Failed the Alabama Life & Health Exam? Retake Rules, Waiting Periods and Fees (2026)

Failing the Alabama Life & Health exam is not the end of the road, but the waiting periods are unusual. They do not simply grow with each failure. Here is the structure as the Alabama Department of Insurance states it on its Limitations on Repeat Examinations page.

• First failure: no waiting period.
• Second failure: you must wait 90 days before the next attempt.
• Third failure: no additional waiting period of its own.
• Fourth failure and beyond: a 180-day wait before each further attempt.
• Reset: all the waiting-period counters reset if 24 months pass since your last failure.

This is the part that catches people. A waiting period you earn on one exam can follow you to another.

• Failing the Life exam carries its waiting period over to the combined Life & Health exam, but not to the Health exam alone.
• Failing the Health exam carries over to the combined exam, but not to the Life exam alone.
• Failing the combined exam carries the waiting period over to both the standalone Life exam and the standalone Health exam.

Suppose you fail the Life exam, then fail the combined exam. That combined failure is your second, so a 90-day wait applies, and it applies to the standalone Health exam too. You cannot dodge it by switching to a different exam. If your situation is close to an edge case, check the department's page directly before you book.

You pay the exam fee every time you register, whether you passed or failed the previous attempt.

Exam	Fee per attempt
Combined Life & Health	$75
Life only	$50
Health only	$50

Fees are non-refundable and non-transferable in all cases, including when you pass. A registration mistake, such as choosing the wrong exam type, also forfeits the fee. Check the exam name carefully before you pay. Exams must be scheduled at least 7 days in advance, so a retake is never instant even in the first-failure case where no waiting period applies.

Once you pass, your examination certificate is valid for one year from the date you completed the exam. If you do not get a license issued within that year, you will have to take the exam again. This matters most for people who pass and then put off the application.

Do not confuse this with the fingerprint results, which are valid for a much shorter window of 30 days. The department recommends getting fingerprinted after you pass and shortly before you apply. Our guide on what Alabama requires before licensing covers the rest of the application steps.

Because a second failure brings a 90-day wait, the first retake is the one to get right. Use the time before it well.

1. Work out where the marks went. If your score report or memory points to one part of the outline, whether life, health or Alabama law, start there.
2. Drill by topic. Topic-based practice shows which rules you only half know. Our free practice question sets are organised by the exam's parts.
3. Read every explanation. A wrong answer is useful only if you understand why the right one is right.
4. Do not rebook on impulse. You pay again each time, and a second failure triggers the 90-day wait. Book when your practice results are consistently above the 70% line.

The LanePrep Alabama preview lets you hear a lesson and try questions first. See also how hard the exam is and how to pass first time.