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American Income Life Insurance Review
By Cassidy Horton MONEY RESEARCH COLLECTIVE
American Income Life (AIL) offers whole and term life insurance policies to individuals across the U.S. If you’ve never heard of the company, you may be wondering whether it’s legit and how it stacks up to the best life insurance companies on the market. Here we’ll cover all you need to know, from AIL’s coverage and credentials to its accessibility and customer complaint volume.
Table of contents
- American Income’s services
- American Income’s credentials
- American Income’s accessibility
- American Income’s customer satisfaction
- American Income vs. the competition
American Income life insurance overview
The American Income Life Insurance Company was founded in 1951 and is currently headquartered in Waco, Texas. It offers life, accidental, supplemental health, critical illness, cancer, and hospital indemnity insurance. Along with serving customers in all 50 U.S. states, AIL offers coverage in Canada and New Zealand. It’s a wholly-owned subsidiary of Globe Life Inc.
American Income Life’s services
As is mentioned above, American Income Life offers a few different types of insurance coverage including life, accidental, supplemental health, critical illness, cancer, and hospital indemnity policies. Here’s a closer look at its life insurance offerings.
American Income life insurance coverage
When it comes to life insurance, American Income Life offers a pretty limited lineup of products.
Whole life insurance
Whole life insurance is a permanent fixed-premium life insurance policy that’s designed to cover you for the rest of your life. When you pass away under covered circumstances, your designated beneficiaries receive a death benefit. One key advantage of whole life policies is that they come with a cash value component. Over time, the cash value grows and you can borrow against it.
Term life insurance
Term life insurance provides coverage for a limited time, often 10, 20, or 30 years. While less expensive than whole life insurance, it’s not guaranteed for life. If you want to keep coverage when your term ends, your premiums will often increase. Further, term policies don’t have a cash value component.
Final expense insurance
Also known as burial insurance, American Income Life offers final expense coverage that’s designed to cover common end-of-life expenses such as those for your funeral arrangements. Although final expense insurance is a type of whole life insurance, it comes with a smaller death benefit, is often more expensive, and is easier to get.
Additional coverage
AIL also offers a free terminal illness accelerated death benefit that can be added to policies for free. If you get diagnosed with a terminal illness and have a life expectancy of a year or less (the time period can vary by state), this benefit pays out 50% of your life insurance policy before your death.
Additionally, AIL offers insurance for children called Head Start. You can add up to $25,000 in initial coverage for your child and will have the option to increase it up to $150,000 down the road.
No-Cost Products
AIL offers a few other products that come cost-free. The first is a Legacy Will Kit which helps you to get your will and testament in place, designate a power of attorney, and direct how your health care decisions will be made if you can’t make them for yourself.
The second is a No-Cost Child Safe Kit which helps to make pertinent information about your children available in case they ever go missing. This kit is endorsed by the International Union of Police Associations, the American Federation of School Administrators, and the American Federation of Teachers.
What it doesn’t offer
AIL’s website only mentions three types of life insurance; whole, term, and final expense. There are no universal, variable, indexed universal, or simplified issue life insurance policy options.
Additionally, the only add-on options mentioned are an accelerated death benefit for people with terminal illnesses and the Head Start program which offers term coverage for children. There’s no mention of other common riders such as those for critical illnesses or accidental death and dismemberment.
American Income life insurance cost
The company doesn’t provide any pricing information or enable online quotes of any kind. To get an estimate, you’ll need to contact an AIL insurance agent in your area.
American Income’s credentials
Is American Income Life a legit company? Here’s what we found.
Licenses and registrations
According to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), American Income Life Insurance is licensed to offer health and annuity insurance in all US states except New York. However, in New York, it offers coverage through its subsidiary, the National Income Life Insurance Company.
Awards and certifications
No awards or certifications were found for AIL.
Regulatory or legal actions
Like most sizeable insurance companies, AIL has faced some legal troubles. In a class action lawsuit filed in January of 2022, a consumer claimed that AIL fraudulently used her checking account to pay for her sister’s insurance policy. The lawsuit is looking to represent any consumers in the U.S. who’ve had AIL initiate electronic funds transfers from their checking accounts in the last year without the proper permission. Additionally, AIL was sued by former sales agent trainees and sales agents for allegedly violating California labor laws. While the court did not decide AIL did anything wrong, AIL agreed to pay to settle the case.
American Income’s accessibility
Who can get life insurance coverage with AIL and how streamlined is the process?
Availability
American Income offers life insurance in 49 states. If you live in New York, you can get coverage through AIL’s subsidiary, National Income Life Insurance. To get coverage, you’ll need to find an agent in your local area. You can search for one on the company’s “Find an agent” page.
Contact information
AIL has a customer service phone line (800-433-3405) which is available Monday through Friday from 8 am to 4:30 pm CST. You can also email customer service at pos@ailife.com or via the company’s website form. Once you’re a customer with an account, AIL offers a service center where you can have your policy questions answered online 24 hours a day.
