? Complete ROI Analysis 2026 article and NDLH Salary Guide 2026: Complete Earnings Analysis look at that question directly. For a sense of what roles are actually available to newly licensed producers, see NDLH Jobs.
What Happens After You Pass
Passing the exam is a milestone, not the finish line. To actually become a licensed producer in North Dakota, you also need to:
- Be at least 18 years old and meet residency and character requirements
- Complete the fingerprint-based background check process
- Submit your license application within one year of passing the exam
That one-year application window is easy to overlook if you pass early and then get busy. Missing it means you'd need to retest. Once licensed, producers must renew biennially and complete 24 hours of continuing education, including 3 hours of ethics, with additional specialized training required for producers selling annuities or long-term care products. For a full timeline of testing windows and application deadlines, check NDLH Exam Dates 2026: Testing Windows, Deadlines & Scheduling.
A Domain-Weighted Way to Prepare
Generic study advice - flashcards, timed practice, spaced repetition - only helps if it's pointed at the right material in the right proportion. Given that Domain 2 alone accounts for roughly a quarter of the exam and Domain 7 another 18%, over 40% of your score comes from just two domains. A reasonable multi-week plan reflects that imbalance rather than treating all nine domains equally.
North Dakota Laws and Regulations (Domain 2) + Insurance Regulation (Domain 1)
- Build a reference sheet of state-specific statutes and licensing rules
- Drill replacement and disclosure requirements until they're automatic
Life Insurance Basics and Policy Types (Domains 5 & 6)
- Compare term, whole, universal, and variable products side by side
- Practice underwriting and risk classification scenarios
Policy Provisions, Riders, and Annuities (Domains 7 & 8)
- Memorize grace period, reinstatement, and nonforfeiture rules
- Work through annuity payout and surrender-charge questions
Federal Law, General Concepts, Tax Treatment, and Full Review
- Cover federal tax treatment of proceeds and distributions
- Take full-length timed practice runs on the main practice test site
Running full-length, timed practice sessions matters more here than in untimed study environments, since the real exam gives you 150 minutes for 110-120 questions with no scratch paper allowed in remote sessions. Simulating that constraint on our practice tests before test day helps you calibrate pacing so you're not caught off guard by the clock. For a more detailed week-by-week plan built specifically around first-attempt success, see the NDLH Study Guide 2026: How to Pass on Your First Attempt.
If you're trying to gauge realistically how much effort this exam demands compared to your existing background, How Hard Is the NDLH Exam? Complete Difficulty Guide 2026 and NDLH Pass Rate 2026: What the Data Shows both offer useful context before you commit to a study timeline.
Frequently Asked Questions
Not exactly. NDLH refers to the exam itself. Passing it is one required step toward obtaining your North Dakota life and annuity producer license - you still need to complete fingerprinting and submit your application within one year.
No. North Dakota does not require a prelicensing education course before you sit for the exam, unlike some other states. You are responsible for self-preparing using study materials, practice tests, and the official content outline.
The exam has 110 scored questions, and PSI may add 5-10 additional unscored experimental questions. You have 150 minutes total to complete the test.
Domain 2, North Dakota Laws and Regulations Pertaining to Life Insurance and Annuities, is the largest at 25.5% of the exam. Domain 7, Policy Provisions, Options, and Riders, is next at 18.2%. Together they cover well over a third of the test.
Yes, PSI offers remote proctoring as an alternative to an in-person test center. However, remote sessions do not allow scratch paper or breaks, so consider your comfort with those restrictions before choosing that option.