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Elizabeth Rivelli is an insurance writer passionate about helping people navigate the complex world of insurance to help them make empowered choices.
Updated September 16, 2022 Fact checked by Fact checked by Michael RosenstonMichael Rosenston is a fact-checker and researcher with expertise in business, finance, and insurance.
Our Take Securian Life Insurance stands out for its financial stability, growth-oriented life insurance products, and generous no-medical-exam coverage options. The company also provides a variety of educational resources, which makes it a good option for first-time life insurance buyers. However, it received a poor score for customer satisfaction from J.D. Power and had more complaints than expected over the last three years in the individual life insurance category.
Securian Life Insurance was established in 1880 and is headquartered in St. Paul, Minnesota. As of 2021, the company has $1.4 trillion in life insurance in force and serves more than 21 million customers across North America. It’s part of the Securian Financial Group of companies, which also includes Minnesota Life Insurance. Securian offers several types of life insurance and is licensed to sell policies in all 50 states and in Washington, D.C.
specifications AM Best Rating NAIC Score (avg.) Years In Business Policy Types Indexed Universal (IUL), Term, Variable Universal (VUL) Accepts Credit Cards Why Trust Us Companies reviewed Features considered Data points analyzedWe identified 45 life insurance companies with strong financial stability and high customer satisfaction ratings and evaluated them based on 70 metrics, collecting over 3,000 data points. This research allowed us to rate and rank the best life insurance companies and provide you with unbiased, comprehensive reviews.
According to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) Complaint Index, Securian has a much higher number of complaints for individual life insurance than expected for a company of its size. On the other hand, the company had fewer complaints than expected across all product categories. Complaints may be filed against an insurer for customer service, pricing, claim payouts, claim processing time, and similar factors.
The NAIC calculates a complaint index, which is a way to understand how many complaints an insurer receives in relation to its size. Insurers with a number of complaints expected for their size have an index of 1.00. Companies with more complaints than expected have an index above 1.00, and companies with fewer complaints than expected have an index below 1.00. A lower complaint index means fewer customer complaints.
To analyze Securian’s complaints, we averaged the company’s annual complaint indexes for life insurance over a three-year period. Its three-year average complaint index came in at 5.54 in the individual life category, meaning it received more than five times the complaints, relating to individual life insurance, than expected for its size. In 2021, the company received a very high number of complaints, which drove its average complaint index up. Conversely, its overall complaint index across all product categories was a very strong 0.49 in 2021, indicating the company's recent issues may be limited to individual life insurance. For comparison, most of the best life insurance companies we reviewed have a complaint index below 1.00.
Securian’s third-party ratings are somewhat of a mixed bag.
The company has excellent financial strength, with an A+ (Superior) rating from AM Best, a credit ratings agency that assigns letter grade scores to companies based on financial strength. Securian’s A+ (Superior) rating is the second-highest rating possible—the best grade is A++ (Superior)—which indicates that it’s able to meet contractual obligations and pay claims.
However, Securian did poorly in J.D. Power’s 2021 U.S. Individual Life Insurance Study, ranking 13th out of 21 providers. Securian received a score of 769 out of 1,000, which is lower than the industry average score of 776. Almost all our “best” life insurance providers scored above average in J.D. Power’s study.
Below are the types of life insurance that are offered and issued by Securian Life Insurance:
Term life insurance provides coverage over a fixed period, usually anywhere from 10 to 30 years. It has level premiums and a guaranteed death benefit that gets paid to your beneficiary if you pass away during the term. Securian offers term life insurance for up to 30 years, and both its policies are convertible. There is an option for a renewable policy as well.
Whole life insurance is a type of permanent coverage that’s designed to last a lifetime. The death benefit and premiums are fixed, and it builds a cash value component that you may be able to borrow from. It’s considered one of the most expensive forms of life insurance, but it also offers the most guarantees.
Universal life insurance is a permanent life insurance policy that builds cash value. With each monthly premium, a portion of the money goes toward the cash value. In addition to standard universal life there is variable and Indexed universal life insurance (IUL) where your cash value can be grown using a stock index. Variable offers greater risk and growth potential. Indexed universal life protects your downside, but also limits your growth. Universal life has flexible premiums and death benefit amounts that can be adjusted.
Life insurance riders are endorsements that provide added protection in specific circumstances. Securian does not offer the widest selection of riders, but some of its offerings include:
A guaranteed insurability rider allows you to purchase more life insurance coverage in the future without taking another medical exam. You can usually increase your death benefit at specified options dates or when you experience a significant life event, such as getting married or having a child.
A waiver of premium rider will temporarily waive your life insurance premiums if you become totally disabled (based on the insurer’s definition). Your life insurance policy remains in force while this rider is in effect.
An accelerated death benefit (ADB) rider is one that lets you access the death benefit, or a portion of it, during life. With a terminal illness ADB, you’re allowed to withdraw money from your policy’s death benefit if you’re diagnosed with a terminal illness that will shorten your lifespan.
A chronic illness rider is another ADB that lets you collect money from your policy’s death benefit if you are diagnosed with a qualifying chronic illness. To use this rider, a medical professional must certify that you cannot perform at least two out of the six activities of daily living (ADLs) or have a severe cognitive impairment.
To reach Securian, you can call the company at (833) 810-8260 during business hours, which are Monday through Thursday from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. CT and 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. CT on Friday. You can also use the online contact form to get in touch with the company. The other option is to reach out directly to your agent.
You can download Securian’s free mobile app to access basic policy management features, pay your premium, check your cash value account balance, update beneficiaries, and more.
We designed a comprehensive ranking methodology based on consumer priorities and life insurance company fundamentals to rank more than 90 insurers across five general categories: financial stability, customer satisfaction, product and feature variety, the overall buying experience, and cost.
In order to do this, we collected over 5,000 data points and scored each company based on 55 metrics. We grouped metrics by category to see how insurers performed in each; we then weighted category scores to determine how companies performed overall.
