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

If you fail a Tennessee Life or Accident and Health exam, you can retake it. After a first failure the wait is 10 days. After each later failure the wait is 30 days. The handbook also sets a minimum of 24 hours before any retake reservation. Each attempt at a test center costs $55.

Every failure after the first carries the longer 30-day wait, so the real cost of a rushed retake is time as much as the fee.

The fee is $55 per attempt at a test center, for the Life exam and for the Accident and Health exam alike. You pay it again every time you retake.

The online option, OnVUE, has a bundled price of $80 for Life and Accident & Health together, covering one OnVUE attempt per line. A retake cannot be taken online: any further retake must be at a physical test center, at the per-attempt test-center fee.

The $50 producer application and filing fee is separate and is not repeated per exam attempt; it is paid when you apply for the license after passing.

The Life exam and the Accident and Health exam are delivered and scored independently. If you pass one and fail the other, the result on one does not change the other. Plan your retake around the exam you failed.

That also affects timing. If you sat both exams and failed only one, you do not need to repeat the one you passed, and your study time can go entirely to the weaker line. Check where your two results diverged: a pass on Life and a miss on Accident and Health, for example, usually points to the Accident and Health sections rather than to the Tennessee common block you already know.

The published pass-rate workbook does not break out repeat takers, so there is no retake pass rate to quote. The practical advice is to change the approach, not just the date.

1. Rebuild by outline section. Use the section weights in the format guide to decide where you lost points. A broad topic like types of policies carries more items than a narrow one like retirement concepts.
2. Give Tennessee law its own sessions. The 18 scored Tennessee questions per exam reward recall of statute sections and rule numbers. Drill them with scenario questions rather than rereading.
3. Use the wait. The 10 or 30 days are study days. Spread short daily sessions across them.
4. Take a full-length practice run. Practice at the real pace of 77 items in 105 minutes before you book.

This page does not quote how long a passing result stays valid or any cap on attempts, because we have not verified either. The authority is the Pearson VUE Tennessee Insurance Licensing Candidate Handbook, which you should read before you rebook.

Fingerprints are required after the exam. Candidates must wait 48 hours after passing before filing electronically through NIPR. Our guide to what Tennessee requires instead of a course covers the rest. For the full cost, see how much the license costs, then keep practicing in the course preview.