- How the DC-LH Exam Is Actually Built
- The 13 Domains at a Glance
- Life General Knowledge: Domains 1-4
- District of Columbia Specific Life: Domains 5-6
- Accident and Health General Knowledge: Domains 7-11
- District of Columbia Specific Accident and Health: Domains 12-13
- Why the Common District-Law Domains Matter So Much
- Mapping a Study Schedule to the Domain List
- Who Actually Uses This Domain Knowledge
- FAQ
- DC-LH is really two exams - Life and Accident and Health - covering 13 domains total, not one combined test.
- Domains 5 and 12 are the "common" District-law domains and together hold 40 of the 155 scored questions.
- Each exam has 155 scored questions plus 20 pretest items across the two-exam path, with two hours allotted per exam.
- A scaled score of 70 is required on each exam, and no reference materials are permitted at the Pearson VUE center.
How the DC-LH Exam Is Actually Built
Before breaking down the 13 domains, it helps to understand what you're actually sitting for. The District of Columbia no longer offers a combined life-and-health exam. Instead, candidates take the Life exam and the Accident and Health exam separately, each administered by Pearson VUE under rules set by the District of Columbia Department of Insurance, Securities and Banking (DISB). Each exam costs $75, and together they contain 175 multiple-choice items - 155 scored and 20 unscored pretest questions - with two hours allowed per exam, four hours total if you sit for both in the same testing window.
Every domain below maps to one of those two exams. Domains 1 through 6 belong to the Life exam. Domains 7 through 13 belong to the Accident and Health exam. If you're still mapping out fees, timing, and logistics before you even get to content, the DC-LH requirements guide and the DC-LH exam dates and scheduling guide are worth reading alongside this one.
The 13 Domains at a Glance
The September 2, 2025 outline organizes content into 13 domains split across the two exams. Here's the full list in the order DISB publishes it:
| # | Domain | Exam |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Types of Policies | Life |
| 2 | Policy Riders, Provisions, Options, and Exclusions | Life |
| 3 | Completing the Application, Underwriting, and Delivering the Policies | Life |
| 4 | Retirement and Other Insurance Concepts | Life |
| 5 | DC Laws, Rules, and Regulations Common to Life, Accident and Health, Property, and Casualty | Life |
| 6 | DC Laws, Rules, and Regulations Pertinent to Life Insurance Only | Life |
| 7 | Types of Policies | Accident and Health |
| 8 | Policy Provisions, Clauses, and Riders | Accident and Health |
| 9 | Social Insurance | Accident and Health |
| 10 | Other Insurance Concepts | Accident and Health |
| 11 | Field Underwriting Procedures | Accident and Health |
| 12 | DC Laws, Rules, and Regulations Common to Life, Accident and Health, Property, and Casualty | Accident and Health |
| 13 | DC Laws, Rules, and Regulations Pertinent to Accident and Health Insurance Only | Accident and Health |
Notice that domains 5 and 12 share nearly identical names. That's not a typo in the outline - DISB tests the same body of general District insurance law on both exams, which is a detail candidates frequently underestimate. More on that below.
Life General Knowledge: Domains 1-4
These four domains form the backbone of the Life exam and test whether you understand life insurance as a product line before any DC-specific rules are layered on.
Domain 1 - Types of Policies
Expect questions distinguishing term, whole, universal, and variable life products, along with how each structure handles cash value, premiums, and death benefit design.
- Know the differences between level term, decreasing term, and convertible term
- Understand how universal life separates the cost of insurance from cash accumulation
Domain 2 - Policy Riders, Provisions, Options, and Exclusions
This domain covers the fine print: waiver of premium, accelerated death benefit, guaranteed insurability, incontestability, grace periods, and suicide clauses.
- Memorize what each rider adds versus what a standard policy already provides
- Be able to identify common exclusions from scenario-based questions
Domain 3 - Completing the Application, Underwriting, and Delivering the Policies
Tests the mechanics of the sales-to-issue process: field underwriting, insurable interest, conditional receipts, and the delivery requirements agents must follow.
- Know when a policy is considered "in force" versus merely applied for
- Understand the agent's disclosure obligations at delivery
Domain 4 - Retirement and Other Insurance Concepts
Covers annuities, qualified versus nonqualified plans, and general insurance principles like risk pooling and adverse selection as they apply to life products.
- Distinguish fixed, variable, and indexed annuities
- Understand contribution limits and tax treatment at a conceptual level
District of Columbia Specific Life: Domains 5-6
Domains 5 and 6 are where generic national study material stops helping and DC-specific knowledge becomes mandatory. Domain 5 covers the laws common across all lines regulated by DISB - licensing standards, unfair trade practices, and producer conduct rules that apply whether you sell life, health, property, or casualty coverage. Domain 6 narrows to rules that apply strictly to life insurance in the District, including policy filing requirements and disclosure standards unique to life contracts sold to DC residents.
Key Takeaway
Do not treat domains 5 and 6 as an afterthought because they feel "administrative." Because domain 5's content repeats on the Accident and Health exam as domain 12, mastering it once pays off twice.
Accident and Health General Knowledge: Domains 7-11
The Accident and Health exam mirrors the Life exam's structure: general product and concept knowledge first, then District-specific law. Five domains make up the general knowledge portion.
