Ashlyn Brooks is a finance writer with more than half a decade of experience, known for her knowledge in areas such as taxes, insurance, investing, retirement, finance news, and banking products.
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At a glance
3.4
Rating: 3.4 stars out of 5
Bankrate Score
Score breakdown
Life
Rating: 3.4 stars out of 5
3.4
Cost & ratings
Rating: 3.8 stars out of 5
3.8
Coverage
Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5
3.5
Support
Rating: 2.5 stars out of 5
2.5
Bankrate scores are objectively determined by our editorial team. Our scoring formula weighs several factors consumers should consider when choosing financial products and services.
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Bankrate's take
Aflac offers a mobile app for easy digital policy management, which may make this carrier a standout for select consumers. However, Aflac’s life insurance offerings are somewhat limited compared to other companies.
Offers a mobile app for easy digital policy management
Provides term and whole life insurance options
Known for quick claim payouts and numerous supplemental insurance policies
Higher-than-average complaint index according to NAIC
Policies are underwritten by American Family Life Assurance Company of Columbus
Aflac life insurance review
Since 1955, Aflac has offered a number of supplemental insurance policies, including life insurance, short-term disability insurance, critical illness insurance, dental and vision coverage and many other products. Aflac may be known for the famous duck commercials, but Bankrate’s Aflac life insurance review reveals it also has a strong reputation for quick claim payout and offering numerous supplemental insurance policies. Aflac offers a unique blend of policies available through employers or policies that can be purchased directly for individual or family coverage.
To purchase Aflac life insurance, you will have to work through one of its independent agents since the life insurance quote process cannot be completed online. You may also find Aflac’s website resources limited since many details of the life insurance purchase process and policies are not included. However, Aflac’s mobile app may be able to help you with your policy management and your beneficiaries' claims filing process.
Aflac life insurance offers two types of life insurance policies: term and whole life. We break down Aflac’s life insurance options below:
Term: Term life insurance is a policy that lasts for a specified period of time, or term. Aflac offers term life policies in 10-, 20- and 30-year terms. Aflac also offers group term life insurance policies purchased through your employer. These policies are considered portable, which means you can usually take them with you when you change jobs or retire. Young families or those who only need coverage for a short amount of time may find term life insurance an appealing option.
Permanent: Unlike term life insurance, permanent insurance is designed to last for your entire life as long as the premiums are paid. Older adults may opt for permanent insurance over term, especially because term life insurance is generally not sold over a certain age.
Whole:Aflac offers whole life insurance, which is the most basic kind of permanent life insurance coverage. Along with the death benefit, whole life policies also offer cash value, which you may be able to borrow against if needed. Final expense insurance, a type of whole life coverage, is also offered by Aflac. Aflac also has a juvenile whole life option, which could be a good idea to safeguard your child’s insurability. Buying Aflac’s juvenile coverage means that your child is guaranteed to have the option to keep their policy going, even if they develop serious health complications.
Guaranteed: Aflac offers a guaranteed issue life insurance option for both term and whole life. Coverage ranges from $2,000 to $25,000, but there may be a waiting period after the policy is issued. This means that if the insured passes away during this period, there will be no death benefit paid to the beneficiaries.
Pros and cons of Aflac life insurance
Aflac offers a variety of term and permanent life insurance policies, but it's not the right company for everyone. Here are some key pros and cons of Aflac life insurance as identified by our insurance editorial team:
Pros
Digital tools may facilitate easy policy management
Widely available, although specific options could vary by state
Available through the workplace or directly to individuals
Cons
No online quote system
Limited whole and term life insurance options
High number of complaints with the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC)
Aflac insurance riders
Life insurance riders are add-ons to a life insurance policy that can provide extra coverage. Keep in mind that adding riders will increase the cost of life insurance. You may not have the cheapest life insurance if you add riders to your policy, but the extra coverage could be worth it. Most life insurance companies offer riders, and Aflac insurance is no exception. The riders available to you will vary by state, policy type and eligibility, so be sure to review your options with an Aflac representative. Here are some of Aflac’s available life insurance riders:
Accelerated death benefit: If you are diagnosed with a serious illness, this rider might allow you to access some of your death benefit early.
Accidental death benefit: This rider adds an extra amount to the policy’s death benefit if the insured dies in an accident.
Child rider: A child rider allows you to add your child to your life insurance policy and will pay a death benefit if the child passes away.
Waiver of premium: This rider allows you to waive your premium in certain circumstances, usually if you are critically or terminally ill or physically impaired.
Family income rider: This rider is designed to replace the income of the deceased by making monthly payments to the beneficiaries following a death.
Cost of living rider: This rider is designed to gradually increase your coverage to meet the rate of inflation, but premiums increase over time as well.
