North American Life Insurance Company Review

About North American

North American is a privately-held company that was founded before the turn of the century in 1886. Also known as North American Company for Life and Health Insurance; today, they are one of the largest individual life insurance providers in the United States.

The company offers a variety of retirement solutions as well as competively-priced permanent and term life insurance policies. They employ more than 1,500 people and operate three corporate offices in Chicago, IL; Des Moines, IA; and Sioux Falls, SD.  

North American has been a BBB Accredited Business since September 2018 and they are rated "A+." Currently they have nearly a half a million active life insurance policy holders and their products are offered by more than 59,000 agents and agencies nationwide. 

Insurance Products

What kind of products does North American offer? Here’s what you can expect from the life insurance company:

• Term Life Insurance
• Permanent Life Insurance
  • Universal Life Insurance
  • Indexed Universal Life Insurance
• Annuities

Term Life Insurance

Term life insurance is typically the cheapest option for clients, therefore tending to be the most popular. These policies don’t have a cash value component, containing only a death benefit. They’re a good option if you only need coverage for a certain amount of time, say, while you have a mortgage or until your kids go to college.

North American term policy is called ADDvantage, which is available in 10, 15, 20 and 30-year terms.

During your term, your premiums will stay level (meaning they won’t increase in price). Regarding payments, you can choose to pay monthly, quarterly, semi-annually, or annually. If you become completely disabled, you can become eligible to have your premium payments waived while still keeping your coverage in effect; however, it’s important to note that this rider must be applied for when you initially have your policy issued.

Another rider North American offers is the Accelerated Death Benefit. During the duration of your policy, if you are diagnosed with a terminal illness that would likely result in death within 24 months (12 months in Florida), you have the option to receive 90% of your policy’s face amount in advance, up to $1,000,000.

Recently, North American announced that they are offering the ADB rider to those with a chronic or critical illness as well. Do note, however, that the amount of death benefit accelerated to the insured (while living) will be discounted, which will further reduce the remaining proceeds left to his or her beneficiary.

Finally, North American offers a conversion option on their term policies. This means that you may convert all or part of your policy to one of NA’s permanent single life products without having to take a physical exam. This conversion has to be done during the duration of the term or through age 74 (69 for the 30-year term) - whichever comes first.

But wait...there’s more! North American also offers a simplified issue term life insurance policy called LifeVue Simplified Issue. For this type of policy, you are not required to complete a medical exam (although you will still be required to answer health and lifestyle questions). This policy is available in 15, 20, and 30-year terms.

This policy is available for those ages 18-60 (50 with tobacco use), offers face amounts from $50,000-$500,000, and offers extremely quick underwriting; approvals may be done in less than 30 minutes!

LifeVue also offers the Terminal Illness/Accelerated Death Benefit rider, and has a conversion option to whole life within the first 5 years of issuing the policy.

Permanent Life Insurance

Next we have permanent life insurance. Permanent life insurance is an umbrella term, as it comes in different forms. In the case of North American, they offer Universal life and Indexed Universal life insurance.

Universal Life Insurance

•  Custom Guarantee

This policy offers a guaranteed death benefit up until age 120, and no premiums are due after age 100. If you’re only needing a little bit of coverage, you’re in luck - you can purchase this universal life policy with a face amount as low as $25,000. This policy comes with multiple rider options, including the Accelerated Death Benefit rider.

•  Custom GrowthCV

This UL policy is primarily focused on cash value growth. This might be ideal for a key-person, buy-sell agreement, retirement planning, or annuity maximization. It also comes with a guaranteed death benefit and Accelerated Death Benefit rider.

•  Custom TermGUL

This universal life policy offers affordable coverage while still including the opportunity for long-term cash value growth. Similar to Custom Guarantee, you won’t have to pay any premiums after age 100.

Indexed Universal Life Insurance

North American offers four different types of IUL policies. This includes:

• Builder IUL
• Rapid Builder IUL
• Guarantee Builder IUL
• Survivorship GIUL

This type of policy allocates a cash value amount to a specific index, such as Nasdaq 100 or S&P 500. A perk is that the policy has a floor and a cap. The floor allows it so that your loss, at the least, will leave your interest credited at 0-1% (guaranteed).

