Transamerica Life Insurance Review

Pros Explained

• Up to $50,000 in coverage available without an exam: With Transamerica’s final expense life insurance policy, you can get up to $50,000 in coverage without undergoing a medical exam. The underwriting process is automated, and coverage can begin right away. 
• Online quotes available for some policies: While many life insurance companies require you to speak to an agent to get any information on pricing, Transamerica does allow you to get online quotes on select policies.
• Interactive tool to help choose a life insurance plan: Transamerica’s Plan Explorer tool can help you identify the right life insurance plan for your family, health, and budget. If you’re not sure whether you want term, whole, universal, or a final expense plan, the tool can be useful during your decision-making process. 

Cons Explained

• Online quotes not available on all insurance options: While you can get an online quote with term life insurance, online quotes are not available for Transamerica’s other policies. If you'd like to get pricing for whole, universal, final expense, or index universal life insurance, you’ll have to speak with a Transamerica agent. 
• AM Best rating recently downgraded: In 2019, AM Best, the credit rating agency focused on the insurance industry, downgraded the Financial Strength Rating of Transamerica from A+ to A.
  While an A rating is still strong, being downgraded is a significant change in the insurance industry, and reflects increased risk. 
• No access to financial professionals: While other insurance companies allow you to consult with financial professionals to help you make decisions about your insurance needs, Transamerica doesn’t have that option. If you need help, your only choices are to talk with Transamerica’s general customer support team or an insurance agent. 

Available Plans

Whether you’re looking for a policy that will cover your final expenses or you want to leave your grandchildren a legacy, Transamerica has multiple coverage options to choose from. The insurer has eight different life insurance plans. If you’re not sure which is right for you, you can use Transamerica’s Plan Explorer tool to review your options. 

Term Life

If you opt for term life insurance, you select a policy term between 10 and 30 years. You pay premiums for the length of the term and, if you pass away while your policy is in effect, your beneficiaries receive a death benefit. Transamerica offers two term life options: 

• Trendsetter Super: You can get up to $10 million in coverage with Trendsetter Super. At the end of the term, you can opt to convert the policy to permanent coverage without having to undergo another medical exam. 
• Trendsetter LB: Trendsetter LB provides up to $2 million in death benefits, but you can also get living benefits if you have a qualifying chronic, terminal, or critical illness. 

Whole Life

Whole life insurance provides permanent protection and can accumulate cash value you can tap into in an emergency. Transamerica's whole life policies range from $25,000 to $2 million. With whole life, you can borrow from your policy’s cash value as a loan, but doing so decreases the policy’s death benefit. 

Universal Life

Universal life insurance is made up of two parts: a guaranteed death benefit and a cash value component. The cash value earnings grow cash-deferred until cash is withdrawn. And, policy owners can modify their premium amounts, giving them more flexibility. 

With Transamerica’s Index Universal Life Policy, you have a guaranteed death benefit, but you also have the opportunity for growth. When you make your premium payments, you can allocate the payments to a basic interest account or an index account. Over time, you can grow your policy value through excess index interest based on changes to the major stock indexes. 

Transamerica Financial Foundation Index Universal Life Policy 

What sets the Financial Foundation Index Universal Life Policy apart from Transamerica’s other policies is that it has a guaranteed minimum interest rate. It also has tax benefits like the ability to take out tax-free loans and withdrawals, tax deferral on any earnings, and tax-free transfers between account options. 

Final Expense Insurance

A final expense policy is intended to cover your burial expenses when you pass away. Transamerica offers up to $50,000 in coverage without a medical exam, with no waiting period for coverage to begin and no increase in premium due to age. There are three final expense options: 

• Immediate Solution: Immediate Solution is available to people between the ages of 0 and 85, and coverage is paid in full through age 121. 
• Easy Solution: Coverage is issued between ages 18 and 80 (50 to 75 in New York), and there is a graded death benefit. 
• 10-Pay: The premium is payable for 10 years, and issued between ages 0 and 85. 

Available Riders

Insurance endorsements, more commonly referred to as riders, are modifications or additions to your insurance policy. You can use riders to adjust your coverage, add covered persons, or increase your coverage amount. Transamerica offers the following riders to customize your policy: 

Accelerated Death Benefit With Nursing Home Benefit

Available for final expense policies, subject to state availability, the accelerated death benefit with nursing home benefit rider would pay the face amount upon diagnosis of a qualifying event or confinement in a qualified nursing facility. 

