Assurity Life Insurance Review

Pros Explained

• Whole life insurance policies are eligible for dividends: Although dividends are never guaranteed, annual dividends are possible for whole life policyholders. In 2021, the company paid out $9.8 million in dividends. 
• Flexible conversion options on term life policies: You can convert your term life policy to a permanent policy up until two years before the term ends (or until you reach age 65). That’s more generous than many competitors, which may limit conversions to the first 10 years of the policy, for example. 
• Disability income riders available: Assurity offers two types of disability income riders, either of which will pay you a monthly benefit if you become totally disabled. Only nine other companies of the 91 we researched offer even one disability income rider.
• Offers a return-of-premium term rider: Assurity is also one of the few providers we reviewed that offers a return-of-premium rider (ROP) on term life policies. In fact, it made our list of the best ROP term life insurance companies. 
• Committed to social equity and the environment: As a Certified B Corporation, Assurity is accountable to the interests of communities and the environment, as well as its customers and employees. 

Cons Explained

• Pricier-than-average term policies: Assurity’s prices were slightly higher than average when compared to the other 31 companies we gathered quotes for.
• No online application: Unfortunately, you can’t apply for an Assurity life insurance policy online. You will need to call an agent to start the purchase process.
• Can’t start a claim online: If you need to file a claim, Assurity requires you to call the company’s toll-free claim number or send an email. There is no way to file a claim online.

Complaint Index

Assurity has fewer complaints than expected for a company of its size, according to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC). The NAIC’s Complaint Index is a database that measures the number of complaints an insurance company receives, relative to its size. Companies with the same number of complaints expected for their size are given an index of 1.0. Companies with fewer complaints than expected get an index below 1.0 and providers with more complaints than expected get a score above 1.0. Assurity’s three-year average complaint index is 0.386.

Third-Party Ratings

Assurity is solid financially, with an A- rating from AM Best, which means it is considered to have an “excellent” ability to pay claims and meet other policyholder obligations. AM Best is a credit rating agency that provides letter grades ranging from A++ to D, based on a company’s balance sheet performance, debt, and other measures of financial responsibility.

However, almost all 91 life insurance companies we reviewed have a minimum AM Best score of A-. And all of the insurers in our list of best life insurance companies have an A+ rating or better, so in that regard, Assurity does not particularly stand out. 

Competition

We’ve reviewed more than 90 life insurance companies, and each one has unique strengths. To find the best life insurance provider for your needs, it’s important to compare a few different companies based on important factors, like price and coverage types. In the table below, you can see how Assurity stacks up against Colonial Penn and Fidelity Life.

Policies Available 

Assurity offers several types of life insurance, with four policies to choose from. You can get an online quote for term life and single premium whole life insurance, but to submit an application, you’ll need to work with an agent. Here are the kinds of life insurance that Assurity sells:

Term Life Insurance

Term life insurance provides coverage over a certain period of time, typically 10-30 years. It usually has fixed premiums and a guaranteed death benefit that gets paid out if you pass away during the term. Unlike permanent life insurance, term life policies do not have cash value. Although term life insurance is usually less expensive than permanent life insurance, the premiums increase with age.

Term Life with Accelerated Underwriting

Assurity’s term life insurance policy provides coverage for 10, 15, 20, or 30 years, and may be available without a medical exam. Coverage amounts range from $25,000 to $10 million. You may be able to get an instant decision if you are aged 18 to 50 and are applying for coverage of $500,000 or less, or are aged 51 to 65 and are applying for $350,000 or less. There’s also an optional ROP benefit if you choose a 20- or 30-year term policy. (In fact, Assurity made our best ROP term insurance list.)

What we like about Assurity’s term policies in particular are their flexible conversion options. You can convert to a permanent policy up until just two years before the policy’s level term period ends (or until you turn 65). For example, if you have a 30-year policy, you can wait until year 28 to convert. Although a few competitors (such as Mutual of Omaha and AAA) offer even better conversion options, Assurity’s is still unusually good. 

Whole Life Insurance

Whole life insurance is a type of permanent coverage that protects you for your entire lifetime. It has level premiums, a guaranteed death benefit (as long as your premiums are paid), and cash value. When you pay your monthly premium, a portion of the money goes toward cash value, which can be withdrawn or borrowed like a loan. However, if you don’t repay the money, it gets taken out of your death benefit.

Whole Life Insurance with Accelerated Underwriting

Assurity’s whole life insurance policy is available for applicants up to age 85, and may not require a medical exam. Policyholders are eligible to receive annual dividends based on the company’s financial performance. If you receive dividends, you can use the funds to increase your cash value, reduce your premium, purchase additional paid-up insurance coverage, or take the money in cash. 

The policy includes an accelerated death benefit rider for chronic or terminal illness, as well as optional riders such as an accidental death benefit, a children’s term rider, a critical illness rider, and a disability waiver of premium.

Single Premium Whole Life Insurance

Similar to the above policy, the single premium policy differs in that you pay one premium at the beginning and then your policy is paid up and you don’t have to pay any more. 

Universal Life Insurance

Universal life insurance is another form of permanent coverage that builds cash value. Unlike whole life, the cash value in a universal life policy grows based on fluctuating interest rates. Universal life insurance also has adjustable premiums and a flexible death benefit, which allows you to change the amount of coverage you have based on your financial needs.

Assurity takes applications for its universal life insurance policy from consumers up to 85 years old. The cash value from your policy grows tax-deferred and has a guaranteed minimum interest rate. Minimum coverage is $25,000 and there is no stated maximum, although the amount of coverage you qualify for will depend on your age, health, and other factors.

