Insurance

AAA Life Insurance Review 2024

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AAA Life is a life insurance company affiliated with the AAA family umbrella — though they are two different companies. companies AAA, a nonprofit member organization known for its motor club. AAA Life Insurance currently offers term life, whole life, and universal life insurance, each with multiple policies and optional riders. 

Business Insider’s personal finance team compared AAA Life Insurance to the best life insurance companies. We found it to be a standard offering with some unique perks.

Introduction to AAA Life Insurance

AAA Life has been offering life insurance and annuity products since it became part of AAA in 1969. The company is headquartered in southeast Michigan and has an A rating from AM Best for financial strength. It is licensed in all states except New York, though policy availability varies by state.

Besides life insurance, AAA Life Insurance also offers other common insurance policies, such as home, renters, and car insurance. Policyholders can qualify for discounts on some of these insurance policies when they buy a life insurance policy. Additionally, AAA Members qualify for lower premiums on life insurance. 

AAA Life Insurance Plans & Coverage

AAA Life offers a range of plans and coverage options designed to safeguard your family’s financial future. These include term, whole, and universal life insurance, each with different coverage levels. 

Term Life Insurance 

Term life insurance is the simplest form of life insurance and provides coverage for a certain period of time, typically 10, 20, or 30 years. Unlike permanent life insurance, which covers you for your entire life, term life insurance only provides a death benefit if you pass away within the term. It’s usually the most affordable option for temporary needs.

AAA Life offers two types of term life insurance policies: one you can purchase directly online and one you buy through an agent.

  • AAA ExpressTerm Life insurance: You can purchase this policy online by answering questions about your health. Coverage is anywhere from $25,000 to $500,000, and term lengths are 10, 15, 20, or 30 years. This policy also allows you to access 50% of your death benefit if you’re diagnosed with a terminal illness and have less than 12 months to live.
  • AAA Traditional Term Life insurance: This term life insurance policy offers coverage amounts that range from $50,000 to $5 million or more, depending on your age and other factors. However, to be eligible for this policy, you must work with an AAA Life agent, meet certain health requirements, and potentially undergo a medical exam. This policy also lets you personalize your plan with optional riders like a child term rider, which adds up to $20,000 of life insurance protection per eligible child. 

Whole Life Insurance 

AAA Life’s whole life insurance policy is a type of permanent insurance that provides lifelong coverage ranging from $5,000 to $75,000 with a guaranteed death benefit. To purchase this policy, you’ll have to go through an AAA Life agent and complete a medical questionnaire if you’re buying coverage for $30,000 or more. Depending on your answers, you might also have to take a medical exam.

Not only are whole life insurance policies designed to last a lifetime, but they also build cash value as they mature. You can borrow money from this cash value to pay for major expenses like medical bills or your kids’ college tuition.

You can customize your whole life insurance plan with four optional riders: child term, disability waiver of premium, accidental death, and travel accident. 

Guaranteed Issue Whole Life 

Another type of whole life insurance that AAA Life offers is guaranteed issue whole life insurance, which you can apply for online or through an agent. The policy doesn’t require a medical exam and offers benefits between $5,000 and $25,000 if you’re between 45 and 85 years old. 

Note that AAA Life’s guaranteed issue whole life insurance comes with graded death benefits. This means if you die from a non-accidental death within the first two policy years, you won’t receive any death benefits but instead receive 130% of the premiums that were paid. 

Universal Life Insurance 

Universal life insurance is a type of permanent life insurance plan that comes with the flexibility to make policy adjustments as your needs change. AAA Life offers two kinds of universal life insurance options that both accumulate cash value. 

  • LifeTime Universal Life: AAA Life’s LifeTime Universal Life insurance policy offers coverage that range from $100,000 to more than $5 million. You’re eligible at any age between 18 and 85, but a medical exam may be required. According to the company’s website, this policy specifically designed for those who want to accumulate cash value to supplement their retirement income. 
  • Accumulator Universal Life: AAA Life’s Accumulator Universal Life insurance policy also offers coverage that ranges from $100,000 to more than $5 million. You’re eligible at any age between 15 days and 80 years old, though you must answer questions about your health and undergo health screening to apply. The policy builds cash value and allows you to customize your plan with riders such as accidental death, waiver of monthly deductions, and travel accident. 

