- The TN-LH domain outlines split into 13 areas across two separately scored exams: Life and Accident and Health.
- Each exam has 77 questions (68 scored, 9 pretest) with 1 hour 45 minutes allowed.
- Domain weights reflect combined shares of 136 total scored questions across both exams.
- Life - Types of Policies and Accident and Health - Types of Policies are the two heaviest domains at 11.0% and 11.8%.
How the 13 Domains Are Organized
The Tennessee Life & Health Insurance Producer Exam is not one test - it's two. The Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance, through Pearson VUE, administers a separately scored Life exam and a separately scored Accident and Health exam. Together, these two exams cover 13 content domains, and every scored question you'll see falls into one of them.
This structure matters for how you prepare. Domains 1 through 6 belong to the Life exam. Domains 7 through 13 belong to the Accident and Health exam. If you're only licensing for one line, you only need to master the domains tied to that exam - but most candidates sit for both, since Tennessee's combination OnVUE option bundles the two for a single $80 fee instead of paying $55 per test-center appointment for each.
For a full breakdown of how these exams are structured beyond domain content - timing, scoring, and appointment logistics - see the TN-LH Study Guide 2026: How to Pass on Your First Attempt.
Life Insurance Domains (1-6)
The Life exam's six domains cover policy mechanics, underwriting, retirement-adjacent concepts, and Tennessee-specific law. Two domains - Types of Policies and Policy Riders, Provisions, Options, and Exclusions - each carry 11.0% weight, meaning they combine for roughly 22% of everything scored across both exams.
Domain 1: Life - Types of Policies (11.0%)
Covers the structural differences between term, whole life, universal life, and variable products, along with how each type behaves for cash value, premium flexibility, and death benefit design.
- Distinguishing level term from decreasing/increasing term structures
- How universal life separates cost of insurance from cash accumulation
- Variable life's investment component and its regulatory treatment
Domain 2: Life - Policy Riders, Provisions, Options, and Exclusions (11.0%)
Focuses on the add-ons and built-in contract language that modify a base policy - what riders do, what standard provisions require, and where exclusions limit coverage.
- Waiver of premium, accidental death, and guaranteed insurability riders
- Nonforfeiture options and settlement options
- Suicide and contestability clause mechanics
Domain 3: Life - Completing the Application, Underwriting, and Delivering the Policies (8.8%)
Tests the procedural side of getting a policy issued - from application accuracy to underwriting classifications to delivery requirements.
- Insurable interest requirements at time of application
- Underwriting risk classes and rating factors
- Policy delivery receipt and free-look period rules
Domain 4: Life - Retirement and Other Insurance Concepts (5.9%)
Bridges life insurance into retirement planning vehicles and annuity-adjacent concepts that producers need to understand for suitability conversations.
- Qualified vs. nonqualified retirement plans
- Annuity accumulation and payout phases
- Group vs. individual retirement product distinctions
Domain 5: Life - Tennessee Laws and Departmental Rules Common to Life, Accident and Health, Property and Casualty Insurance (10.3%)
This is general Tennessee insurance law that applies across lines - licensing, producer conduct, and departmental authority - tested here in the context of life products.
- Producer licensing requirements and continuing education basics
- Unfair trade practices and misrepresentation rules
- Department of Commerce and Insurance enforcement authority
Domain 6: Life - Tennessee Laws and Departmental Rules Pertinent to Life Insurance Only (2.9%)
Narrower than Domain 5, this covers statutes specific to life insurance contracts issued in Tennessee.
- State-specific policy provision mandates for life contracts
- Replacement regulations unique to life insurance
Notice that Domains 5 and 6 both test Tennessee law, but at different scopes - one shared across all insurance lines, one specific to life contracts. Candidates who blur these two together tend to lose points on questions that hinge on that distinction. The same split repeats on the Accident and Health side with Domains 12 and 13.
Accident and Health Domains (7-13)
The Accident and Health exam's seven domains parallel the Life exam's structure but shift focus to health-related products, social insurance programs, and field underwriting for individual and group health coverage.
Domain 7: Accident and Health - Types of Policies (11.8%)
The single heaviest domain across both exams. Covers the range of individual and group health products a Tennessee producer may sell.
