Our Editorial Opinion on Securian Life Insurance
Securian Financial offers a variety of financial products including annuities, accident and illness insurance, and life insurance.
Business Insider compared Securian Life Insurance to the best life insurance companies and found it to be a standout company with no-exam permanent life insurance options and a wide variety of investment options for variable and indexed universal life insurance.
Securian Financial Life Insurance Overview
Securian offers various convertible term, indexed universal, and variable universal life insurance. Its permanent policies offer appealing options for a wide range of applicants, from those looking to invest and take on some risk to those who want to guarantee their death benefit.
Securian Financial notably offers an accelerated underwriting option called Contactless WriteFit for term and permanent policies. This service offers fast underwriting with no medical exams or blood tests required. Applicants interested in this option can still get up to $3 million in death benefits.
Securian Financial Life Insurance Pros and Cons
Securian Financial Life Insurance Pros
- No exam term and universal life insurance options available (up to $3 million)
- Indexed universal life with 2% guaranteed interest rate
- Convertible term life insurance
Securian Financial Life Insurance Cons
- No online quoting available
Securian Financial Life Insurance Plans Available
Securian offers term, whole, universal, indexed universal, and variable universal life insurance.
Securian Financial Term Life
Securian offers two term life insurance policies: Convertible Annual Renewable Term and Advantage Elite Select Term.
Convertible Annual Renewable Term (CART): CART provides policyholders with cheap term life insurance that can be converted to a permanent policy. Policies can be renewable for up to 10 years. CART also offers a second-to-die policy for couples.
Advantage Elite Select: Advantage Elite Select policies start at $250,000 with terms of 10, 15, 20, and 30 years. Applicants who do not want to access a medical exam can still qualify for up to $3 million in coverage if they're age 50 and under and up to $1 million if they're 60 and under. Those who want more than $3 million or who don't fall within the age range must take a medical exam. Age eligibility varies based on term length. For example, applicants up to age 80 are eligible for 10-year policies, but 30-year policies are only available to people 50 and under.
Securian Financial Indexed Universal Life
Indexed universal life insurance is a permanent life insurance policy that offers flexible death benefits and premiums over the policy's lifetime. Policies accumulate cash value, which grows according to an indexed account. Securian offers two individual IULs, one that focuses on growth and one that focuses on protection. It also offers a Survivorship IUL for couples looking to save on life insurance.
Securian Eclipse Accumulator II IUL
The Eclipse Accumulator is Securian's indexed universal life insurance focusing on growth. It is available for applicants between 0 and 80 years old with a $100,000 minimum face value. It offers four indexed account options with a fixed account option that guarantees a minimum of 2% interest, credited annually. The policy also has a 2% guaranteed interest rate, credited at the end of the policy's life. The indexed account options are as follows:
- S&P 500 with 100% participation
- S&P 500 Low Volatility, uncapped
- EURO STOXX 50 with 100% participation
- Rainbow Indexed Account 1 with 100% participation
- Fixed account with 2% minimum interest rate credited annually
Securian Eclipse Protector II IUL
The Eclipse Protector is very similar to the Accumulator, available for applicants from 0 to 80 years old with a $100,000 minimum face value. It offers five indexed account options for policyholders to choose from:
- S&P 500 with 100% participation
- S&P 500 Low Volatility, uncapped
- EURO STOXX 50 with 100% participation
- Rainbow Indexed Account with 100% participation
- S&P PRISM, uncapped
Like the Accumulator, the Protector policy also has a 2% guaranteed interest rate, which is credited at the end of the policy's life.
Securian Financial Variable Universal Life Insurance
Variable life insurance offers the same flexible premiums and death benefits that indexed universal life offers. It also offers cash value growth, though instead of growing based on one indexed account, variable life insurance grows based on individual investments. It's a high-risk, high-reward option that often requires active management by the policyholder.
Securian Financial offers two variable universal life insurance policies: Premier VUL and VUL Defender.
VUL Defender
The VUL Defender starts at $100,000 face value and is available to applicants from 0 to 75 years old. The VUL offers several ways to grow your cash value. You can choose a fixed interest account, three indexed accounts, or divide cash value across 70+ variable sub-accounts. Indexed account options include the following:
- S&P 500 with 100% participation
- S&P 500 with 140% participation
- S&P 500 Low Volatility, uncapped, variable participation
Money allocated to the indexed accounts and fixed-interest account will accrue a minimum interest rate of 2%. The VUL Defender also includes a No-Lapse Guarantee.
Securian Premier VUL
The Premier VUL starts at $100,000 face value and is available to applicants from 0 to 85 years old. Like the Defender, the Premier lets you grow your cash value in multiple ways. You can choose a fixed interest account, five indexed accounts, or 70+ variable sub-accounts.
Securian's Premier VUL offers the following indexed account options:
- S&P 500 with 100% participation
- S&P 500 with 140% participation
- S&P 500 Low Volatility, uncapped, 60% participation
- Optimizer Account 1 with 100% participation
- Optimizer Account 2 with non-guaranteed participation, uncapped
Additional coverage options from Securian Financial
- Hybrid life/long-term care: If you become chronically ill, this rider provides coverage for long-term care expenses. It comes with fixed premiums, additional benefits, a death benefit, and a return of premiums. In short, it helps qualified buyers prepare for the worst with reliable life insurance. Buyers should consult a licensed insurance agent to understand the terms of use before buying.
- Accelerated death benefit or chronic illness rider: If you become chronically ill, you can use your death benefit to pay for long-term care, living expenses, etc. Generally, this rider kicks in when policyholders only have a short time to live.
