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Elizabeth Rivelli is an insurance writer passionate about helping people navigate the complex world of insurance to help them make empowered choices.
Updated October 11, 2022 Fact checked by Fact checked by Hans Daniel JaspersonHans Daniel Jasperson has over a decade of experience in public policy research, with an emphasis on workforce development, education, and economic justice. His research has been shared with members of the U.S. Congress, federal agencies, and policymakers in several states.
Our Take National Life is a financially sound life insurance provider that offers a variety of policies and riders, including some unique options, and pays dividends on participating policies.
Plus, it offers no-medical-exam life insurance for up to $3 million in coverage. However, we found National Life’s term prices to be expensive, and it doesn’t offer much in the way of policy information or quotes without the help of an agent.
National Life Insurance was founded in 1848, which makes it one of the oldest life insurance companies we reviewed. It’s also the 22nd-largest life insurance company in the country. The company has two headquarters, one in Montpelier, Vermont, and another in Dallas, Texas. and is committed to corporate social responsibility through the National Life Group Foundation. You can purchase a life insurance policy from National Life Insurance in all 50 states and Washington, D.C.
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National Life has fewer complaints than expected, according to the NAIC Complaint Index. This indicates that policyholders and beneficiaries are generally satisfied with the customer experience and have no major issues with the company.
The NAIC Complaint Index is based on the number of complaints a company receives and its size. An index of 1.0 means the insurance company received an expected number of complaints for its size. Companies with more complaints than expected receive an index greater than 1.0, and companies with fewer complaints than expected receive an index below 1.0. The lower the complaint index, the better.
We considered National Life’s complaint indexes over a three-year period. Its three-year average complaint score is 0.47, which means National Life has far fewer complaints than expected for a company of its size. Most of the best life insurance companies we reviewed, including some of our top picks, have complaint indexes below 1.0.
National Life has an A+ rating from AM Best, a credit ratings agency that scores companies based on their financial strength. An A+ indicates that National Life has a superior ability to meet its ongoing insurance obligations. Some of the factors that contribute to AM Best letter grades include a company’s balance sheet strength, operating performance, and outstanding debt.
There are several types of life insurance you can purchase from National Life. If you meet the company’s “EZ” accelerated underwriting guidelines, you can skip a medical exam and any lab requirements.
Choosing the right amount of life insurance for your needs is important. National Life offers an online coverage calculator to help you figure out how much coverage you should get for sufficient financial protection.
Term life insurance is a temporary life insurance policy that provides coverage over a fixed period of time. Over the course of the policy, the premiums stay level, and your beneficiaries receive a death benefit if you pass away during the term. Unlike permanent life insurance, most term life insurance policies do not have cash value.
National Life’s term life insurance policies are convertible. When the term ends, you have the option to convert your coverage into a permanent life insurance policy, without taking a medical exam.
Whole life insurance is a type of permanent life insurance that has fixed premiums, a guaranteed death benefit, and cash value. You have the option to borrow or withdraw money from your cash value while you are still living. In addition, National Life’s whole life insurance policies can receive dividends at the end of the year based on the company’s performance.
Universal life (UL) insurance is another type of permanent coverage that builds cash value. The cash value accumulates with each premium payment and grows based on current interest rates. Unlike a whole life policy, UL insurance has adjustable premiums and a flexible death benefit. But if the cash value doesn’t grow as expected, you may need to increase premium payments in later years to keep the policy active.
Indexed universal life (IUL) insurance is a UL policy, however, the cash value grows based on the performance of a stock market index, such as the S&P 500. The cash value has the potential to make gains based on market performance to a limited extent, and it won’t lose value based on market downswings.
National Life Insurance has a broad selection of riders. Life insurance riders are endorsements that can provide additional coverage or extend your existing coverage.
A child’s term rider provides a small amount of term life insurance for your children. You generally have the option to convert the child’s term rider to permanent coverage for a larger amount when your child becomes an adult. Adding this rider to your policy will raise your premium.
With a waiver of premium rider, National Life will waive your life insurance premiums if you become disabled. This rider costs extra to add to your term life or permanent life insurance policy.
National Life’s living benefit riders are no-cost riders that let you receive a portion of the death benefit if you experience certain conditions, specified below:
The lifetime income benefit rider is an uncommon offering among life insurance carriers and is designed to supplement retirement income. It guarantees lifetime payments to the policyholder based on the policy’s value, and uses policy loans to make those payments. But payments will continue if you’ve exhausted the cash value and remain alive. It also guarantees a death benefit of at least $15,000 to your heirs or the remainder of your cash value, once loans have been accounted for, whichever is greater.
If you elect this rider and name a charity as a beneficiary on your policy, National Life will match the donation up to a certain amount.
An additional protection benefit rider allows you to purchase additional term coverage to supplement your existing permanent policy. This rider will increase your total death benefit without significantly increasing your premium.
If you take a loan from your cash value and your life insurance policy lapses, the overloan protection rider will restructure your policy so it remains in force.
If you have questions about getting a policy from National Life, you can reach a representative by calling (800) 732-8939. You can also fill out the online contact form if you prefer to reach out via email. In addition, National Life has a free mobile app where you can access your policy details, make payments, change your beneficiary, and more.
We designed a comprehensive ranking methodology based on consumer priorities and life insurance company fundamentals to rank more than 90 insurers across five general categories: financial stability, customer satisfaction, product and feature variety, the overall buying experience, and cost.
In order to do this, we collected over 5,000 data points and scored each company based on 55 metrics. We grouped metrics by category to see how insurers performed in each; we then weighted category scores to determine how companies performed overall.
