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Founded in 1886 and headquartered in West Des Moines, Iowa, North American Company for Life and Health Insurance offers various types of life insurance and annuity products to help you financially prepare for the future.
Business Insider compared North American’s life insurance products to the best life insurance policies on the market and found it to be an average Despite a few drawbacks, we found North American to be a strong contender.
North American Life Insurance Review
North American Company is a solid choice if you’re looking for reliable life insurance coverage. With over a century of experience and an A+ (Superior) financial rating from AM Best, the company has a long-standing reputation in the industry and strong financial stability.
They offer a variety of policies, including term life, guaranteed universal life, and indexed universal life insurance, giving you a good range of options to choose from. An added perk is their free Accelerated Death Benefit Endorsement, which comes with every policy at no extra charge. Another feature that makes them stand out amongst competitors is their WriteAway Accelerated Underwriting program, which lets you skip medical exams and avoid the lengthy underwriting process if you qualify.
That said, the lack of online application options and limited information on their website can be an inconvenience since you’ll need to work directly with an agent to purchase and learn more about a policy. Also, if you’re specifically looking for whole life insurance, you’ll need to look elsewhere since North American doesn’t offer it.
North American Company
Insider’s Rating
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4.9/5
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Perks
AM Best Financial Strength Rating
A+
Pros
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Offers accelerated death benefits for critical, chronic, and terminal illnesses
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Offers conversion for life policies up to 70 years old
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Term policies can be renewed up to age 95 for qualifying applicants
Cons
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Not all term policies qualify for renewal or conversion
Insider’s Take
Best Term Policy.
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Compare affordable life insurance options with Policygenius.
North American Life Insurance Pros and ConsNorth American Life Insurance ProsNo-medical-exam coverage availableHas a solid AM Best Superior financial rating Offers a decent range of benefits and ridersMost policies include an Accelerated Death Benefit Endorsement for zero additional premiumNorth American Life Insurance ConsNo online application availableYou can only get quotes for term life insurance online Little information about product offerings on the website North American Life Insurance Plans Available
North American offers three types of life insurance policies: term life insurance, guaranteed universal life insurance, and indexed universal life insurance.
ADDvantage Term life insurance
ADDvantage is North American’s cornerstone term life insurance product. Term life insurance has level premiums that last for a limited amount of time, typically between 10 and 30 years. If you pass away during this term, your beneficiaries will receive a guaranteed death benefit.
With ADDvantage, you can choose from term lengths of 10, 15, 20, or 30 years, each with a minimum coverage amount of $100,000. Premiums are flexible, allowing you to make payments on a monthly, quarterly, semi-annual, or annual basis. Plus, you have the option to convert your ADDvantage policy to permanent universal life insurance without undergoing additional underwriting.
ADDvantage is available to anyone between 18 and 85 years old and is renewable until age 95.
Custom Guarantee Universal Life Insurance
Guaranteed universal life insurance is a type of permanent life insurance that offers lifelong protection with a fixed death benefit and fixed monthly premiums. What makes it different from other policy types is that it gives you the flexibility to adjust your coverage amount, policy length, or frequency of payments as your needs change. However, guaranteed universal life is not designed to generate cash value like many other types of permanent life insurance.
North American’s Custom Guarantee Universal Life Insurance includes a minimum face amount of $50,000 for issue ages 0 to 59 and $25,000 for ages 60 to 85. Plus, it guarantees that no premium payments will be required after age 100.
North American doesn’t include much information about this product on their website, so you’ll want to contact an agent for more details about pricing and coverage.
Indexed universal life insurance (IUL)
Indexed universal life insurance is a type of permanent life insurance that provides coverage for your entire lifetime. Not only does it offer the potential to grow cash value, but it also allows you to adjust your premium and death benefit amounts as your needs change.
What differentiates IUL from other permanent life insurance products is that The amount credited to the cash value grows tax-deferred without directly investing in the market. Instead, the interest rate credited to the policy’s index account value is based on the performance of the index or indices chosen and will never be less than zero percent.
North American offers many types of indexed universal life insurance policies, including the following:
Builder IUL®: Builder IUL® provides both death benefit protection and the opportunity to accumulate long-term cash value. It can be a great option for supplementing retirement income. Rapid Builder IUL®: As the name suggests, Rapid Builder IUL® allows you to build cash value quickly. It also comes with death benefit protection. Guarantee Builder IUL®: If you’re looking for a death benefit that’s guaranteed along with the opportunity to build cash value, Guarantee Builder IUL is a solid choice to consider. Builder Plus IUL: Builder Plus IUL comes with an Account Interest Multiplier feature that provides strong, long-term cash value accumulation. Starting in the 6th year, it guarantees an extra 10% interest rate on your index account to boost your cash value growth. Survivorship GIUL: This guaranteed IUL is issued on two individuals and pays a death benefit when the last individual dies. It can be great for estate planning and retirement planning. Additional Coverage Options Offered by North American Life Insurance (Riders)
All of North American’s life insurance policies come with a free accelerated death benefit endorsement which allows you to use a portion of the death benefit to help cover the expenses of a terminal illness.
