American General Life Insurance Company Review – 2024 Updates

Everything you want to know about American General is here.

Is American General Life Insurance Good?

American General was part of AIG Life and Retirement, recently rebranded as Corebridge Financial in 2022.

Corebridge and Corebridge Financial are marketing names used by American General and U.S. Life.

The life insurance policies are still being issued by American General Life Insurance Company and The United States Life Insurance Company in New York.

They have been providing life insurance protection since 1850.

American General is one of the many life insurance companies we offer at RiskQuoter.

Financial Strength

• AM Best – “A”
• S&P – “A+”
• Moody’s – “A2”
• Fitch Ratings – “A+” (03/2022)

Ratings as of 07/16/2021 are subject to change.

AIG companies have been there to pay claims with $52 billion in revenue and nearly $596 billion in assets as of December 2021.

They have paid more than $47 billion in claims over the past five years alone.

AIG-American General has a good track record of being there when families need them.

As a comparison, New York Life Insurance Company has $700 billion in assets under management.

Is it Easy to Get a Policy from American General?

American General makes applying for a term or universal life insurance easy using their AG Quick Ticket.

It’s an e-application process where you provide us with some basic information.

We submit everything to the home office, and underwriting will call you to complete a phone interview.

American General will schedule a paramedical exam if it is required.

Upon approval, your policy will be e-delivered for review and acceptance.

American General term life insurance policies often rank in the top 3 for best-priced policies to meet your needs.

AIG recently introduced Agile Underwriting (AU+) for permanent life insurance products.

With Agile Underwriting, insureds aged 50 and younger can receive up to $1,000,000 in coverage with no paramedical exam required.

How Does American General Underwriting Work?

American General has a set of underwriting guidelines that are used to determine what rate class they will offer you.

Underwriting Rate Classes Available:

• Preferred Plus
• Preferred Non-Tobacco
• Standard Plus Non-Tobacco
• Special Non-Tobacco
• Preferred Tobacco
• Standard Tobacco
• Special Tobacco

Underwriting Credit Programs

Crediting programs offer the possibility of receiving a better underwriting rate class than you might typically receive.

The benefit to you, of course, is a better price for your life insurance.

Underwriting credit programs include:

• Flex Credits Program – Introduced on 05/2019
• Lab Smart Scoring
• Healthy Credits – replaced by Flex Credits Program
• Preferred Offsets – replaced by Flex Credits Program

Flex Credits Program – This was recently introduced to replace the Health Credits and Preferred Offsets programs.

With the Flex Credits Program, you may receive one Preferred Class upgrade or one Substandard Class improvement if you meet 4 of the following factors.

Special conditions may apply. Certain Flex Credits vary by age, and credits may not be available for tests performed on younger individuals. All credits have additional requirements and time frame criteria before the insured can use them to improve a rating.

Lab Smart Scoring looks at lab results from a mortality standpoint vs. looking at the results to see if they are within the normal range.  

The result is that a Smart Score is developed based on all of your lab results, and the Smart Score may help you improve your underwriting offer.

Important to note is that these credits are automatically applied to your underwriting decision.

American General High-Risk Expertise

American General is one of the few companies that base their substandard high-risk life insurance rates on a “special non-tobacco” rate.

This is a huge advantage as most companies use a more expensive “standard” rate for pricing.

High-Risk Life Insurance Expertise in these areas:

• Build
• Asthma
• Heart Disease
• Sleep Apnea
• Diabetes
• Anxiety, depression, and mood disorders
• Ulcerative colitis
• Seizure Disorders
• Thyroid Cancer
• Melanoma In-Situ
• Truvada Medication

For high-risk life insurance cases, we shop out to multiple companies to ensure you receive the best quotes possible.

There are a number of medical conditions that American General will not insure, including:

• Abdominal aortic aneurysms that were repaired within the past six months.
• Alcohol treatment within the past two years.
• Alzheimer’s disease
• Cirrhosis
• COPD/Emphysema
• Kidney Dialysis
• Myelodysplastic Syndrome
• Medical testing advised but not completed.

Remember that just because one company won’t insure your medical condition does not mean that all companies consider you uninsurable.

Types of Policies Available

You have several life insurance choices available with American General.

Term life insurance, universal life insurance, index universal life insurance, accidental death insurance, and whole life insurance are available.

AG Select-A-Term

Term life insurance offered by American General includes their most popular policy, the “AG Select-A-Term” product line.  

