Transamerica may be a suitable choice if you need a variety of life insurance options as well as other financial products. However, while the company has relatively solid financial health, customer satisfaction ratings are below average. Finxpd’s Transamerica life insurance review may give you a complete picture of the company.
Transamerica
Maximum issue age for 10-year term life: 80 (age 60 for face amounts below $100,000)
AM Best Financial Strength Rating: A (Excellent)
Life insurance riders available: Accidental death, Children’s insurance rider, Monthly disability income rider, Disability waiver of premium rider
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Company's Overview
Transamerica was founded in 1904. It provides a good selection of life insurance policies as well as a variety of other financial products. The carrier may be a suitable option if you prefer having all of your accounts in one location. Although coverage is provided nationwide, not all goods are available in all states. If you are considering getting estimates from the company, our Transamerica life insurance review can help you understand the products’ and services’ benefits and drawbacks.
Policies Available
Transamerica provides the following policies:
1. Term Life Insurance
Term life insurance provides coverage for a set number of years and is not intended to be permanent. As a result, it is significantly less expensive than permanent coverage options such as whole and universal life. Transamerica’s term plans are available for up to 30 years and can be converted to permanent coverage or renewed annually once the first term ends.
2. Whole Life Insurance
Whole life insurance is a kind of permanent coverage, which means it is intended to last your entire life. It has a tax-deferred cash value component that grows in value and may be accessed through policy loans. A whole life policy’s death benefit and premiums are fixed for the duration of the policy. If you fail to make a payment, your coverage may lapse.
3. Final Expense Life Insurance
Final expense insurance is a small whole-life policy that pays for final expenses such as burial and hospital bills. Without a medical exam, you can qualify for coverage up to $50,000. In contrast to certain other companies’ final expense policies, you can apply for coverage until the age of 85. Some policies provide a graded death benefit that restricts coverage for the first two years.
4. Indexed Universal Life Insurance
Indexed universal life (IUL) insurance is a type of universal life insurance in which the cash value is linked to a market indicator, such as the S& P 500. Unlike a variable life insurance policy, the cash value is not directly invested in the market, so you will not lose value if the market falls. Nevertheless, gains are capped. Therefore, it is critical to understand how gains are credited to the insurance before signing up.
Available Riders
Transamerica offers a wide range of riders on its life insurance plans. Riders are optional services you may add to your coverage for a fee. However, some riders, such as those receiving a living benefit, have no upfront costs. Instead, you must pay an administration fee if you choose to use them.
Disability Income Rider
Genuinely, few other life insurance companies provide this rider. Thus, it can be used to supplement your income if you become completely handicapped.
ADB: Terminal Illness
This kind of accelerated death benefit (ADB) rider allows you to access the death benefit sooner if you have a terminal disease.
ADB: Chronic Illness
The chronic illness rider is another kind of ADB that allows you to expedite the death benefit if you have a chronic disease and cannot conduct at least two activities of daily living or are significantly cognitively impaired.
ADB: Critical Illness
If you have a critical illness such as a heart attack or certain types of cancer, the critical illness ADB allows you to collect the death benefit sooner.
Guaranteed Insurability Rider
A guaranteed insurability rider allows you to expand your coverage at certain option dates without going through underwriting.
Child Term
A kid term rider allows you to add a small amount of coverage for your children to your existing policy. Typically, one rider covers all eligible children, and they have the opportunity to convert to permanent coverage when they reach maturity.
Waiver of Premium
This rider waives your premium payments if you become completely handicapped.
Accidental Death Benefit
If you die in a qualifying accident, your beneficiaries will receive a higher payout under this rider.
Pros & Cons
Pros Clarified
- A diverse choice of riders is available.
Transamerica provides a variety of riders that can be used to modify coverage, including a disability income rider. It is a unique provision among the 90 life insurance providers we studied.
- Some policies provide living benefits at no additional expense.
Some Transamerica policies provide no-cost living benefits to riders for terminal, critical, and chronic illnesses. If you are diagnosed with a qualifying illness, you may be able to obtain a portion of the death benefit sooner.
- Several no-medical-exam policies are available.
Healthy applicants can get up to $2 million in coverage without a medical exam.
Cons Clarified
- Customer satisfaction is unsatisfactory.
The J.D. Power 2021 U.S. Individual Life Insurance Study gave Transamerica a low rating. The survey rates major insurers based on total customer satisfaction, determined by communication, interaction, price, plan options, and statements.
- It has more complaints than we predicted.
Over the last three years, the company got more complaints than expected for a company of its size.
Complaint Index
The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) compiles an annual complaint index to help consumers understand the number of complaints received by insurance companies based on their size. For example, a complaint index of more than 1.00 implies that an insurer received more complaints than expected for its size. However, a complaint index of less than 1.00 suggests that the company received fewer complaints than expected.
Significantly, Transamerica got somewhat more complaints than expected, resulting in a three-year average complaint index of 1.37. This number of complaints is slightly worrying compared to most of our other best life insurance firms, which have a complaint index of less than 1.00.
Customer Service
There are several ways to contact Transamerica’s customer service. You can send your query via an online contact form or email or call an agent at (800) 797-2643. Transamerica recommends supplying the following information by email to ensure the customer assistance process runs as smoothly as possible:
- A comprehensive description of what you require
- Phone number
- City and state of the policy owner
- Owner’s name on the policy
- Policy number
- Your name and relationship to the policy or owner
Is Transamerica Life Insurance A Worth Insurance to Get?
Transamerica is one of our top life insurance companies. Moreover, it made a list primarily for policy customization. Transamerica is a wonderful choice if you want to tailor your coverage with a wide range of available riders or add-on features. The company provides a disability income rider. Notably, it is not offered by most of the life insurance companies we researched.
Conversely, Transamerica fared poorly in the J.D. Power 2021 U.S. Individual Life Insurance Study. It ranked 19th in customer satisfaction among 21 major life insurance companies. This may cause some buyers to hesitate, especially if they only require basic life insurance coverage with no extras.
Conclusion
Transamerica offers a diverse range of life insurance products with numerous riders. Thus, it is simple to obtain a policy that meets your requirements. However, the evaluations are negative of Transamerica’s customer service. Therefore, if you are looking for life insurance, don’t forget to get quotes from many organizations.