Occidental Life Insurance Review 2020

Thang Truong
Thang Truong
Updated on:

Occidental Life Insurance company has its roots in North Carolina, back in 1906. They are headquartered in Waco, TX. Why is a life insurance company from North Carolina headquartered in TX, you ask? Occidental is part of a larger financial group that consists of American-Amicable Life Insurance Company of Texas, Pioneer American Insurance, American Life Insurance and Industry Alliance Life Insurance. American-Amicable has its headquarters in Waco, TX and so now, Occidental does as well. 

They specialize in simplified issue insurance, which is life insurance that doesn’t require a medical exam. This is good news for people with health problems that they’d rather not reveal to their insurance company. There may be some health questions, but you won’t have to visit a doctor or have a medical professional visit you at your home. 

AI has over four million customers and manages over $109 billion in assets. 

Pros and Cons of Occidental Life Insurance

ProsCons
– Many policies don’t require a medical exam
– Some riders are included at no extra cost
– Excellent financial strength
– No online quotes
– Website does not offer a lot of information on whole or term policies
– Policies are sold through agents, which may make rates higher

>>MORE: A Guide to the Best Life Insurance Companies

Products Offered by Occidental Life Insurance

Occidental Life offers:

  • Term
  • Simplified Term
  • Non-medical Universal life
  • Universal life
  • Whole
  • Final Expense

Non-medical universal life insurance offers adjustable-benefit life insurance with no medical exam required. Coverage ranges from $25,000 to $250,000. If you want more universal life insurance, you can but you’ll have to have a medical exam. 

>>MORE: Case Studies of Universal Life Insurance

Simplified Issue term life insurance also offers a non-medical option as well. Coverage is available up to $250,000. There are convertible to whole life insurance options, and a return of premium option. You can choose 10, 15, 20 or 30 year terms. 

They also have Association Term insurance which is 10-year renewable term insurance for:

  • Government employees
  • First responders
  • Medical professionals
  • Employers of state-funded educational institutions
  • Railroad employees
  • Hospital employees

Spouses of those in these professions are also eligible. 

Final Expense insurance is available for anyone ages 0-85. There is no medical exam needed, and no blood work taken. 

Occidental also offers some riders, some of which are free. No cost riders include terminal illness and confined care and return of premium is available as an option. 

The website does not go into a great deal of detail about these policies, including their whole life insurance product. They are sold through insurance agents. If you are an insurance agent, you can run quotes on a mobile phone, but no such option exists for online customers. 

>>MORE: Is Whole Life Insurance A Good Investment?

Financial Strength Rating of Occidental Life Insurance

A.M. Best evaluates every insurance company based on their total assets and financial stability. Occidental Life insurance earns a A, which is excellent, with a stable outlook. It’s important to have a financially secure insurance company so you know they can pay claims. 

>>MORE: 10 Largest Life Insurance Companies

Customer Satisfaction Rating of Occidental Life Insurance

Occidental Life Insurance is too small to have been reviewed by J.D. Power’s life insurance study, so we will have to look elsewhere. 

The BBB rates Occidental Life Insurance with an A+. They are accredited by the BBB, and there is only one customer review of them and one complaint.

Google reviews lists 12 reviews for Occidental Life insurance: nine of them are positive and three are negative. Some reviews praise the customer service one complains of how rude the person answering the phone was. Still, twelve is a very small number considering how many customers Occidental has. 

>>MORE: A Guide to the Best Whole Life Insurance Companies

Consumer Complaints Rating of Occidental Life Insurance

The NAIC (National Association of Insurance Commissioners) gives every company a ratio based on the number of complaints. The median average score is 1.0, which means a company got as many complaints as you might expect. 

Occidental earns a ratio of 2.0, which means there are twice as many complaints as you might expect. There are five complaints listed but it doesn’t go into details. However, this ratio is a concern.

Digital Experience Rating of Occidental Life Insurance

If you have a question, comment, or suggestion you’ll fill out a form.  Once you hit “submit” the customer support team will get back to you. They don’t have an online chat bot. 

You’ll also need to fill out a form if you want to:

  • Change a beneficiary
  • Make changes to your policy
  • Cancel your policy
  • Submit a claim
  • Apply for accelerated benefits

In other words, there is not a lot you can do online. 

There is no online quoting, either. If you would like a quote from Occidental, you can fill out yet another form and an agent will contact you. 