Domain 7 - Types of Policies
Covers individual and group health, disability income, long-term care, and dental/vision products, along with how each is underwritten and marketed.
Domain 8 - Policy Provisions, Clauses, and Riders
Tests coordination of benefits, elimination periods, guaranteed renewability, and pre-existing condition provisions.
Domain 9 - Social Insurance
Focuses on Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security disability - how these public programs interact with, and differ from, privately sold health coverage.
- Know Medicare Parts A, B, C, and D at a conceptual level
- Understand eligibility triggers versus private insurance eligibility
Domain 10 - Other Insurance Concepts
General principles like managed care structures, HMO versus PPO design, and cost-containment mechanisms.
Domain 11 - Field Underwriting Procedures
Application completion, replacement rules, and the producer's responsibility during the health insurance sales process.
District of Columbia Specific Accident and Health: Domains 12-13
Domain 12 restates the same common District law tested in domain 5 - producer licensing, unfair claims practices, and general conduct rules that apply across all insurance lines DISB regulates. Domain 13 is the health-specific counterpart to domain 6: rules unique to accident and health contracts, including required policy provisions and District-mandated benefits for health plans issued to DC residents.
Why the Common District-Law Domains Matter So Much
The September 2, 2025 outline assigns 40 of the 155 scored questions across the two-exam path to the common District-law domains - domain 5 on the Life exam and domain 12 on the Accident and Health exam. That's a substantial share of scored content concentrated in material that has nothing to do with product knowledge and everything to do with how DISB expects producers to conduct business in the District.
Because domain percentages are calculated by normalizing the official scored-item counts across the full two-exam path, candidates sometimes underweight this material mentally, assuming it's "just the boring legal stuff." That's a mistake. If you're trying to gauge how tough the overall test will feel, the DC-LH difficulty guide breaks down where candidates most often lose points, and law-heavy domains are a recurring theme.
Mapping a Study Schedule to the Domain List
Rather than studying generically, sequence your prep around the exam you'll sit first. If Life comes first, spend early weeks on domains 1-4 before layering in domains 5-6. If Accident and Health comes first, flip the order. Either way, save the shared law content (domains 5/12) for a dedicated block once you've seen both product-knowledge sections, since it connects to concepts from both exams.
Life Product Foundations
- Domain 1: policy types and structures
- Domain 2: riders, provisions, exclusions
Life Process and Concepts
- Domain 3: application, underwriting, delivery
- Domain 4: annuities and retirement concepts
Accident and Health Foundations
- Domain 7: policy types
- Domain 8: provisions and riders
- Domain 9: Social Insurance (Medicare/Medicaid)
A&H Process and DC Law Consolidation
- Domain 10 and 11: concepts and field underwriting
- Domains 5/12 combined: common District law
- Domains 6 and 13: line-specific DC rules
For a condensed version of this same structure you can review the night before each exam, the DC-LH cheat sheet compresses the highest-yield facts from all 13 domains onto one page. And if you want a full walkthrough of pacing, retake rules, and how the 24-hour rescheduling wait factors into planning, the DC-LH study guide covers the logistics this article doesn't.
Key Takeaway
Studying domains in the order you'll be tested - rather than jumping between Life and A&H content - reduces the mental context-switching that trips up candidates on exam day.
Who Actually Uses This Domain Knowledge
The domain content isn't academic - it reflects what licensed producers in the District do daily. Agents selling individual life policies rely heavily on domains 1-4 knowledge every time they compare term versus permanent coverage for a client. Producers working health and supplemental lines lean on domains 7-11, particularly the Social Insurance domain, since so many client conversations involve how a private plan interacts with Medicare or Medicaid. Domains 5, 6, 12, and 13 come into play constantly in compliance contexts - disclosure timing, replacement forms, and unfair trade practice avoidance are not abstract exam topics but day-to-day professional obligations once you're licensed. If you're weighing whether the credential leads anywhere, the DC-LH jobs overview and the DC-LH salary guide look at how this domain knowledge translates into hiring and compensation conversations.
Once licensed, remember that Individual producer licenses in DC expire biennially on the last day of your birth month, and renewal requires 24 CE credits - 21 general and 3 ethics. Several of the domains covered here, especially the DC-specific law domains, resurface in continuing education requirements, so the knowledge you build for the exam has a shelf life well beyond test day.
If you want to see how your domain-by-domain readiness is trending before exam day, running full-length practice sessions on our DC-LH practice test platform is the most direct way to find out. Simulating the two-hour, no-reference-material format ahead of time on the practice site also removes a lot of the unknowns candidates report feeling at the actual Pearson VUE center.
Yes. Domains 1-6 belong to the Life exam and domains 7-13 belong to the Accident and Health exam, six and seven domains respectively.
Both cover the same body of District law that applies across life, accident and health, property, and casualty lines. DISB tests this common law separately on each exam, which is why the two domain names match.
The common District-law domains (5 and 12) account for 40 of the 155 total scored questions across the two-exam path, on top of the additional line-specific law content in domains 6 and 13.
No specific hour minimum is mandated, but candidates must show proof of a prelicensing course of study before sitting for either exam. See the DC-LH requirements guide for the full prerequisite list.
You can retake it, but a 24-hour scheduling wait applies before you can sit again. A passing score on either
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