As with Assurity’s whole life policies, this one includes an accelerated death benefit for chronic or terminal illness, with optional riders that include an accidental death benefit, a children’s term rider, a critical illness rider, and a disability waiver of premium.

Available Riders

Assurity offers lots of different life insurance riders, which are endorsements that can be added to your existing policy for more protection. Riders can also fill gaps in your coverage if there are exclusions. Below are the riders available from Assurity, keeping in mind that not all riders are available in every state.

Accelerated Death Benefit Rider

This rider allows you to receive part of your death benefit if you get diagnosed with a terminal illness and have a year or less to live, or a chronic illness that leaves you unable to perform at least two Activities of Daily Living on your own. This rider is included at no extra cost on all of Assurity’s life insurance policies.

Monthly Disability Income Rider 

If you become totally disabled due to sickness or injury before your 65th birthday and you’re unable to work, this rider will provide monthly supplemental income for up to two years, after a 90-day elimination period. It’s available on term life policies.

Accident Only Disability Income Rider

This is similar to the Monthly Disability Income Rider, but the disability must be the result of an accidental injury.

Disability Waiver of Premium Rider 

A waiver-of- premium rider will pause your life insurance premiums if you become sick or disabled and are unable to work. However, your coverage will remain unchanged during this time. You can add a waiver of premium rider to any Assurity life insurance policy, except Single Premium Whole Life.

Guaranteed Insurability Rider 

Assurity’s guaranteed insurability rider allows you to purchase additional permanent life insurance coverage up to five times before you turn 40, without taking a medical exam. You can add between $10,000 and $50,000 in coverage each time, as long as the total addition does not exceed the policy’s initial benefit amount.

Children’s Term Rider 

Assurity’s child’s term rider will provide between $5,000 and $25,000 of life insurance coverage for your child until they turn 25. When the coverage terminates, the child has the option to purchase a new policy with up to five times the face value of the rider. This policy is available with Assurity’s regular whole, term, and universal life policies at an extra cost.

Accidental Death Benefit Rider 

The accidental death benefit rider pays out an additional death benefit if you pass away and your death is ruled accidental. You can add this rider to your whole or universal policy until you turn 60, and the coverage terminates at age 70. The benefit amount is the same as your base policy’s face value up to $250,000.

Critical Illness Rider

The critical illness rider pays out a lump sum from your death benefit while you’re still alive if you are diagnosed with a covered critical illness, such as stroke or cancer, or if you have certain procedures, like coronary artery bypass surgery. With this rider, you can receive between $5,000 and $75,000 from your policy, as long as it does not exceed the death benefit. You can add this rider to a term, whole, or universal life insurance policy.

Paid-Up Additions Rider

Assurity offers paid-up additions riders on its whole life insurance policies, which allow you to increase your policy’s death benefit and cash value by using extra premium payments to purchase small amounts of paid-up life insurance. Over time, these additions can increase both the death benefit and cash value. You can add these riders when you first purchase the policy, or at any point thereafter.

Customer Service

Assurity touts the availability of phone help on its website, promising that when you call Assurity, you’ll get connected to a live representative at the company’s Lincoln headquarters within 90 seconds.

For general questions or help with your policy, you can call the company at 800-869-0355 (ext. 4279) during business hours, which are Monday through Thursday, from 7 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Central Time and Fridays from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Central Time. Customers can also email the company at [email protected]. 

To file a claim or check on the status of an existing claim, the number to call is 800-869-0355 (ext. 4484), or you can email [email protected]. 

Unfortunately, like many of its competitors, Assurity does not offer web chat.

Price

Assurity’s prices for term insurance are worse than average, according to our research. To glean insight into Assurity’s rates, we got quotes for a 30-year, $250,000 term life policy for males and females in excellent health, aged 25, 40, and 55, living in the 90666 or 94027 zip code. Assurity’s premiums are only slightly worse than average, but they’re well below the median, ranking among the most expensive 25% of the 32 companies from whom we were able to get price information. 

Life insurance premiums are personalized for everyone, based on factors like your age, health, location, and the amount of coverage you’re applying for. However, seeing average rates can help you gauge how much you might pay for coverage.

Is Assurity Life Insurance Right for Me?

Assurity is a great choice for consumers seeking a term life policy from a company with a reputation for good customer service, as well as a commitment to social and environmental responsibility. Flexible conversion options and add-ons, such as disability income riders and a return-of-premium rider, make its term policies extra sweet.

Shoppers hoping to skip a medical exam may also like Assurity, since it offers accelerated underwriting for both its term and whole life policies—and the latter are eligible for annual dividends, to boot. For all its policies, Assurity offers a nice selection of riders that can tailor your coverage to better fit your needs. And the company overall is financially sound. 

But if you want cheap term coverage, you’re better off with a different company—Banner and Protective tied for the cheapest term coverage we found in our research. Those seeking a robust online experience should look elsewhere as well. Assurity doesn’t let you apply for policies or start a claim online.

Our Methodology: How We Review Life Insurance Carriers

We designed a comprehensive ranking methodology based on consumer priorities and life insurance company fundamentals to rank more than 90 insurers across five general categories: financial stability, customer satisfaction, product and feature variety, the overall buying experience, and cost.

In order to do this, we collected over 5,000 data points and scored each company based on 55 metrics. We grouped metrics by category to see how insurers performed in each; we then weighted category scores to determine how companies performed overall.

To learn more, read our full Life Insurance Methodology.