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About OneAmerica
OneAmerica was founded in 1877 by the Knights of Pythias, and renamed American Central Life Insurance Company in 1899. The Indianapolis-based insurance company became American United Life Insurance Company in 1957.
In the 1970s, the company began plans for a new tower to be built in Indianapolis, in which they moved into in 1982. The OneAmerica tower remains a landmark in the city and one of the tallest buildings in the nation.
In 2000 the company reorganized into a mutual holding company and created both American United Mutual Insurance Holding Company and OneAmerica Financial Partners Inc. Through acquisitions and mergers the company has continued to grow and remain a strong force in the life insurance and retirement planning industry.
Products are sold through financial planning professionals and agents across the nation.
OneAmerica Products
OneAmerica offers life insurance, long-term care, annuities, disability, and other retirement and workplace benefits products. Some products are only available through employers, while others are offered only to individuals.
Life Insurance
Whole life insurance, term life insurance, and universal life insurance products are all offered to individuals. The website does not offer much in the way of details on these products, rather giving basic overviews of the products and inviting visitors to contact an agent for more information.
Issue age for term life is between 18 and 80, with term lengths up to 30 years available. Term policies can be renewed or converted. Both whole and universal life policies offer lifetime coverage, with cash accumulation accounts and several rider options.
The website indicates that policy availability, as well as riders offered, will differ from state to state.
Both group life insurance and business life policies are issued to businesses, but little detail is offered on these products.
Annuities
OneAmerica offers fixed annuities to individuals to provide tax-deferred, stable retirement income. The company does not offer variable annuities and does not give much detail regarding these investments.
Long-Term Care
OneAmerica doesn’t write separate long-term care policies but instead offers life insurance with long-term care as an added benefit. They also suggest annuities as a long-term care options.
Disability Income
This is offered only as an employer-sponsored benefit. Details are not offered on the product itself or what kind of coverage it provides. The website offers mainly the benefits to employers of providing this product to their employees.
Other Products
There is a range of other employer and workplace benefits that are offered, with many as packages. OneAmerica also offers retirement services and assistance to employers as part of a benefits package to assist employees with preparing for retirement.
OneAmerica Rates
OneAmerica does not offer an online quoting option and directs customers to speak to an agent for quotes and policy information. As a highly agent-driven company, it is not surprising that online quoting is not available, although in today’s market it has come to be expected and is a real advantage for companies when recommending them.
It is likely that this company sees a lot of its business through employer-sponsored products as well as through agent referrals. The website is not geared towards assisting individuals who are comparison-shopping for coverage.
Claims
OneAmerica offers easy access to claims information on their website. There are separate toll-free phone numbers as well as fax numbers and email addresses for three different product areas. There is not an option to file a claim online, which is not unusual for this type of company due to the type of policy they offer.
A convenient FAQ section is available to explain the filing process. This is especially helpful for the beneficiary of a life insurance policy filing the claim after the insured person’s death. While some life insurance companies make this information difficult to obtain, OneAmerica is very transparent and upfront about the process.
Ratings and Consumer Reviews
OneAmerica has a Better Business Bureau (BBB) rating of A+ and there are currently 20 complaints on file in the past three years. Of those complaints, half were filed in the past year.
There are four negative reviews of OneAmerica on Yelp. These reviews have a common thread of problems with the website and customer service. Overall, the volume of complaints is not high nor is it concerning.
We were unable to find further reviews on the usual websites, and this is likely due to the fact that so much of this company’s business comes in through employer benefits, and complaints tend to go through HR departments.
The Bottom Line
With little information on OneAmerica’s products and rates, it is difficult to form a clear opinion. This is likely the sort of company people come to through an employer or a financial advisor recommendation, and may provide good products and service – however, we are unable to come to a strong conclusion.
For a list of companies that we recommend, visit our Best Insurance Companies page.
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Review Information
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.
Sharon Smith says
The person I spoke with on the phone today for American United Life Insurance Company in Greensville SC was highly obnoxious and not willing to help. She couldn’t even get the information about activity with my annuity straight! I will never purchase ANY products from One America again!
Armando Paz Jr says
As a 34- year- veteran broker in the business, I called OneAmerica today for the first time to obtain generic information and brochures on a product sold to my cousin about 3 years ago, and a young man by the name of [Redacted] who took my call, went on to treat me in the most unprofessional manner I have yet to be treated in.
Basically, his message was- “Buzz off: You’re the competition and we’re not sending you anything”- Most companies jump at the chance of attracting quality and seasoned professionals to offer their products. Not this one. They allow mediocre “professionals’ such as this person treat other peers as if they did not matter. Confrontational, condescending, rude, and unprofessional are just basic descriptions of the kind of treatment I received today without even an attempt to have someone try to possibly attract my business.
Brokers: beware. No matter how “great” this company’s products may be, you’re jeopardizing the relationship you may have developed with your client’s, Lord forbid they contact the company for any service issue. This is one broker who will definitely not be conducting business with OneAmerica.
Tami Goodman says
This company I would not recommend to anyone!! My dad has his retirement account here and he needed money for long-term care and it took so long for them to send any money I had to hire his lawyer to call. Then, they sent the money and he had to stay in a not so good home for 2 months until he got his money. Then he passed away and it has been 7 months and they still haven’t sent anything!
David Dell says
The products and services offered are a rip-off and are way overpriced compared to their competitors. Their customer support is a joke, their staff is extremely incompetent with providing any kind of assistance. The automatic drafts you set up with them are not automatic as a person has to take the payment out of your account. This is the 21 century get a decent customer support and help desk system in place. Everything should be automatic. Furthermore, their excuse for why everything takes so long is they have to get the processing team to get you information which will take 2 weeks. NO, there is such a thing called the internet! You should be able to get me the information I need NOW. This company is a joke and I would not recommend this company to anyone!
David says
Horrible customer service. Customer support is a joke and misinforms the customer on the phone. They are never consistent with when they bill you and actually take the money from your account. Products are overpriced and a rip off(charge at least 20 more per month compared to other name brand places). Staff pressures you into making choices you do not want to make. Overall, a very bad experience with this company.
dave pool says
The annuity `2 offered by state ins. co one America is a rip off. I got burned big time with this policy. An agent [Redacted] sold me this bill of goods and was not exactly truthful about it. By this I mean he tells me they pay interest on your money but that’s not exactly right. If you do the math on the monthly management fee you will find out all your so-called interest is sucked away by these fees. If he would have told me about these fees up front no one in their right mind would take out one of these policies. It’s all smoke and mirror. don’t be fooled by these agents. The best thing that could happen to you after getting these policies is to drop dead at least then some of the money is refunded. God forbid you ever have to make a claim. I now have to wait ten years before I can get even a portion of my money back. In the meantime, one America and its agents laugh at you all the way to the bank. Stay away from one America and [Redacted]. If you must have one of these policies find another agent and drill him on the fees and interest