Aflac customer satisfaction
Customer satisfaction is an important metric to keep in mind when shopping for life insurance. You want to make sure you find a company that fits all your needs, including the level of service you expect. To analyze a company’s customer satisfaction, we use third-party rating agencies. J.D. Power conducts annual studies geared toward satisfaction, and AM Best rates the financial strength of insurers based on historical financial data. Aflac was not included in J.D. Power's individual or group life insurance study, so you may want to speak with existing policyholders about their experience for more context.
Aflac insurance customer complaints
The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) compiles complaints against insurance companies to assign each carrier a complaint index. Complaint indexes are broken down by product type with a baseline index of 1.00. An index above 1.00 indicates more complaints than expected for the company's market share and vice versa.
Aflac’s life insurance policies are underwritten by American Family Life Assurance Company of Columbus, which has received higher-than-average NAIC complaint indexes for the past three years.
NAIC Complaint Index life insurance product
Line chart with 3 data points.
The chart has 1 X axis displaying Year. Data ranges from 2021-01-01 00:00:00 to 2023-01-01 00:00:00.
The chart has 1 Y axis displaying Score. Data ranges from 1.06 to 3.29.
End of interactive chart.
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This advertising widget is powered by HomeInsurance.com, a licensed insurance producer (NPN: 8781838) and a corporate affiliate of Bankrate. HomeInsurance.com LLC services are only available in states where it is licensed and insurance coverage through HomeInsurance.com may not be available in all states. All insurance products are governed by the terms in the applicable insurance policy, and all related decisions (such as approval for coverage, premiums, commissions and fees) and policy obligations are the sole responsibility of the underwriting insurer. The information on this site does not modify any insurance policy terms in any way.
Before deciding if Aflac is right for you, you may want to compare it to some other top life insurers, such as the ones below:
Aflac vs. State Farm
State Farm won a Bankrate Award for Best Term Life Insurance in 2023 and 2024, so it might be a great option if you are looking for term coverage. The company earned top marks for customer service and has an easy-to-use mobile app. State Farm doesn’t sell as many supplemental products as Aflac, though, although it offers a few.
Guardian has strong customer service and a network of over 3,000 financial representatives across the country. Guardian also offers an array of investment and other financial products along with its life insurance offerings. If you’re looking for cancer insurance, though, Aflac may be the better choice as Guardian doesn’t list this product as one of its offerings.
Mutual of Omaha may be of particular interest to those who want no-medical exam life insurance options and the ability to manage their life insurance policies online. The company also has strong third-party ratings for customer satisfaction and financial strength. They don’t have brick-and-mortar offices in all states, though, which might not appeal to those who want the option of in-person service.
The insurance market can be complicated, but Bankrate's insurance editorial team used our unique perspective to bring readers the information they need to make educated decisions when shopping for a policy.
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Is Aflac a good insurance company?
Aflac might be a good company if you already have or need supplemental health insurance products along with your life insurance. The company also boasts an easy claims filing system and fast payouts. However, Aflac’s life insurance offerings may fall short when compared to its competitors, so you may want to shop around to make sure it’s the best company for you.
What are real-life customers saying about Aflac?
To provide more insight into the Aflac customer experience, we searched Reddit and Trustpilot for customer reviews on Aflac’s life insurance policies. While these were few and far between, there was some decent feedback surrounding Aflac’s other supplemental insurance products.
Customer experiences with Aflac vary widely. On Reddit, some users noted that while Aflac provides supplemental insurance that can be beneficial, many have found the claim process to be cumbersome and often frustrating. Trustpilot reviews echo these sentiments, with numerous complaints about claim denials, poor customer service and long processing times. Some customers reported having policies canceled without proper notification and difficulty reinstating them. However, a few positive reviews highlighted successful claim experiences, particularly when all necessary documentation was meticulously provided. Overall, while some customers find value in Aflac's supplemental policies, many express dissatisfaction with the company's customer service and claims handling.
Alfac company details
Here are a few ways you can get in contact with Aflac:
Mailing address: Aflac Consumer Response and Resolution Department PO Box 5388 Columbus, GA 31906-0388
State availability
Aflac policies are available nationwide, but policies may be underwritten by other companies depending on your state and policy type.
Aflac tools and benefits
In addition to term and permanent life insurance, Aflac’s main insurance products fall under the category of supplemental insurance. Aflac’s plans are intended to cover out-of-pocket expenses that may not be covered by medical insurance, such as copays and deductibles. Plans that Aflac offers include:
Accident: Accident insurance is designed to help cover the costs of accidents that your primary health insurance excludes or denies.
Critical illness: If you are diagnosed with a critical illness, this type of coverage could pay you a sum of money to help with expenses that health insurance won't cover.
