Monumental Life Insurance Review

Company Overview

Monumental Life Insurance traces its origins back to the Maryland Mutual Life and Fire Insurance Company, which began operations in 1860. Ten years later, the company changed its name to Mutual Life Insurance Company of Baltimore, and then again to Monumental Life Insurance in 1935. In 2014, Transamerica, a major insurance company whose headquarters is currently located in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, absorbed Monumental in a merger.

Pros Explained

• No-exam policies: Transamerica offers final expense insurance that doesn’t require a medical exam or health questionnaire. Regardless of your current health or family history of disease, you can get approved.
• Online policy finder: If you aren’t sure what type of life insurance is right for you, use Transamerica’s Plan Explorer tool to compare policies based on your family’s needs.
• Variety of riders: Transamerica offers a long list of life insurance riders that make it easy to build a policy that meets your specific requirements.

Cons Explained

• Online quotes are only available for term policies: Transamerica only provides instant quotes online for term life insurance policies. 
• Large number of complaints: The company has a higher-than-average number of complaints as reported in the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) Company Complaint Index, which suggests Transamerica has some issues with customer service.
• Agents aren’t available everywhere: Transamerica says it has offices from coast to coast, but this doesn't seem to be the case.

Available Plans

Transamerica sells a number of different life insurance products that will meet a wide variety of needs. Specifically, the company offers five life insurance products. 

Term Life Insurance

Transamerica sells two separate term life insurance policies: Trendsetter Super Series and Trendsetter LB. Both policies are available in term lengths of 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30 years. Most applicants are required to complete a traditional medical exam. Here’s a look at the differences between these two term life policies:

• Trendsetter Super Series: This policy provides coverage from $25,000 to $10 million, and potentially even higher. After the term is up, you can convert the term policy into a permanent policy without taking another medical exam. However, you will need to submit a health questionnaire.
• Trendsetter LB: This policy only provides coverage up to $2 million, but it comes with living benefits in the event that you get diagnosed with a qualifying chronic, critical, or terminal illness.

Whole Life Insurance

Whole life insurance from Transamerica has level premiums and a guaranteed death benefit between $25,000 and $500,000. It also includes a cash value component. When your cash value account reaches a certain balance, you can pull the money out and use it like a personal loan to pay for things like college tuition or a down payment on a house. If you no longer need your whole life insurance policy, you can always cash out, and the insurance company will write you a check for the cash value amount.

Index Universal Life Insurance

Transamerica’s indexed universal life insurance policy is called the Transamerica Financial Foundation IUL. It offers permanent coverage with the option to adjust your premium and death benefit, within certain limitations. This policy builds cash value based on stock market performance, and to reduce risk, it comes with a guaranteed minimum interest rate. 

Final Expense Insurance

Final expense insurance is Transamerica’s only guaranteed issue policy, which means anyone can get approved for coverage without a medical exam, and it has the potential for same-day approval. It provides coverage for end-of-life expenses, like final medical bills and funeral costs. Plus, this policy builds cash value over time.

Transamerica offers three different final expense plans:

• Immediate Solution: This plan is available for people between the ages of 0 and 85. Coverage is paid in full up to age 121.
• 10-Pay Solution: This plan is available for people between the ages of 0 and 85. The premium is payable for 10 years following the policyholder's death.
• Easy Solution: This plan is available for people between the ages of 18 and 80, or 50 and 75 in New York, and has a graded death benefit. It has a maximum death benefit payout of $25,000.

All of Transamerica’s final expense insurance policies have a minimum death benefit of $1,000. However, the payouts vary by age, with the exception of the Easy Solution. Here are the maximum death benefit payouts available for the Immediate Solution and 10-Pay Solution plans: 

• 0 to 55 years old: $50,000
• 56 to 65 years old: $40,000
• 66 to 75 years old: $30,000
• 76 to 85 years old: $25,000

Available Riders

Life insurance riders are optional policies that will provide coverage for specific situations you may encounter in life. Here are the riders available from Transamerica:

• Accelerated death benefit rider: The accelerated death benefit rider allows you to use money from your death benefit while you’re still living if you get diagnosed with a qualifying chronic or terminal illness. 
• Accidental death rider: The accidental death rider will pay your beneficiaries an additional amount if your death is deemed accidental based on certain criteria.
• Children’s benefit rider: The children’s benefit rider provides compensation for your children if you pass away before they reach adulthood.
• Disability waiver of premium rider: The disability waiver of premium rider allows you to stop paying your premium if you become totally disabled and unable to work.

