National Family Assurance is based out of Bellevue, Washington, and is part of the National Family Assurance Group. The larger company acts as an online marketplace for life, home, health, and auto insurance coverage. It offers the most competitive offers from various major providers like GEICO, Allstate, Esurance, Progressive, Liberty Mutual, and Nationwide.
National Family Assurance is appealing to people who are buying their first life insurance policy who also appreciate being able to do things through the Internet. This article will explain how National Family life insurance is legitimate and what you can expect if you choose to use the company.
Type of Life Insurance Offered by National Family
Remember that National Family is a marketplace and doesn’t underwrite the policies included on its site. However, this also means there are a wide variety of options available. We’ll explain each of the potential life insurance policies below.
Term Life Insurance
Term life is sometimes referred to as “pure life insurance” because it only provides straightforward life insurance protection. A term life insurance policy is the most purchased form of life insurance policy. It is the least expensive type of life insurance, at least in terms of annual premium due. Someone who has this kind of policy will pay a specific sum each month (or year) for the term’s length. This can range from a couple of years all the way up to 40 years. When the term expires, the coverage expires as well (unless the insured person wants to renew the coverage at a much higher price).
Whole Life Insurance
Whole life insurance is another option with a guaranteed cash value policy. With this kind of insurance, the policy is available permanently for an entire lifetime as long as you pay all of the premiums. If you were to pass away, the death benefit would payout. In many cases, the amount might be more than the original value since you earn dividends over time which can be used to purchase additional paid-up life insurance. Whole life insurance is the original form of life insurance, at least in the modern sense of life insurance from the 1800s. Whole life insurance can also be an investment because it accrues a cash value and is actually expected to make money over time. While many pundits do not recommend whole life insurance, it does have specific benefits over term life.
Universal Life Insurance
While term life insurance has fixed premiums, universal life insurance allows flexibility in the amount of money paid in, as long as there is enough cash in the policy to cover the cost of insurance. From one year to another, you might pay less or more than the last year depending upon your preference and the performance of the cash in the policy. Instead of being eligible for dividend payments, universal life insurance is paid an interest rate on the cash in the policy. The interest rate is tied to a reference rate such as LIBOR, and changes each year.
There is also a form of variable universal life insurance, which allows the owners to invest the cash value into variable subaccounts in the policy, whose performance mimics mutual funds and is tied to equity and bond markets.
Final Expense Insurance
This is a specific type of whole life insurance with a smaller face amount than traditional whole life insurance, meant to cover final costs such as the funeral, attorney fees, and settling final expenses. With the average funeral costing more than $7,000, according to the National Funeral Directors Association, this coverage can make life easier for your family members after death. Final expense life insurance often has limited or no underwriting and is typically purchased by senior citizens.
Riders Available Through National Family Life Insurance
Standard term life insurance, or any other type of life insurance, doesn’t always offer all the coverage you need. Riders can be added to supplement a traditional insurance plan to add something else that a policyholder wishes to have. National Family has various plans and a selection of riders. Some of them include:
Accidental Death Benefit – This rider is added to a life insurance policy and offers additional coverage if the policy owner is killed in an accidental death.
Child Protection – The rider can be added to whole life insurance. After adding this, the supplement will cover costs related to a child’s death with a smaller death benefit than the original policy.
Critical Illness Rider – Every insurer has its own list of things that apply as a “critical illness.” However, this rider offers living benefits to pay for medical services if a policyholder has severe health problems.
Disability Income – The ride is available in cases where someone is severely injured and forced to miss work. It will pay a specific benefit in the case of full disability. While not usually as much money as a disability policy, it can still provide income for expenses during a disability.
Family Income Benefit – If the policy owner dies, the rider provides beneficiaries with the decedent’s salary amount for a specific amount of time.
Guaranteed Insurability – Some individuals may have trouble getting life insurance based on specific health issues or age. This rider takes away this issue and assures eligibility at a date in the future.
Long-Term Care – This supplement to life insurance will pay for health services based on chronic diseases and illnesses, like Alzheimer’s. This can help preserve the insured person’s assets if they end up with long-term care so that they can still pass them on to their heirs.
