- The NHLAH is the New Hampshire Life, Accident & Health Insurance Producer Exam, administered by PSI as Series 12-63.
- It's a $72, 150-item, 2-hour-30-minute computer-based exam, plus up to 10 unscored experimental questions.
- Life, Accident and Health Insurance Basics is the heaviest domain at 17% of the outline.
- Remote proctoring ended July 6, 2026 - you must now sit for the exam at a physical test center.
What Is A NHLAH?
NHLAH stands for the New Hampshire Life, Accident & Health Insurance Producer Exam. It is the state licensing exam that anyone who wants to sell life insurance, annuities, accident coverage, disability income, or health insurance in New Hampshire must pass. The exam is overseen by the New Hampshire Insurance Department but delivered through the testing vendor PSI, where it is catalogued internally as Series 12-63.
Unlike a voluntary professional designation, the NHLAH isn't optional for anyone planning to work as a licensed producer in these product lines within the state. It's a regulatory gatekeeper: pass it, and you can apply for your resident producer license; fail, and you can't legally transact life, accident, or health insurance business in New Hampshire. If you've seen the acronym attached to other certifications elsewhere online, be careful - this article, and this entire site, refers exclusively to the New Hampshire state licensing exam described here.
For a broader definition-focused overview, see our companion pieces What Is NHLAH? and NHLAH Meaning, which unpack the acronym itself in more depth.
Who Administers the Exam and How It's Structured
The New Hampshire Insurance Department sets the licensing requirement, but PSI builds, schedules, and scores the actual exam. As Series 12-63, the NHLAH is a fixed-format, computer-based test:
- 150 scored outline items pulled from the 13 content domains listed below.
- Up to 5-10 additional unscored experimental questions mixed in, which PSI uses to evaluate future exam content. You can't identify which questions are experimental, so every question deserves full attention.
- 2 hours and 30 minutes to complete the entire exam.
- $72 fee per attempt, paid directly to PSI at registration.
One important operational detail: remote proctoring for this exam ended on July 6, 2026. That means every candidate must now test in person at a PSI-approved test center - there is no home-based or webcam-proctored option anymore. If you're used to remote exams from other licensing processes, build extra time into your schedule to locate and travel to an approved center.
New Hampshire also does not mandate a prelicensing education course before you sit for the NHLAH. That's a double-edged sword: it removes a scheduling and cost hurdle, but it also means the state is trusting you to self-prepare thoroughly. For a full breakdown of how tough that self-study path actually is in practice, see How Hard Is the NHLAH Exam? Complete Difficulty Guide 2026.
Key Takeaway
Because there's no required prelicensing course, your entire preparation strategy has to be self-directed - treat the 13-domain outline as your syllabus, not a supplement to a class.
The 13 NHLAH Exam Domains
The NHLAH outline is divided into 13 domains with fixed weightings. Knowing these weights lets you allocate study time proportionally instead of guessing which topics matter most.
| Domain | Weight |
|---|---|
| 1. Insurance Regulation | 7% |
| 2. Federal Laws and Regulations | 2% |
| 3. General Insurance Concepts | 7% |
| 4. Life, Accident and Health Insurance Basics | 17% |
| 5. Types of Life Insurance Policies | 10% |
| 6. Life Insurance Policy Provisions, Options, and Riders | 15% |
| 7. Annuities | 7% |
| 8. Individual Accident and Health Insurance Policy Provisions | 9% |
| 9. Disability Income and Related Insurance | 6% |
| 10. Medical Plans | 10% |
| 11. Group Health Insurance | 2% |
| 12. Specialized Health Insurance for Qualified Individuals | 4% |
| 13. Federal Tax Considerations for Life and Health Insurance | 4% |
Together, Domains 4, 5, and 6 - basics, policy types, and provisions/riders - make up 42% of the exam. That's nearly half your score sitting in three related content areas, which is why a candidate who deeply understands life insurance fundamentals and contract language has a strong head start.
Domain 4: Life, Accident and Health Insurance Basics (17%)
The largest single domain. Expect questions on insurable interest, risk classification, underwriting basics, the application process, and how life and health contracts are legally formed.
- Elements of an insurance contract (offer, acceptance, consideration)
- Concepts of risk, insurable interest, and adverse selection
- Underwriting factors used to classify applicants
Domain 6: Life Insurance Policy Provisions, Options, and Riders (15%)
The second-heaviest domain. Candidates must know standard policy provisions, nonforfeiture options, settlement options, and common riders inside and out.
- Grace period, reinstatement, and incontestability clauses
- Nonforfeiture options: cash surrender, extended term, reduced paid-up
- Common riders: waiver of premium, accidental death, guaranteed insurability
Domain 10: Medical Plans (10%)
Covers the structure of individual and group medical products, managed care arrangements, and how plans differ in cost-sharing design.
- HMO, PPO, POS, and indemnity plan structures
- Deductibles, copayments, coinsurance, and out-of-pocket maximums
- Coordination of benefits between multiple plans
For a domain-by-domain walkthrough with more granular subtopics under each of the 13 areas, our dedicated guide - NHLAH Exam Domains 2026: Complete Guide to All 13 Content Areas - goes into much greater detail than a single overview article can.
Registration, Fees, and Test-Day Logistics
Registering for the NHLAH means scheduling directly through PSI as Series 12-63. The $72 fee is paid at booking, and because remote proctoring has been discontinued, you'll select an in-person test center location and appointment slot.