- Individual vs. group health insurance structures
- Disability income, long-term care, and Medicare supplement basics
- Managed care plan types (HMO, PPO, POS)
Domain 8: Accident and Health - Policy Provisions, Clauses, and Riders (11.0%)
Tests the contract language governing how health policies pay claims, exclude conditions, and renew coverage.
- Guaranteed renewable vs. noncancellable provisions
- Pre-existing condition clauses and waiting periods
- Coordination of benefits between multiple policies
Domain 9: Accident and Health - Social Insurance (4.4%)
Covers government-administered programs that intersect with private health coverage sales.
- Medicare Parts A, B, C, and D distinctions
- Medicaid eligibility basics as they relate to producer disclosures
Domain 10: Accident and Health - Other Insurance Concepts (3.7%)
A smaller domain covering concepts that don't fit neatly into policy types or provisions but still appear on the exam.
- Cost-containment features in health plans
- Taxation treatment of health insurance premiums and benefits
Domain 11: Accident and Health - Field Underwriting Procedures (5.9%)
Focuses on the producer's role at the point of sale - what must be disclosed, collected, and verified before a health application moves forward.
- Producer responsibilities in application completion
- Replacement disclosure requirements for health policies
Domain 12: Accident and Health - Tennessee Laws and Departmental Rules Common to Life, Accident and Health, Property and Casualty Insurance (10.3%)
The same shared Tennessee law tested in Domain 5, applied here to health insurance scenarios.
- Producer licensing and appointment rules
- Unfair claims settlement practices
Domain 13: Accident and Health - Tennessee Laws and Departmental Rules Pertinent to Accident and Health Insurance Only (2.9%)
The narrowest domain on the Accident and Health exam, covering statutes specific to health contracts.
- State-mandated health policy provisions
- Small group and individual market regulations unique to Tennessee
Key Takeaway
Domains 7 and 8 together account for nearly 23% of all scored questions on the Accident and Health side - treat policy types and provisions as your two highest-priority review blocks for that exam.
Domain Weight Breakdown
Here's every domain in one place, ranked by weight, so you can see exactly where scored questions concentrate across the 136-question combined pool.
| Domain | Exam | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| 7. Types of Policies | Accident and Health | 11.8% |
| 1. Types of Policies | Life | 11.0% |
| 2. Policy Riders, Provisions, Options, and Exclusions | Life | 11.0% |
| 8. Policy Provisions, Clauses, and Riders | Accident and Health | 11.0% |
| 5. TN Laws Common to All Lines | Life | 10.3% |
| 12. TN Laws Common to All Lines | Accident and Health | 10.3% |
| 3. Application, Underwriting, and Delivery | Life | 8.8% |
| 4. Retirement and Other Insurance Concepts | Life | 5.9% |
| 11. Field Underwriting Procedures | Accident and Health | 5.9% |
| 9. Social Insurance | Accident and Health | 4.4% |
| 10. Other Insurance Concepts | Accident and Health | 3.7% |
| 6. TN Laws Pertinent to Life Only | Life | 2.9% |
| 13. TN Laws Pertinent to A&H Only | Accident and Health | 2.9% |
Six of the 13 domains carry weights below 6%, but skipping them is a mistake - collectively, the seven smallest domains still make up a meaningful share of scored questions. For more on how a scaled score of 70 translates into how many questions you can afford to miss per domain, read TN-LH Passing Score 2026: Exactly What You Need to Pass.
Question Format and What "Scored" Means
Each TN-LH exam - Life and Accident and Health - delivers 77 total questions, but only 68 of those are scored. The remaining 9 are unscored pretest items the Department uses to evaluate future exam content; you won't know which questions are pretest, so every question deserves full attention. You get 1 hour 45 minutes per exam to complete it.
Domain percentages listed above apply to the 68 scored questions per exam, combined into the 136-question total across both Life and Accident and Health. That means a domain weighted at 8.8%, like Life - Completing the Application, Underwriting, and Delivering the Policies, translates to roughly 12 scored questions out of the combined pool - useful context when deciding how many practice questions to allocate to each area.
