About Americo
Based in Kansas City, Americo Life, Inc., is the parent company of numerous smaller companies specializing in life insurance—most notably Americo Financial Life and Annuity Insurance Company.
The family of companies date back to the turn of the 20th Century and are privately held, which is somewhat rare among the top life insurance companies in the U.S.
Americo markets policies through a nationwide network of independent agents and also accepts applications directly online.
Americo offers a wide variety of life insurance products, including term, whole, and universal life insurance, along with annuities.
Americo currently has around 650,000 life insurance policies and upwards of $6 billion in corporate assets.
Americo Life is one of the top no exam life insurance companies in the marketplace.
Americo Financial Ratings
A.M. Best: A
Fitch: NR
Moody’s: NR
S&P Global: NR
Comdex Ranking: NR
Although Americo is only rated by one of the “big three” credit rating agencies, it generally has a strong financial position with very little chance of failing to pay claims.
Over 95% of Americo’s corporate investments are held in low-risk bonds, and its investment strategy is fairly conservative.
Americo currently has a low rating with the Better Business Bureau and is not BBB accredited.
The actual number of recent BBB complaints is not particularly high, though, and is lower than some insurers with higher ratings, so the low grade may have more to do with Americo’s failure to respond to BBB complaints than with its actual customer service.
Products Offered by Americo:
- Term Life Insurance
- Whole Life Insurance
- Indexed Universal Life Insurance
- Final Expense Insurance
- Mortgage Protection Insurance
- Medicare Supplement Insurance
- Individual Vision Insurance
Life Insurance Policies Offered by Americo.
Americo Eagle Premier (Final Expense Insurance): Final expense or burial insurance is permanent life insurance intended to cover costs associated with funerals and burial, estate debts and administration expenses, and final healthcare bills.
As with whole life, premiums for final expense policies are fixed for as long as a policy remains in place, and policies accrue cash value.
Coverage amounts for Americo’s Eagle Premier final expense policies range from as little as $2,000 to as much as $30,000, and riders are available extending coverage to children and grandchildren up to 25 years old.
New applicants must be between ages 50 and 85, and policies are simplified issue, so no medical exam is necessary for coverage.
However, the application process does include a medical history questionnaire, and any negative responses to any of the screening questions will disqualify the applicant from coverage.
Americo Eagle Guaranteed is a guaranteed-issue final expense policy, which means there is no medical screening and all applicants between ages 50 and 75 will be approved.
As a guaranteed-issue policy, Ultra Protector III limits coverage to $10,000 and includes a three-year graded waiting period.
Like most final expense coverage, the waiting period is inapplicable if the insured’s cause of death is an accident.
AdvantageWL: As Americo’s whole life insurance offering, AdvantageWL is straight-forward, permanent life insurance with the features that come standard with most whole life policies.
Premiums and death benefit amounts are fixed, and policies accrue cash value that builds over time and earns tax-deferred interest.
LifeCrest Universal Life: Americo offers three universal life insurance variations—LifeCrest, LifeCrest SI, and LifeCrest Index.
LifeCrest is fully underwritten variable universal life, with a flexible premium structure and optional riders for accidental death, disability, or extending coverage to a spouse or children.
LifeCrest SI is similar to LifeCrest, with comparable riders, but the underwriting process is simplified.
LifeCrest Index is an IUL policy, which is geared more toward cash-value growth, with interest linked to the S&P and a guaranteed minimum of 4%. All three LifeCrest policies offer zero net cost policy loans.
HMS Plus 100 and HMS Plus 125 are very similar level-term policies. Coverage amounts range from $25,000 to $400,000.
Available terms are between 15 and 30 years, in five-year increments.
Premiums and the available death benefit are fixed throughout a policy’s term. HMS Plus 125 comes with a standard accidental death rider that is not available with HMS Plus 100.
HMS Plus ADB with ROB: This term policy is available to new applicants between ages 20 and 60 and provides fixed premiums for either a 30-year term (for applicants from 20-50) or a 20-year term (for applicants between 51 and 60). An accidental death rider comes standard.
A similar policy, HMS Plus ADB with ROP, features a full premium refund at the end of the term if the policy is not triggered.
HMS Plus CBO: HMS Plus CBO is a simplified-issue universal life policy with features of level term coverage. This product’s stand-out feature is the cash-back option, available at periods between 15 and 30 years, that allows policyholders to recover premiums if a policy reaches the conclusion of its option period without being triggered.
The cash-back amount is measured as the total premiums paid in during the life of the policy, so it will be higher or lower depending upon the premium rates.
Applicants must be between age 20 and 60, with longer cash-back terms reserved for younger applicants.
HMS Plus Payment Protector: Americo offer specialized term coverage designed to pay off an insured’s mortgage in the event of untimely death. As with regular term, coverage amounts range from $25,000 to $400,000.
Mortgage protection policies are “simplified issue,” so no medical exam is required when applying. Proof of mortgage is not necessary to apply. Americo’s HMS Payment Protector Plus pays out death benefits in regular increments, mirroring mortgage payments, rather than as a lump sum. New applicants must be between age 20 and 75, with longer terms reserved for younger applicants.
Available in terms from 15 to 30 years, HMS Plus Payment Protector Continuation adds a conversion option allowing the policyholder to transition the policy to permanent, whole life coverage at the term’s conclusion. When the conversion occurs, the death benefit is reduced to 10% of the original amount.
Available Life Insurance Riders
Children’s Term: This optional rider provides up to $15,000 in term coverage for an insured’s children and is available with most policies.
Accidental Death Benefit Rider: In the event an insured’s death is caused by a qualifying “accident,” the death benefit amount is increased. Americo’s accidental death rider comes standard with some policies and is not available with others.
Disability Income Rider: If an insured becomes permanently disabled, the disability income rider pays out a small percentage of the policy’s death benefit at regular intervals to help defray the lost income and expenses involved with a disability.
Waiver of Premium Riders. If a premium-waiver rider is selected, policy premiums are waived if a policyholder sustains a long-term disability or involuntary unemployment.
Living Benefits Riders: Americo offers riders providing for early payout of policy proceeds if an insured is diagnosed with a terminal illness, critical illness, or chronic illness. The riders allow for payment of up to fifty percent of the policy’s death benefit but are not available with some policies.
Income Term Rider: If selected, Americo’s income term rider provides a supplemental monthly income death benefit in addition to the policy’s regular death benefit. The payments continue through the conclusion of the income coverage period selected when the policy is issued, with monthly income periods available from 15 to 30 years, or until age 70.