Customer Service

Transamerica customer service is somewhat lacking. The only ways to get in touch with an agent are by calling the company or submitting the online help request form. However, the company doesn’t offer 24/7 support, so be prepared to make a call during business hours, which are Monday through Friday, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Eastern Time. The general phone number is 800-797-2643.

Complaint Index

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) publishes an annual complaint index that rates insurance companies on how many complaints they receive relative to their market share. The average complaint index is 1.0 with numbers above this showing that the company has more complaints than average.

As of 2022, Transamerica had a large number of company complaints (455 to be exact) for individual life insurance as reported in the NAIC Company Complaint Index. Transamerica has a score of 1.78, which is higher than the industry average of 1. That’s higher than some of its competitors, including Guardian (0.78) and State Farm (0.23). Transamerica’s complaint score has remained about the same over the past several years.

Third-Party Ratings

In terms of financial strength, Transamerica’s parent company Aegon has an A rating from AM Best, which is considered excellent. It indicates that the company is able to fully pay its policyholders’ claims without any issues.

However, the company is rated below average by J.D. Power for overall customer satisfaction. Transamerica has a score of 747/1,000 in J.D. Power’s 2021 U.S. Life Insurance Study, which is below the industry average benchmark of 776/1,000.

Cancellation Policy

Transamerica allows policyholders to cancel at any time without paying a fee. However, you won’t be able to cancel your policy online. You’ll need to call an agent directly to start the cancellation process.

Additionally, Transamerica has a free 10-day look period. If you purchase a policy, you can cancel within the first 10 days and get a full refund within seven days. 

When you cancel a permanent life insurance policy, Transamerica will write you a check for the policy’s cash value balance less any surrender charges. Because term life insurance doesn’t have cash value, you won’t receive any funds if you cancel.

Price

The price of life insurance is different for everyone. To give you a sense of what you might pay, we got a term life insurance quote from Transamerica for a 30-year-old female who doesn’t smoke and is in good health, with $300,000 in coverage over 10 years. Our quote came out to $11.87 per month or $138 per year.

Keep in mind that term life insurance is the cheapest policy, so a whole life or universal life insurance policy will be more expensive. Also, adding riders to your policy will increase your premium. 

Additionally, we should note that life insurance carriers calculate policy premiums based on birth biology. If you identify as nonbinary or transgender, you can qualify for coverage, but many life insurance companies (including Transamerica) haven’t updated their underwriting processes and application to reflect that. 

Competition

If you’re considering Transamerica life insurance, we also recommend checking out State Farm. State Farm has a slightly larger market share than Transamerica, and it has much better third-party ratings. 

State Farm is rated the best life insurance provider for overall customer satisfaction by J.D. Power. It also has fewer than average company complaints, with a score of 0.23 from the NAIC. Plus, State Farm has an A++ rating from AM Best, which is the highest score possible.

In terms of coverage options, State Farm offers more policies than Transamerica, including some unique options, like survivorship universal life insurance and limited pay whole life insurance. The table below includes a side-by-side comparison of Transamerica and State Farm life insurance offerings:

Final Verdict

Transamerica—which Monument Life Insurance joined in 2014—is a good life insurance provider if you want the ability to choose between a variety of different policies and customize your coverage with riders. But if you want great customer service, consider another company. Transamerica has a high number of complaints and below-average satisfaction scores.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Transamerica the Same as Monumental Life Insurance?

Not exactly. Transamerica and Monumental Life Insurance were two separate entities. In 2014, Transamerica absorbed Monumental Life Insurance in a merger.

Can I Get My Money Back From Transamerica Life Insurance?

You can get your money back from Transamerica only if you've purchased return of premium life insurance specifically. Even then, a policyholder only qualifies for this after they cancel their policy after six years, in which case they will also get back only a percentage of the eligible premiums they've paid at the time of the cancellation.

How Long Does It Take for Transamerica Life Insurance to Pay Out?

Transamerica asks its policyholders to allow up to three weeks for cash-value policy payouts to process.

Methodology

Our reviews of life insurance companies are based on a quantitative methodology that analyzes each insurer on their stability and reliability, customer service, claims experience, diversity of product lines, and cost. We compare the terms of each type of policy offered—including available coverage amounts, optional riders, and premium payment options—with those of other major life insurance companies. Lastly, we look at how the company is rated by third-party organizations to determine its reliability and overall reputation.