You have most likely heard of the Primerica Life Insurance Company through a relative or friend.
This is because the company uses a controversial multi-level marketing (MLM) strategy to sell its financial products, mutual funds, and life insurance policies through its agent’s own personal relationships.
Our Primerica life insurance review comprehensively analyzes the company’s products, rates, potential drawbacks, and more.
If you are considering buying from this company, it should be worth reading this informative Primerica Review before making your final decision!
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What is Primerica?
Primerica was founded in 1977 to serve middle-class families by helping them plan and prepare for their financial future.
So, is Primerica legit? Absolutely!
They are the second-largest term life insurance carrier, having insured over 5.5 million people.
They have achieved such high numbers because of their people-first approach to selling insurance.
How are the Primerica ratings?
So, does Primerica Life Insurance payout?
Their website even notes that they pay 94% of their claims within two weeks.
Primerica Life has an A+ rating from AM Best, which assesses an insurance company’s claims-paying ability and creditworthiness or how likely the company will default on its obligations.
Letter ratings are assigned from AM Best insurance ratings that range from A++ as the best and D as the worst.
So, how does Primerica work anyway?
Using a multi-level marketing tactic, many of Primerica’s sales agents are likely your friends, family, and neighbors.
The Primerica MLM approach helps them sell more, as people tend to feel more comfortable buying from someone they know.
Not only do Primerica agents sell life insurance, but they also offer other debt and investment solutions as well.
This strategy aligns with their “Buy Term and Invest the Difference” approach to financial planning.
The concept is that you should only buy term insurance instead of whole life and invest the cost savings into either mutual funds or stocks.
Radio personalities like Suz Orman and Dave Ramsey often promote this popular approach.
So, does Dave Ramsey recommend Primerica?
“No, he does not endorse Primerica per his Twitter account. He states that the cost of their insurance is HIGH.”
Many veteran Primerica agents have secured their securities licenses and also want to help families with more than just life insurance.
These agents will help you with a complete investment portfolio, such as mutual funds, annuities, managed investments, and business retirement plans.
The Primerica Financial Products
- Annuities
- Auto insurance
- Disability insurance
- Health insurance
- Homeowners insurance
- Long-term care insurance
- Mutual funds
- Retirement plans
Primerica Term Life Insurance
Primerica Term Life InsuranceThe only type of insurance plan offered through Primerica is term life insurance.
They do not offer whole or universal plans. Primerica Life believes that term life insurance provides the most income protection while still being very affordable for many families.
Policyholders can get coverage for terms ranging from 10 to 35 years in increments of five years. So, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, and 35 years.
Your age does factor into what term you will qualify for. Those ages 18 – 70 can be eligible for a ten-year term. Those ages 18 – 65 can be eligible for a 15-year term period.
And each term after decreases the qualifying age by five years. So as the term goes up by five years, the qualifying age goes down by five years.
There is no maximum death benefit with Primerica’s Custom Advantage fully underwritten term policy.
However, with their TermNow policy, there is a stated maximum death benefit of $300,000.
Also, their TermNow policy does not require a medical exam; however, rates tend to be higher for no-medical exam policies.
Fortunately, all Primerica policies have guaranteed insurability, meaning you can renew your policy without undergoing another health exam until you are 95.
However, this renewable option is not the same as being convertible to permanent coverage and can quickly get very expensive.
Primerica Insurance Riders
Primerica Insurance Riders With Primerica, you can add riders to your new term insurance policy. Riders are additional benefits that can be added to your policy for an additional cost.
- Child Rider: You can add a child rider when applying for a Custom Advantage or a TermNow policy. Primerica currently permits up to $50,000 in coverage for children up to the age of 24.
- Increasing Benefit Rider: The increasing benefit rider is automatically added to your policy. The rider increases your premium and your death benefit by 10% for ten years, up to a maximum of $500,000 for people under the age of 56. Increases will start in the second year, provided you don’t decline the increasing benefit rider.
Terminal Illness Benefit Rider: If diagnosed with a terminal illness with a life expectancy of six months or less, you can use the terminal illness benefit rider to tap into your death benefit. This rider provides an accelerated payment of 40% of your death benefit. If you also have the waiver of premium rider on your policy, the accelerated payment is 70% of your death benefit. - Waiver of Premium Rider: You can add the waiver of premium rider to all Primerica policies, provided you are under 55. Your premiums will be waived if you become permanently disabled, and your policy will remain in force.
Buying a Primerica Life Insurance Policy
Buying a Primerica Life Insurance PolicyWith Primerica, you can not buy life insurance directly online. Instead, speaking with a Primerica agent to get coverage would be best.
Not purchasing life insurance online makes Primerica slightly less convenient than other fully-online options.
What you can do online is find a Primerica agent near you to help you along the process.
On their website, select ‘Find a Representative’ and then choose the state where you reside.
The Primerica Life Insurance Company is available in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, Guam, and Canada. After selecting your state, you will choose your zip code.
From there, you can choose which agent you would like to speak with that is available in your area.
Your Primerica financial services agent reviews your needs and answers questions about your family’s assets, debt, and overall retirement goals.
The above questions comprise Primerica’s Financial Needs Analysis and take approximately half an hour to complete.
Alternatively, you can purchase life insurance through one of your friends or family members that may be a Primerica MLM contractor rather than finding an agent online.
Since Primerica uses a multi-level marketing structure, the chances are high that you may know someone who represents Primerica Financial Services.
This sales process is much better than companies like Ethos Life and Ladder Life, which use algorithms to make underwriting decisions bypassing typical agents and underwriters to sell their term life insurance policies.
Primerica Life Insurance Review
Should you buy Primerica life insurance?
If you research Primerica online, you will find complaints, skepticism, and many negative discussions about the Primerica pyramid scheme.
