We review these products to inform the public about these carriers. Most disability insurance products are very good, including Assurity, but what is right for one person isn’t right for another. That is why you should talk to an expert, objective agent, who can help you navigate the sea of carriers and their individual product features. We are available for consultations, which you can schedule HERE, or you can always contact us directly at 888-636-2310.
Who is Assurity?
Assurity follows their motto of helping people through difficult times every day. Founded in 1890, they are a mutual company offering a wide variety of insurance products. Being a mutual
company (like Guardian or MassMutual) means Assurity is owned by their policyholders, so corporate goals and strategies should benefit those policy owners.
Headquartered in Lincoln, Nebraska, Assurity has a wide breadth of products that serves a large market of insureds. Some of Assurity’s offerings include:
Individual disability insurance
Simplified disability insurance
Graded benefit disability insurance
Business overhead expense
Critical illness insurance (both traditional and simplified)
Annuities
Traditional term life insurance
Non-med term life insurance
Accidental death insurance (with disability)
Whole life (traditional, joint, single premium, and simplified)
A large selection of worksite solutions
Assurity’s Financials
Assurity is rated A- (Excellent) by A.M. Best, their fourth highest rating (out of 16), and their outlook is stable.
They have been named one of Lincoln’s (Nebraska) best places to work for the last three years and are a certified B Corp, the first major life and specialty health insurer to achieve this.
Products Offered
As mentioned, Assurity covers a lot of bases with their product lineup. From an income protection aspect, which is our focus, Assurity has something for just about everyone.
Assurity has a disability insurance policy for just about anyone. From traditional plans with full underwriting to simplified and graded plans, Assurity accepts A LOT of professions and health conditions.
Like most disability insurance policies, they offer accelerated underwriting at lower benefit amounts, occupation upgrades for business owners, and a host of other programs and options.
It should be noted that, although these reviews normally focus on offerings for various occupations as well as the benefits offered, Assurity has a leg up when it comes to writing difficult medical conditions.
Their graded disability insurance policy helps as paycheck insurance for those unable to get traditional disability insurance due to health.
The policy has a maximum benefit period of 10 years. Its benefit amount will vary based on the type of disability and the length of disability.
If the disability is caused by sickness, then the policy will pay 35% of the benefit amount in the first year, 70% in the second, and then the full benefit for any remaining years.
If the disability is caused by injury or accident, then the full benefit is available immediately.
Graded benefit disability insurance is valuable to those with existing health conditions that would prevent them from otherwise purchasing a traditional long-term disability insurance policy. Assurity stands in limited company amongst disability insurance carriers, since they can be used to insure difficult health conditions.
For White Collar Workers
Century+ is Assurity’s flagship disability insurance product. Available in all 50 states, top occupation classes have monthly benefits amounts of 20k, benefit periods to age 67, and elimination periods ranging from 30 to 365 days.
Their pricing is competitive, and underwriting is fair.
They also allow for their highest occupation classes to have full own occupation coverage. Probably, the only downside is that their non-cancelable rider (which means that they can’t raise the premiums) is only available for 5 years.
For Blue Collar Workers
Although suitable for white-collar professionals, Assurity is especially competitive for blue and gray collar occupations.
Their pricing is extremely competitive, and the benefits offered are still robust for this category. They offer numerous underwriting and specialty programs, covering occupations from truck drivers to farmers and ranchers.
Assurity’s disability insurance policies can be customized to fit nearly any occupation, health condition, or budget.
For Business Owners
Like most disability insurance carriers, Assurity has a few products and features exclusively for business owners.
First, like any company that wants to be in the individual disability insurance space, they offer business overhead expense coverage.
Business overhead expense, or BOE, is disability insurance for your business.
Should you, as the business owner, be unable to work due to sickness or injury, a BOE policy will pay your business expenses (such as a lease/mortgage, payroll, other insurance premiums, etc.). This type of policy is meant to keep the business functioning to allow for recovery and/or selling the business.
Where Assurity really shines is the programs they offer for unique professions.
One example is a business overhead expense policy for owner/operator truckers. So, while the average truck driver might be able to secure individual disability insurance for their personal assets, the trucker BOE policy also helps them make payments on their trucking business (truck payments, insurance, etc.), allowing the business owner to hire out temporary help in the event they’re unable to drive for a prolonged period.
Assurity also offers a business owner upgrade in occupation class. This can be very attractive since occupation class is one of the main factors that affect the pricing of your disability insurance policy. A higher occupation class means lower premiums.
For cost-conscious business owners (and aren’t we all), this upgrade program can be very attractive.
Assurity Pros
If an agent was looking for one company to cover the most risks, both health and occupation-related, then Assurity would be it.
From their graded benefit plan to the accident disability coverage, there aren’t many risks that Assurity can’t handle. They also have attractive pricing for higher income/white collar-type professions.
Also, since they have underwriting programs and product features designed for certain specialty occupations, Assurity should be one of the quotes included on most disability insurance comparisons.
Assurity Cons
All insurance companies have flaws, and Assurity is no different.
For one, they are A- (Excellent) rated. This is a solid rating but on the lower end among their competitors. Still, this company has been around for over 100 years, and as you’ll note, the rating is still in the top 25% of the claims-paying ability ratings given out by A.M. Best.
Second, Assurity does not have a non-cancelable (meaning that they can’t raise your premiums) policy that lasts more than five years. Sure, they offer coverage that is guaranteed renewable and even has a true own occupation rider that can cover you through age 67, but their premiums are only guaranteed for 5 years, no matter what type of policy you purchase.
In Summary
As mentioned, Assurity is a company that can handle a lot of disability insurance risks. For many insurance agents, they are a “go-to” carrier. Although we don’t subscribe to that line of thinking (having one carrier that we look at first in every situation), it would be unusual for Assurity to be left out.
At High Income Protection, we source your options for disability insurance coverage from the best companies for your situation. Our goal is to provide expert, unbiased advice in helping you purchase the right disability insurance.
Don’t be surprised if Assurity is included when we review your options.
We’re here to help. Please contact us today.
