Pros Explained

• Accepts credit card payments: With Combined Insurance, you can pay your premiums for your supplemental insurance policy over the phone with a Visa or Mastercard. Of the 91 insurance companies we researched, roughly a third of them accepted credit card payments.
• Has an A+ financial strength rating: Combined has the second-highest financial strength rating available from independent rating agency, AM Best. It received an A+ (Superior) from the organization, which indicates it has a superior ability to honor its ongoing insurance obligations.

Cons Explained

• Limited information available online: The website doesn’t contain much information about the types or terms and conditions of the life insurance policies offered. 
• High level of customer complaints: Compared to other insurance companies, Combined Insurance customers filed a higher than expected number of complaints over the past three years. 
• Limited number of riders available: The company has a minimal number of riders available, so you might not get the coverage you want.

Complaint Index

Combined Insurance received a higher than expected number of customer complaints in recent years based on its size. Each year, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) calculates a complaint index for each insurance company based on how many complaints it receives. 

Companies that received an expected number of complaints, based on their size, receive a complaint index of 1.00. Ratings below 1.0 signify the company received fewer complaints than expected for its size. However, if the score is more than 1.00, the company received more complaints than expected. 

We looked at data for three years to get a longer-term picture of each company. Averaged over three years, Combined Insurance received a rating of 2.01, higher than many of the top insurance companies we reviewed, and indicative that the company received more complaints than expected.

Third-Party Rating

Combined Insurance has an A+ rating from AM Best, one of the leading independent insurance company rating organizations. This indicates it has a superior ability to pay its ongoing insurance obligations, such as claims.

AM Best looks at its balance sheet strength, how the company is performing, and other factors to determine an insurer’s financial stability and strength.

Policies Available 

Compared to other insurance companies we researched, Combined Insurance offers only whole life insurance to individuals, which does not include any kind of universal life insurance.  

Whole Life Insurance

As the name suggests, whole life insurance covers you for your entire life, as long as you pay your premiums. When you pass away, your beneficiaries receive a death benefit. In addition, you’ll build cash value over the years. This cash value is a savings component that you can access while alive.

Available Riders

You can use riders, or endorsements, to customize your life insurance policy. Combined Insurance has a few riders to help protect you financially if something unexpected happens. 

Child Rider

You can purchase a child rider from Combined Insurance, which offers a small amount of life insurance to your dependent children. This rider is issued for children between 11 days and 22 years. If your child passes away while you have this rider, you’ll receive a death benefit.

Accidental Death Benefit 

If you pass away unexpectedly from an accident, this rider provides an additional death benefit. This money can help your family financially during this traumatic time. Combined Insurance offers this rider for policyholders between the ages of zero and 59. If adding it for a minor, you must also purchase the child rider.

Customer Service

You can reach Combined Insurance’s customer service by phone. You can call 1-800-225-4500 on weekdays from 7:30 a.m.–6 p.m. CST. If you’re in New York and have a policy through Combined Life Insurance Company of New York, you can call 1-800-951-6206 on weekdays from 8:30 a.m.–6 p.m. EST.

Our Methodology: How We Review Life Insurance Carriers

We designed a comprehensive ranking methodology based on consumer priorities and life insurance company fundamentals to rank more than 90 insurers across five general categories: financial stability, customer satisfaction, product and feature variety, the overall buying experience, and cost. In order to do this, we collected over 5,000 data points and scored each company based on 55 metrics. We grouped metrics by category to see how insurers performed in each; we then weighted category scores to determine how companies performed overall.

To learn more, read our full Life Insurance Methodology.