Indiana Life & Health Exam Overview

Indiana Life & Health Insurance Exam 2026

Welcome to your FREE Indiana Life & Health insurance exam prep guide. This chapter is your map: it covers the licensing path, the exam blueprint, fees, and the rules the Indiana Department of Insurance (IDOI) enforces under Indiana Code Title 27. The state-specific portion is only part of the test — roughly 80% of questions are national Life & Accident & Health concepts. Master both.

The combined exam is one sitting that covers Life AND Accident & Health. You do not take two separate tests unless you license one line at a time.

Pre-Licensing Education (Required First)

Indiana mandates state-approved pre-licensing education before you apply. The hours stack per line of authority:

Key rules new candidates miss:

• Per the Indiana candidate handbook, testing must be completed within six (6) months of the Course Completion Date on your certificate. The 6-month clock runs from when you finish the course and is anchored to sitting the exam, not to filing your application.
• Courses are taken through Indiana-approved providers (classroom or approved self-study); the authorized-school list is maintained through Sircon/IDOI.
• Most providers require you to pass a course final exam (commonly 70%) to issue your certificate, but the binding state deadline is the 6-month course-completion-to-testing window.

Trap: Candidates assume the certificate "never really expires" or that the clock starts at the exam date. The handbook ties the deadline to the course completion date: you must sit the exam within 6 months of finishing the course, or you must retake the pre-license course. Schedule the state exam early.

The State Exam (Pearson VUE)

Indiana contracts Pearson VUE to deliver licensing exams. The combined exam structure is fixed:

The 10 + 5 pretest questions are unscored items the vendor is field-testing; you cannot tell which they are, so treat every question as live. Your reported score is based only on the 135 scored items (100 general + 35 state). The current Indiana Insurance Candidate Handbook (rev. November 2025) and the matching content outlines effective November 26, 2025 confirm the 150-question / 180-minute / scaled-70 format — download both from Pearson VUE for the exact content outline and check-in rules before exam day.

Fees and Total Cost (2026)

The $69 exam fee is charged each time you sit, so a retake costs another $69. Pay by credit/debit card or voucher at the time you reserve your seat.

Pass Rates and Why People Fail

Neither IDOI nor Pearson VUE publishes an official Indiana first-time pass rate, so treat any specific percentage you see online as an estimate rather than a published figure. What matters is why candidates fail — and the misses cluster around a few predictable areas:

• Confusing Life policy provisions (grace period, reinstatement, incontestability, free look) with similar-sounding Health provisions.
• Mixing up dividend options (a participating-policy concept) with nonforfeiture options and settlement options.
• Underestimating the state portion — 35 scored Indiana questions on IDOI authority, replacement, free look, and unfair trade practices.

Work timed practice sets so 150 questions in 180 minutes feels routine; that pace is comfortably over one minute per item, so manage time but do not rush.

Quick Reference — Numbers to Memorize

• Pre-licensing: 40 hours combined; you must sit the exam within 6 months of the course completion date.
• Exam: 150 questions, 180 minutes (3 hours), 70 (scaled) to pass, $69 fee.
• Retake: must wait 48 hours before re-sitting a failed exam.
• License application: $40 via NIPR.
• Renewal: biennial, last day of birth month; 24 CE hours incl. 3 ethics.

The rest of this guide drills the national content and the Indiana statutes those 35 state questions are drawn from.

Who Regulates You: IDOI and Indiana Code Title 27

The Indiana Department of Insurance (IDOI) is the state agency that licenses producers, approves policy forms and rates, investigates complaints, and disciplines licensees. It is led by the Commissioner of Insurance, who has authority to hold hearings, issue cease-and-desist orders, levy civil penalties, and suspend or revoke licenses. The producer-licensing statutes live in Indiana Code Title 27, Article 1, Chapter 15.6 (and related chapters); exam questions on "who can do X" almost always trace back to the Commissioner's powers.

What the Commissioner can do that shows up on the test:

Lines of Authority and Application Logistics

A line of authority is the category of product you may sell — Life, Accident & Health (sometimes called Sickness), Property, Casualty, Personal Lines, Title, and Variable products (which also require a securities registration). The combined Life & Health exam qualifies you to request the Life and the Accident & Health lines on one application.

Applications are filed electronically through the National Insurance Producer Registry (NIPR), not by paper to IDOI. The $40 fee is paid through NIPR. Indiana also requires a fingerprint-based background check through the state's approved vendor (IdentoGO); a disqualifying criminal history can block licensure regardless of exam score. Nonresident producers already licensed in their home state may apply for an Indiana nonresident license through NIPR's reciprocity process without retaking the exam.

License Maintenance: Renewal and Continuing Education

Indiana resident producer licenses renew biennially on the last day of your birth month (a two-year cycle anchored to your birthday, not a fixed calendar date). To renew you must complete 24 hours of continuing education (CE) per biennium, and 3 of those 24 hours must be ethics related to marketing and selling life, health, or annuity products.

CE rules that generate exam questions and real-world penalties:

• Carryover: Up to 12 excess CE hours can roll into the next renewal period — but ethics and long-term care hours do not carry over, and carryover hours must be completed within 120 days before the renewal date.
• Reporting: Course completions are reported (commonly within 14 days), and a small per-course reporting fee applies; CE must post before the license expiration.
• Lapse: Missing the deadline lets the license lapse, triggering reinstatement steps and added fees; a long lapse can force re-examination.

Special CE: Annuity and Long-Term Care Training

Two product-specific training rules trip up new agents:

• Annuity suitability/best-interest training: Producers who sell annuities must complete a one-time 4-hour annuity training course (Indiana adopted the NAIC best-interest model) plus carrier product training before soliciting annuities.
• Long-term care (LTC) training: Selling LTC requires an initial 8-hour course and a minimum of 5 hours of ongoing LTC training each subsequent 2-year renewal period.

These sit on top of the 24-hour general CE requirement.

Reporting Obligations Between Renewals

You are not off the hook between renewals. Producers must notify IDOI of an address or name change (typically within 30 days) and must report administrative actions and criminal convictions (commonly within 30 days) — including actions taken by other states' insurance departments. Failing to self-report a disciplinary action in another state is itself a violation Indiana can sanction. Keep transaction and advertising records as required so you can produce them if the Department audits you.

Bottom line: Getting licensed is step one; staying licensed means 24 CE hours (3 ethics) every two years, on-time renewal by your birth-month deadline, product-specific annuity/LTC training, and prompt self-reporting of any change or disciplinary action.