Family First Life Insurance Review

Pros Explained

• Multiple carrier partners: Family First Life works with a number of insurance carriers, so you can be sure to find coverage that meets your needs.
• Diverse life insurance options: With many carriers, there’s a wide range of life insurance options to choose from: whole, universal, final expense, mortgage protection life policies, as well as annuities.
• Strong financial strength ratings for most of its carriers: Family First Life’s life insurance carrier partners earned a strong rating from AM Best.

Cons Explained

• Website more focused on hiring agents: Since Family First Life is an MLM business, it is much more focused on hiring and training agents who will then sell life insurance policies. 
• Products may not be available in every state: The products offered vary by provider and may not be available in some states.

Available Plans

Family First Life is an insurance broker and does not offer its own life insurance policies. The company provides multiple coverage options through its top carriers. The policy and the coverage option you choose may vary depending on the provider. Family First Life offers the following types of policies:  

Whole Life

Whole life insurance is a permanent life insurance policy that provides lifetime coverage for the insured. When you die, your beneficiaries will receive a death benefit as long as premium payments were maintained. In addition to the death benefit, whole life has a savings component known as cash value, which can accumulate interest tax-deferred.

Universal Life

Universal life insurance is a type of permanent life insurance with a cash value, which earns interest tax-deferred. Unlike whole life, universal life offers a lot of flexibility, letting you adjust your premium amount and death benefit. If there’s enough cash value, you may skip premium payments without the risk of a policy lapse. 

Final Expense

Also referred to as burial insurance, final expense insurance is a permanent life policy designed to cover funeral expenses. Beneficiaries can use the death benefit to pay for final medical bills and other end-of-life expenses, such as cremation, casket, or memorial service. However, the beneficiaries can use the death benefit for any purpose.

Like other permanent insurance, final expense insurance remains active provided that you pay your premiums. But, unlike most traditional permanent life policies, which require a medical exam to determine the cost of your policy, you’ll only need to answer a few questions for burial insurance.

Mortgage Protection

Mortgage protection insurance is essentially a life insurance policy designed to protect your loved ones from the burden of paying your mortgage when you pass away. If you die and still owe money on your home, the insurance provider pays off the remaining balance. This is typically a type of term life insurance, where you pay your regular premiums, and at the end of the policy term, the coverage ends. 

Available Riders

A rider is an optional insurance endorsement that you can add to your policy to customize your coverage to meet your desired needs. Riders often increase premium payments.

Family First Life doesn’t sell its own life insurance policies—but since it has partnered with many carriers, you can add optional riders to your policy. Here are some of the most common riders offered by Family First Life’s carriers, which may or may not be available with the policies sold through Family First.

Accelerated Death Benefit Rider

With this rider, you can access a portion of your death benefits while still alive if diagnosed with a terminal or chronic illness.

Chronic Illness Rider

If you’re diagnosed with a qualifying chronic illness, this rider allows you to access part of the policy’s death benefit while still alive.

Terminal Illness Rider

A terminal illness rider lets you access a portion of your death benefits if you are diagnosed with a terminal illness and likely have less than six to 24 months to live, depending on the company.

Disability Waiver of Premium

If you become disabled and unable to work, this rider lets you waive premium payments without affecting your policy.

Accidental Death Benefit

If you die due to an accident, your beneficiaries will receive an accidental death benefit plus the standard death benefit payable by the policy itself.

Child Term Rider

A child term rider provides coverage to your dependent children up to a certain age. In case of your child's death, you’ll receive the benefits.

Return of Premium

With a return of premium rider, you get a partial or full refund of the premiums paid if you don’t die during the policy term.

Customer Service

For any inquiries or questions, you can contact Family First Life at 860-317-1324. Customer service is available Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. EST. Though the company doesn’t have an online chat, there is a contact form and email address. You can contact your agent for service too. To get a quote, you can fill out an online form and an agent will contact you.

Complaint Index

Each year, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) publishes complaint ratios, which state the number of complaints companies received relative to their market share. A complaint ratio of 1.0 is the industry standard. A company with a score below 1.0 indicates fewer than expected complaints, while a score above 1.0 means the company received more than expected complaints.

Since Family First Life doesn’t provide its own policies, it has no complaint ratio from NAIC. However, most of its carriers had complaint ratios, including: 

• Transamerica: 1.78
• John Hancock: 0.39
• Mutual of Omaha: 0.48

Third-Party Ratings

AM Best is a credit rating agency that evaluates insurers’ Financial Strength Rating (FSR), meaning their ability to meet policy and contractual obligations. A strong AM Best rating shows that the company is likely to stay in operation and pay out approved claims.

If you choose to take out a policy with Family First Life, it’s wise to check the FSR rating of the preferred provider, as this will give you an insight into the company’s ability to honor claims. Mutual of Omaha, for example, received an A+ (Superior) rating from AM Best.

Because Family First Life is an insurance broker, it was not included in the J.D. Power 2022 U.S. Individual Life Insurance Study. This study evaluates and ranks top life insurance companies based on overall customer satisfaction. However, some of its carriers, including Mutual of Omaha, Transamerica, John Hancock, and AIG made the list. Mutual of Omaha did the best of them ranking third out of 22 companies, which was above average. The other three companies scored below the industry average. John Hancock ranked 18th out of 22. AIG ranked 19th out of 22 and Transamerica ranked 21st out of 22 companies.

Cancellation Policy

To cancel your policy with Family First Life, talk to an insurance agent or contact customer service at 860-317-1324. 

Most insurance companies have a free-look period, allowing you to cancel your policy and get a full refund of all the premiums paid without penalties or fees. The amount of time you have may vary by provider, but usually, at least 10 days, though others may go up to 30 days. 

For instance, Transamerica, one of Family First Life’s carriers, has a 10-day free-look period. During this period, you can cancel your policy for any reason. Once the free look period expires, you may end up paying surrender charges that are taken from the cash value.

Price

Policy premiums may vary depending on the plan, coverage option you choose, and optional riders. Other factors, such as age, gender, health history, pre-existing health conditions, health habits, and location, factor into pricing.

Most life insurance companies require you to select either “male” or “female” when completing an application for coverage. Though being non-binary doesn’t disqualify you from getting life insurance, it’s important to note that most insurers haven’t updated their underwriting process regarding gender issues.

Final Verdict

Though Family First Life isn’t one of our top picks for the best life insurance companies, it works with several carriers to provide a wide range of products. Whether you’re looking for whole life, universal life, final expense, or mortgage protection policies, you can get coverage that meets your needs from your preferred company.

Frequently Asked Questions

How does Family First Life make its money?

Since it is an MLM, Family First Life makes money by training agents to sell its carrier partners' life insurance policies.

Who is Family First Life owned by?

Shawn Meaike founded the company. Since then, Family First Life has made partnerships with AIG, Americo, John Hancock, Mutual of Omaha, and other reputable insurers.

What companies are like Family First Life?

Family First Life is an insurance broker and an MLM. Therefore, companies like Symmetry Financial Group, which works with multiple carriers to provide insurance products, would be considered similar enterprises.

Is Family First Life better than Symmetry Financial Group?

Not necessarily; these companies share many of the same partnerships, including AIG, Americo, and Mutual of Omaha. In addition, they offer a lot of the same insurance products. Family First Life has been around for about two years longer than Symmetry Financial Group, therefore, aside from experience in the business, the companies are very similar.

Methodology

We review life insurance companies based on a quantitative approach and methodology that assesses insurers’ diversity of products, cost, customer service, claims experience, and financial stability and reliability. We also compare the available premium payment options, coverage plans, and optional riders with other top life insurance companies.