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

If you fail a Massachusetts Life or Accident, Health, or Sickness exam, you reapply and pay another exam fee. The candidate handbook states no mandatory waiting period between attempts, and we have found no stated limit on how many times you may sit. Each exam is $37 per attempt, so a retake of one exam costs $37.

Because the license needs two exams, a failure on one does not affect the other. If you pass Life and fail Accident, Health, or Sickness, you only retake the one you missed.

Each attempt at either exam costs $37, paid to Pearson VUE. Sitting both exams once costs $74. A retake is a new exam fee for the exam you are retaking.

The exam fee is separate from the license application. The base application fee is $225 through NIPR, and it is paid when you apply for the license, after you pass. Failing an exam does not add to the application fee. Budget for it separately, so that a failed attempt costs you one more exam fee and nothing else.

If you want a full picture of the cost of getting licensed, including both exams and the application, the Life and Accident and Health total with no retakes is $299: $225 plus two exam fees of $37.

Pearson VUE does not offer walk-in examinations for Massachusetts. Every retake is an appointment at a Pearson VUE test center, and all Massachusetts DOI licensing exams are administered in person. Remote testing is not offered, so there is no at-home option to fall back on. Check available dates when you book, since the next open appointment, rather than a rule, usually decides how soon you can sit again.

We do not quote a validity period for a passing score, because the handbook material we rely on does not state one. If you pass one exam and plan to delay the other, confirm the timing with the Massachusetts Division of Insurance or the Pearson VUE candidate handbook first. The safest approach is to apply for the license soon after you have passed both exams.

Repeat-taker pass rates are not published for Massachusetts, so we cannot give you a number. The risk is plain from the structure, though. The Life exam first-time pass rate was 40.55% in 2024 and 45.39% in 2025, and the Accident, Health, or Sickness exam was 55.70% and 56.82%. Rebooking the next day with the same notes is a fee spent on the same preparation.

Whatever result information you receive after the attempt is the best evidence you have. Use it before you rebook.

1. Find the weak block. Each exam has a general-knowledge outline and a Massachusetts-specific outline. Work out which one let you down.
2. Drill that block with questions, not rereading. Our free sets map to the outline sections, for example Life application and underwriting and Accident & Health policy provisions.
3. Give the state-law half its own days. It is 30 scored items on each exam.
4. Book when you are consistently scoring well in practice, not at the first free slot.

See how hard the exam is for the pass rates, and the course preview to start a focused review. If you are still unsure what the exam contains, the format guide lists every section and its weight.