Practical things to confirm before test day:
- Government-issued photo ID matching your registration name exactly.
- Arrival time buffer - test centers typically require check-in before your scheduled slot.
- No personal materials, phones, or notes allowed in the testing room; scratch materials are usually provided on-site.
If you want a precise walkthrough of every fee, retake cost, and any ancillary charges tied to licensing (not just the exam itself), read NHLAH Certification Cost 2026: Complete Pricing Breakdown. And if you're trying to lock in a testing window around your work or study schedule, NHLAH Exam Dates 2026: Testing Windows, Deadlines & Scheduling covers how PSI's scheduling system works in practice.
Who Needs the NHLAH and Who Hires These Producers
Anyone seeking a resident insurance producer license in New Hampshire covering life, accident, and health lines must pass the NHLAH before the state will issue that license. In practice, this includes:
- New agents joining captive or independent life and health insurance agencies
- Financial advisors and wealth managers who want to add insurance products, including annuities, to their offerings
- Employee benefits brokers who sell group health, disability, and voluntary benefits to New Hampshire employers
- Career changers entering insurance sales from banking, real estate, or other licensed sales fields
Once licensed, producers typically work for insurance carriers, independent agencies, brokerage general agencies, or as self-employed independent agents contracted with multiple carriers. Because the exam blends life insurance, annuities, and health/disability content, a passing candidate is immediately eligible to sell across a wide product shelf rather than being siloed into a single line.
If you're evaluating whether this license path fits your career goals, Is the NHLAH Certification Worth It? Complete ROI Analysis 2026 and NHLAH Salary Guide 2026: Complete Earnings Analysis dig into the career and income side of this decision in more depth than we can here.
Continuing Education and Keeping Your License Active
Passing the NHLAH gets your license issued, but it doesn't end your obligations. New Hampshire resident producers must complete 24 continuing education hours per biennium, and that total must include between 3 and 10 hours of ethics-specific coursework. CE must be finished no later than 60 days before your renewal date - cutting it closer than that risks a lapse.
- Track your renewal date as soon as your license is issued, not near the deadline.
- Front-load ethics hours early in each biennium so they're never the reason you miss the 60-day cutoff.
- Choose CE providers approved for New Hampshire resident producers specifically.
Full eligibility rules, including what counts toward initial licensure versus renewal, are covered in NHLAH Requirements 2026: Eligibility, Prerequisites & How to Qualify.
How to Prepare Without a Mandatory Prelicensing Course
Since New Hampshire doesn't require a prelicensing class, your prep needs structure you build yourself. A domain-weighted schedule works better than reading a textbook cover to cover, because it puts your hours where the points actually live.
Foundations
- Domain 4: Life, Accident and Health Insurance Basics (17%)
- Domain 3: General Insurance Concepts (7%)
Life Contracts
- Domain 5: Types of Life Insurance Policies (10%)
- Domain 6: Provisions, Options, and Riders (15%)
Health and Disability
- Domain 8: Individual A&H Policy Provisions (9%)
- Domain 9: Disability Income (6%)
- Domain 10: Medical Plans (10%)
Regulatory, Annuities, and Review
- Domain 1: Insurance Regulation (7%)
- Domain 2 & 11: Federal Laws / Group Health (2% each)
- Domain 7: Annuities (7%), Domain 12 & 13 (4% each)
- Full timed practice run
Notice that weeks 1 and 2 target roughly 49% of the exam by weight - that's deliberate. Spending disproportionate time on Domains 4, 5, and 6 mirrors how the actual test is weighted, rather than spreading your hours evenly across all 13 domains as if they mattered equally.
Timed practice matters here specifically because of the format: 150 items in 150 minutes averages out to one minute per question, and that pace needs to feel automatic before test day. Run full-length timed sets using resources like our NHLAH practice test platform so the pacing pressure isn't a surprise in the test center.
For a more exhaustive week-by-week and topic-by-topic prep plan, see NHLAH Study Guide 2026: How to Pass on Your First Attempt. And once you're in final review mode, a condensed reference like our NHLAH Cheat Sheet 2026: One-Page Review of Must-Know Facts is useful for last-day-before-the-exam refreshers.
Key Takeaway
Allocate study time by domain weight, not by page count in your reference material - Domains 4, 5, and 6 alone account for 42% of your score.
FAQ
No. The NHLAH is New Hampshire's own state producer licensing exam for life, accident, and health insurance, administered through PSI as Series 12-63. It is not a national or voluntary professional designation.
No. New Hampshire does not require a prelicensing study course before you're eligible to schedule and take the exam, though thorough self-study is essential since there's no mandated classroom preparation.
No. Remote proctoring for the NHLAH ended on July 6, 2026. All candidates must now test in person at an approved PSI test center.
The NHLAH has 150 outline items with a 2-hour-30-minute time limit. PSI may also include 5 to 10 additional unscored experimental questions mixed into the exam.
Passing lets you obtain your resident producer license, but you must maintain it through continuing education: 24 CE hours per biennium, including 3 to 10 ethics hours, completed no later than 60 days before your renewal date.
Want a deeper foundation before diving into domain-specific study? Explore NHLAH Certification, What Does NHLAH Stand For?, or start practicing directly with our full-length NHLAH practice exams to see where your knowledge stands right now.