Mapping a Study Schedule to Domain Weight
Rather than studying domains in numerical order, allocate time proportional to weight. The heaviest domains - Types of Policies on both exams, Policy Riders/Provisions on Life, and Policy Provisions/Clauses/Riders on Accident and Health - should get the most repetition, since they represent the largest combined share of the 136 scored questions.
Life Policy Fundamentals
- Domain 1: Types of Policies
- Domain 2: Riders, Provisions, Options, and Exclusions
Life Process and Concepts
- Domain 3: Application, Underwriting, and Delivery
- Domain 4: Retirement and Other Insurance Concepts
Life Law and A&H Policy Types
- Domains 5 and 6: Tennessee Law for Life
- Domain 7: A&H Types of Policies
A&H Provisions and Social Insurance
- Domain 8: Policy Provisions, Clauses, and Riders
- Domain 9: Social Insurance
A&H Concepts and Underwriting
- Domain 10: Other Insurance Concepts
- Domain 11: Field Underwriting Procedures
A&H Law and Full Review
- Domains 12 and 13: Tennessee Law for A&H
- Cumulative practice across all 13 domains
This sequencing front-loads the heaviest-weighted content while still giving every domain, including the smaller Tennessee-law-only sections, dedicated review time before test day. For a deeper look at how difficult candidates generally find each domain relative to the others, see How Hard Is the TN-LH Exam? Complete Difficulty Guide 2026.
Registration, Fees, and Retake Mechanics
Once you've mapped your domain study plan, the logistics around scheduling and retaking matter just as much. Each test-center appointment for Life or Accident and Health costs $55; the OnVUE combination covering both exams in one sitting costs $80. Every exam requires a scaled score of 70 to pass.
If you don't pass on the first attempt, Tennessee imposes a 10-day wait before you can retest; a second failure extends that wait to 30 days. Candidates are also limited to two OnVUE (remote) attempts per exam line before they're required to test at a physical Pearson VUE test center. Understanding this cap matters if you're planning around a specific hiring or licensing deadline.
After passing both exams, the process isn't finished - you'll need fingerprinting, a mandatory 48-hour wait before filing your application electronically, and a $50 license application fee. For the complete fee stack from exam registration through licensure, see TN-LH Certification Cost 2026: Complete Pricing Breakdown, and for exact scheduling windows and how appointments are booked, check TN-LH Exam Dates 2026: Testing Windows, Deadlines & Scheduling.
Key Takeaway
Budget for both exam fees and the post-pass licensing steps - the $55 or $80 exam cost is not the final expense before you're licensed to sell in Tennessee.
Who This Content Actually Serves in Tennessee
The 13 domains aren't abstract - they map directly to what a licensed Tennessee producer does day to day. Someone selling term and whole life policies leans heavily on Domains 1 and 2. A producer focused on Medicare supplement and group health work will spend more career time in Domains 7 through 9. Independent agents who sell across both lines need working knowledge of all 13, since Tennessee law questions (Domains 5, 6, 12, and 13) apply regardless of which products a producer emphasizes.
Insurance agencies, captive carriers, and independent brokerages hiring in Tennessee generally expect both the Life and Accident and Health lines to be active, since dual-licensed producers can quote a broader range of client needs. If you're evaluating whether this credential fits your career plans, Is the TN-LH Certification Worth It? Complete ROI Analysis 2026 and TN-LH Salary Guide 2026: Complete Earnings Analysis cover the practical outcomes in more depth. You can also browse current openings referencing this license through TN-LH Jobs.
To reinforce domain knowledge before your appointment, run through scored-style practice questions on the main practice test platform - working question sets organized by domain is the most direct way to confirm which of the 13 areas still need review. You can also revisit full-length practice exams to simulate the 77-question, 1-hour-45-minute format under real time pressure.
FAQ
There are 13 total domains split across two separately scored exams - six on the Life exam and seven on the Accident and Health exam.
Accident and Health - Types of Policies carries the highest single weight at 11.8% of combined scored questions.
No. If you're only sitting for the Life exam, you only need Domains 1-6. If you're only sitting for Accident and Health, focus on Domains 7-13.
The percentages represent each domain's share of the combined 136 scored questions across both exams, not a per-exam breakdown, since Life and Accident and Health are scored separately.
The outlines referenced in this guide are effective October 15, 2025. Always confirm you're studying the current version before scheduling your exam.