The Select-A-Term offers many features that other companies do not, including:

• Minimum Face Amount – $100,000
• Issue Ages – 20-80 years old (varies by term length)
• Choice of Term Lengths
  • 10-year term
  • 15-year term
  • 20-year term life insurance
  • 25-year term
  • 30-year term life insurance
  • 35-year term
  • In addition, AIG offers terms in one-year increments – ex 16,17,18, 19 – 30 years.
• Great Conversion Options – Including conversion credits
• Accidental Death Benefit
• Child Rider
• Terminal Illness Rider
• Waiver of Premium Rider
• High-Risk Underwriting through Table “H”

Guaranteed Acceptance Whole Life Insurance

AIG – American General Life Insurance Company offers a Guaranteed Acceptance Whole Life Insurance (GIWL) policy.

This type of whole life insurance policy has no medical underwriting.

• Face Amounts from $5,000 – $25,000
• Issue Ages 50 – 80
• There are no health questions
• No medical exam required
• Required premium payments stop at or before age 90.
• You can not be turned down for health reasons
• One Page Application
• Graded death benefit:
  • Years 1 & 2 = 110% of premiums paid.
  • Year 3+ is full face amount less any outstanding policy loans.
  • Accidental Death – Full Face Amount
  • In the Event of Suicide – Full Premiums Refunded
• Premiums are level and are guaranteed not to increase during the policy’s life.
• Replacements of existing insurance are not allowed.
• Chronic Illness Acceleration Benefit – Not available in all states
• Terminal Illness Benefit – Not available in all states

Secure Lifetime GUL 3

Guaranteed universal life insurance is available with the Secure Lifetime GUL3.

The death benefit can be guaranteed regardless of the policy’s cash values, assuming you have paid the required premiums.

• Minimum Face Amount – $100,000 ($50,000 for ages 50-80)
• Issue Ages – 18-80
• Policy Loans against the cash value
• Cash value withdrawals may be available after the 5th year.
• Accidental Death Rider
• Child Insurance Benefit Rider
• Enhanced Surrender Value Rider
• Accelerated Access Solution Rider
• Lifestyle Income Solution Rider
• Terminal Illness Rider
• Waiver of Monthly Deduction Rider

Max Accumulator+ II Index Universal Life

Index universal life insurance protection allows the tax-deferred accumulation of cash values.

Cash values may be used for supplemental retirement planning, college funding, or cash emergencies in future years.

• Minimum Face Amount – $50,000
• Issue Ages – 18-80
• Choice of Level or Increasing death benefit
• Policy Loans against the cash value
• Cash value withdrawals after year one may be available
• Accidental Death Benefit Rider
• Children’s Insurance Benefit Rider
• Terminal Illness Accelerated Benefit Rider
• Waiver of Monthly Deduction Rider
• Waiver of Specified Premium Rider
• Overloan Protection Rider
• Income for Life Rider
• Select Income Rider
• Early Cash Value Rider
• Dollar Cost Averaging Rider
• Accelerated Access Solution Chronic

The Max Accumulator+ II index universal life policies have full illustrations for each product.

The illustrations are essential as they offer insight into how your premiums provide guaranteed and non-guaranteed features important to each type of policy.

Value+ Protector II Index Universal Life Insurance

Value+ Protector II index universal life insurance protection offers value-priced life insurance with volatility control and cash value access.

Highlights include:

• Minimum Face Amount – $50,000
• Issue Ages – 18-80
• Choice of Level or Increasing death benefit
• Standard and Preferred policy loans
• Accidental Death Benefit Rider
• Children’s Insurance Benefit Rider
• Select Income Rider
• Dollar Cost Averaging Rider
• Overloan Protection Rider
• Terminal Illness Accelerated Benefit Rider
• Waiver of Monthly Deduction Rider
• Accelerated Access Solution Rider
• Protected Premium Rider

You have many choices with AIG, and we’ll help you determine what type of life insurance and how much life insurance you need.

Request your free, no pressure, no obligation quote today.

Does American General Provide Good Customer Service?

American General has good customer service and is available via phone or their online portal.

You may reach American General at 800-888-2452 with questions about your policy.

You may also access policy information online.

American General login – Client Access (a new window will open)

Address: 2727-A Allen Parkway – Houston, Texas 77019

Conclusion

American General Life Insurance Company is an excellent carrier for your life insurance.

Please submit your quote request today.

We’ll provide you with quotes from American General and competitors so you may see which company is best for you. Thank you.

Policies are issued by American General Life Insurance Company (AGL) except in New York, where they are issued by The United States Life Insurance Company in the City of New York (US Life).

Issuing companies AGL and US Life are responsible for the financial obligations of insurance products and are members of American International Group, Inc. (AIG).

Products may not be available in all states, and product features, including rates, may vary by state. Guarantees are backed by the claims-paying ability of the issuing insurance company.