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
4.0
Rating: 4 stars out of 5
Bankrate Score
Score breakdown
Life
Rating: 4 stars out of 5
4.0
Cost & ratings
Rating: 4 stars out of 5
4.0
Coverage
Rating: 5 stars out of 5
5.0
Support
Rating: 2 stars out of 5
2.0
Bankrate scores are objectively determined by our editorial team. Our scoring formula weighs several factors consumers should consider when choosing financial products and services.
About Bankrate Score
Bankrate's take
Policyholders who prefer to do their life insurance and other financial business with a local advisor rather than digitally may want to consider Ameriprise as their company of choice.
Local agents provide personalized service
Manage policies digitally via app or online portal
Offers a wide range of financial products, including annuities, IRAs and mutual funds
A+ (Superior) financial stability rating from AM Best
Low complaint index score of 0.30 from NAIC
New
What’s new with Ameriprise?
Ameriprise was recognized by J.D. Power for providing an outstanding customer service experience after successfully meeting the standards established by the J.D. Power Certified Customer Service Program. This is the fifth consecutive year that Ameriprise has received J.D. Power certification for its customer service.
Ameriprise life insurance review
Founded in 1894, Ameriprise offers both term and permanent life insurance policies through RiverSource Life Insurance Company. Ameriprise may be a good fit if you like working with local advisors and want to consolidate your financial planning needs in one place. Ameriprise serves all 50 states and Washington, D.C., so no matter where you live, Ameriprise may be an option.
Ameriprise sells its coverage through local agents and financial advisors, so you’ll need to contact an agent in your area to discuss your situation, decide how much life insurance you need and get a quote.
Term: Term life insurance lasts for a set period. Ameriprise offers 10-, 15-, 20- or 30-year terms. Term policies are generally much cheaper than permanent policies, but they do not come with a cash value account. Term policies may be a good choice if you are a young family or need coverage for a certain time, such as while you pay off debt. Remember that term policies typically get more expensive as you age, so for older customers, they may not be the best option.
Permanent: Ameriprise, through its RiverSource brand, offers several permanent life insurance options designed to provide lifelong coverage with added benefits such as cash value growth and flexible premium payments. These policies can be a good choice for those seeking long-term financial security and the potential to borrow from their policy. Here’s a brief overview of the options:
RiverSource indexed universal life insurance: Offers protection against market downturns with index-based interest crediting, income tax-free death benefits and the potential for tax-free income through withdrawals or loans.
RiverSource variable universal life 6 insurance: Provides a tax-free death benefit, over 85 investment subaccounts and options for tax-deferred cash growth. Includes no-lapse guarantees and flexibility with a range of investment options.
RiverSource variable universal life 6 insurance – New York: Similar to the standard Variable Universal Life 6, tailored for New York residents with specific compliance features.
RiverSource survivorship variable universal life insurance: Covers two lives, with the benefit paying out after the second death. It offers tax-deferred cash growth and various investment options.
RiverSource survivorship variable universal life insurance – New York: Tailored for New York residents, offering protection on two lives and various cash growth options.
Each permanent policy includes no-lapse guarantees, which can help keep the policy active as long as minimum premiums are paid and provide the flexibility to access cash value through loans or withdrawals. For more detailed information, it is recommended that you consult with a licensed insurance agent to explore all available options.
If you have medical conditions that could otherwise prevent you from getting a life insurance policy, you might be looking for guaranteed issue life insurance. Ameriprise doesn’t advertise a guaranteed life insurance option, so you may want to talk with a local licensed life insurance agent about your choices.
However, Ameriprise does offer a long-term care rider for those who would like coverage for expenses prior to their passing, such as assisted living or home care services. To learn more about Ameriprise’s life insurance options you could contact a local advisor in your area to help determine your needs.
Pros and cons of Ameriprise life insurance
When you’re looking for the best life insurance company, you may want to consider several aspects of an insurer to decide if it is right for you. If you’re comparing life insurance quotes, remember that rates don’t typically vary as much between companies as they do for auto or home insurance. Shopping around may be less about the cost of life insurance and more about finding policy options and a company that fits your needs.
Pros
Local agents available to help you choose the right product for your needs
Policies can be managed digitally through the Ameriprise app or online portal
Offers numerous other financial products
Cons
No online quotes
Not all life insurance products and offerings are advertised online
No J.D. Power customer satisfaction rating
Ameriprise life insurance riders
Besides its long-term care rider, Ameriprise doesn’t advertise any life insurance riders. This doesn’t necessarily mean that no riders are offered, but you might need to contact a local agent to discuss which options may be available.