How Much Does AAA Life Insurance Cost?

Here’s everything you need to know about how much AAA Life’s life insurance costs and the factors that may affect your premium.  

Factors Affecting Premiums 

Though AAA Life’s life insurance rates start at as little as $8 per month, the customized premium you pay will depend on the following factors: 

  • Age
  • Health and medical history
  • Gender
  • Driving record
  • Claim history
  • Lifestyle
  • Whether you smoke or not
  • Policy type
  • Coverage amount
  • Credit standing

AAA Life Insurance Rates 

Below are the monthly premiums for a 20-year, $500,000 traditional term life insurance policy from AAA Life to give you a better idea of what to expect. These are sample monthly rates for a healthy and non-smoking person. 

AAA Non-Member Rates

AAA Member Rates

Remember, though term life insurance is typically more affordable than permanent life insurance since it doesn’t cover you for an entire lifetime, you’ll want to purchase term life insurance when you’re still young and healthy to get the best rates. The longer you wait to purchase term life insurance, the higher your premiums will be. 

Pros and Cons of AAA Life Insurance

Though AAA Life is a well-established company with over 1.7 million active policies, you should still consider the pros and cons before purchasing one if its life insurance policies. 

Pros 

  • Member discounts: If you’re an AAA member, you could save 10% on premiums and potentially qualify for home and auto insurance discounts by combining policies with your life insurance plan. 
  • Straightforward online quotes and application process: You can get an instant quote and buy certain types of life insurance coverage online without having to speak with an agent.
  • High coverage amount: AAA Life insurance allows you to receive up to $500,000 in term life coverage without a medical exam. If you undergo a medical exam, your coverage could go up even higher to $5 million. 

Cons 

  • Relatively expensive compared to other life insurance companies: Based on sample rates for life insurance policies from AAA Life, the company’s prices are not as competitive as those of other life insurance companies.
  • Must go through an AAA agent to get quotes for whole and universal life policies: While AAA Life makes it easy to get quotes for certain policies, you can only get quotes and purchase whole life insurance or universal life insurance policies through an agent, which can be inconvenient. 

How to Purchase and Manage a AAA Life Insurance Policy

Though you can purchase term life insurance and guaranteed issue whole life insurance through AAA Life’s website, you’ll have to contact an AAA Life agent to buy other policies. Once that’s done, let your beneficiaries know what they’ll need to do to file a claim and where to locate the policy. 

Here are the steps your beneficiaries must take to benefit from AAA Life’s life insurance policies: 

  • Notification: If you pass away while your plan is still active, your beneficiaries will need to notify AAA Life Insurance of your death to initiate the claims process. 
  • Claim Form: The beneficiary of your life insurance policy will have to complete and submit the claims form along with the required documents to receive the death benefit. They can also call AAA’s Claims Department at (800) 624-1662 to initiate the process.  
  • Review and Processing: It can take AAA Life Insurance a few weeks to review the claim and request additional information if needed.
  • Payout: If the claim is approved, your beneficiary will receive the death benefit. They can choose whether to receive payment in installments, as a lump sum, or held in an interest-earning savings account.  

AAA Life Insurance Customer Service and Claims Experience

Customer satisfaction ratings for AAA Life vary quite a bit across review platforms. On its Trustpilot page, the company averaged 4.7 stars out of five across over 979 reviews. Reviews on its BBB page are much less favorable, though the sample size is far smaller, receiving an average of 1.12 stars across 43 reviews. Some recurring complaints on these third-party review sites include customers finding it difficult to cancel policies, dealing with unsolicited mail from the company, and facing delays when filing claims. 

