United American is a well-respected company with decades of experience providing individuals and groups with a variety of insurance products.
Life insurance is among those products.
The company is built on the values of stability, service, quality, and commitment, but do those characteristics make it the right insurer for your life insurance needs?
We know there are a lot of different providers out there, so it’s important to compare and contrast all the insurance choices available to you.
This review of United American Insurance Company details its history, ratings, products, and a few alternatives to help you make the call.
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Our United American Insurance Company Review
United American Insurance Company boasts a true American success story.
The company was founded in 1947 with just a single employee. The hard work of the single employee and founder, C.L. Dunlap, paid off as United American grew tremendously over the next several decades.
Today, United American boasts over 500 employees. Though that’s a lot more than a single employee, it’s still a relatively small business by insurance company standards.
Their size enables United American to offer superior customer support to its policyholders and other customers and still give customers the feel of working with a small company rather than a large corporation.
Through all of its success and expansion over the years, the company still stands by its original ideals, exhibiting a dedication to quality and customer satisfaction.
The three most important things to know about United American are:
- Life insurance is just one of their product lines
- Superior financial ratings from several agencies
- History in business for over 70 years
United American’s Financial Stability and Ratings
United American is unique from many of its competitors in that it isn’t completely focused on life insurance, like the majority of other providers.
At first, this broad focus might seem like a cause for concern. You often feel more secure when selecting life insurance from a provider who specifically specializes in it.
However, United American’s track record speaks for itself.
With stability embedded in its core values, it’s no surprise that United American has touted strong scores from the major credit reporting agencies over the years.
They have a solid financial health rating from A.M. Best, having solidified an “A+,” a very strong rating of “AA-” from Standard & Poor’s, and a solid rating (“A+“) from the Better Business Bureau.
These scores suggest United American is a viable company, one which is highly likely to pay out policies as promised.
Products by United American
When it comes to life insurance, United American’s options are straightforward.
The company offers two basic life insurance options: term life and whole life, along with a number of other insurance products.
Below, we’ll take a look at the two life insurance products to gain a better understanding of their benefits.
Whole Life
Whole life policies come with a unique set of benefits for policyholders. These products provide coverage for the entirety of an individual’s life.
Whole life policies also come with set premiums. As long as you faithfully make payments, your policy stays in effect and premiums remain unchanged.
Last, whole life policies are also vehicles for investing and can accumulate cash value over the years.
While the company recommends its whole life products to individuals looking to accumulate cash value and maintain a low premium rate, they provide more information on the benefits of their term life policies.
Term Life
The most common of these two types of life insurance policy within and outside of United American is term life insurance.
Unlike whole life insurance, term life policies provide coverage for a predetermined amount of time, like 5, 10, 15, 20, or 30 years.
At the end of the term, premiums are subject to increase based on age, health, and other risk factors.
Also, contrary to whole life, traditional term life policies are not investment tools.
With these differences comes one major benefit: term life is by far the least expensive option.
United American gives a little more insight into its term life products than its whole life ones, explaining that they offer policies between $25,000 and $500,000.
Their policies are guaranteed renewable, portable in case of a move or career change, and secured as long as you make timely payments.
The company also offers family plans, which may be beneficial for couples looking to secure their children’s future.
Additional Products
There are a handful of factors which help United American to stand out from the pack.
Chief among these is the large number of insurance types and the additional features they offer.
Most of United American’s policies can be further tailored, too. United American’s life insurance agents can help you find out how yours can be made even better for your individual needs.
Among the other types of insurance that United American offers are:
- Group retiree health
- Medical supplements
- Cancer and critical illness
United American’s robust offering of insurance products makes it easy to take care of many of your insurance needs in a single place, especially for things which go hand-in-hand, like life and critical illness policies.
Applying for Life Insurance Products with United American
Applying for coverage with United American is simple, but it can’t be done from your tablet or computer.
Unfortunately, the company doesn’t yet offer an online application.
All applications are paper-based and must be completed with an agent.
A lot of companies still use traditional paper applications because they’re time-tested and secure.
However, the recent trend in the life insurance business is towards convenience. Many potential customers and policyholders find it much more convenient to apply online – or at least over the phone.
That said, you can expect an underwriting time of your United American life insurance application to extend up to 4 to 6 weeks, which holds up to industry par.
You should receive a response to your application, as well as your coverage rating, at the end of this 4 to 6 week period.
What We Like About United American
We like United American for their honest take on life insurance. This alone helps them stick out from the competition.
A few of their other top benefits worth considering include:
- Simple and straightforward plans: United American’s policy options are laid out simply, and their online resources provide insight into the basics of life insurance.
- The main combo of coverage types: United American could be your one-stop-shop for a whole host of insurance needs, simplifying payments and account management.
- Health and critical illness coverage: Not all reputable insurance companies provide applicants with these products.
- Strong financial health ratings: United American has consistently secured high ratings for over 70 years, meaning you can count on your coverage.
- Excellent customer service: When you reach the company’s representatives, they are highly knowledgeable, cordial, and eager to clear up confusion and help you make decisions.
What We Don’t Like About United American
- Application process: It’s a completely traditional process which requires speaking with an agent, filling out a paper application, taking a medical examination, and then waiting 4 to 6 weeks.
- Customer service: United American is hit or miss in the customer service category. As mentioned above, the customer service is excellent when you’re able to reach a dedicated representative. The negative is how hard it can be to reach customer service representatives.
Our Verdict
We’d recommend everyone at least take a look at United American’s life insurance offerings and compare them to other companies who interest you.
They offer a good range of coverage types with some additional features and riders to best suit a range of those looking into life insurance.
That said, United American is particularly beneficial for the elderly, as well as those with a critical illness.
Overall, United American Insurance is an above average choice for your life insurance needs.
We encourage you to look into your other life insurance options while considering United American to find the best life insurance for you and yours.
Let us know if we can help or answer any other questions.
United American Insurance Company Review
- Website
- www2.unitedamerican.com
- Phone
- (800) 755-2137
- Address
- P.O. Box 8080
McKinney, TX 75070
Company Name (and subsidiaries)
- Torchmark Corporation