Oxford Life Insurance Company Review

About Oxford Life

Based in Arizona and founded in 1965, Oxford Life Insurance Company specializes in life insurance products and annuities for older clients.

Within the life insurance market, Oxford Life focuses on final expense insurance and single-premium policies.  They also offer Medicare Supplement coverage and a line of annuities designed for retirement and estate planning.

Oxford Life is the parent company of North American Insurance Company, Encore Financial, and Christian Fidelity Life.  Oxford Life’s family of companies do business in 45 states and D.C, though Oxford Life does not market life insurance in every jurisdiction in which it transacts business.

Oxford Life policies are primarily sold by local independent agents.

Oxford Life Financial Ratings

A.M. Best: A-
Fitch: NR
Moody’s: NR
S&P Global: NR
Comdex Ranking: NR

Although not rated by Fitch, Moody’s, or S&P Global, Oxford Life’s A- rating from A.M. Best is considered “excellent.”

There are larger insurers with better ratings, but, for a company its size, Oxford Life’s score is respectable and suggests little-to-no apparent risk of insolvency or inability to pay claims.

Oxford Life is not accredited by the Better Business Bureau and currently has a BBB score of A-minus.  The BBB has only received four complaints regarding Oxford Life within the past two years, though Oxford Life has shown a tendency to not respond to BBB complaints.

Products Offered by Oxford Life

• Final Expense Insurance
• Single-Premium Life Insurance
• Annuities
• Medicare Supplement Insurance

Life Insurance Policies Offered by Oxford Life

Assurance Final Expense Insurance:

Oxford Life’s Assurance policy is designed to cover final expenses such as funeral / burial expenses, estate debts, and taxes.

Assurance is simplified-issue final expense insurance coverage open to new applicants between ages 50 and 85 in benefit amounts from $5,000 to $30,000 (maximum coverage may be reduced based on age, sex, and tobacco usage).

Policies come with fixed premiums and benefit amounts—guaranteed for life—and accrue cash value that can be withdrawn or borrowed against.  Terminal illness and common carrier riders are available with Assurance.

Assurance One Final Expense Insurance:

Assurance One is simplified-issue final expense insurance similar to regular Assurance but with a key distinction:  only a single, lump-sum premium payment is required.

Once the premium is paid, Assurance One policies remain effective for life with no additional premium obligations.

The coverage range of $5,000 to $30,000 is the same as with Assurance, though Assurance One’s new applicant window is reduced to ages 55 to 80.

Prosperity Select:

Prosperity Select is Oxford Life’s single-premium whole life offering.

New applicants between ages 55 and 80 can obtain coverage from as low as $30,000 to as high as $500,000, with no medical exam necessary (just a health-history questionnaire).

Prosperity Select requires one lump-sum premium payment when a new policy is issued, and no additional premiums are owed thereafter.

Upon an insured’s passing, policy proceeds are paid to the named beneficiary tax-free, making Prosperity Select a useful tool in estate planning.

Like other whole life insurance coverage, Prosperity Select policies have cash value that grows tax-deferred and can be withdrawn or borrowed against.

Accelerated living benefits riders are available for chronic or terminal illnesses or nursing-home confinement.

Advance Wealth Transfer: 

Available to applicants from ages 50 to 85 with a minimum coverage amount of $20,000, Oxford Life’s Advance Wealth Transfer is a single-premium policy designed with estate planning in mind.

Advance Wealth Transfer facilitates tax-advantaged, non-probate transfer of wealth to a policyholder’s named beneficiary.

Policies have interest-earning cash value that can be accessed during life; however, because Advance Wealth Transfer qualifies as a Modified Endowment Contract for tax purposes, withdrawals of amounts constituting policy growth qualify as taxable income.

Available Life Insurance Riders

Terminal Illness: In the event an insured is diagnosed by a medical professional as having less than 12 months to live, a terminal illness rider allows the policyholder to elect acceleration of up to 75% of the policy’s face value up to $100,000.

Chronic Illness:  The chronic illness rider allows for acceleration of policy proceeds if an insured is medically determined to be incapable of performing at least two activities of daily living or to suffer from a severe cognitive impairment.

If triggered and exercised, the rider pays out 1% of a policy’s death benefit (up to $1,000) per month, with the death-benefit proceeds paid upon the insured’s death reduced by any accelerated amounts.

Nursing Home:  If an insured is confined to a long-term care facility, the nursing home rider allows acceleration of a portion of a policy’s death benefit to help cover the costs.

Nursing home benefits are paid out in monthly increments measured as 1-3% of the policy’s face value (not exceeding $4,000 per month).

Upon the insured’s passing, the policy’s death benefit is reduced in the amount of any accelerated benefits previously paid out.

Common Carrier:  In the event the insured’s death results from an accident that occurs while the insured is a passenger on a common carrier (such as an airline), the policy proceeds paid to the named beneficiary are increased.