UPDATED: Sep 23, 2020
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American Fidelity offers a variety of health and extended benefit coverages as well as financial products. Although some products are marketed to individuals, American Fidelity typically sells its policies through employers; policies and coverage can be purchased through an AFA plan administrator once an employer has partnered with the company.
Insurance Products
Life Insurance
AFA offers several different life insurance plans for both adults and children. Term policies are sold in increments of 10, 20 and 30 years, with rates being based on the length of the term and the policyholder’s age and health. Permanent whole life insurance, which includes an investment component, provides a guaranteed death benefit up to age 100.
Anyone considering purchasing life insurance should read our post about why term life is better than whole life.
Health Insurance
American Fidelity does not sell any major medical insurance. It does, however, provide a variety of supplemental benefits coverages that can augment a major medical policy. For example, the company sells cancer, accident, and critical illness insurance, which help to cover the costs associated with these serious conditions. Disability income insurance is also available for customers who lose the ability to work due to a serious accident or injury.
In addition to these benefits, AFA also offers flex spending accounts, health savings accounts, and health reimbursement accounts. These act as supplements to major medical insurance. In the case of flex spending and health savings accounts, customers can set aside pre-tax dollars to pay for medical expenses.
A health reimbursement account, meanwhile, allows employers to reimburse employees for their medical expenses, including major medical premiums, while enjoying tax benefits. A reimbursement account can be used in addition to or in lieu of employee-sponsored health insurance.
Additional Products
Aside from insurance products, AFA also offers financial products for retirement. These include Roth IRAs and several types of annuities. A Roth IRA allows individuals to put money aside after tax to grow for retirement, when it can be disbursed tax-free. An annuity, meanwhile, provides guaranteed income throughout a customer’s retirement in exchange for regular tax-deferred investments.
Although AFA sells its policies through employers, individuals are able to keep the policy after leaving a job. All AFA policies are similarly portable.
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American Fidelity Assurance Price (Rates)
Our premium rate tests are currently done using auto insurance, which American Fidelity does not sell. Therefore, premium price will not be used in determining the overall score for this review.
Claims
American Fidelity has a variety of forms on its website for customer use depending on the type of claim being filed. After choosing the product, state and industry, you will be directed to the appropriate claims form. The form can then be downloaded, filled out and mailed or faxed to the company.
Alternatively, customers can file claims and contact their representatives by phone. Each industry serviced by AFA has a separate customer service line, so it’s important to check the website to confirm which number to call. Customers can also direct inquiries through their employer to be placed in contact with the plan administrator.
Consumer Research and Complaints
American Fidelity Assurance has been accredited with the Better Business Bureau since 1975. It has an “A+” rating on the site. The BBB site lists 24 complaints against the company in the last three years, nine of which have been closed in the last 12 months. Of these, most have been issues with the product or service and billing issues.
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Financial Strength
| Rating Company | Grade | Financial Outlook |
|---|---|---|
| AM Best | A+ | Stable |
| Fitch | N/A | N/A |
| S&P | N/A | N/A |
Bottom Line
Is American Fidelity a good company? American Fidelity Assurance offers a number of different life and health insurance related products, though they do not sell major medical insurance directly. Their products can be great companions to most medical coverage plans, and many of them are portable if established through an employer. Their Better Business Bureau rating is above average, and according to AM Best their financial strength is strong.
For a list of companies that we recommend, visit our Best Insurance Companies page.
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Review Information
About Eric Stauffer
I am a former insurance agent and banker turned consumer advocate. My priority is to help educate individuals and families about the different types of insurance they need, and assist them in finding the best place to get it.
I have had three life insurance policies on my son for a number of years.
On February 2, 2020, 3 requests were sent in for cash surrenders.
One check was received for policy ending 1003 on April 22.
I have made several phone calls checking on when the checks would be received since we are now into over 3 months.
The customer service people I have talked to have been very cordial and sympathetic and assure me they will move this along.
Nothing happens, and it is very frustrating. I don’t understand if one request was processed why not the other two policies ending in 1001 and 1002.
it has taken AF 120 days of delay after delay and excuse after excuse to finaly issue a check.
I have seen three different policies and each benefits personnal tells me a different interpatation of policy.
Have a hard time with getting a certified copy of disability policy from a business rep or main AF’s office personnel.