Accidental Death Benefit

If you pass away due to an accidental bodily injury, the accidental death benefit rider would provide a death benefit for the face amount of your final expense policy. 

Children’s Benefit Rider

Add a rider to your index universal policy to get fixed-rate term insurance for children up to 18 years of age. 

Chronic Illness Accelerated Death Benefit

If you are diagnosed with a qualifying chronic illness and have this rider on your policy, you can access a portion of your death benefits early to pay for your care. 

Disability Waiver of Premium

If you become disabled, this rider waives the monthly premiums for the duration of your disability by applying the rider benefit as the policy’s premium payment.

Terminal Illness Accelerated Benefit

If you receive a terminal illness diagnosis, you can receive a portion of your death benefit while you’re alive. 

Customer Service

To get a quote, you can call Transamerica’s customer service department at (855) 288-4181. It is staffed Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. CT. Or, you can use Transamerica’s search tool to find an agent near you. 

Transamerica doesn’t have an online chat feature, but you can manage your account and make payments online. 

Unfortunately, Transamerica doesn’t have an option for customers to speak with financial professionals about their insurance needs and investing goals, which is a significant drawback.

Complaint Index

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) runs a database of consumer complaints about insurance companies. Each year, the NAIC publishes companies’ complaint ratios, showing how many complaints they received relative to their market share. 

Scores above 1.0 are considered worse-than-average, while scores below 1.0 are better-than-average. In 2019, Transamerica’s complaint ratio was 1.31, slightly worse-than-average. 

Third-Party Ratings

AM Best is a credit rating agency that issues Financial Strength Ratings (FSRs) on insurance companies. The AM Best FSRs are an opinion of an insurer’s ability to meet its policy and contract obligations. A stellar rating from AM Best indicates that a company is likely to remain in business and be able to pay out its claims. 

Transamerica is a subsidiary of Aegon. Previously, Aegon had an A+ (Superior) rating from AM Best. But in 2019, the agency downgraded Aegon and its subsidiaries to an A (Excellent) rating, a substantial adjustment. 

In the J.D. Power 2020 Life Insurance Study, Transamerica was ranked 18th out of 23 individual life insurance companies. The study took into account factors like communications, coverage options, and pricing. As of 2019, Transamerica is the eighth-largest life insurance company in terms of direct premiums written according to the Insurance Information Institute.

Cancellation Policy

To cancel your policy, contact your Transamerica agent or call Transamerica’s customer support team. 

Transamerica has a 10-day “free-look” period, meaning you have 10 days after the policy has been issued to cancel it for a full refund of all premiums paid. If you cancel it within the free-look period, Transamerica will treat the policy as if it was never issued, and will issue you a refund within seven days. 

Price

Transamerica’s pricing is considered to be generally fair to average, but your pricing is dependent on a range of factors. Your premiums are affected by your age, coverage options, health, health habits, driving record, and your location. 

We got quotes for Transamerica’s Trendsetter Super term life insurance policy for a 30-year-old male and female, both in excellent health.

Different factors could cause your premiums to increase, such as a past history of driving accidents or smoking. 

Like most insurance companies, Transamerica requires you to select either male or female as your gender when you apply for insurance. If you are nonbinary, you are not disqualified from getting life insurance. However, life insurance companies haven’t updated their underwriting processes yet, so you may find the application process frustrating or restrictive. 

Competition

While Transamerica has multiple life insurance options, including no-exam coverage, it’s a good idea to compare multiple life insurance companies and get quotes from different insurers to ensure you don’t overpay for coverage. 

Another insurance company to consider is Prudential Life Insurance, the fifth-largest life insurance company in the United States. Unlike Transamerica, which requires you to purchase your policies through an agent, Prudential allows qualified customers to get term life insurance quotes and buy life insurance completely online. For those looking for a quick and convenient option, Prudential has an edge over Transamerica. 

However, Transamerica may be a better choice than Prudential if you’re looking for more coverage options. While Prudential has term life insurance and universal policies, it does not offer whole life coverage or final expense policies.

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Methodology

Our reviews of life insurance companies are based on a quantitative approach 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 that 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.