On the opposite spectrum, the cap limits your potential gains; the maximum cap rate is currently around 12-13% (even if the index your policy follows increases beyond that).

Annuities

In short, annuities are investments that accumulate over the years, and are then paid out over a series of time to the investor. They are often used to provide a steady cash flow after one has retired.

North American offers three different types of annuities: Fixed Index, Traditional Fixed, and Single Premium Immediate. Here’s what you can expect from each:

•  Fixed Index Annuities

Fixed index annuities are long term insurance products with guarantees backed by the issuing company. They have market-linked growth without the risk of loss of premium due to market downturns or fluctuation. The growth is tax-deferred, and they include liquidity features and a full accumulation death benefit. There are multiple interest account options.

Fixed annuities also include several income options, such as income for a specified period (5-20 years), income for a specified amount, life income with or without period certain, and joint and survivor income.

These annuities include a once a year 10% penalty-free withdrawals of the accumulation value after the first year.

•  Traditional Fixed Annuities

These annuities have guaranteed first-year interest rates, tax-deferred earnings, liquidity features, and a full accumulation death benefit.

•  Single Premium Immediate Annuities

These include a guaranteed income stream and multiple payout options.

Underwriting Niches

Each life insurance company has certain categories/health conditions that they are more lenient in (also known as a niche). Here’s what North American’s are:

1.  Nicotine Use

To qualify for “super preferred” (the highest rate class), all applicants under 70 must be nicotine/tobacco-free for at least 3 years (5 years for their term policy). However, to qualify for the “preferred” rate class, you only have to have been nicotine and tobacco-free for 2 years (3 years for term).

2. Blood Pressure

Up until age 60, North American requires a maximum blood pressure level of 140/90 (140/85 for their term policy) to qualify for their “preferred” rate class, and that’s with or without treatment. If you’re over 60, they allow a maximum blood pressure reading of 150/90.

3. Cholesterol

Up until age 70, North American requires a cholesterol level of 220 or less (with or without treatment) and a cholesterol/HDL ratio of 5.0 (4.5 for their term policy) or less to be eligible for their “super preferred” rate class. For ages 71+, you can have a cholesterol level of 150-250 (with or without treatment) and an HDL level of at least 45.

Their “preferred” rate class is a bit more lenient, requiring a cholesterol level of 260 or less, and a cholesterol/HDL ratio less than 6.0 (5.5 for their term policy) for those under age 70.

Stability & Ratings

North American Life Insurance is deemed a stable and financially strong company, and is known for paying out its claims in a timely manner.

Like mentioned previously, North American Life Insurance Company has been an accredited company through the Better Business Bureau (BBB) since September 2018, through which it has been given the grade of A+.

When it comes to ratings, North American ranks very well. There are five major independent rating agencies, so if a company ranks well with them, chances are it’s a stable, well-run company. Here's where North American stands.

North American's Financial Stability Ratings:

• A.M. Best: A+ (Superior)
• Fitch: A+
• Standard & Poor’s: A+ (Strong)
• Moody’s: N/A
• Comdex:89/100

What Do We Think of North American?

We approve of North American. They have a stable business, multiple product options, and seem to really care about their clients.

To summarize, here are the key points of why we believe North American is a great company:

• More than a 135-year history of greatness
• Term, universal, and indexed universal life insurance options
• Multiple underwriting leniencies
• Additional policy benefits
• Great customer support
• Strong financial ratings

Questions? We Can Help!

JRC Insurance Group is an owner-operated life insurance agency that works directly with highly-rated life insurance companies including North American Life Insurance. This company could be the ideal fit for you - but it is always best to shop around and compare rates to make sure that you are matched with the best possible company.

If you’d like to get an accurate quote based on your age and health, or to determine if North American is your best choice for coverage, give us a call today toll-free at: 855-247-9555. Our services are free, and our agency can quickly compare your options and rates by asking you a few questions about your health and lifestyle.

You can also request a free instant quote online below to instantly compare rates from 63 highly-rated life insurance companies in less than a minute.