This disability insurance from AF is what the school district provided for the replacement of State Disability Insurance.
This is a disservice to the employees of California Schools.
They want you to be able to survive on $1000.00 a month. with this income, I have to purchase health insurance, mortgage, taxes, automotive and house insurance, car payment, food, utilities, and other expenses.
What a joke our elected representatives are enforcing upon us.
Not just at Federal and State levels, this crap can be felt all the way down to the local school board.
I feel that if the appeal process is completed in house by AF that any chance of getting the funds intended by the school board will be impossible.
It like a slow death to see your life slip through your fingers because you know the outcome is not pretty.
Life as seen through my eyes; middle class earning, to a poor person struggling, to life on the street. The American dream
.
I read the reviews, I feel the same as some of these customers.
I still do not understand why my disability coverage decreased after I begin my social security.
Why did I pay the money for coverage?
Hi Pam,
I would love to have one of our team members reach out to discuss your disability policy with you.
Will you email your contact information to afa-julie@americanfidelity.com so that I can assist?
Thanks,
Julie
I have had two policies with them for forty years, life policies to be used for funeral expenses.
They have become harder and harder to contact – a RED FLAG and I’m helpless to collect my funds.
I sent them this comment today:
My payment may be a day or two late because I did not receive the original bill…
it did not come to my post office either, they send me a copy of my daily mail.
This site won’t allow me to set up an account.
Because you are to difficult to reach and do not return my calls, I assume that your company is in trouble.
I will have my bank set up auto pay to you each year if you are still in business.
Read my mind.
Hi Carole, I’m sorry to hear you have had trouble getting in contact with us.
I’d like to get you connected to the Life Insurance team to ensure you have what you need.
Will you email me at afa-julie@americanfidelity.com so that I can assist?
-Julie
Any experiences in life insurance ?? Has anybody had any difficulty claiming the money after 10-20 years ??
Same here, but they must keep scamming enough people to make a good living. My injury is legitimate and they now have me looking for dr orders and paper work that they claim does not exist. Don’t waste your time with them. They have now taken me for 20+ years. $86 a month for ….. I really don’t want to think about that! ?
My husband and I each took out long-term care policies with AF in 2002. We recently discovered that a significant change had been made to our policies without our permission. We recommend that policy owners carefully review their initial policies to what the company currently has on file for them. Trying to rectify this situation has been time-consuming and frustrating and we are still awaiting evidence that the company will honor its proposals. Good luck.
Does anyone have life insurance through them? If so are they good with that?
They are VERY GOOD AT NOT PAYING claims . They stalled and stalled payment for my Mom’s assisted living insurance until she passed away.
This company sucks. You pay money up front for a health savings account, then they freeze your card everytime you use it. Try another insurance company
Totally agree. This has been so frustrating. It feels like a total scam. They lock up YOUR money and make it difficult to use the card so you won’t use it all. I will never again use this company!!!!!!!!!
I have had the same terrible experience. The company inactivates my benefits card constantly even though I am uploading the receipts they ask for. When I call they just say they are sorry and don’t know why the receipts were not seen and the card turned off. But it keeps happening. I feel like it’s a scam and I’m going to report them to the Better Business Bureau! Avoid using American Fidelity at all cost!
Same issues here. I’ve lost so much money. We will be canceling after this year.
I have their disability insurance in California for school employees. We are only paid for days of required attendance, so it does not include holidays or weekends. When I received back pay from my retirement, which pays 365 days a year, they figured the offset using the gross amount and calculated it by using the number of days they paid me for. This left me owing them more then I actually received in retirement back pay. I appealed it and since they handle the appeals in house, of course they denied it. If you do not send them the back pay they just stop paying you until it is worked off, so there is nothing you can do about it. How can I owe them more then I received when my retirement back pay covered 188 days they did not pay me for!?!
I’ve been waiting 9 weeks on my disability claim they said it would take 5-7 days this is very unacceptable today is 4-3-2015 last time they posted anything on my account was 3-11-2015
I’ve been also waiting for my disability check I have not received anything and I started my disability claim March 3 and we are in May they are giving me the runaround
I feel like I am never going to get paid for a truly legitimate disability claim, they have sent me over 9 letters implying that I had a preexisting condition and was secretly seeing an outside doctor and I need to give them the information they need in order to speed up the process. Nothing like adding insult to injury.