The American Income Life Insurance Company (AIL) is a popular life insurance provider, known for their extensive advertisements and ties to labor unions. They have a diverse range of life and health insurance options, but AIL has developed an unfavorable public perception thanks to their outdated customer service and sales tactics.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 senior life insurance companies, and our partners are glad to share real rates that you can expect to pay. We can help you find an insurer that fits your needs and budget, not just settle for subpar coverage.
To learn more about how our partner providers can be better options than American Income Life, call us at (866) 786-0725 Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET. To see how much coverage you may need and how much it could cost, try our free online funeral cost calculator and quoting tool.
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?
Founded in 1951 to provide inexpensive life insurance to working families, the American Income Life Insurance Company has an interesting history closely connected to labor unions. AIL’s central office is in Waco, Texas, and they’re licensed in 49 states, plus Canada and New Zealand. Coverage in New York is offered as the National Income Life Insurance Company.
American Income Life was purchased by Globe Life Insurance in 1994. Globe Life is a popular insurer, but like American Income Life, they have a shaky customer relationship.
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. You’ll have great insight into their products, but you’ll also have a limited perspective. As a life insurance brokerage, Final Expense Benefits partners with over 20 of the market’s top-rated life insurance providers, so you know you can find a great policy.
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 term life insurance, whole life insurance, and final expense insurance. AIL includes a terminal illness life insurance rider in each of their policies 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.
Helpful for seniors on a budget, American Income Life offers a specialized final expense insurance policy, but it may be a poor choice. Here’s more information about their options:
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 unaffordable 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 or 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. American Income Life now offers final expense insurance, though it may not be the best choice. Here’s why:
3
American Income Life Final Expense Insurance
Final expense insurance is typically great for seniors to cover their funeral costs and other end-of-life expenses, but we don’t recommend American Income Life for several reasons. Their final expense policy, like their other options, suffers from a lack of transparency. Rates are hidden behind an application that will lead to sales calls.
Final Expense Benefits is proud to share rates for our top-rated providers, and our quoting tool allows you to check your price without lengthy sales calls.
In addition, 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.
With Final Expense Benefits’ top partner providers, you can expect to pay closer to $30 to $150 for plenty of coverage for your funeral and more. Call us today to see your best coverage options, all at much lower rates than American Income Life.
Is American Income Life Insurance Legitimate?
Though their sales tactics and customer complaints are significant concerns, American Income Life Insurance is a legitimate life insurance company with a proven history of paying out to beneficiaries.
However, because of American Income Life’s sales agency structures, critics compare them to multi-level marketing (MLM) schemes. American Income Life doesn’t appear to be an MLM or pyramid scheme, but their sales structure doesn’t fully escape criticism.
Many customer reviews complain that agents try to contact policyholders’ beneficiaries to apply for policies or upsell pricey, upgraded plans. American Income Life also offers potential customers free mailers and estate planning kits. However, these free benefits appear to be a way for AIL to gather addresses and phone numbers. They then send constant sales calls or unannounced home visits to try to sell a policy.
Applicants consistently complain about these pushy tactics, commonly 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. Our goal is to help you find the coverage you need at a great price.
If you’re ready to see what policies will work for you – without pushy sales tactics –call Final Expense Benefits 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
With over 70 years of experience and favorable credit ratings, American Income Life has a positive record of reliably paying out benefit claims. - No-cost terminal illness rider
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. It’s included with all of their life insurance policies at no extra cost.
Cons
- Customer complaints
American Income Life suffers from a poor customer service reputation, with a significant number of customer complaints across several review services.
- Aggressive sales tactics
American Income Life sales agents have a poor reputation thanks to their pushy sales tactics. Customers complain that they have been greeted with unannounced home visits or that agents try to force them to upgrade their policies or contact beneficiaries to sign up for additional plans.
- No online quotes
AIL doesn’t have an easy online quote tool, and you can only check your rates by contacting an agent. - Issues with canceling policies
Customers who attempt to cancel their policies with AIL consistently complain about the difficult cancellation process. Some claim they are still billed for policies, even after canceling 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 rates American Income Life A, indicating a strong 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, and insurers should aim to be below 1.
The NAIC rates American Income Life 3.23, 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, and they are BBB-accredited. However, AIL’s customer rating is 1.37 / 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
Though rates are hard to find from American Income Life, our top-rated life insurance partners’ rates aren’t. We’re proud to work with quality insurers like:
Burial insurance is made with seniors with complex health and budget needs in mind. Below are sample rates for a benchmark $10,000 final expense policy from some of our top providers for a non-smoking applicant with 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
Though American Income Life is a legitimate life insurance company with over 70 years of experience in the industry, we do not recommend their services. In our opinion, American Income Life’s combination of customer complaints, poor policy catalog, 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?
Customers can cancel American Income Life Insurance policies, but report difficulty doing so. 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?
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 a low-cost type of whole life insurance designed to help seniors cover end-of-life expenses like funerals and burial plot costs. Check our free online quoting tool for an accurate cost estimate.
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. Check our free online funeral cost calculator for more accurate estimates.