With so many mutual of omaha life insurance options available now, finding the best policy can be a big challenge.
If you are considering Mutual of Omaha, it’s time to find out if this well-known company has the best policy for you.
In this review:
- About
- Financial Strength
- Life Insurance Products
- Life Insurance Riders
- Other Products & Services
- Customer Satisfaction
Is Mutual of Omaha a Good Life Insurance Company?
Mutual of Omaha is a privately-held mutual insurance and financial services company founded in 1909 as the Mutual Benefit Health and Accident Association.
Mutual first focused on offering health and accident insurance coverage in the state of Nebraska, but it quickly expanded.
For example, the company offered life insurance coverage to women as they entered the workplace due to vacancies left behind by the men who were fighting in World War l.
Today, Mutual of Omaha Insurance Company offers a well-diversified line of both group and individual insurance coverage.
Mutual of Omaha consists of several subsidiaries, including:
- United of Omaha Life Insurance Company
- Companion Life Insurance Company
- United World Life Insurance Company
- Omaha Insurance Company
- Mutual of Omaha Investor Services, Inc.
- Omaha Financial Holdings, Inc.
- East Campus Realty, LLC.
Insurance Industry Financial Strength Ratings
Mutual of Omaha has a solid financial standing in the insurance and financial services industry.
Company ratings are as follows:
- A.M. Best Company: A+ (Superior)
- Moody’s Investor Services: A1 (Good)
- Standard & Poor’s: AA- (Very Strong)
Mutual of Omaha has also been known as an accredited company by the Better Business Bureau (BBB) since February 1, 1940.
MofO has a grade of A+ from the BBB, on a scale of A+ to F.
Life Insurance Products
There are multiple policy options available through Mutual of Omaha.
Mutual of Omaha Term Life Insurance
Term life insurance can provide an affordable manner of protection for a set period, or “term.”
Because a term life insurance policy offers only death benefit protection – with no cash value building up – the premiums that are charged can be very affordable.
Term policies through Mutual of Omaha can be bought either online or with the help of a personal insurance agent.
Online Term Insurance
Shoppers between the ages of 30 and 74 can get life insurance quotes online and choose a death benefit amount between $25,000 and $100,000.
Policies can come with 10, 15, 20, or 30-year terms.
With these online term life insurance policies, no medical examination will be required for approval.
There are only a few health-related questions to answer on the policy’s application for coverage.
In most cases, this insurer’s time frame from application to notification of policy approval is just one week.
This is a very convenient way to buy term life insurance, but shoppers should know this convenience comes with a cost.
Pricing for these policies is not competitive compared to medically underwritten coverage which requires a medical exam.
Medical exams also unlock much larger amounts of coverage — well into the millions.
Mutual of Omaha Permanent Life Insurance
With a permanent policy, there is death benefit protection and cash value investment that grows on a tax-deferred basis.
Permanent life insurance coverage will usually remain in force for the remainder of the policyholder’s lifetime.
In many cases, the premium amount is locked in and cannot be increased – regardless of the policyholder’s increasing age or changing health condition.
Mutual of Omaha offers several permanent life insurance options.
Whole Life Policies
Whole life insurance provides long-term death benefit protection and premiums that are guaranteed never to increase.
This type of life insurance also includes a cash value component where the return is set by the insurance company.
Cash will grow at a guaranteed interest rate as it would in a savings account.
Later in life, the cash can be either borrowed or withdrawn from the policy for help with financial needs, such as the payoff of debt or supplementing retirement income.
As with the term life insurance offered by Mutual of Omaha, you could buy whole life insurance coverage from MofO online.
For whole life, an applicant must be between the ages of 45 and 85 (in most states), and the policyholder can choose coverage amounts between $2,000 and $25,000 in most states.
There are no medical exams required for approval, nor any health questions to answer.
This is possible because Mutual of Omaha’s whole life policies feature guaranteed issue underwriting which means almost anyone in the correct age range can get this coverage — even people with chronic illnesses. (Someone with a terminal illness likely won’t get approved for coverage.)
However, this kind of insurance has a low amount of coverage and is best used for final expenses.
You’ll also have a graded benefit plan which equates to a two-year waiting period before your coverage goes fully into effect.
Universal Life
Universal life insurance resembles whole life, although universal life can grow more flexible as time passes.
