The Royal Neighbors of America

The Royal Neighbors of America is a female-driven member organization offering a handful of life insurance policies and annuities, best known for its final expense policies.

Product Availability

Price/Value

How much you pay for life insurance will vary based on your risk factors, the type and amount of coverage you need, and the provider you choose.

Companies look at factors like medical conditions and tobacco use differently, meaning your rates might varydepending on where you apply for coverage.

We’ve compared Royal Neighbors’ rates to those of its competitors to determine how fairly priced its coverage is.

You may not be able to secure as much coverage from Royal Neighbors as you might elsewhere, but its policies are reasonably priced.

The final expense policies are the most competitive, allowing applicants in less than stellar health to get permanent coverage.

Royal Neighbors is also extremely lenient in its underwriting for people with diabetes.

Financial Strength

When you’re evaluating a life insurance company, you should pay close attention to its financial outlook.

It’s important to choose a company you can depend on to pay out your policy’s benefits if the time comes.

Credit ratings can help with assessing a company’s viability.

Based on a company’s performance and outlook, rating agencies assign a financial strength score.

While Royal Neighbors is not rated by three of the four major agencies, it has secured an “A” or excellent rating from A.M. Best.

This rating suggests Royal Neighbors is fully capable of paying out claims and likely to meet its future obligations.

The company also boasts over $1.1 billion of assets under management, lending further to its financial strength.

User Experience

When you buy life insurance from a company, you could be communicating with them for decades to come.

So factoring user experience into your choice of provider is a good call.

Your insurance provider should offer you tools and resources which streamline the life insurance process at every step.

We’ve evaluated several elements of Royal Neighbors’ user experience below.

Ratings

Third-party ratings are a great tool for evaluating a life insurance company, giving you an inside look at how customers feel about their provider.

J.D. Power is an excellent resource for assessing customer satisfaction, rating the top life insurance companies based on a survey of policyholders.

Royal Neighbors did not make J.D. Power’s list of the top carriers based on user experience, but it is rated by the Better Business Bureau.

The company has been BBB-accredited since 1986 and has an “A+” rating for its user experience.

Website

The Royal Neighbors site features extensive information about the organization’s structure, membership benefits, history, and community involvement.

When it comes to exploring policy options, you’ll find far fewer details.

Rather than disclosing face amounts and eligibility requirements, the site simply defines the different types of policies on offer, listing a few key features.

You cannot compare quotes or apply for a policy, but there is a life insurance calculator.

Members can log in to view and manage some aspects of their policy, and to access organizational discounts and benefits.

Application

A life insurance agent can help walk you through Royal Neighbors’ application process.

The application will involve a phone interview with a Royal Neighbors representative.

The company will ask questions about your health and may access your MIB and prescriptions records.

Royal Neighbors offers no exam coverage. With its simplified underwriting, you can skip the medical exam.

With your information in hand, the company will make a decision about your application.

Royal Neighbors does not disclose details about its underwriting timeline, but simplified policies typically come with a quicker turnaround time.

Product Availability

Royal Neighbors essentially offers two types of life insurance: term and whole.

Within its whole life lineup, the company offers final expense and children’s insurance.

Term

If all you need is a term policy, you can likely find more affordable options elsewhere.

But if you’re a Royal Neighbors member looking to add on to existing coverage, the Jet Term policy could be worth exploring.

This standard term life policy comes with a level premium and death benefit.

You can add several riders to the policy to customize it, and convert it into permanent coverage in the future.

You can also tack on a guaranteed insurability rider, which lets you incrementally increase your policy amount without more underwriting.

Whole

Whole life insurance offers permanent coverage, with an accessible cash value account and death benefit.

Royal Neighbors offers:

• Traditional whole life: Permanent coverage with fixed premiums paid over the duration of the policy, available for adults and children with a guaranteed insurability rider.
• Single premium whole life: Instead of regular payments, this policy is paid up in full with one lump sum payment, guaranteeing a death benefit.
• Simplified issue whole life: This final expense policy provides a death benefit up to $25,000, allowing you to bypass the medical exam.

Brand/Size

Royal Neighbors of America was founded by a group of nine women in 1895 as a fraternal organization.

It was one of the first insurance companies to offer life insurance coverage to women and children.

The company continues to be led by women today. It has built a brand on bettering the lives of women nationwide, empowering them through its products, community chapters, and charitable gifts.

In addition to selling life insurance, Royal Neighbors provides annuities and a range of member benefits, such as savings on retail products and medical services.

To become a member of the organization, you must buy a life or annuity product or pay an annual membership fee.

Royal Neighbors’ membership base has held steady over the last century. The company has surpassed the milestone of $4 billion of life insurance in force.

The organization is licensed to sell life insurance in 43 states and the District of Columbia, excluding the following:

• AK
• AL
• HI
• LA
• MA
• NH
• NY

Philanthropy

From its inception, Royal Neighbors of America has exhibited a heart for service.

Each year, the company and its local chapters work to better the lives of people in the communities it serves through volunteering and financial gifts.

In 2020, members raised $19.3 million for charity in partnership with Royal Neighbors, logging over 280,000 volunteer hours.

The company also issued $175,000 in scholarships and awarded $100,000 of women’s empowerment grants.

Brand Recognition

Royal Neighbors isn’t one of the most well-known names in the life insurance industry.

However, the fraternal organization has solidified itself as a reputable brand over 12 decades.

The company’s focus on advocacy for women and its community involvement have made Royal Neighbors more recognizable.

One way Royal Nieghbors connects with members and prospective policyholders is through social media, actively posting on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram..

The company also uses Youtube to reach the public, primarily sharing videos about its community initiatives.

Consensus

It’s wise to seek out multiple opinions before choosing a life insurance carrier.

Along with rating Royal Neighbors based on the criteria above, we’ve factored in reviews and rankings from across the industry.

In most cases, this provider does not rank as one of the best life insurance companies overall.

Royal Neighbors’ policy options and coverage amounts are limited, and it isn’t always the most competitively priced option.

However, it is a long-standing, financially stable, and trustworthy organization, with an excellent user experience and a range of member benefits.

A much more rounded company than years past, Royal Neighbors is staging itself for future growth.