The American Income Life Insurance Company (AIL) is a popular life insurance provider, known for their ties to labor unions and diverse life and health insurance options. Unfortunately, AIL has developed an unfavorable public perception because of outdated customer service and sales tactics. Pushy sales strategies have earned AIL comparisons to pyramid and multi-level marketing (MLM) schemes. Is American Income Life’s coverage worth the hassle, and are they a pyramid scheme?
Final Expense Benefits only works with the top-rated life insurance companies in the United States, and our partners are glad to share real rates that you can expect to pay. We can help you understand the life insurance market and select a policy that fits your needs and budget, not just settle for subpar carriers.
To learn more, call us at (866) 786-0725 Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET, and check our free online quoting tool for a pricing estimate.
Key takeaways
American Income Life Insurance is a popular insurer, but their mediocre rates and reviews make them one to avoid.
Customers consistently complain about pushy sales representatives and poor service.
AIL is a legitimate insurer, but their sales structure is similar to notorious multi-level marketing (MLM) schemes, leading to significant customer distrust.
Investing in life insurance is a major commitment, and we recommend avoiding companies like AIL with major customer red flags.
What is the American Income Life Insurance Company?
Since their founding in 1951, the American Income Life Insurance Company has attempted to provide quality, inexpensive life insurance to working families. While their central office is in Waco, Texas, they’re licensed in 49 states (coverage in New York is offered under the National Income Life Insurance Company), plus Canada and New Zealand.
American Income Life was purchased by Globe Life Insurance in 1994. Globe Life is a popular insurer, but like American Income Life, they have their fair share of customer complaints.
American Income Life only sells their life insurance through captive agents. This means their sales representatives can only sell AIL products and cannot offer alternatives, unlike our agents, who can recommend policies from our selection of over 20 top-rated life insurance providers.
Having a range of options means you can get the best coverage at the most affordable price. This is one of the key advantages of working with a brokerage like Final Expense Benefits.
American Income Life Insurance Coverage Options
American Income Life offers two types of life insurance: term life insurance and whole life insurance. Each AIL policy includes a terminal illness life insurance rider at no extra cost. These riders pay up to 50% of the death benefit payout if the policyholder is diagnosed with an illness with a life expectancy of less than 12 months.
Unfortunately for seniors on a budget, American Income Life doesn’t offer a specialized final expense insurance policy. Here’s what they offer:
1
American Income Life Term Life Insurance
Term life insurance doesn’t offer permanent coverage, only covering specific periods. Terms normally range from 10 to 30 years. These policies are typically used as an inexpensive cash backup for young adults and other working families, but they aren’t a great choice for seniors.
Term life insurance typically has restrictive health requirements, and seniors may not be eligible for many term policies or may have to pay unaffordably high rates.
Plus, seniors usually don’t need the large death benefits that term policies offer and risk outliving their coverage.
Because American Income Life doesn’t share their term life rates and health requirements, it’s hard to tell if their term policy is a good option.
2
American Income Life Whole Life Insurance
Whole life insurance is usually a trusted option for seniors. These policies are great because they offer lifelong coverage as long as premiums are paid, incremental cash value growth, and death benefits focused on covering seniors’ needs.
Like many traditional whole life insurance policies, American Income Life’s whole life rates can be pricey for seniors. Most life insurance providers offer final expense insurance, also known as burial insurance, as an affordable alternative for seniors. However, American Income Life doesn’t appear to have any specialized burial insurance options.
3
American Income Life Burial Insurance: Unfortunately, Not An Option
American Income Life Insurance’s whole life policy serves as a catch-all for seniors seeking to cover funeral costs and other end-of-life expenses. It’s typically better for seniors if insurers offer a specialized burial insurance policy because they offer simpler, more lenient health requirements than most whole life insurance policies.
Although American Income Life doesn’t require applicants to take medical exams, seniors with pre-existing medical conditions like diabetes may not be eligible for whole life coverage at affordable rates.
This is due to the underwriting process, which determines rates and eligibility. High-value whole life policies typically have stricter underwriting than final expense policies.
Many insurers offer guaranteed life insurance policies. These policies are often the only way for seniors bound to nursing homes or diagnosed with serious pre-existing conditions like cancer, COPD, or dementia to get life insurance coverage. Although these policies are expensive, they serve an important role. However, American Income Life unfortunately does not offer guaranteed life insurance policies.