Hospital: A hospital insurance plan is a supplemental plan to help cover the costs of a hospital stay that your health insurance denies or excludes.
Short-term disability: If you’re unable to work due to a short-term disability or injury, this policy could help replace the income you’d otherwise miss.
Pet insurance: Aflac also offers pet insurance through Trupanion, which is like a health insurance plan for your animal.
Frequently asked questions about Aflac
You can file a claim with Aflac online or in the mobile app, and the company provides helpful claims checklists for each product. If you have questions or issues, you can contact the agent you worked with to get your coverage or contact Aflac directly.
In keeping with its insurance products, Aflac’s main corporate sustainability efforts target disease and treatment efforts for cancer and sickle cell anemia. Its Aflac Childhood Cancer Campaign has raised more than $176 million since 1995 for childhood cancer research, with a large portion of the funds coming internally from Aflac’s employees and independent agents who elect to donate a portion of their payroll or commission. Aflac also has a campaign called Duckprints, in which the Aflac duck travels the country honoring communities and families impacted by childhood cancer.
Whether Aflac is worth it for you will depend on your coverage needs and preferences. If you're looking for fairly straightforward term or whole life coverage, Aflac may be worth it for your needs. Additionally, if you're looking to purchase supplemental insurance coverage products, Aflac may make it easy to shop for these along with your life coverage. However, if customer service is critical to you, Aflac's minimal third-party satisfaction ratings and poor NAIC Complaint Index may be a concern.
At Bankrate, we strive to review and rate as many insurance companies as possible to provide comprehensive and helpful information to our readers. However, assigning a Bankrate Score to every insurer is not always feasible. Factors such as the diverse underwriting practices of different carriers, especially in the life insurance sector, complicate the application of a uniform rating system. For example, Aflac’s life insurance policies are underwritten by American Family Life Assurance Company of Columbus, and the quality of the policy you receive may vary based on the underwriting company. Therefore, it’s essential for consumers to research the specifics of each policy and insurer to find the best fit for their unique needs and circumstances.
Ashlyn Brooks is a finance writer with more than half a decade of experience, known for her knowledge in areas such as taxes, insurance, investing, retirement, finance news, and banking products.
Bankrate follows a strict editorial policy, so you can trust that we’re putting your interests first. Our award-winning editors and reporters create honest and accurate content to help you make the right financial decisions.
Key Principles
We value your trust. Our mission is to provide readers with accurate and unbiased information, and we have editorial standards in place to ensure that happens. Our editors and reporters thoroughly fact-check editorial content to ensure the information you’re reading is accurate. We maintain a firewall between our advertisers and our editorial team. Our editorial team does not receive direct compensation from our advertisers.
Editorial Independence
Bankrate’s editorial team writes on behalf of YOU — the reader. Our goal is to give you the best advice to help you make smart personal finance decisions. We follow strict guidelines to ensure that our editorial content is not influenced by advertisers. Our editorial team receives no direct compensation from advertisers, and our content is thoroughly fact-checked to ensure accuracy. So, whether you’re reading an article or a review, you can trust that you’re getting credible and dependable information.
How we make money
You have money questions. Bankrate has answers. Our experts have been helping you master your money for over four decades. We continually strive to provide consumers with the expert advice and tools needed to succeed throughout life’s financial journey.
Bankrate follows a strict
editorial policy, so you can trust that our content is honest and accurate. Our award-winning editors and reporters create honest and accurate content to help you make the right financial decisions. The content created by our editorial staff is objective, factual, and not influenced by our advertisers.
We’re transparent about how we are able to bring quality content, competitive rates, and useful tools to you by explaining how we make money.
Bankrate.com is an independent, advertising-supported publisher and comparison service. We are compensated in exchange for placement of sponsored products and services, or by you clicking on certain links posted on our site. Therefore, this compensation may impact how, where and in what order products appear within listing categories, except where prohibited by law for our mortgage, home equity and other home lending products. Other factors, such as our own proprietary website rules and whether a product is offered in your area or at your self-selected credit score range, can also impact how and where products appear on this site. While we strive to provide a wide range of offers, Bankrate does not include information about every financial or credit product or service.
Insurance Disclosure
This content is powered by HomeInsurance.com, a licensed insurance producer (NPN: 8781838) and a corporate affiliate of Bankrate.com. HomeInsurance.com LLC services are only available in states where it is licensed and insurance coverage through HomeInsurance.com may not be available in all states. All insurance products are governed by the terms in the applicable insurance policy, and all related decisions (such as approval for coverage, premiums, commissions and fees) and policy obligations are the sole responsibility of the underwriting insurer. The information on this site does not modify any insurance policy terms in any way.
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