Ameriprise customer satisfaction
Browsing Ameriprise reviews can help you get a feel for whether the insurer is proactive in handling policy needs and ensuring a smooth claims process for your beneficiary after your passing. Several third-party ratings might be helpful, including customer satisfaction scores from J.D. Power, financial strength ratings from AM Best and complaint indexes from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC).
Both Ameriprise and its life insurance underwriting partner RiverSource have a financial strength rating of A+ (Superior) from AM Best. This means that the companies are financially stable and have been historically able to pay claims.
If you want to handle your policies with Ameriprise digitally, you may also want to consider the company’s mobile app ratings. Ameriprise’s mobile app received a rating of 3.9 out of 5.0 on Google Play and 3.2 out of 5.0 on the App Store.
Ameriprise insurance customer complaints
When it comes to customer satisfaction, neither Ameriprise nor RiverSource were rated in the 2023 J.D. Power U.S. Individual Life Insurance Study. For individual life insurance, RiverSource has a 2023 NAIC complaint index of 0.20 from the NAIC, which is well below the baseline industry average of 1.00. This means that the NAIC received far fewer complaints about RiverSource than expected for a company of its size, which could indicate a high level of satisfaction.
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 0.12 to 0.24.
End of interactive chart.
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Whole life insurance combines life insurance with an investment component.
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3 variations of permanent insurance: whole life, universal life and variable life include investment component
Term life insurance is precisely what the name implies: an insurance policy that is good for a specific term of time.
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If you’re looking for the best life insurance, you might want to get quotes from more than one carrier. Life insurance rates don’t typically vary as much between companies, which may be important to remember if you're shopping for the cheapest rates. However, most insurance professionals recommend shopping around to see what options are available. If you’re considering Ameriprise, you may also want to think about these insurers:
Ameriprise vs. State Farm
State Farm is the 2024 Bankrate Awards winner for Best Term Life Insurer thanks in part to its excellent customer satisfaction score, near-nationwide availability and high financial strength rating. The company also offers life insurance for children as a rider on your term policy. State Farm might also be a good option if you want to keep all your insurance products, including your auto and home insurance, with one company. However, State Farm doesn’t publish the extensive market research that Ameriprise does, so if you’re interested in staying on top of economic trends, Ameriprise may be a better option.
MassMutual is the 2024 Bankrate Awards winner for Best Whole Life Insurer in part due to its numerous riders, high coverage capacity and superior financial strength score. The company also offers a life insurance calculator, which may be helpful if you’re wondering how much life insurance you need. If you’re interested in a whole life policy, you may want to speak to an insurance agent about MassMutual. MassMutual and Ameriprise both offer a range of financial products, but Ameriprise does offer the benefit of auto and home insurance from CONNECT by American Family.
Nationwide offers plentiful life insurance riders, several accessibility options and a high J.D. Power score for customer satisfaction. Nationwide may be a competitive option if you’re looking to personalize your life insurance policy to your specific needs. Nationwide also offers far more insurance products than Ameriprise. Ameriprise has more calculators and tools than Nationwide, though, which some shoppers may find appealing.
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.
78
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120
carriers reviewed
Is Ameriprise a good insurance company?
Ameriprise might be a good company if you are looking for local financial advisors, helpful online tools and numerous financial products. However, Ameriprise doesn’t underwrite its own life insurance products, which means you may work more with RiverSource than Ameriprise if you choose a life insurance policy. Ameriprise also doesn’t provide any online life insurance quotes, which means you’ll have to work with a local agent to get a quote.
What are real-life customers saying about Ameriprise?
To provide more insight into the Ameriprise customer experience, we searched popular forums like Reddit and Quora. While there were reviews, they tended to focus more on Ameriprise's other financial products rather than life insurance specifically. We kept searching and stumbled upon Yelp, which offered some insight into customer experiences with Ameriprise/RiverSource's life insurance products.
Overall, the reviews on Yelp present a mixed picture. Some customers expressed frustration with policy management and customer service, highlighting issues like policy cancellation and offshore support. On the other hand, others shared positive experiences, especially regarding RiverSource's long-term care policies, praising their efficient claims process and helpful customer service. This range of experiences indicates that while some customers face significant challenges, others find the service reliable and supportive.