- SecureCare III: This rider combines long-term care and chronic illness coverage to make the process more straightforward in case of a severe accident or illness. It also comes with a return of premiums and reduced paid-up benefits. The primary appeal is its stated lack of restrictions. The execution, according to customer reviews, can be complicated.
Securian Financial also offers additional insurance options for accident and injury-related events.
Securian Financial Life Insurance Cost
Securian doesn't have an online quoting tool. You must speak to a Securian Financial representative if you're interested in getting a policy estimate.
We received the following quotes from Securian Financial for a 20-year term life policy worth $500,000 taken out by a Preferred-Select applicant.
Age | Sex | Securian Financial Quote (Annual) |
20 | Male | $249.25 |
20 | Female | $212.46 |
30 | Male | $254.75 |
30 | Female | $210 |
40 | Male | $354.30 |
40 | Female | $305 |
50 | Male | $990 |
50 | Female | $705 |
60 | Male | $2,675 |
60 | Female | $1,740 |
How to File a Claim With Securian Financial Life Insurance
You can file a claim with Securian Life Insurance through its benefits service center, phone, fax, or email.
Securian Financial claim's support:
Phone: 1-800-328-9442
Fax: 1-877-494-8401
Mailing Address:
PO Box 64114
St. Paul, MN 55164-0114
Securian Financial Life Insurance Customer Reviews and Ratings
Securian Financial has overwhelmingly negative reviews, receiving an average of 1.06 stars on its Better Business Bureau page and 1.3 stars on Yelp. Reviews spoke poorly of the quality of Securian's customer service and mentioned issues receiving payouts.
Online reviews of life insurance companies are often overwhelmingly negative, as people who leave reviews often only do so because they have something to say, which is usually negative.
The National Association of Insurance Commissioners' complaint index rates a company based on how many complaints it receives against its share of the market. The average NAIC complaint index score is 1.00, meaning if a company scores below 1.00, it has fewer complaints than expected for a company of its size. If the company scores above 1.00, it has more complaints than the industry average. Securian Financial scored 0.16, indicating it has fewer complaints than expected.
Securian Financial has an A+ (Superior) financial stability rating from AM Best, indicating that it is likely to pay out on death benefits.
Securian Financial Life Insurance Alternatives
Securian Financial vs. Lincoln Financial Life Insurance
Like Securian Financial, Lincoln Financial Group Life Insurance offers term, indexed universal, and variable universal life insurance.
Securian Financial offers more investment flexibility than Lincoln Financial, allowing policyholders to choose among four or five indexes, depending on the chosen policy, while Lincoln Financial only offers one or two. Its variable universal investment options are roughly comparable, both offering over 70 options.
Securian Financial's most notable advantage over Lincoln Financial is its no-exam policies. While Lincoln Financial offers $2.5 million in term life and $1.5 million in indexed life insurance without a medical exam, qualified Securian Financial policyholders can get up to $3 million on any of its policies without taking a medical exam.
Ultimately, Securian Financial is the better choice between the two options.
Read our Lincoln Financial life insurance review.
Securian Financial vs. New York Life Insurance
New York Life Insurance is one of the largest insurance providers, offering term, whole, universal, and variable universal life insurance.
New York Life offers relatively limited term options, with terms of 10, 15, or 20 years compared to Securian Financial's 10 to 30-year terms. However, New York Life doesn't offer no-exam term life insurance, while Securian Financial offers up to $3 million without requiring a medical exam.
New York Life's variable universal life insurance offers more investment options than Securian Financial, with over 90 investment options for your cash value compared to Securian Financial's 70. However, once again, Securian Financial offers better policy options for those who do not want to take a medical exam. New York Life offers whole life insurance worth up to $150,000 without taking a medical exam, while Securian Financial offers $3 million.
Between the two providers, New York Life might be better for whole and insurance and variable universal insurance, if you have no issue taking a medical exam. However, for other customers, Securian Financial will be a better option.
Read our New York Life insurance review.
Securian Financial Life Insurance FAQ
Yes, Securian Financial is a legitimate company with an A+ (Superior) financial strength score from AM Best and a low Company Complaint Index score from the NAIC.
Securian Financial life insurance usually pays out your death benefit within two weeks to two months of claim submission. However, reviews indicate some claims may take longer.
Yes, you can borrow from Securian Financial's permanent policies. With permanent life insurance, you can build cash value and borrow against your policy via withdrawals and loans. Securian also offers accelerated death benefit riders to protect you in the event of a severe illness.
Yes, Securian Financial life insurance offers no-exam policies with up to $3 million in death benefits.
Why You Should Trust Us: How We Reviewed Securian Financial Life Insurance
The four primary criteria Business Insider uses to review life insurance providers are affordability, customer service, reliability, and company offerings.
Companies receive five stars for cost when premiums are close to the industry average cost of life insurance. According to our article on the average cost of life insurance, a life insurance policy may run you about $40 to $55 a month. However, cheap life insurance doesn't mean you're getting quality coverage. So, we weigh affordability against the company's offerings, customer service, and other factors.
We used the latest JD Power life insurance study to determine which company offers quality customer service. Approximately 3,000 life insurance customers score insurance companies yearly based on communication, interaction, price, product offerings, and statement satisfaction. Companies ranking above the industry average of 774 points have strong customer service.
We also used AM Best, a renowned credit rating agency, and the NAIC's complaint index to evaluate a company's financial stability and trustworthiness. AM Best tells us a company's financial health, and the NAIC's complaint index scores a company based on the aggregate total of complaints it receives.
Finally, we looked at what each company has to offer, including policy options, riders, and features like medical exam waivers. We also determined which demographic would most benefit from the company based on its products and prices.
Read more about how Business Insider rates life insurance.