Unfortunately, the company has received more complaints than expected for a company of its size, as determined by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) Complaint Index. The NAIC gives companies with more complaints than expected an index above 1.0, and those with fewer complaints than expected an index below 1.0. AAA Life’s complaint index was 1.35 in 2023, indicating a higher-than-expected number of complaints relative to industry norms.

Compare AAA Life Insurance

Though AAA Life offers a variety of policies and coverage options to financially protect your loved ones if you pass away, it may not be for everyone. Consider these alternatives that may be a better fit for you. 

AAA Life Insurance vs. State Farm Life Insurance

State Farm ranked first out of 22 companies in J.D. Power’s 2023 U.S. Life Insurance Study for customer satisfaction, so if you prioritize customer satisfaction when choosing a life insurance provider, State Farm may be a better option for you than AAA Life Insurance.

While State Farm is most known for its auto insurance products, the company offers a decent range of life insurance policies, including term, whole, and universal life. However, all policies at State Farm must be purchased from an agent, which can be pretty inconvenient. 

Read our State Farm Life Insurance review

AAA Life Insurance vs. Lemonade Life Insurance 

Unlike AAA Life, which offers term, whole, and universal life insurance, Lemonade Life Insurance specializes exclusively in term life insurance. However, Lemonade’s term life insurance is much more affordable and is available to anyone between 20 and 75 years old. The coverage amounts start at $100,000 and could go into the millions, and the term lengths range from 10 to 40 years in five-year increments.

If you’re on a tight budget and just need the most basic level of coverage, buying Lemonade’s term life insurance policy may make more financial sense, especially if you’re not eligible for AAA’s membership discounts. 

Read our Lemonade Life Insurance review

AAA Life Insurance vs. Guardian Life Insurance 

Compared to AAA Life, which only offers four optional add-ons, Guardian Life has a broader selection of whole life insurance riders to choose from so you can further customize your coverage. Their riders include waiver of premium, living benefits, guaranteed insurability, accidental death, paid-up additions, index participation, and renewable term. Plus, Guardian Life offers whole life policies up to age 90, whereas AAA Life caps new whole life policies at age 85. 

Like AAA Life, though, you must work with an agent to buy a whole life insurance policy at Guardian Life, which could be a turn-off if you prefer a more streamlined process. 

Read our Guardian Life Insurance review here. 

Is AAA Life Insurance Right For You?

AAA Life Insurance can be a solid choice if you’re an AAA member looking for a comprehensive term life insurance policy. Though their premiums are slightly pricier, they offer membership and multi-policy insurance discounts that can make them more competitively priced. 

However, if you’re not an AAA member, don’t plan on purchasing multiple insurance policies, or want more than $75,000 worth of whole life coverage, you might want to keep shopping.

We recommend getting quotes from at least three different life insurance companies to find the policy that best fits your needs. 

Ideal For

  • AAA members seeking standard life insurance options
  • Those who value a trusted brand with a strong reputation
  • Individuals looking for no-exam life insurance options 
  • Those who plan on combining their AAA life insurance plan with another AAA policy. 

Not Ideal For 

  • Those on a tight budget and seeking the absolute lowest premiums
  • Those who want more than $75,000 worth of whole life coverage
  • People who don’t want to go through an agent to purchase whole or universal life policies

AAA Life Insurance FAQs

No, AAA Life Insurance is available to everyone, though members of AAA do receive some perks such as discounts on premiums.

AAA Life offers term, universal, and whole life insurance, with multiple policies and coverage options available for each.

You can file a claim with AAA Life Insurance by calling their claims department at (800) 624-1662 or by filling out the online submission form on the company website.

Why You Should Trust Us: How We Reviewed AAA Life Insurance

We reviewed AAA Life Insurance based on our full insurance rating methodology. We also used tools such as the NAIC complaint index and JD Power’s annual life insurance survey to offer an objective analysis and review  In addition, we compared AAA Life Insurance with other popular life insurance companies, including those listed in the comparison section. 




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