AIL doesn’t publicly share rates, requiring you to contact an agent for price estimates, but some online reviews claim they pay over $200 monthly for American Income Life whole life policies. This is a very high rate and one that you shouldn’t have to pay for final expense coverage.
Contact Final Expense Benefits for quality policies at much lower rates than American Income Life.
Is American Income Life Insurance Legitimate?
American Income Life Insurance is a legitimate life insurance company with a proven history of paying out to beneficiaries. However, AIL’s customer complaints and aggressive sales tactics are significant concerns.
Because of their sales agencies’ structures, American Income Life has been compared to a multi-level marketing scheme. American Income Life doesn’t appear to be an MLM or pyramid scheme, though many customer reviews complain that agents try to contact policyholders’ beneficiaries to sign up for policies, or try to upsell pricier upgraded policies.
American Income Life offers potential customers several free mailers and estate planning kits. Unfortunately, these free benefits appear to be ways AIL gathers addresses and sends sales agents to people’s homes unannounced for sales visits. Applicants consistently complain about these pushy tactics, and it’s disappointing to see this type of sales behavior still used by less reputable insurers like American Income Life, Globe Life, and Lincoln Heritage.
American Income Life Insurance may be a legitimate insurer, but they don’t respect customer choice or privacy. Understanding and fulfilling customer needs and intent is at the heart of all good life insurance providers and brokerages, and Final Expense Benefits strives to meet this. Unlike American Income Life, we don’t tell you what you need, and instead help you find the policy you want at a great price.
Our agents are ready to help you find a great policy without pushy tactics. Call us at (866) 786-0725 to learn more, or check our free quoting tool for online pricing estimates.
American Income Life Pros and Cons
Pros
- Extensive industry experience & positive financial outlook
American Income Life Insurance has over 70 years of experience in the market. Favorable credit ratings mean they have the finances to be able to successfully pay out benefit claims. - No-cost terminal illness rider
Included with their life insurance policies at no extra cost, AIL’s terminal illness rider pays up to half of the policy’s death benefit to the policyholder if they are diagnosed with a disease with a life expectancy of less than 12 months.
Cons
- Customer complaints
American Income Life has a significant number of customer complaints and suffers from a poor customer service reputation - Aggressive agents
AIL agents have a poor perception due to their pushy sales tactics and unannounced home visits. Customers complain that agents try to force them to upgrade their policies or contact beneficiaries to sign up for plans too. - No online quotes
It’s impossible to check quotes for American Income Life’s policies unless you contact an agent. - No online benefit claims
Most reputable life insurance companies offer simplified online benefit claim processing, but American Income Life claims can only be filed via mail. - Issues with policy cancellation
Customers attempting to cancel policies consistently complain about the difficult cancellation process. Some even claim they are still billed for policies, even after cancelling them.
American Income Life Reviews: Third-Party Rating Services
1
American Income Life AM Best Rating
AM Best is a financial monitoring service that assesses life insurance companies’ credit and ability to fulfill financial obligations and properly pay claim payouts.
AM Best’s most recent rating for American Income Life was in 2024 and is A, indicating a strong but imperfect ability to meet financial obligations.
2
American Income Life NAIC Rating
The NAIC, or National Association of Insurance Commissioners, tracks customer complaints against life insurers on their yearly complaint index to help protect consumers. The NAIC rating scale ranges from 0 to 10. Insurers should aim to be below the average customer complaint rating of 1.
Per the NAIC’s most recent data from 2024, American Income Life Insurance is rated 3.02, indicating they have over three times the average number of customer complaints.
3
American Income Life BBB Rating
The BBB, or Better Business Bureau, is an independent agency that rates businesses on their ability to navigate and resolve customer complaints. They also offer complaint and resolution services for customers and businesses.
The BBB rates American Income Life A+, the highest possible rating, but they are not BBB-accredited. However, their customer rating is 1.42 / 5 from over 800 customer reviews, and they have over 800 customer complaints in the last three years, an abnormally high number of complaints.