User experience
The user experience on AIL’s website could use some improvement. For starters, there’s very little information about the company’s life insurance products. It mentions the basics of what’s available but doesn’t mention any details such as available coverage amounts or term lengths. Potential customers could really use an expanded FAQ section to clarify AIL’s offerings. Additionally, there’s no way to get an online quote. To get more information, you have to find an agent in your local area and contact them personally.
Limitations
The customer support channels are limited to phone and email and you can only get help during the weekdays. While members can get 24/7 support online, there’s no live chat or online support for those who haven’t yet signed up.
American Income’s customer satisfaction
Next, let’s look at the level of satisfaction AIL is delivering to customers.
Customer complaints
American Income Life insurance doesn’t fare well when it comes to customer complaints. The NAIC tracks complaints against insurers and provides an annual index report. The National Complaint Index is 1.0, so if a company has a score above 1.0, it means it has more complaints than are expected in the market. American Income Life had a complaint index of 1.64 in 2021, which means it has many more complaints than expected.
Looking at data from the Better Business Bureau (BBB), AIL doesn’t fare much better. It’s had 459 complaints over the past three years, 205 of which were filed in the last 12 months. It also has a 1.78 out of 5 star rating after 519 customer reviews. Many go to the BBB to file complaints, so reviews often skew negative. However, AIL’s customer complaint trend is consistent across the NAIC as well, which is a reason for concern.
Third-party ratings
AIL is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Globe Life. While AIL wasn’t mentioned in J.D. Power’s 2021 U.S. Individual Life Insurance Study, Globe Life ranked sixth with a score of 788 out of 1,000.
American Income Life vs. the competition
How does American Income Life compare to the competition? Here’s a quick comparison.
| Company | Life Insurance Products | Riders | NAIC Complaint Index | BBB Complaints | Assets | Ordinary life insurance policies in force |
| American Income Life | Whole, term, final expense | Terminal illness ADB, coverage for children | 1.64 | 459 complaints in last 3 years, 205 in last 12 months | $4.8 billion | $1.2 billion |
| AARP from New York Life | Whole, term, guaranteed issue | NA | 0.17 | 161 complaints in past 3 years, 75 in last 12 months | $199 billion | $8.8 billion |
| Family Heritage Corporation | NA | NA | 0.26 | 30 complaints closed in last 3 years
12 in last 12 months |
$1.5 billion | $5 million |
| Farmers Insurance | Whole, term, universal, accidental death | Waiver of premium, terminal illness ADB, critical illness, chronic illness, accidental death, children’s term, and more | 0.22 | 1,214 complaints closed in last 3 years, 712 in last 12 months | $4.3 billion | $1.1 billion |
Of the four life insurance providers we compared above, AIL had the highest 2021 NAIC complaint index by a long stretch. This raises concerns about the quality of service the company is providing. Its BBB complaints don’t offer much reassurance. However, Farmers has also collected a significant number of BBB complaints in the last three years. That said, Farmers’ NAIC index is impressive.
When looking at the life insurance products on offer, AIL and AARP had similar policy options. However, both fell short in comparison to Farmers which offers whole and term coverage along with universal life and accidental death options. Farmers also offers a far more comprehensive lineup of riders.
American Income Life FAQs
How we evaluated American Income Life insurance
We evaluated American Income Life insurance by looking into the company’s products, credentials, accessibility, and customer satisfaction levels.
To assess the company’s products, we researched the types of life insurance on offer as well as the riders that policyholders can add on for supplemental coverage. For credentials, we checked which types of insurance AIL is licensed to offer and in which states.
Additionally, to find out how accessible AIL is, we assessed how easy it is for customers to learn about the company’s offerings and get coverage. Then, to determine the level of customer satisfaction being delivered, we checked the reviews and complaints reported to reputable third parties including the BBB and the NAIC.
Lastly, we looked into how the insurer stacks up to a few of its competitors including AARP, Farmers, and the Family Heritage Corporation.
Summary of Miami Herald’s American Income Life review
- American Income Life provides whole, term, and final expense life insurance policies.
- You can add a terminal illness advanced death benefit to your plan at no cost.
- Term coverage is also available for children.
- The company has more consumer complaints than are expected in the market, according to the NAIC.
- It also has a considerable amount of complaints filed with the BBB.
- AIL’s life insurance plan options and rider types are limited.
- Quotes and policies are only available by contacting local agents.
Want to compare American Income Life against other insurers? Check out our list of the 9 best life insurance companies of 2022!
Cassidy Horton is a finance writer based in Seattle, Washington. With an MBA and a bachelor's in public relations, her work has been published over a thousand times by The Balance, Finder.com, Money Under 30, Clever Girl Finance, and many more. Cassidy is a self-confessed money nerd who’s passionate about helping people find financial freedom. Oh, and she really loves cats.