The policyholder could change the amount of coverage and the premium payments (within certain guidelines), and the policyholder can also have access to the cash value which grows at an interest rate of at least 2%.
Mutual of Omaha offers a regular universal life insurance option which it calls AccumUL, as well as an indexed universal life policy.
Indexed Universal Life
With indexed universal life insurance, cash value growth is based upon an underlying market index such as the S&P 500.
Because of this, the return can be greater than that of a comparable whole life insurance policy. (If, however, the return on the underlying index is negative, there is no risk of market-related loss).
MofO’s indexed universal life policies also include:
- Income Advantage. With this plan, the cash value never actually gets invested, but the insurer will pay a rate mirroring a stock index. This prevents losses.
Children’s Life Insurance
Children’s whole life insurance can be issued on the life of a child.
Because the insured is typically very young, this allows for the locking in of low premium payments that will never increase.
It can also help to guarantee life insurability for the child in later years – regardless of his or her future health condition.
With this plan, the child is allowed to purchase additional future coverage, without the need to provide proof of insurability.
This policy is open to children who are between the ages of 14 days and 17 years old.
Coverage amounts can range between $5,000 up to $50,000. In order to qualify for this policy, there are only a few health questions asked.
Mutual of Omaha Accidental Death Insurance
Mutual of Omaha also offers an accidental death insurance policy. This can help with providing financial support for loved ones if the policyholder dies as the result of a covered accident.
With this policy, the coverage is guaranteed, so an applicant cannot be turned down. This means that there is no medical exam required in order to be approved for this plan.
Accidental death insurance can be a good way to help with supplementing other life insurance coverage. Coverage on this particular plan can be purchased for up to $1 million.
Family coverage is also available.
Mutual of Omaha Life Insurance Riders
Riders help customize life insurance policies. With a Mutual of Omaha policy, in most states, you could choose from life insurance riders including:
- Accelerated Death Benefit: If you were diagnosed with a terminal illness and had less than two years to live, you could access your insurance policy’s death benefit early to pay for medical expenses or other needs.
- Waiver of Premium: If you were out of work because of an illness or injury and couldn’t afford your premiums, this rider would keep your policy active anyway for up to six months.
- Critical Illness: With a diagnosis such as ALS, major organ failure, or life-threatening cancer you could access your death benefit while still alive to help with medical expenses or other needs.
- Children’s Coverage: You could protect your children with a small term policy with this rider.
Be sure to ask your insurance agent or online customer service rep about riders available in your state. Each state regulates insurance companies differently which leads to coverage differences from state to state.
Other Mutual of Omaha Products & Services
Along with offering a wide variety of life insurance plans, Mutual of Omaha offers a vast range of other products to its customers:
- Long-Term Care Insurance
- Medicare Supplement Insurance
- Disability Income Insurance
- Critical Illness Insurance
- Cancer Insurance
- Heart Attack Insurance
- Stroke Insurance
- Dental Insurance
- Retirement Annuities
- Investments
- Banking Services
- Mortgages
Mutual of Omaha Customer Satisfaction
Mutual of Omaha holds up well in independent customer satisfaction studies:
National Association of Insurance Commissioners
The NAIC measures complaints filed against insurers in all 50 states. A company with the median number of complaints scores 1.0 on the NAIC’s index.
A company with more than the median number of complaints has an index above 1.0.
Mutual of Omaha’s most recent score is 0.58 which means it gets a little more than half the median number of complaints.
This is a solid score.
J.D. Power Life Insurance Study
J.D. Power conducts a life insurance study each year to identify the best life insurance companies.
Mutual of Omaha scored 789 out of 1,000 possible points, placing it fifth in the nation — pretty impressive.
Does Mutual of Omaha Pay Dividends?
Many mutual companies such as New York Life and MassMutual pay dividends to whole life insurance policyholders.
Despite its name, Mutual of Omaha does not currently pay dividends on any of its policies.
Is Mutual of Omaha Life Insurance Best for You?
Mutual of Omaha has a legacy name, and many shoppers still remember its “Wild Kingdom” TV program from years ago.
But is this the best life insurance company for you?
It could be if you’re looking for guaranteed issue whole life coverage or a small term policy online.
If you need a large medically underwritten term policy, you’ll need to look elsewhere.
If you have any additional questions regarding life insurance coverage, we can walk you through them.
Our experts can be reached directly by dialing this phone number: 334-380-4188.
