Oxford Life Insurance Company Review & Complaints: Life, Medical Supplement Insurance & Annuities

Arizona-based Oxford Life Insurance Company focuses on the senior market, with products such as final expense insurance and annuities. They also offer Medicare Supplement coverage.

What is Oxford Life?

Oxford Life Insurance Company was founded in 1965 in Phoenix, Arizona. Their expansion began in 1997 with the purchase of Encore Financial, bringing with it subsidiary life insurer North American Insurance Company and a foothold in Medicare Supplement insurance coverage. Another subsidiary, Christian Fidelity Life, was acquired in 2000.

Through the group of companies, Oxford Life writes life insurance, annuities, and Medicare Supplement coverage across the United States. Local independent agents sell products from all three insurance agencies.

What types of insurance products are offered?

Our review of Christian Fidelity Medicare Supplement covers Oxford as well, so this review will focus on the life insurance and annuity products from the company. Oxford’s life insurance is mainly focused on providing funds for final expenses, and on life insurance plan options, annuities as investments.

Life Insurance

There are two main life insurance coverage programs offered by the insurance carrier. The Assurance and Assurance One plans are final expense insurance, while the Prosperity Select product is presented as an investment option. All of the plans are simplified issue, meaning no medical exam is required.

Prosperity Select is a single premium whole life insurance policy available to those between 55 and 80 years old. This plan is presented as a low-risk investment that allows cash accumulation with a tax-free death benefit. This plan includes accelerated benefits options for chronic or terminal illness as well as a nursing home benefit.

Assurance and Assurance One are both final expense insurance products offered to those between the age of 50 and 85.

Assurance is a level premium whole life policy, with death benefits between $5,000 and $30,000. There are several payment options, from monthly to annually, with guaranteed death benefits and no increase in premiums. Accelerated benefits are also available with this plan.

Assurance One is similar but is a single premium whole life policy, so that it is paid in full with a single payment.

Annuities

Oxford Life has several annuity options that are designed to provide retirement income. All annuities have an issue age between 18-80.

Multi-Select provides a stable interest rate over a time period that can be specified by the purchaser. This plan is designed for long-term investment that is low risk and provides a predictable return.

The Select Series annuity plan offers the choice of three, five, seven, or ten-year durations. It is designed to be a low-risk, long-term investment.

Silver Select is a fixed indexed annuity, with the added benefit of an immediate 4% premium bonus upon deposit of funds. Royal Select is a similar plan but offers an 8% premium bonus.

Does the company offer competitive rates?

Oxford Life does not provide an online quoting option, which is not surprising for a small company that relies on agents to sell products. The company does, however, offer a quote request form that is available on the website. This form will send your information to an agent, who will then contact you with rate and product information. This may not appeal to those hoping to avoid solicitation attempts by agents by shopping online.

Can claims be filed online?

We were unable to find much in the way of information regarding claims processing. The website does offer the option to download claims forms; the forms provide detailed instructions for filling out and filing, as well as receiving benefits.

The contact page of the website has a PO Box listed for claims but is without a dedicated claims phone number. A general customer service line is available Monday through Friday from 5:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Pacific time.

Are the ratings and consumer reviews positive?

Oxford Life Insurance Company currently has a B-rating with the Better Business Bureau (BBB). The lowered rating is the result of failure to respond to four out of the five total complaints filed in the past three years. While the complaint volume isn’t high, the failure to respond is certainly a cause for concern to potential buyers who are looking for an excellent customer satisfaction rating.

Outside of the BBB, we did not find much in the way of reviews for this company. The small number of reviews available is not unusual for a small insurer focused on a niche market.

What’s the bottom line?

Oxford Life’s limited insurance product selections and lack of rate information make them difficult to recommend, and their failure to respond to complaints with the BBB compounds that difficulty. Those seeking simplified issue life insurance should be sure to shop around and obtain all the necessary information before making a final decision.