$130–160 + Fingerprints: Tennessee Life & Health License Cost 2026

Getting a Tennessee Life, Accident & Health producer license with both lines of authority costs at least $160 if you take both exams at a Pearson VUE test center — $55 + $55 for the Life Agent and Accident and Health Agent exams, plus the $50 Insurance Producer application fee filed through NIPR — or $130 if you use the $80 OnVUE online-proctored bundle instead of two test-center sittings ($80 + $50).

Both totals leave out two required fees that neither the state nor the vendor publishes a dollar amount for: the post-exam fingerprint-based background check, and NIPR's own electronic-filing transaction fee. Budget for both; this page will not invent a number for either one. There is no pre-licensing course sitting on top of any of this: Tennessee repealed its mandatory pre-licensing-education requirement via Public Chapter 57 of 2023, effective March 21, 2023. The only cost the state does not set a price on beyond the two unquoted fees is exam preparation, and skipping it is not free in practice — 36% of first-time Accident and Health candidates and 29% of first-time Life candidates did not pass in 2025.

• Required fees, both lines, first try, test-center exams: $160 (plus fingerprint and NIPR transaction fees)
• Required fees, both lines, first try, OnVUE bundle: $130 (plus fingerprint and NIPR transaction fees)
• Pre-licensing course: none required
• Fingerprint background check: required, fee not disclosed
• Exam preparation: $0 to several hundred dollars, your choice
• Each retake: another $55, per exam, at a test center

1. Pearson VUE Exam Fee — $55 per exam, or $80 for the OnVUE bundle

Paid per attempt, per exam, at a test center. Because the Life Agent exam and the Accident and Health Agent exam are two separate exams, getting both lines the test-center way costs two exam fees: $55 + $55 = $110. Pearson VUE also sells an $80 OnVUE online-proctored bundle covering one attempt at each exam — $30 cheaper than two test-center sittings — with the trade-off that any retake must happen at a physical test center.

2. Insurance Producer Application Fee — $50

Filed through NIPR, the Insurance Producer application/filing fee is $50 per license application, covering any number of lines of authority rather than being charged per line. You pay it once whether you apply for Life alone, Accident and Health alone, or both together.

3. Fingerprint-Based Background Check — required, fee not disclosed

Tennessee requires a fingerprint-based background check, scheduled through identogo.com, before licensure. Neither the Pearson VUE candidate handbook nor NIPR publishes what it costs — the fee is set by the fingerprinting vendor, not the state, so this page does not guess at a number. Confirm the current fee directly with IdentoGO when you schedule.

4. NIPR Electronic-Filing Transaction Fee — required, fee not disclosed

Filing electronically through NIPR carries its own transaction fee on top of the $50 application fee. NIPR's own licensing page confirms a transaction fee applies without stating the amount, so treat it as a real but unquantified line item rather than assuming it is folded into the $50.

Add the two exam fees to the application fee: $55 + $55 + $50 = $160 (test center), or $80 + $50 = $130 (OnVUE bundle) — both before the fingerprint and NIPR transaction fees.

Tennessee requires fingerprinting for an L&H producer applicant; the candidate handbook and NIPR both confirm the requirement. What neither source discloses is the dollar figure. Candidates schedule the fingerprint appointment through identogo.com after passing their exams, and the fee is whatever the vendor charges at the time — it is not a number the state publishes or that this page can total into the $160 or $130 figures above. Treat it as a real, unavoidable cost, and confirm the current amount with IdentoGO before you schedule.

Tennessee does not currently require a pre-licensing course for either exam, and unlike a mandatory requirement that simply never existed, this is a clean statutory repeal with a date attached. Tenn. Code Ann. §56-6-106 used to require a pre-licensing course of study as a condition of licensure; Public Chapter 57 of 2023, signed March 21, 2023, deleted that subdivision outright. There is no certificate of completion to pay for, no seat-time requirement, and no course fee anywhere in the Tennessee licensing path for Life or Accident and Health.

