Have you ever heard of the American Income Life Insurance Company? I hadn’t until I recently came in contact with a client who just purchased a funeral insurance policy through them. 

She reached out to me to review her coverage and provide her with other quotes. She felt the salesperson was very pushy and she wasn’t sure she could afford the monthly premium moving forward.

Needless to say, we reviewed her AIL insurance policy and were able to find similar coverage with another carrier, Canada Protection Plan. The best part? Her new final expense policy has superior guarantees and cost 40% LESS!

This experience inspired me to find out more about this U.S. carrier operating in Canada. I decided to research and write a review to provide information that may help you decide if American Income Life Canada is the right company for you.

Headquartered in Waco, Texas, American Income Life operates in the U.S., Canada and New Zealand. According to legend, AIL was founded in Minneapolis in 1951 by Bernard Rapoport with $25,000 of borrowed money.

In a relatively short period of time, American Income Life generated $1 million in hospital insurance premiums and expanded operations across the U.S.

By 1961, AIL focused the core of its business on selling life insurance products to labour unions, credit unions and large scale associations. This is where the focus of their business still remains today.

American Income Life does a fantastic job of endearing themselves to these groups and has been doing so for decades.

Some of their strategies for building relationships include:

• Sponsoring union and association events like “family fun days”, etc. 
• Picket line visits and donations
• Waiving policy premiums during lawful strikes
• Scholarship programs for families of union members
• Offering groups no-cost Accidental Death & Dismemberment (AD&D) coverage
• Monetary contributions
• Gift of a free child safety kit

Due to the continued support of union and association members, AIL received an official ‘Union Label’ from the American Federation of Labor in 1973.

American Income Life Canada is owned by Touchmark Corporation. Touchmark is a publicly-traded company which owns a number of small insurance companies that have amalgamated over the years…but are still operate under their original names.

Some of these include Globe Life Insurance, Liberty National and National Income Life in New York. American Income Life operates regionally through agencies that rely heavily on recruiting people to sell their products.

American Income Life has total assets in excess of $4.5 Billion and has more than $65 billion of life insurance in force. As of 2019, they highly-rated by three well known independent rating agencies:

• A.M. Best: A+ (Excellent) 
• Standard & Poor’s: AA- (Good)
• Fitch: A+ (Excellent)

Suffices to say, consumers should feel safe paying their premiums to AIL as they are financially secure and it looks like they will be around for decades to come.

American Income Life has been accredited by the Better Business Bureau since 1952. Based on 299 reviews, their average rating is 2 stars out of 5. 

“Zero stars! I plan to cancel my policy with them [AIL] asap because they continue to HARASS me with phone calls – supposedly to ‘update me about my policy’, but their true intent is to try to get me to buy MORE insurance”

Cheryl M, Better Business Bureau Review

The majority of negative reviews seem to come from consumers complaining agents are too aggressive…

…or from recruited AIL agents who feel like they are exploited.

On Yelp, American Income Life doesn’t’ fair much better. Out of 224 reviews divided between San Diego, Waco and Honolulu, American Income Life averages 1.5 stars out of 5. 

American Income Life is a totally legitimate, financially solid company that sells life insurance products. I can find NO evidence that their coverage is a scam.

Unfortunately they do seem to leave many unhappy consumers and insurance agents in their wake. 

Similar to Primerica, American Income Life Insurance is a multi-level marketing (MLM) company. Their focus is more on recruiting agents than selling insurance policies.

All agents rely 100% on commission which is pretty standard in the insurance business. But it seems that their recruitment process is designed to make prospects think it’s a real job interview with a salary. Unfortunately, they also have to pay a fee upwards of $400 to join AIL.

Independent agents are always paid through commissions – but we don’t try and recruit people to become agents and sell insurance unless we are launching an agency. 

Similar to life insurance brokers everywhere, most American Income Life agents quit within six months and leave having spent more money than they earned. Surprise, surprise.

MLMs all follow a pyramid structure in which the people at the top (known as uplines) make tons of money off the sales commissions of the people they’ve recruited to work underneath them (their downlines). In fact, these businesses rely heavily on recruiting new members, who are mostly women, targeting stay-at-home moms, military wives and others under the guise of financial empowerment.

