Midland National Life Insurance: A Choice for Whom?
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Midland National Insurance has been in the insurance game for over 110 years servicing people all over the United States with a number of different insurance products. While this company has impressed us with surviving a number of epidemics and economic downturns, we wonder if it is actually the best choice for the average American.
History of Midland National Life Insurance
Like many other insurance companies before it, Midland National got its start back in the 1900s. Originally called Dakota Mutual Life Insurance Company, the company founded itself on the slogan “Great Oaks from Little Acorns Grow”. From 1908-1919 the company paid out several claims due to the fact that people died from infections and diseases more often. This was especially true during the Spanish Flue outbreak, which claimed more lives than in World War I. Surviving the turmoil, the company changed its name to Midland National Life Insurance Company in 1925 in order to branch out its services.
After surviving the economic turmoil of the Great Depression, the company continued to grow and flourish. It was in 1958 that Midland Insurance was acquired by Charles Sammons, who owned several other life insurance companies at the time. Under Sammons, the company made several billion dollars over the next decades. Midland National Life Insurance is a company currently under Sammons Financial Group company, which has over 400 employees and sells a variety of insurance and annuity products. Sammons Financial Group reported over 73.3 billion in assets and over $266 billion in-force life insurance.
Coverage Options with Midland Life Insurance
The website for Midland Life Insurance does not actually state the specific coverage options for each of their life insurance products. They do, however, state what insurance products they have.
Term Life Insurance
Term life insurance is a type of life insurance that does not last your whole lifetime and instead has a set time limit that is set to end. Like most term insurances, Midland National term life insurance policy has no value outside of the death benefit and has no saving component like with whole life insurance policies. Coverage lengths are typically 10, 15, 20, and 30 year periods. Midland National Life Insurance offers fixed premiums throughout the life of the policy. Their renewal system, however, means you will have to pay a higher premium each time to renew your policy.
Permanent Life Insurance
What is whole life insurance? Whole, or permanent life insurance, is a long-term insurance option for those looking to protect themselves and their loved ones. When you pass away with whole life coverage, the people you named as your beneficiaries will receive a death benefit. This death benefit is a sum of money that you have been paying with your monthly premiums that can go towards final expenses. Any loans or outstanding debts will be dedicated from the time you claim your death benefit, so keep that in mind.
Universal and Indexed Universal Life Insurance
Midland National Life offers universal life insurance. This is a type of permanent life insurance that uses an investment-saving model with lower monthly premiums. Unlike their term insurance, their universal life insurance accumulated a cash value over time. This insurance plan allows you the option to adjust the cost of your premiums as well as how often you pay using your cash value as leverage. Midland National Life Universal insurance also allows you to borrow against your cash value on the policy but you have to pay that back. This particular variety of John Hancock Life Insurance policies has a “no-lapse guarantee” ensuring that you do not lose coverage even if the policy no longer has a cash value or a negative cash value.
Indexed Universal life is similar to universal life except the cash value is dependent on the performance of the stock market. It is protected against economic and market downturns but there are caps on the gains you can acquire.
Standard Whole Life Insurance
Vanilla whole life insurance is your typical life insurance policy that covers the entire life of the insured. The death benefit is guaranteed and premiums are set at a fixed rate. It is more expensive than term life insurance because it lasts for as long as the premiums are paid.
Rider Options with Midland National Life Insurance
Insurance riders are add-ons one can pay extra for additional coverage and protection. Each rider is different and helps with different aspects of life insurance and can cover additional people.
Child Rider
A child rider provides supplemental life insurance for children for an additional cost. These riders allow your child to change this term coverage into a whole life insurance policy of their own once they reach adulthood.
Additional Insurance Rider
Taking this rider with Midland National Life allows you to buy more life insurance later in life without needing a medical exam. However, there is an age limit on this rider and you must be younger than 40 in order to get it. If you wait too long this rider option will expire and you will be unable to purchase it later.
Waiver of Premium Rider
Choosing to pay into this rider will allow you to pause your premiums should you become completely disabled. This rider is available until you turn 55 and paying for this only lasts until you are 65 years old.
Accelerated Benefits Rider: Terminal Illness
Should you get diagnosed with a terminal illness and are expected to live for less than 24 months, this rider will allow you to withdraw either 90% or $ 1 million dollars. Whichever is less. This rider can be added to your insurance policy at no additional premium cost.
Chronic Illness Rider
Similar to the Terminal Illness rider, this option does not have any additional cost. With this rider under Midland National Life Insurance, should you be diagnosed with a qualifying chronic condition, you can collect up to 24% of the policy’s face value.
Critical Illness Rider
If you have this rider and experience a medical emergency, you can claim up to 25% of your death benefit in order to pay for things like medical bills. You have to file a claim within one year of the diagnosis and it must be considered a qualifying critical illness or emergency.
