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North American life insurance review
Wide options for coverage amounts and living benefits riders
finder.com's rating: 4 / 5
★★★★★
- Get a quote if … you’re looking for coverage options beyond term and traditional universal life insurance.
- Look elsewhere if… you’re not in the best health.
18 to 72
Issue Age
$100,000 to $5,000,000
Coverage
Required for all but simplified issue term insurance
Medical Exam Required
Details
| Policies | Term, Universal, Indexed universal, Guaranteed universal |
|---|---|
| Coverage maximum | $5,000,000 |
| Term lengths | 10, 15, 20 and 30 |
| Medical exam required | Required for all but simplified issue term insurance |
| Available states | All 50 states |
| Issue age | 18 to 72 |
Pros
- Privately-owned company
- Competitive rates
- Financially stable
Cons
- No online application
- Few customer reviews
| Riders |
Accelerated death benefit rider Child rider Guaranteed insurability rider Policy split option rider Return-of-premium rider Waiver-of-premium rider |
|---|
Review by
Heather Petty
heather.petty@finder.comHeather Petty is a personal finance writer at Finder specializing in home loans, banking and insurance. After falling victim to a disreputable mortgage broker when buying her first home, she’s on a mission to help readers avoid similar experiences when managing their own finances. A self-proclaimed word nerd, her writing has been featured on MSN, Credit.com and MediaFeed.org, among others. Heather previously worked as a technical writer and editor for the casino systems industry and is an internationally published young adult mystery author. She holds a bachelor’s degree in English with a minor in journalism from the University of Nevada, Reno.
Expert review
North American is a longstanding insurer with a great financial reputation and competitive rates. But if you’re looking for policy options outside the term and universal coverage options, shop around to see what other insurers can offer you.
North American life insurance rates
The quote system North American provides mostly bases its rates on age, gender and coverage amount. You can view the underwriting classes and the criteria for each, to get a better idea of what you’ll pay.
We compared sample quotes for monthly premiums on a $250,000 term life insurance policy for nonsmokers in excellent health. These rates are about average for this term and coverage amount.
| 10-year term | 15-year term | 20-year term | 30-year term | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Man, age 30 | $12.98 | $14.30 | $12.98 | $14.30 |
| Woman, age 30 | $11.66 | $12.76 | $14.30 | $20.46 |
| Man, age 40 | $16.50 | $18.70 | $22.66 | $36.53 |
| Woman, age 40 | $14.96 | $16.50 | $19.80 | $29.92 |
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What affects my rate with North American
North American has a super preferred class for non-smokers that comes with low rates. To qualify you’ll have to meet these strict health guidelines:
- No use of tobacco or nicotine-based products for three years.
- No death or diagnosis of coronary artery disease or cancer before age 60 for parents or siblings.
- Keep healthy blood pressure levels with no past high blood pressure concerns.
- Meet strict cholesterol requirements.
- No personal medical history of heart-related diseases, diabetes or cancer.
- No history of drug or alcohol dependence for the past 10 years.
- No DUI, reckless driving and other moving violations.
- Be within a healthy weight range based on your height.
How to get a quote from North American life insurance
To apply for coverage, you need to contact a North American insurance agent, but you can get a free quote online to see what you might pay for term life insurance.
- From the home page, hover over Life Insurance and select Free Term Quote from the drop-down menu.
- Enter your birthdate, state of residence, gender and how much term coverage you want.
- Click Submit to see your term life insurance options.
What types of life insurance coverage does North American offer?
Choose from the following life insurance options:
- Term life. North American offers a convertible policy with a $100,000 minimum benefit and a free accelerated death benefit rider, a stripped-down non-convertible term policy without added benefits and a simplified issue policy that does not require a medical exam.
- Universal life. This coverage comes with policy and interest bonuses if the cost of life insurance drops below what you’re paying or interest rates increase over your guaranteed rate. You can also get a net-zero cost loan on the surrender value of the policy after paying your premiums for six years.
- Guaranteed universal life. North American offers a couple of guaranteed, low-cost plans with accelerated benefit riders and face-value options as low as $25,000.
- Indexed universal life. With four plan options, choose whether you want to up your risk to earn more cash value, have guaranteed premium, or offer survivorship benefits to a partner.
What riders can I add to my policy?
North American offers riders to customize your life insurance policy, such as:
- Accelerated death benefit rider. Allows you to take out 75% of your death benefit to help cover bills if you suffer from a chronic or terminal illness.
- Child rider. Adds a small death benefit to your coverage to help cover funeral expenses if one of your children dies while your policy is active.
- Guaranteed insurability rider. Allows you to purchase additional insurance without taking a medical exam or otherwise prove your insurability.
- Policy split option rider. Allows you to split your Survivorship policy into two individual policies. But you’ll have to go through proof of insurability again, including a medical exam. You can split without proof of insurability, if your situation meets certain criteria, such as a divorce or closing of a business.
- Return-of-premium rider. Reimburses you for premiums paid if you outlive your term life policy.
- Waiver-of-premium rider. Waives your insurance premiums if you become totally disabled and unable to work for over six months.
North American life insurance reviews and complaints
North American is accredited with the Better Business Bureau (BBB) and has an A+ rating. The company has 13 complaints filed in the past three years, with seven closed in the last year, which is a surprisingly small number for a company of its size.
There aren’t many customer complaints or reviews outside the BBB either, but a majority of comments point to a good customer service experience with a few claims that took longer than expected.
| AM Best financial rating |
A+ |
| BBB accredited | Yes |
| BBB rating | A+ 3.94/5 out of 18 customer reviews |
| Customer reviews verified as of | 22 January 2021 |
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★★★★★ — Excellent
★★★★★ — Good
★★★★★ — Average
★★★★★ — Subpar
★★★★★ — Poor
Our experts analyze life insurance companies to help you to find the strongest possible policy and premium for your family’s needs. We assess their financial strength, customer satisfaction, policy features and riders. We then give each insurer a score between one and five stars that reflects their offering and reputation in the industry.