Baltimore Life Insurance Company: A Start to Finish Guide

Last Updated December 21, 2024

Baltimore Life Insurance Company has been around for nearly 150 years and provides a number of insurance services to seniors and to folks looking to build a legacy to be passed down to their loved ones. Are their package deals worth it or will you be feeling deflated? At Final Expense Benefits, we are dedicated to providing you with the answers you are looking for.

History of Baltimore Life Insurance Company

Baltimore Life Insurance Company was known as “The Baltimore Mutual Aid Society of Baltimore City” during its founding in 1882. During its humble beginnings, Baltimore Life had a total asset worth $260.93, which in today’s money is roughly equivalent to over $7,000. It was not until the 1900s that the company changed its name to “The Baltimore Life Insurance Company of Baltimore City” and survived the Great Depression, several recessions, and two world wars. Baltimore Life manages over $1 billion in assets and insurance for over 200,000 people across the United States. Baltimore Life Insurance Company has its headquarters in Owings Mills, Maryland. It is owned by the Baltimore Financial Group Inc.

Baltimore Life Insurance Company Products and Services

Baltimore Life sells annuities, supplemental group life policies, and individual life/ critical illness insurance. They are all sold through the company and independent sales agents. Below is a list of their life insurance products.

Protector and aPriority Level Term

Protector and aPriority policies provided by Baltimore Life Insurance Company are term life insurance policies meaning that their coverage covers a set amount of time, typically between 10-30 years. In that time, should you choose to renew your policy when the time is up then you can expect an increase in the premium amount. Both Protector and aPriority Term insurance has guaranteed coverage for seniors up to age 100. Each is similar in that they have various payment options and riders available to add. Each allows you to convert your term policy into a whole life policy. Listed below are a number of insurance riders that Baltimore Life offers for their term policy.

Accidental Death Benefit Rider

This rider is available to people ages 15-65 and pays an additional benefit upon the accidental death of the insured before the age of 70.

Children’s Insurance Benefit Rider

This rider protects your current and future children. This covers your children until they turn 25 or the insured reaches age 70, whichever comes first.

Disability Income Rider

After a 90-day waiting period, this rider covers non-occupational sicknesses, accidents, and disabilities. Baltimore Life pays a monthly benefit for up to two years during your total disability. If you return to work for at least six months and become disabled again for a related case, you are eligible for another two years of coverage. This rider is renewable and available for issue ages 18-55 and does not change based on tobacco usage.

Waiver of Premium for Disability

Adding this rider to your policy will allow Baltimore Life Insurance Company to continue your coverage and pay your premiums until you either recover or your coverage ends.

Accelerated Death Benefit Rider

aPriority Whole Life Insurance

Baltimore Life Insurance has two whole life insurance policies. Their aPriority plan has coverage starting as low as $15,000 with non-tobacco rates for people who live healthier lifestyles. Like Baltimore Life’s term life insurance, there is guaranteed life insurance coverage until age 100 with an option to be paid in 20 years. The amount of premium you pay and the amount of insurance you get do not go down. Like other whole life insurance policies, this accumulates cash value over the life of the policy which is tax-deferred. The cash value that you accumulate can be used to pay premiums as a loan if you are unable to pay. For rider options, they have the same options available as the term life insurance with an additional two added.

Single Premium Additional Insurance Rider

This rider option allows you to get an additional fully funded insurance that is funded with a single payment with its own guaranteed benefit.

Guaranteed Insurability Option

This rider under Baltimore Life Insurance Company allows you to purchase an additional insurance policy at age 40 without having to go through a health exam or answer health questions.

Single Premium Whole Life

Baltimore Life offers an alternative to investing with this policy. Adults between the ages of 50-85, who currently have investments, and answer health questions are eligible. Baltimore Life Insurance Company offers to increase your estate as well as provide your beneficiaries an inheritance free from federal income tax. Investing your money into the Single Premium Whole Life insurance allows you to avoid probate court as the money gets passed directly to your beneficiaries. Baltimore life offers one rider as a benefit of this policy. The benefit provided is in the form of an Accelerated Death Benefit Rider and does not increase your premium. This can accelerate a portion of the policy’s death benefit in the event of an illness, extended home healthcare, or confinement in a nursing home. There are also liquidity features like your cash value growth.

Silver Guard Senior Life

aPriority Universal Life Insurance

Universal life insurance is a type of whole life insurance with an investment savings element and a low monthly premium. Baltimore Life’s aPriority Universal policy has a no-lapse guarantee to keep your insurance in force no matter what as long as the minimum amount is paid. Like other whole-life policies, there is a tax-deferred cash growth with coverage starting as low as $25,000 with non-tobacco rates available. Baltimore Life offers riders this plan but varies by state eligibility.

Generation Legacy

Baltimore Life offers a combination of a life insurance policy and an annuity contract. You are issued two separate contracts at the time of your policy activation; a single premium immediate annuity and a limited premium payment whole-life policy. Payouts for the annuity pay the premiums for a length of time that is dependent on your age.

Critical Illness Insurance

Baltimore Life Critical Illness Insurance helps to ease the financial burden of a serious illness diagnosis. Full benefits are paid upon a diagnosis of cancer, heart attack, kidney failure, major organ transplant, or stroke. A lump sum payment is made directly to you but this benefit does reduce after age 70.

Best $10,000 Burial Insurance Companies

These $10,000 coverage policies have steady and affordable premiums for the life of the policy. If you are looking for great coverage with low monthly premiums, we recommend these top carriers for all of your final expense needs. This is Final Expense Benefits’ best $10,000 insurance policies for seniors.