Each exam is 68 scored questions with a scaled passing score of 70, and the 2025 first-time pass rates — 71% on Life, 64% on Accident and Health — mean preparation is a real line in the budget, not an afterthought, especially for the Accident and Health exam.

$0 — the free stack. Pearson VUE's content outline #124301 lists the exact item count for every section of both exams, and candidate handbook #124300 explains the format. Together they tell you what is tested, not how it works. Free general-insurance material covers the national concepts reasonably well and the Tennessee-specific law — Title 56 producer licensing, unfair trade practices, replacement and military sales rules under Dept. Rule 0780, Medicare supplement and long-term care rules — poorly or not at all.

$14.99-$79 — a focused exam-prep course. LanePrep's Tennessee Life & Health course is nine audio chapters built from outline #124301, with chapter quizzes split by exam line and dedicated chapters for Tennessee statutes and regulations. It costs $14.99 per month or $79 once as the Pass Package. Chapters 1 and 9 are free, no signup, so you can judge the format before paying for either.

Full packages. National prep providers sell bundles with video lectures and a textbook at several times the price of a focused course. Make sure any package you buy is built from the content outline effective October 7, 2026 and names Pearson VUE as the vendor.

Retakes — $55 each, per exam, at a test center

Every attempt at a physical test center costs $55 again, and failing one exam only costs that exam's fee — a passed exam does not need retaking. An OnVUE sitting cannot be reused for a retake, so a failed OnVUE attempt also costs $55 at a test center for the next try.

Assuming the fingerprint and NIPR fees are already in $160 or $130

They are not. Both totals in this guide are the required fees the state and Pearson VUE actually publish a number for. The fingerprint check and the NIPR transaction fee are real, mandatory charges on top of those totals; this page does not estimate them because neither source discloses an amount.

Treating the free stack as sufficient

Pearson VUE's content outline and candidate handbook tell you what will be tested; they do not teach the material. A candidate who studies from the outline alone, without a course that actually explains Tennessee's statutes, is studying a syllabus, not a subject.

Three realistic budgets for a resident candidate pursuing both lines of authority on one application, excluding the unquoted fingerprint and NIPR transaction fees.

Pass both exams on the first attempt, test center — $160 to $239

• Life Agent exam fee $55
• Accident and Health Agent exam fee $55
• Insurance Producer application fee $50
• Preparation: free stack ($0), one month of LanePrep ($14.99) or the Pass Package ($79)

Pass both exams on the first attempt, OnVUE bundle — $130 to $209

• OnVUE bundle, both exams, $80
• Insurance Producer application fee $50
• Preparation: free stack ($0), one month of LanePrep ($14.99) or the Pass Package ($79)

One retake, test center — $215 to $294

• Everything in the test-center scenario above
• A second attempt at the exam you failed: $55
• In practice, more preparation as well — the same preparation produced the first result

The gap between passing both exams the first time and needing one retake is $55 and however many days the 10- or 30-day wait adds — time spent not yet licensed and not yet earning. That is the arithmetic behind spending something on preparation: the most expensive study material is the kind that sends you back to retake an exam you already paid for once.

For most self-directed candidates the cost-optimal path is:

1. Prepare with a focused course built for both exam lines, so neither the Life Agent exam nor the Accident and Health Agent exam becomes the one you retake.
2. Book and pass the Life Agent exam ($55) and the Accident and Health Agent exam ($55) through Pearson VUE, or sit both through the $80 OnVUE bundle.
3. Schedule the required fingerprint background check through identogo.com and apply through NIPR for both lines of authority ($50) — $160 all in with test-center exams, $130 with the OnVUE bundle, before the fingerprint and NIPR transaction fees.

LanePrep covers step 1: nine audio chapters built from Pearson VUE content outline #124301, chapter quizzes split by exam line, and dedicated chapters for Tennessee statutes and regulations, for $14.99 per month or $79 once. Chapters 1 and 9 are free. For the exams themselves — format, weights and a week-by-week plan — read how to pass the Tennessee Life & Health exam on your first try.