10 Horror Stories That Prove MLM Companies Are Complete Trash, Huffington Post 

Term insurance is the most popular type of life insurance and offers protection for a temporary period of time. The most common periods are term 10, term 20 and term 30. 

AIL’s term coverage has the following features:

• Guaranteed rates for the length of the term
• Renewable and convertible to permanent insurance within prescribed limits
• Terminal Illness Rider – if the doctor says you only have 12 months left to live, AIL pays out 50% of the death benefit

American Income’s term coverage also underpins their Family Protection insurance suite:

• Education Protection – term insurance to cover kids college bills if you die
• Head Start Program – life insurance for kids age 0-17
• Mortgage Protection Insurance – term insurance to cover your mortgage
• Protect Your Children – Term or whole life for kids over the age of 17
• Monthly Income Protection – term insurance to replace your income

Whole life is a type of permanent life insurance which has a cash value component. That means the investment account inside your policy grows in value over time. 

Whole life by American Income Life is designed to provide coverage until the day you die. Most importantly, the monthly cost is guaranteed to never increase over the life of the policy and the coverage cannot be cancelled due to any change in your age or health.

Permanent life insurance products are more expensive because there is a guaranteed payout. 

AIL’s final expense coverage is a small whole life insurance policy designed to take care of funeral costs when you pass away. The death benefit is paid out directly to your family and they have the freedom to choose the funeral provider and the specific services they want.

American Income Life’s Freedom of Choice Certificate allows your beneficiary to have policy proceeds paid directly to the funeral home. This removes a substantial burden on your family, allowing them to grieve without the stress of making preparations.

AIL accidental death insurance pays out a benefit for accidental death and dismemberment. It also helps with the cost of hospital stays as a result of said accident.

Please note that the odds of you having an accidental death after the age of 30 are infinitesimally small. I would only recommend one of these plans to someone with a hazardous occupation.

Critical illness insurance (CI) is designed to pay a one-time, lump-sum benefit when you develop a serious condition as laid out in your policy. There are no restrictions on how you spend the money whether it be to cover lost income or supplement the health care you’re receiving. 

In reality, it may be difficult to qualify for this benefit based on the insurance companies’ narrow definitions of what constitutes a critical illness. 

AIL’s critical illness plan covers the following situations:

• Heart attack
• Stroke
• Kidney failure
• Major organ transplant of heart, lung, liver, kidney, pancreas, or bone marrow
• Total loss of eyesight and/or hearing

If you’re thinking about buying CI coverage, make sure you read my post here first.

American Income Life’s cancer insurance is a form of critical illness coverage which pays out a one-time, lump-sum benefit when the insured is diagnosed with life-threatening cancer. 

50% of North Americans develop some form of cancer in their lifetime. The majority of them survive but how will their finances fair? AIL’s cancer insurance benefit allows you to focus on getting better rather than on financial stress.

Endorsed by the International Union of Police Associations, American Income’s No-Cost Child Safe Kit is a tool designed with your child’s safety in mind. It helps document your child’s fingerprints, a recent photo, and a simple description to aid authorities.

The best part? American Income Life Insurance provides these kits for free!

It should be noted that these free child safety kits are key to AIL’s marketing strategy. If you’re in a union or association that has any affiliation with American Income Life, you may receive a letter saying that you can sign up for AIL’s no-cost accidental death coverage and child safety kits. 

REQUEST YOUR NO-COST CHILD SAFE KIT TODAY!

This is a tactic that American Income Life uses to come to your home and sell life insurance products. There’s nothing illegal about this practice, many companies do it, but as a consumer you should be aware.

 

“They offered a free child safety kit. I gave them our address. Instead of mailing it, they send a rep out to do a sales pitch for life insurance. And I found out it is multi-level marketing!!! And they didn’t bring any child safety kit, either. False advertising.” Yelp Reviewer

Is AIL the right company for your insurance needs? My guess is we can probably find you a better fit. If you read any of my reviews you will see a common thread – insurance companies are NOT created equally.

Each one has their strengths and weaknesses. 

That’s why these reviews are always a mixed bag. In my humble opinion, there is no such thing as a BAD review unless you are dealing with a fly by night company and I am not going to even waste my time with those. 

So while American Income Life may be a company to consider,  my guess is we can find you better coverage. 

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