American Income Life Reviews: Customer Feedback
Tammy H
1/5
This company opened a policy under my name and information under false pretenses. They said they were opening a policy under my partners – when his got denied they opened one under me but I did not get the great benefits we would have if it was under him. They opened it under mine Without Permission and Know Knowledge of it – they told me they were gathering my information to be a Beneficiary on His Policy. That was false.
When I have confronted the company – I was put on “hold” and “call back again” for over a year. And then they told me they would not refund me the money they took from my account even though it was not authorized under me. And the manager was suppose to call me back – and still never has. I Highly Do NOT recommend this company. What they did was illegal as all get out!
Amy H
1/5
I requested information from this company, which they duly provided, however they then call stalk you. I’ve received six voicemails from this company, despite telling them that I’m not interested. At what point will they stop calling? 8 voicemails? 12? What’s the magic number???
Scott R
1/5
Every year, they bombard me with texts saying that the account needs to be ‘verified,’ or that the term has expired (it’s a whole life policy, not term), and then a pushy sales rep tries to upsell me. Stay away from AIL, they aren’t worth the trouble.
Final Expense Benefits: Real Providers, Real Rates
American Income Life doesn’t share their rates, but we are proud to work with the top-rated, most affordable life insurance companies. We work with quality insurers like:
Our partner insurers offer great coverage at cheap rates. Below are rates you can expect to pay for a benchmark $10,000 final expense policy from some of our top providers. Applicants used for these policies are non-smokers and have no specific pre-existing health concerns.
| Company |
Male 50y/o |
Female 50y/o |
Male 60y/o |
Female 60y/o |
Male 70y/o |
Female 70y/o |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
$34 |
$27 |
$50 |
$40 |
$70 |
$56 |
|
|
$31 |
$26 |
$43 |
$35 |
$71 |
$53 |
|
|
$31 |
$24 |
$44 |
$33 |
$75 |
$53 |
|
|
$34 |
$29 |
$45 |
$35 |
$79 |
$59 |
|
|
$33 |
$26 |
$48 |
$36 |
$82 |
$58 |
These figures are estimates only, based on a $10,000 final expense insurance policy with no applicant pre-existing conditions.
If you’re interested in these or any of our other life insurance options, call Final Expense Benefits at (866) 786-0725 to learn more. Check our free online quoting tool and funeral cost calculator to quickly check budget and benefit needs.
Final Thoughts
American Income Life is a legitimate life insurance company with over 70 years of experience in the industry, but we do not recommend their services. In our opinion, American Income Life’s combination of customer complaints, poor selection, and aggressive agents makes them a poor life insurance option.
Many life insurance companies offer coverage at lower rates without American Income Life’s drawbacks. Contact Final Expense Benefits to see the great options you have to choose from, and we will help you find a policy that fits your budget and needs.
To learn more, call us at (866) 786-0725 Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET, and check our free online quoting tool for personalized pricing estimates.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you cancel American Income Life Insurance?
American Income Life Insurance policies can be cancelled, but it’s difficult. Many customers complain they’re charged for cancelled policies, so you’ll need to verify with American Income Life each step of the cancellation process. The best way to ensure your policy is cancelled is to send AIL an email and certified mail to confirm policy termination.
Is American Income Life Insurance a pyramid scheme or MLM?
No, American Income Life is not a pyramid scheme or MLM. While their sales structure is similar to notorious MLM schemes, American Income Life is a legitimate insurer. However, their agents have a reputation for being aggressive and pushy and may contact your beneficiaries to sell them life insurance policies.
Is American Income Life legit?
American Income Life is a legitimate life insurance company, but they have serious customer trust issues that make them difficult to recommend.
Is American Income Life Insurance trustworthy?
Per most third-party rating services, American Income Life is a reliable life insurance provider with a proven record of paying benefits and a trustworthy financial outlook. Unfortunately, customer complaints paint a different picture, and AIL appears to be untrustworthy on the customer side.
What is final expense insurance?
Final expense insurance is whole life insurance designed to help seniors cover end-of-life expenses like funerals and burial plot costs.
How much does a funeral cost?
The average funeral costs around $10,000, which is why we use $10,000 as the basis for our final expense insurance quotes. Thankfully, final expense life insurance can be an affordable choice for seniors looking to cover their end-of-life expenses ahead of time.