Underwriting for Midland National Life
Underwriting is very important to know in order to understand what type of coverage you are eligible for. Midland Life Insurance has three tiers of qualifications for all of its life insurance products. Midland National Life Insurance expects its applicants to prepare for a paramedical visit; which is a type of medical exam. You are expected to provide names and dosages of all medications you are taking and submit a blood and urine sample.
Preferred Plus
In order to qualify under Midland life’s preferred plus plan, you cannot consume any type of tobacco product within the past five years. They do allow the “occasional cigar” but must submit yourself to a urine test in order to clear yourself. In order to qualify, you must have good cholesterol levels, and having had cancer may be a disqualifier for insurance. Interestingly, Midland Life also checks to see if you have any family history and death of heart disease and cancer prior to age 65. This will also lead you to not getting the preferred plus plan. In addition to checking your family history, they will also ask you what you do for a living as pilots are also barred from this level of coverage as you are considered to high risk.
Preferred Non-Tobacco
Midland National Life has a lower tier of coverage for those who do not meet the strict underwriting requirements of the Preferred Plus plan. You still cannot have consumed tobacco products within the last three years with the exception of an “occasional cigar”. While this level of coverage is more lenient about your blood pressure and cholesterol levels, they still check your familial history to make sure no natural parent or sibling passed from heart disease or cancer. Neither Preferred Plus nor Preferred accept people with a history of cancer, diabetes, pre existing conditions, or other significant health issues.
Preferred Tobacco
Preferred and Preferred Tobacco is essentially exactly the same with the exception of Preferred Tobacco allows the consumption of tobacco products. All forms of tobacco and nicotine-based products are allowed and will not bar you from coverage. However, pre existing conditions, cancer, and heart disease will still result in the denial of coverage.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
$34 |
$27 |
$51 |
$40 |
$73 |
$58 |
|
|
$39 |
$34 |
$52 |
$41 |
$86 |
$65 |
|
|
$30 |
$24 |
$43 |
$32 |
$74 |
$53 |
|
|
$36 |
$30 |
$47 |
$37 |
$81 |
$60 |
|
|
$55 |
$38 |
$68 |
$53 |
$106 |
$80 |
These figures were obtained from the NFDA and are estimates only. For a detailed quote, please contact an agent.
Midland National Life Insurance Pros and Cons
Pros
- Many Riders to Choose From
Midland National Life Insurance allows for many different rider options, several of which come with only an additional administrative fee and no extra premium fee. This can be very useful should you require extra protection for yourself or your family.
- Multiple Policy Types Available
There is certainly no lacking of options with Midland National Life Insurance. You can get almost every type of life insurance available should you qualify.
Cons
- No Online Quote Tools
The only option you have of getting an online quote is with their term insurance policy. All of the permanent life insurance policies require you to call an agent for a quote and submit to a medical exam.
- Unclear Policy Information on Website
If you are to check out the policy information on the Midland National Life website, you may become confused as to what you are getting for coverage. While they tell you what kinds of policies they offer, which is a lot, they do not give you much information on each.
- Low JD Power Score
According to a recent survey done by JD Power, Midland National Life Insurance ranked poorly for customer service satisfaction. This may give insight into how dealing with their agents and customer service team might be.
- Strict Underwriting Requirements
If you are someone with moderate to severe health issues you will get denied coverage by Midland National Life Insurance. Their strict underwriting requirements make it very hard for the average American to find coverage for themselves.
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. Midland National Life Insurance received an A+ rating which is superior. This means Midland National is in an excellent position to meet all of its financial obligations.
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. According to a press release dated October 2022, JD Power remarked how customer satisfaction for companies sinks year after year. Midland National Life was no exception to this as they ranked far below the industry average for customer satisfaction as opposed to companies like Mutual of Omaha which has ranked in the top 3 of customer satisfaction.
NAIC Rating
The National Complaint Index (NAIC) records complaint trends for companies every year. At Final Expense Insurance, we noticed that Midland Life Insurance had an NAIC score of 0.37 which is far below the average of 1 showing a lower trend of complaints towards the company.
Midland National Life Insurance Reviews
Our Review and Final Thoughts
If you are an able-bodied and healthy person looking for several rider options, then Midland National Life Insurance may be a good choice for you. However, if you are part of the 1 in 4 Americans living with some kind of disability, you may find that you do not even qualify. For this reason, we think you may want to look at other options.
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
What is final expense life insurance?
Final expense insurance, also known as burial insurance or funeral insurance, is a type of life insurance policy that specifically assists with end-of-life expenses. From funeral services to final medical bills, these fixed-rate policies last as long as the insured lives.
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.