Company	50 y/o Male	50 y/o Female	60 y/o Male	60 y/o Female	70 y/o Male	70 y/o Female
Aetna (CVS Health)	$49	$39	$74	$59	$107	$85
Americo	$58	$49	$76	$60	$127	$96
Mutual of Omaha	$44	$34	$64	$47	$110	$78
Prosperity	$51	$43	$64	$53	$119	$88
Corebridge	$82	$56	$101	$79	$158	$119

These figures were obtained from the NFDA and are estimates only. For a detailed quote, please contact an agent.

Baltimore Life Insurance Company Insurance

Pros and Cons

Pros

Various Riders Available
Most insurance products offered by Baltimore Life contain a variety of different riders that can fit your needs. Each has its own function and some of the benefits are rather unique.

Educational Website
Baltimore Life’s website caters to a wide variety of needs such as retirement planning, financial health advice, planning tools for the future, and educational videos.

Cons

Higher Premium Rates
Even for healthy seniors, the amount you would pay in monthly premiums is quite high in comparison with the amount of coverage you would receive.

Prescription Drug Data Base Check
Part of their underwriting process involves a medical exam for some of their policies and all policies seem to require a prescription drug check. This could end up increasing the already expensive premium amount.

Low Financial Rating
While Baltimore Life’s financial rating is still considered “good”, there are far more companies with a strong financial rating that you can count on.

Silver Guard Low Face Amounts
Silver Guard is Baltimore Life’s final expense policy. Compared to other final expense companies it has a low face value amount for the price you pay in monthly premiums. The max amount you will get is $25,000 with Silver Guard 1 and $15,000 with Silver Guard 2. Sample rates are listed below for their website.

Baltimore Life $10,000 Face Amount Premium Rates

Gender	Age 55	Age 65	Age 75
Male	$54.09	$87.57	$164.07
Female	$48.51	$70.56	$112.95

These figures were obtained from the NFDA and are estimates only. For a detailed quote, please contact an agent. Rates are based on one $9.95/month unit.

Ratings for Credit and Customer Service Satisfaction

AM Best Rating

AM Best can best be described as a rating agency focused on the creditworthiness of insurance companies worldwide. Their grading system is similar to the education system where they go from A+ to F. They measure the likelihood of a company defaulting on its financial obligations to its consumers.

Baltimore Life Insurance Company received an AM Best rating of B++. While they are still listed as “good” in order to meet financial obligations, most other insurance companies do not dip below A-.

JD Power Rating

JD Power uses data and AI (artificial intelligence) to understand complex consumer behavior. They are committed to providing unbiased information and embody the highest ethical and professional standards. Unfortunately, Baltimore Life Insurance Company was not selected to be a part of JD power’s annual survey and is not BBB accredited.

NAIC Rating

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) records complaint trends for companies every year on their Complaint Index. At Final Expense Insurance, we noticed that Baltimore Life ranked above average in the number of complaints with a 1.92. That is nearly double the national average. The good news, however, is that number has decreased from the previous year when it was sitting at 2.40.

Baltimore Life Insurance Reviews

This company doesn't like to pay out. It takes 30 business days to receive my money then it's another 3-4 days before it'll show up in my bank account. I'm curious to see if it will, don't have any faith in this company and I would steer clear if I was you. This was a 7 yr annuity. Wish I had never heard of this company and am glad they don't do business in VT. I'm sure the state wouldn't allow them to.

Smiling confident middle-aged caucasian woman with dark brown hair looking at the camera

Judy S. ✓

Stowe, VT ⭐

My mother passed away in early December. I notified Baltimore Life and there was no compassion. My mother didn't have a lot but she took good care of her affairs and I wanted to continue to do that on her behalf. There was no compassion and as of the date of this review, the family is still awaiting the claim. Every time they are called, you get a different response. It took two weeks for them to mail out the application to even file a claim in the first place. In this day of technology, one would think that at least the process would not be so painful.

Carla R. ✓

Greenbelt, MD ⭐

My grandmother was a woman who always took care of her business and paid her premiums on time. She's dealt with Baltimore Life for years and would be very disappointed at how her family if being treated now that we really need them. I've made 3 calls, my uncle made 1. We keep getting promises that someone will call us back. Unimpressed...

Smiling african young student man looking at camera outdoors

Martin G.✓

Pikesville, MD ⭐⭐

Our Review and Final Thoughts

While Baltimore Life Insurance Company may have a few good things to offer, it would seem that its financial stability in comparison to other insurance companies is a bit weak. Also, their customer service complaints give us an insight into the type of service you can expect from Baltimore Life. At Final Expense Benefits, we agree that you can find similar or better coverage options that are cheaper with another carrier. Especially if you are a smoker or have other pre existing health conditions.

You also may not get the customer service experience that should come with such a high monthly premium. John Hancock life insurance customer satisfaction ratings have been following a downward trend and do not seem to be moving upward anytime soon.

Final Expense Benefits partners with over 20 carriers with customer satisfaction guaranteed. They offer no medical exam options at much more affordable rates that fit your needs. Some of our highly-rated carriers include:

If you are looking for trusted and affordable final expense insurance, the experts at Final Expense Benefits have got you covered. Call one of our talented agents today at 1 (866) 311-4338 to get an affordable quote with one of our highly-rated insurance carriers.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is burial insurance worth getting?

If you have family or dependents who you want to support should you pass, then burial insurance is absolutely worth it.

Do I need a medical exam?

Most final expense insurance policies do not require a health exam. You will have to answer some simple health questions in their application.

How quickly will my death benefits be paid to my loved ones?

Death benefits from a burial insurance policy are not held in probate. So your loved ones should receive the death benefit very quickly.

This Season, Fall into Savings. Qualify For Up To $40,000 With No Medical exam. Call 1 (833) 759-3578