Besides the accelerated death benefit endorsement, here are some other riders available for their term, universal, and indexed universal life insurance policies:
Term life insurance:
Additional insurance option riderChildren’s term insurance riderMonthly income endorsementWaiver of premium rider
Universal life insurance:
Accidental death benefit riderChildren’s term insurance riderChronic illness accelerated benefit riderGuaranteed insurability riderPremium guarantee riderWaiver of monthly deductions rider
Indexed universal life insurance:
Accidental death benefit riderChildren’s term insurance riderChronic illness accelerated benefit riderNo lapse guarantee riderWaiver of monthly deductions riderWaiver of surrender charge endorsement
Survivorship GIUL:
Estate preservation riderSurvivorship policy split exchange endorsementHow Much Does North American Life Insurance Cost?
North American Company provides quotes for term life insurance online, but you must contact an agent to get a personalized quote for permanent life insurance.
Below are the monthly premiums for a 20-year, $250,000 ADDvantage term life insurance policy to give you a better idea of what to expect.
How to Purchase and Manage a North American Life Insurance Policy
Unlike many other life insurance companies, North American doesn’t let you buy their life insurance products online. You’ll have to go through an agent. You can use their ‘Find an Agent’ tool to get started or call their agent customer service line at 800-800-3656. They’re available Monday to Thursday from 7:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Central Time.
If you’re 50 or younger, don’t have major medical conditions, and meet certain height and weight requirements, you may be able to qualify for North American’s WriteAway Accelerated Underwriting program. If you’re eligible, you can skip medical exams and only do a phone interview. And instead of waiting weeks for an underwriting decision, you can hear back from them in as little as 48 to 72 hours. WriteAway Accelerated Underwriting is available for both term and permanent life insurance.
Once you’ve purchased a life insurance policy from North American, you’ll want to review your coverage regularly to make sure you’re adequately protected and not paying more than necessary.
North American Life Insurance Customer Service and Support Experience
We checked the NAIC Complaint Index for complaints against North American Life Insurance and found that the company has significantly fewer complaints filed against it compared to other insurers. For context, the NAIC gives companies with more complaints than expected an index above 1.0 and those with fewer complaints than expected an index below 1.0. North American Life Insurance’s complaint index was 0.27 in 2023, suggesting that customer satisfaction isn’t a problem for the company.
That said, their Better Business Bureau rating is quite low, with just 1.05 out of 5 stars based on 19 reviews. Many of the complaints centered around unresponsive customer support. Some also raised concerns about policy terms and unexpected changes in coverage. However, given the small sample size of reviews, you may want to take this BBB customer rating with a grain of salt.
North American Life Insurance vs. Its Competitors
Learn more about how North American compares against popular life insurance options.
North American vs. Ethos Life Insurance
If you’re looking for whole life coverage, which North American doesn’t provide, consider Ethos Life. Their whole life insurance policy is available for seniors ages 66 to 85 and doesn’t require medical exams. The company also offers term life insurance with $100,000 to $2 million in coverage for buyers between 20 and 65 years old.
And because Ethos Life is an online insurance provider, you can purchase life insurance policies entirely online without having to go through a representative. So If you prefer a straightforward and digital application process rather than dealing with agents, Ethos might be a better fit for you.
However, Ethos does have some limitations: their policies are not available in Alaska, Louisiana, or New York, and they do not offer universal life insurance or IUL, which North American provides.
Read our Ethos life insurance review.
North American vs. State Farm Life Insurance
If top-notch customer service is a priority for you, State Farm Life Insurance is worth considering. The company ranked first on JD Power’s life insurance customer satisfaction survey for multiple years, whereas North American hasn’t made it on the list.
Plus, State Farm offers a complete line of consumer insurance products, including car insurance and homeowners insurance. This could be a big plus if you value the convenience of managing all your policies with one company and potentially saving with bundling discounts. In terms of life insurance, State Farm currently offers term, whole, and universal life.
However, like North American, State Farm’s life insurance policies are quoted and sold through an agent, so you won’t be able to purchase policies online.
Read our State Farm life insurance review.
North American Life Insurance FAQ
Getting a North American Life Insurance quote can be easy if you’re only looking for term life insurance. However, if you’re interested in their other products, you’ll have to speak with an agent to get more details about the prices.
North American is a strong contender if you’re looking for life insurance coverage. The company has been in business for over 100 years and has been assigned an A+ (Superior) rating by AM Best for financial strength. However, if you’re interested in whole life or final expense insurance, you might need to look elsewhere, as they don’t offer these options.
To file a claim with North American, visit the claim forms page for more details on the information you need to provide. If you have questions or need help completing the forms, call their claims department toll-free at 800-733-2524. They’re available Monday through Thursday from 7:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Central Time.
Why You Should Trust Us: What Went into Our North American Life Insurance Review
All companies are rated based on our expert’s insurance rating methodology to ensure objectivity and equal opportunity for insurers. The factors we considered when rating our best life insurance products include the following:
Customer satisfactionFinancial stabilityState coverageEthics Policy typesAverage premiumsWaiting periodsStandard exclusionsAgent training
We also took into consideration external metrics like the NAIC complaint index, AM Best financial rating, and third-party sites like Better Business Bureau to help us create an unbiased review of the company. Lastly, we compared North American Life Insurance with other popular life insurance companies for an even more well-rounded assessment.
Read more about Business Insider’s life insurance rating methodology here.
Jamela Adam
Freelance Writer
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Publish date : 2024-09-05 10:06:00
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