The customer satisfaction ratings for Primerica are also one of the lowest in the insurance industry. However, we found no evidence that Primerica was under investigation for actually doing anything illegal.
Remember that there are pros and cons to consider when buying a policy or becoming a licensed Primerica agent.
The Advantages of Primerica Life insurance
- Good complaint index: According to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, Primerica had a complaint rating of .37, below the industry average. A rating above 1 means the company received more complaints than the industry average.
- Several rider options are available: Primerica allows you to add many riders to your plan, such as child rider, increasing benefit rider, terminal illness benefit rider, and a waiver of premium rider. Riders allow you to personalize your plan to meet your family’s needs.
- You have a specific agent: If you want to speak with an agent to help you along the process, Primerica is a suitable carrier for you, as you must speak with an agent to get coverage.
- My Primerica: You may conveniently access your accounts by visiting Primerica online or the automated Primerica Shareholder Services Investor Line by dialing (800) 544-5445.
- No medical exam required: With Primerica’s TermNow policy, no medical exam is required. Unlike many other life insurance policies that require policyholders to undergo a medical exam to complete their application process, which can be more time-consuming and less convenient for some people.
The disadvantages of working with Primerica life
- Only term life insurance is available: Primerica only offers term life insurance. They do not provide whole or universal life plans.
- Not convertible: Primerica offers only term coverage that is not convertible to either whole or universal life coverage.
- Medical conditions: If you apply for life with a medical condition and are either rated or denied by Primerica, you are simply out of luck. This is the reason to utilize a full-time independent insurance agent representing many companies.
- You can’t buy Primerica online: You must contact a Primerica agent for a quote and coverage. This makes comparing prices with other life insurance companies that offer online quotes more challenging.
- Low satisfaction rating: Primerica scored low on J.D. Power’s 2020 U.S. Life Insurance Study for Overall Customer Satisfaction. They ranked 20 out of 23 companies. The study ranked these companies on a 1,000-point scale, with 1,000 being the best for customer satisfaction. The industry average was 763, and Primerica scored 732 points.
- Multi-level marketing structure: With a multi-level marketing approach, you may feel pressured to buy life insurance from a friend or family member that sells Primerica.
- Low-paying sales career: Frequently, after purchasing life insurance through Primerica, you are then persuaded to start selling Primerica yourself. Most new agents do not make much money working for Primerica because of their multi-layered commission structure.
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Buyer Tip
Consumers should always shop for an affordable term policy with an independent insurance agency.
Furthermore, we always recommend buying term coverage, which is convertible into permanent coverage.
This gives you more options if you ever develop a health problem and can no longer qualify for coverage.
Why Choose Affordable Life USA?
We know that Primerica has been in the business for a long time.
But are you getting the best prices working with a brand new agent with the Primerica life insurance company?
We believe in providing our clients with more than just an agent on their side – they get access to expert advisors and educated staff who want nothing but the best for them at every stage of life.
If you’re unsure what kind of coverage might be right for you or if it’s time to compare prices, call us today!
We choose life insurance quotes from a network of over 186 of America’s top-rated life insurance companies.
We will answer all your questions and help you find accurate quotes that match your financial needs and medical history.
So, what is the best life insurance company?
The good news is that you can choose from multiple insurance companies when buying coverage from our agency!
Banner Life, Prudential, Transamerica, and Lincoln Financial have excellent prices on term life insurance.
AIG and Protective Life are excellent insurers for affordable lifetime protection with little cash value accumulation.
Indexed universal life carriers such as Penn Mutual, American National, and Pacific Life are solid choices for cash value potential.
Most of these companies are listed on the US News list of the Cheapest Life Insurance Companies.
Even though US News did a recent Primerica Review of the company and its products, they did not appear on this prestigious list.
| COMPANY | BBB | AM Best | JD Power |
|---|---|---|---|
| AIG | A+ | A | 718 |
| AXA Equitable | A+ | A+ | 752 |
| Banner Life | A+ | A+ | N/A |
| Brighthouse | A+ | A+ | N/A |
| Guardian Life | A+ | A++ | 760 |
| John Hancock | A+ | A+ | 739 |
| Lincoln Financial | A+ | A+ | 744 |
| Mass Mutual | A+ | A++ | 780 |
| Metlife | B- | A+ | 780 |
| Mutual of Omaha | A+ | A+ | 766 |
| Nationwide | A+ | A+ | 806 |
| Pacific Life | A+ | A+ | N/A |
| Principal Financial | A+ | A+ | 774 |
| Protective | A+ | A+ | 742 |
| Prudential | A | A+ | 770 |
| SBLI | A+ | A+ | N/A |
| Transamerica | A+ | A+ | 720 |
Here’s the good news!
You can get your life insurance quotes quickly without even talking with an agent using our life insurance calculator.
This allows you to quickly compare 10, 15, and 20 yr term life insurance rates
from hundreds of companies with absolutely no sales pressure!
We also offer online quotes for permanent cash value life insurance policies that Primerica does not offer.
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Affordable Life USA is dedicated to providing comprehensive life insurance solutions to families and business owners throughout the United States.
For over thirty years, our agency has provided a platform for comparing hundreds of life insurance policies without the stress of high-pressure sales tactics.
Our experienced team of financial planners has helped thousands of clients obtain affordable coverage through our efficient online application process.
Our founder, Eric Van Haaften, expanded our consumer-centric sales model nationally by leveraging the influence of renowned publications such as Time, Newsweek, and The Wall Street Journal.
Eric acquired his love for quantitative analysis while getting his business degree from Ferris State University, which provided a solid foundation for his analytical approach to financial planning.
Eric Van Haaften, LUTCF
1-877-249-1358
