Primerica Life Insurance Review
If you are considering a term life insurance policy from Primerica or you already have one, you might want to read our review. With all of the choices you have for term life insurance coverage, it makes sense to shop around before considering a policy from Primerica. You will find that Primerica’s term life coverage is not competitive with other companies and lacks a very important feature found with almost all term policies. In this post we will talk about how Primerica’s term life product stacks up to the competition.
About Primerica
Primerica was founded in 1977 with the purpose of teaching Middle America the fundamentals of saving, investing and protecting assets. The company offers investments that include mutual funds, managed accounts, annuity plans and business retirement plans. They also offer insurance products such as home, auto, long term care and term life insurance.
Primerica is A+ rated by A.M. Best for financial strength. If you purchase a life insurance policy from Primerica, you should feel comfortable that the company will be able to pay your claim if necessary. The company offers some benefits to its clients when it comes to educating them on saving and investing. Primerica’s strategy that you should buy term life insurance versus permanent coverage and invest the difference is sound advice for a majority of Americans. But before you consider working with Primerica, you need to know some important facts.
What You Need to Know About Primerica’s Business Practices
Whether you are considering Primerica term life insurance or you already own a policy, you need to know some very important facts about the company and its term life insurance product.
- Primerica is a financial services company that is structured through a multi-level marketing (MLM) business model. Essentially if you do business with Primerica, there is a very good chance that your agent will try to recruit you to join Primerica’s salesforce. Primerica recruits many people each year but only a small fraction of them actually become long term producing agents. Don’t you want an agent that will be around for the long haul? It should also be noted that the company has come under fire in the past for its recruiting practices.
- If you research Primerica online, chances are you will find quite a bit of information that might make you think twice about doing business with the company. This article from Business Insider and will shed some more light on Primerica’s business practices.
- Primerica offers an 11 tier system in which agents get a percentage of commissions from their recruits and their recruit’s recruits. This puts an emphasis on aggressive recruiting and most likely is a major factor in Primerica’s higher rates.
What You Need to Know About Primerica’s Term Life Insurance
- Primerica’s term life insurance product is expensive when compared to other companies in the market. For a company that focuses on term life insurance as its only life insurance solution, you would think that it would offer a more competitively priced term product.
- Primerica only offers one life insurance product – term life insurance. What if your situation calls for permanent coverage?
- Primerica offers unisex rates even though every company we’ve seen offers lower rates for women. Women have a longer life expectancy than men which is why they pay less for life insurance. Women applicants should definitely look elsewhere for their term life insurance coverage.
- Primerica does not offer competitive rates for applicants who have health issues. You can find much more competitive rates with other companies if you have health issues.
- Primerica’s term life insurance product is not convertible to permanent coverage. What if you develop an illness and you want to lock in your health rating for the long haul? You wouldn’t have that option with a Primerica policy. A Primerica agent will tell you that the policy is renewable to age 95 without proof of insurability. That is the case, but premiums go up substantially once the level premium term runs out.
Cost of Primerica’s Term Coverage Versus Its Competitors
Annual rates are for 35 year old male and female nonsmoker applicants qualifying for best health rating.
Primerica’s Rates
| Male | $250,000 | $500,000 | $1,000,000 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 15 Years | $215 | $335 | $595 |
| 20 Years | $235 | $370 | $665 |
| 30 Years | $327.50 | $560 | $1045 |
Competitors’ Rates
| Male | $250,000 | $500,000 | $1,000,000 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 15 Years | $126.41 | $187.58 | $299.79 |
| 20 Years | $161.50 | $254 | $432.95 |
| 30 Years | $262.50 | $454 | $814 |
Primerica’s Rates
| Female | $250,000 | $500,000 | $1,000,000 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 15 Year | $215 | $335 | $595 |
| 20 Year | $235 | $370 | $665 |
| 30 Year | $327.50 | $560 | $1045 |
Competitors’ Rates
| Female | $250,000 | $500,000 | $1,000,000 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 15 Years | $123.99 | $182.78 | $298.96 |
| 20 Years | $145.87 | $221.26 | $371.16 |
| 30 Years | $226.50 | $384 | $687.51 |
Quotes are as of 4/6/2016 and furnished by Compulife. Competitors quoted are Protective Life, Pacific Life and AIG.
As you can see, Primerica’s rates are higher across the board for coverage when compared to the competitors we quoted. This difference could add up to huge savings over the course of a 20 or 30 year policy. The savings are especially greater for women applicants. It should also be noted that for the higher premiums you pay for Primerica’s term coverage, you are getting an inferior product that doesn’t even offer a conversion privilege if you need it.
What You Should do if YouAlready Have a Primerica Policy?
If you already have a term policy with Primerica, it’s a good idea to see if you can lock in a lower rate with another company. Simply use our quoting tool on the right to find out how rates for a new policy compares to your Primerica policy. Chances are you will be able to find a company that offers coverage at a much better rate than Primerica.
Our Review of Primerica’s Term Life Coverage
This review was not meant to bash Primerica. They are a legitimate company that offers legitimate products. We simply feel that you should understand how Primerica works before you do business with the company. Primerica’s agents have probably helped many families better manage their debts and save money. What we can say with the utmost confidence is that there are much better options out there for term life insurance than Primerica. If you find value in using Primerica’s DebtWatchers program, feel free to do so. But if you need term life insurance coverage, check out rates from other companies first. You will most likely save thousands over the life of your policy.
About Us
Archstone Insurance Services, LLC is an independent agency that shops over 40 of the top life insurance carriers to provide huge savings on life insurance coverage for our clients. We are happy to answer any questions you might have about any of the insurance products we offer, your planning needs or your existing coverage. Feel free to call us directly at (888) 687-9444 or email us at info@archstoneagency.com.