There isn’t a great deal of information about Occidental online, and it’s hard to tell what kind of prices are available. Since there are many no medical exam options, you would think it would be easy to get a quote. Companies that make it difficult to find out what their prices are like are usually not the cheapest out there, because if they were it’s to their advantage to tell everyone. 

Another reason why we think the rates might be a little high is that simplified issue insurance is usually priced higher than other types of insurance. People who have some health issues are the most likely to be attracted to no-medical exam insurance, so the rates are higher to compensate. 

Lastly, they sell policies through agents, and agents have fees and commissions, meaning a higher rate. 

Last Thoughts

If you’re the market for simplified issue life insurance and an easy online experience isn’t that important to you, Occidental Life insurance may work for you. Also, if you enjoy working with insurance agents, Occidental may be for you. If you want any kind of online experience, you might do better to look elsewhere. 

Thang Truong

Thang Truong covers small business insurance and small business success at BravoPolicy. He is a licensed P&C insurance agent. Previously, he held product leadership positions at realtor.com, Capital One, NerdWallet, and Mulberry Technology. He holds a MBA degree from UC Berkeley - Haas School of Business.

More Stories

6 Best Indexed Universal Life Insurance (IUL) for 2023

Are you looking for a way to set aside some extra money for your senior years, and maybe a little extra for loved ones to inherit? Most people opt for indexed universal life insurance because it offers the greatest cash value growth tied to the performance of S&P 500 index with the least risk thanks […]

Best Self-Directed Roth IRA Companies for 2023

A self-directed Roth IRA is much like a regular Roth IRA, but offers more flexibility as far as what you can invest in. Whereas a regular Roth will only let you invest in stocks, bonds, mutual funds, ETFs, and real-estate investment trusts, a self-directed Roth lets you invest in a greater variety of investment options.  […]

The 5 Best Hybrid Long-Term Care Insurance Companies for 2023

If you’ve decided to plan for every eventuality, you’d be smart to include a plan to cover long-term care. Someone turning 65 this year has an almost 70% chance of needing some type of long-term care, and about 13% of those will need it for five years or more. Long-term care is expensive and can […]

The 3 Best Traditional Long-Term Care Insurance Companies for 2023

Long term care is something that no one likes to think about, but unfortunately, many people will eventually need. Health care costs are skyrocketing, and a lengthy stay at a long-term care facility can easily bankrupt most people’s nest eggs. Long-term care insurance is one way to protect both yourself and your retirement savings. Out […]

The Best Long-Term Care Insurance Companies in California for 2023

California residents who are keen to protect themselves and their families against the worst events in life may be considering long-term care insurance. However, you might not know much about LTC insurance or how it is handled in California. Let’s take a look: What is Long-Term Care Insurance? Long-term care insurance helps pay for long-term […]

The Best Long-Term Care Insurance Companies in Arizona for 2023

Arizona is a great place to retire. It’s warm, there’s no snow to shovel, and Arizona improves the quality of life for anyone with allergies or asthma. When you pack your bags and retire to Arizona, you’re probably not thinking about long-term care. But the sad reality is that 47% of men and 58% of […]

The Best Long-Term Care Insurance Companies in Florida for 2023

There’s a lot of good reasons to retire in Florida. The weather is warm, the beaches are beautiful, and there are lots of other retirees to socialize with. Also, Florida has no state income taxes, no inheritance taxes, and no estate taxes. When you pack up your things and move to Florida, you’re probably not […]

Private Placement Life Insurance: Everything You Need to Know

If you haven’t heard of private placement life insurance, you probably don’t qualify to buy it. Private placement life insurance is typically for investors with millions in liquid cash that they need to invest for tax reasons.  What is Private Placement Life Insurance? Who Qualifies for Private Placement Life Insurance? Benefits of Private Placement Life […]

Nationwide IUL – A Strong Product With Great Features and Excellent Ratings

The Nationwide IUL product can help you either supplement your retirement income or ensure your beneficiaries future by leaving them a nice tax-free death benefit. Obviously, you have many options when it comes to IUL policies, so you want to know how does Nationwide’s policy stack up against the competition? Let’s take a look. Pros […]

Transamerica IUL – A Solid Product but High Consumer Complaint Score & Law Suits

Consumers looking to supplement their retirement income often settle on an indexed life insurance policy. These policies build cash value based on market performance and allow your heirs to enjoy a tax-free death benefit. Let’s take a look at Transamerica’s indexed universal life insurance policy and see what makes it stand apart from other such […]