Top 50 Life Insurance Companies Ranked by the Number of Complaints Against Them (California)
Life insurance can help protect the future financial welfare for beneficiaries who lose a loved one, but only if the insurer honors its policy.
Many of us don’t like to think about life insurance because it means we have to think about loss; however, life insurance is an important product for parents and spouses to consider purchasing in order to ensure that after their passing, their loved ones will be protected against sudden financial hardship.
Life insurance policies differ, but generally provide the most coverage in the event of an accidental, unplanned loss of life. Benefits may be less for loss of life due to an illness, or may not be in effect at all if a person takes his or her own life.
Like all insurance policies, life insurance policies have a lot of fine print that can make it hard for consumers to know exactly what coverage they have and how it will pay out benefits should a claim be filed, and the mere process of choosing an insurance company form which to purchase life insurance can be daunting. Some insurance companies have great branding and are easily recognizeable by their logos, slogans, and television ads, but a healthy advertising budget should not be mistaken for a good reputation.
Although we cannot advise you on a life insurance product to purchase, if your plan has refused to pay out benefits you are owed, contact our law firm today to learn more about how we may be able to collect on benefits you are entitled to.
The California Insurance Commissioner files annual reports about complaints lodged against life insurance companies. The most recent report was published in 2013 and appears below:
50 Large Individual Life Insurers Licensed to Conduct Business in California
Ratio for Complaint Years 2013, 2012 and 2011
Complaint Ratio is based on the number of Justified Complaints to 100,000 mean policies in force.Policies In-Force. *Denotes companies that acquired another insurance company (“mergers”) with the respective complaint data displayed in calendar year 2012.
| 2013 Rank | Company Name | 2013 Mean Policies In-Force |
Justified Complaint Ratio | Number of Justified Complaints | ||||
| 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | |||
| 1 | NORTHWESTERN MUTUAL LIFE INS CO | 300,423 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 2 | GERBER LIFE INS CO | 241,039 | 0.0 | 1.3 | 0.0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 3 | RELIASTAR LIFE INS CO | 129,291 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.7 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 4 | PRUCO LIFE INS CO | 127,465 | 0.0 | 3.3 | 0.8 | 0 | 4 | 1 |
| 5 | NEW YORK LIFE INS & ANN CORP | 78,435 | 0.0 | 1.3 | 0.0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 6 | METLIFE INVESTORS USA INS CO | 67,487 | 0.0 | 1.7 | 2.1 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 7 | COLONIAL LIFE & ACCIDENT INS CO | 67,398 | 0.0 | 7.6 | 0.0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| 8 | PROVIDENT LIFE & ACCIDENT INS CO | 61,530 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 9 | AMERICAN FIDELITY ASSUR CO | 54,398 | 0.0 | 1.9 | 0.0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 10 | PRINCIPAL LIFE INS CO | 48,797 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 11 | RIVERSOURCE LIFE INS CO | 44,798 | 0.0 | 2.2 | 2.2 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 12 | PRIMERICA LIFE INS CO | 310,210 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.7 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 13 | GENWORTH LIFE & ANN INS CO | 176,846 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 14 | NEW YORK LIFE INS CO | 524,892 | 0.6 | 1.4 | 0.6 | 3 | 7 | 3 |