Spouse Protection – Often provided with term life insurance, a spouse protection rider offers death benefits if someone’s married partner passes away.
Unique Features of National Family Life Insurance
National Family Assurance is designed to sell various life insurance types for a selection of carriers, so the features vary. However, there are a few features that are fixed within the service, according to the website. These include:
- Up to 70% savings on life insurance
- Guaranteed approval up to the age of 85
- Up to $500,000 in coverage
- Requires no medical exam
The goal behind National Family is to provide the best insurance for people who would prefer to apply for and purchase it on the Internet. It’s also available for individuals who prefer to talk to an agent via telephone. There are differences between these two services, however. The online version offers a single policy quote, while a phone call will give you additional choices.
Financial Strength of the Brand Each of the insurers offered through National Family is rated highly using various assessment agencies. As an example, Allstate has an A1 from Moody’s, an A+ from Standard & Poor’s, and an A+ from AM Best. However, each agency grades things differently, so an A+ for one agency might mean something different from an A+ elsewhere.
To get an idea of how that works, A+ is the second-best rating from AM Best but is only in the top five for Standard & Poors. You can find more information from the Insurance Information Institute about ratings and what each of them is based on. This can help you ensure you choose the right life insurance policy for your needs.
One of the most important things to be aware of as an insurance customer is the financial health of the underwriting insurer. It’s crucial to know that when and if you need to make a claim, the provider will be able to cover all the expenses related to it. You can have peace of mind knowing that the companies operating with National Family are all in a good place in this regard.
Customer Service and Company Ratings
As of 2019, National Family Assurance is ranked highly by the Better Business Bureau with an A+ rating. Since the agency works with a variety of different insurers, the best way to check how well those companies do with customer service is to look up your options individually with the BBB to get more information.
Since 2016, the company has only had about 25 complaints. Most of the time, these are related to sales or advertising efforts rather than being linked to individual life insurance products or problems with claims.
A Rundown of the Application Process
The specific application depends upon the insurance company that will provide the coverage, but the questions are pretty similar for each company. Before filling out a full application, the website has a form that asks some basic questions. Some of them include questions about age, height, general location, and tobacco use. There are also several more personal questions asking applicants whether they have been treated or prescribed medication over the last five years for illnesses like diabetes, cancer, chronic pain, and other conditions.
Once you have gone through the insurance questionnaire, the website will list a recommended insurance company. It will also include information about an estimated cost per month for choosing that insurance and how much life insurance might be right for you to purchase. This price transparency is a good thing since consumers appreciate knowing what they can expect to pay.
Keep in mind that getting insurance quotes isn’t the exact same as applying directly for them. Instead, National Family helps prospective life insurance policyholders get an idea of what options they have and how much they can expect to spend. The next step takes a little bit more time. This can also be done online or customers can call 844 334 0566 to do it over the phone.
Health information, date of birth, and details of your social security number will need to be provided. Whenever purchasing insurance, make sure you are cautious around any company that asks for banking information or refuses to offer a quote if you aren’t subscribed to their marketing emails.
Security of the National Family Website
The National Family Assurance website uses software from Norton to ensure customer’s details are secure at all times. The privacy policy from the company shows that the company uses generally accepted industry standards to keep customer information safe. It also explains that it can share customer information with third parties like insurance brokers, carriers, and agents to offer insurance-based services and products.
National Family is Insurance You Can Trust
National Family provides services for everyone in the United States and offers life insurance policies from a variety of partners. Policies can be discovered using a free online tool or by making a phone call. The service is provided in real-time to get a quote from an insurance company based on your needs and lifestyle. The company is legitimate and has good ratings from past users. People may want to avoid no-medical exam life insurance in some cases though, or at least compare the price against a company that requires an exam. They may find that they can save more money by going through the full exam and underwriting process. Otherwise, National Family is an excellent insurance agency for people to take a look at if they want to buy life insurance.
Sources:
https://www.insuranceblogbychris.com/national-family-assurance-review/
https://www.consumersadvocate.org/life-insurance/c/national-life-assurance-review
https://www.top10.com/life-insurance/reviews/national-family