Yelp User 1*
Mar 15, 2023
Unhappy with customer service
“Do not do business with this company. I had a term life policy with them for 16 years on my wife. Was late on one payment the whole time cause my back went out. THEY DROPPED HER.. would not reinstate due to false allegations of health issues that were substantiated by an attorney. After these letters were sent they retorted with another letter sighting other false or made-up health issues. The long and short is DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH THIS COMPANY OR AMERIPRISE. WHEN YOU NEED THEM THEY WILL MAKE AN EXCUSE NOT TO PAY OUT!!! Not to mention MOST of their customer service reps are based offshore and there is always a language barrier.”
“I am writing this review due to the large number of very low reviews that I have seen about RiverSource. In August 2023 my step-father went into a memory care facility and the price was unbelievably high. He had a RiverSource long-term care policy...so we immediately started reading online reviews. It wasn't pretty. We were expecting the absolute worst from them based on what people had written. It is now over nine months later and RiverSource has been the exact opposite of what I had read in so many reviews. They answer their phone when I call. They help with anything I don't understand. They give clear explanations of their claim processes. They have paid every single dollar we have expected...never paying late. They didn't try to delay or deny. Quite the opposite in fact. I couldn't be more glad to give them a great rating. RiverSource has been absolutely awesome.”
*The quotes and citations included on this page have been verified by our editorial team and are accurate as of the posting date. Outlinked content may contain views and opinions that do not reflect the views and opinions of Bankrate.
Ameriprise company details
If you need to contact Ameriprise or research the company’s products, here are some ways to do so:
Customer service: 1-800-862-7919
General correspondence: 70100 Ameriprise Financial Center, Minneapolis, MN 55474
Payments: 70200 Ameriprise Financial Center, Minneapolis, MN 55474
Ameriprise products are available in all 50 states as well as Washington, D.C.
Ameriprise tools and benefits
Ameriprise life insurance comes with several perks that may be attractive to potential policyholders. You may want to consider the following benefits.
Auto and home insurance: Ameriprise partners with CONNECT by American Family to offer auto and home insurance. CONNECT might be a good option if you are looking for a company that offers several endorsements and discounts for both auto and home insurance.
Local financial advisors: Ameriprise has a network of local financial advisors who could work with you to establish financial goals and a plan to reach them.
Numerous financial products: If you’re hoping to purchase multiple financial products, Ameriprise may be a great fit. The company offers annuities, banking, investments and more.
Market research center and proprietary research studies: Ameriprise publishes financial research such as guides to life insurance and other financial products on its website.
Financial calculators: The company offers several calculators including a variable annuity calculator, net worth calculator and refinance interest savings calculator. Those looking for life insurance after 50 may also be interested in using the company’s retirement calculator.
Financial online security guarantee: If an unauthorized person removes funds from your Ameriprise accounts, Ameriprise Financial guarantees that it will replace 100 percent of the funds as long as the policyholder meets the requirements to secure their account and personal information as outlined on the company website.
Frequently asked questions about Ameriprise
If you are the beneficiary of an Ameriprise life insurance policy and need to file a claim, the most effective strategy is probably to contact your local financial advisor. You might be able to call 1-800-862-7919, which is the general service number for Ameriprise, but your local agent is likely the best point of contact to walk you through the claim process. You may need to provide proof of the policyholder’s death via a death certificate or other paperwork.
Ameriprise’s 2023 Responsible Business Report has an entire section dedicated to community impact. As Ameriprise is a global company, its community efforts span the globe. Ameriprise supports more than 7,600 nonprofit organizations. In the United States, Ameriprise awarded 234 grants in 2022 alone, focusing on issues such as hunger, homelessness and community support.
One way to evaluate how good a company is about paying out on claims is to look at their rating with AM Best. These ratings indicate how well a company manages its funds, and whether they have a demonstrated history of paying out on claims over the years. Ameriprise has an AM Best rating of "A", or superior, which is indicative of a company that has no difficulty paying out on claims in a timely manner.
Not exactly. In 2020, American Family Insurance purchased Ameriprise Auto & Home, which was one division of the Ameriprise Corporation. AmFam renamed its purchase CONNECT by American Family. They refocused the new company on selling car and auto insurance policies through partnerships with companies such as Costco, which is the primary distributor of policies in the U.S. The Ameriprise Corporation as it stands today still sells home and auto policies, but these are provided by CONNECT and underwritten by American Family.
At Bankrate, we make every effort to rate each company we review. However, assigning a Bankrate Score to every insurer isn't always possible. This is particularly true for companies like Ameriprise, which offers life insurance through RiverSource. The quality of policies can vary based on factors like coverage options, financial strength, and the specific underwriting practices of RiverSource. These variations make it challenging to apply a uniform rating system. For these reasons, Ameriprise does not have a Bankrate Score. We encourage consumers to delve into 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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