| 15 | JOHN HANCOCK LIFE INS CO USA | 154,848 | 0.6 | 1.2 | 1.1 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| 16 | FARMERS NEW WORLD LIFE INS CO | 411,813 | 0.7 | 1.7 | 1.0 | 3 | 7 | 4 |
| 17 | USAA LIFE INS CO | 115,190 | 0.9 | 0.0 | 0.9 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 18 | TRANSAMERICA LIFE INS CO | 212,337 | 0.9 | 2.3 | 1.8 | 2 | 5 | 4 |
| 19 | STATE FARM LIFE INS CO | 593,674 | 1.0 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 6 | 1 | 2 |
| 20 | METROPOLITAN LIFE INS CO | 283,227 | 1.1 | 2.3 | 1.2 | 3 | 7 | 4 |
| 21 | BANNER LIFE INS CO | 90,765 | 1.1 | 3.7 | 2.7 | 1 | 3 | 2 |
| 22 | PROTECTIVE LIFE INS CO | 144,034 | 1.4 | 0.7 | 0.0 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| 23 | AAA LIFE INS CO | 142,529 | 1.4 | 1.5 | 0.8 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| 24 | MASSACHUSETTS MUT LIFE INS CO | 115,330 | 1.7 | 0.9 | 0.0 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| 25 | HARTFORD LIFE & ANN INS CO | 56,850 | 1.8 | 5.0 | 8.2 | 1 | 3 | 5 |
| 26 | IA AMER LIFE INS CO | 55,960 | 1.8 | 0.0 | 3.1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 27 | WEST COAST LIFE INS CO | 96,481 | 2.1 | 1.0 | 0.9 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| 28 | AMERICAN NATL INS CO | 183,222 | 2.2 | 0.5 | 1.6 | 4 | 1 | 3 |
| 29 | AMERICAN FAMILY LIFE ASSUR CO OF COL | 44,914 | 2.2 | 0.0 | 7.5 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| 30 | PRUDENTIAL INS CO OF AMER | 340,007 | 2.6 | 1.1 | 0.8 | 9 | 4 | 3 |
| 31 | LINCOLN BENEFIT LIFE CO | 147,607 | 2.7 | 2.8 | 4.4 | 4 | 4 | 6 |
| 32 | LINCOLN HERITAGE LIFE INS CO | 108,136 | 2.8 | 3.1 | 2.3 | 3 | 3 | 2 |
| 33 | WESTERN RESERVE LIFE ASSUR CO OF OH | 161,842 | 3.1 | 1.3 | 2.0 | 5 | 2 | 3 |
| 34 | MIDLAND NATL LIFE INS CO | 62,330 | 3.2 | 3.2 | 0.0 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| 35 | PACIFIC LIFE INS CO | 55,239 | 3.6 | 1.8 | 10.9 | 2 | 1 | 6 |
| 36 | UNITED OF OMAHA LIFE INS CO | 135,492 | 3.7 | 1.5 | 3.0 | 5 | 2 | 4 |
| 37 | AMERICAN GEN LIFE INS CO * | 470,747 | 4.0 | 2.7 | 3.4 | 19 | 13 | 11 |
| 38 | HARTFORD LIFE INS CO | 40,443 | 4.9 | 4.8 | 2.4 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| 39 | AMERICAN INCOME LIFE INS CO | 172,925 | 5.2 | 4.8 | 3.2 | 9 | 8 | 5 |
| 40 | UNITED INS CO OF AMER | 137,699 | 5.8 | 2.1 | 2.1 | 8 | 3 | 3 |
| 41 | GLOBE LIFE & ACCIDENT INS CO | 172,089 | 5.8 | 2.2 | 2.6 | 10 | 4 | 5 |
| 42 | JACKSON NATL LIFE INS CO * | 136,748 | 5.9 | 1.4 | 9.2 | 8 | 2 | 5 |
| 43 | ALLSTATE LIFE INS CO | 90,030 | 6.7 | 4.1 | 6.7 | 6 | 4 | 7 |
| 44 | CONSECO LIFE INS CO | 59,263 | 6.7 | 12.4 | 10.1 | 4 | 8 | 7 |
| 45 | LINCOLN NATL LIFE INS CO | 112,417 | 7.1 | 3.6 | 3.8 | 8 | 4 | 4 |
| 46 | AXA EQUITABLE LIFE INS CO | 94,841 | 7.4 | 1.0 | 2.0 | 7 | 1 | 2 |
| 47 | LIFE INS CO OF THE SOUTHWEST | 56,594 | 8.8 | 4.2 | 12.2 | 5 | 2 | 5 |
| 48 | FIDELITY & GUAR LIFE INS CO | 74,417 | 10.8 | 7.9 | 2.5 | 8 | 6 | 2 |
| 49 | ATHENE ANN & LIFE CO | 63,656 | 12.6 | 10.9 | 6.2 | 8 | 7 | 4 |
| 50 | MONUMENTAL LIFE INS CO | 49,885 | 16.0 | 8.1 | 4.0 | 8 | 4 | 2 |
Source: Life Complaint Composite Report, California Department of Insurance.