Columbus Life Insurance Company Review

The Columbus Life Insurance Company is an established insurer offering permanent and term life insurance policies with various optional features. Below, you can find details of the company's insurance plans and explore the pros and cons of the Columbus Life Insurance Company.

About the Columbus Life Insurance Company

The Columbus Life Insurance Company's predecessor, Columbus Mutual, was founded in 1906. The company has been providing life insurance policies and annuities for over a century, and it sells its products through a team of independent representatives. It's part of the Western & Southern Financial Group and has a license to trade in every U.S. state apart from New York.

What Life Insurance Products Does the Columbus Life Insurance Company Offer?

The Columbus Life Insurance Company offers four regular and indexed universal life insurance plans and one term plan. It also sells a range of annuities designed to help enrollees secure their finances for retirement. 

The company also offers various optional riders and features, but they aren't all available for every plan. You may also need to pay an extra fee for certain features. Options include:

• Accidental Death Benefit. Provides additional death benefits if you die as the result of an accident
• Accidental Death and Specific Loss. Pays out extra benefits if you die in an accident or lose certain body parts
• Children's Term. Covers children between 15 days and 23 years old
• Life Plus Accelerated Death. Allows you to withdraw part of the death benefit while you're alive if you develop certain health conditions
• Persistency Bonus. Pays a guaranteed bonus each year from year 11
• Waiver of Premium. Waives the requirement for premium payments if you develop a disability

Indexed Explorer Plus Flexible Premium Universal Life Insurance

Indexed Explorer Plus Flexible Premium Universal Life Insurance is a permanent life insurance policy that offers cash value growth alongside a death benefit.

Enrollees can allocate the cash value element between one fixed interest and three indexed accounts with a face value of $25,000 or $100,000. The fixed account offers a guaranteed interest rate of 2% while the indexed accounts provide a guaranteed rate of 0% or 1%. All indexed accounts follow the growth of the S&P 500 index. 

Enrollees have the option to change their premium payment amount or suspend payments altogether, depending on their account's cash value and if they're up to date with premiums. Account-holders can also access the cash value by making withdrawals or taking out a loan; however, doing so could affect the death benefit available. 

Voyager Universal Life Insurance

The Voyager Universal Life Insurance plan has a face amount of $50,000 or $100,000 and provides a death benefit. There's also a cash value element that earns interest tax-deferred. Enrollees who are up to date with their premium payments have the option to change their payment amount. You can also choose to add the lifetime no-lapse guarantee option that guarantees a set death benefit for life, provided you keep up with your premium schedule.

Explorer Plus Universal Life Insurance

The Explorer Plus Universal Life Insurance plan is available with a $25,000 or $100,000 face amount. It ensures a death benefit for your beneficiaries with a savings element that accumulates cash value. Like the Voyager Plan, Explorer Plus customers can withdraw some of their account's cash value or use it as collateral for a loan. There's also a no-lapse guarantee option that locks in your death benefit.

Expedition SIUL Survivorship Indexed Universal Life Insurance

The Expedition SIUL plan is designed to cover you and your spouse or business partner, paying a death benefit to your named beneficiary when the second enrollee dies. The policy is usually more affordable than purchasing two separate IUL policies and has a face amount of $100,000.

Enrollees can spread the cash element across one fixed and three indexed accounts with the same interest guarantees as the Indexed Explorer Plus plan. Savings grow on a tax-deferred basis, and you can access funds by withdrawing the cash value or using it to secure a loan.

Nautical Term Life Insurance

The Nautical Term Life Insurance plan is usually more affordable than permanent life insurance and pays a guaranteed death benefit if you pass away during the plan's term. Coverage ends when the term expires, but enrollees reserve the right to convert their plan to permanent insurance before age 70 or at the end of the term. Premiums remain fixed, so the Columbus Life Insurance Company won't raise your payments as you get older or develop health problems. 

This plan is available with a face amount of $100,000 or $150,000. You can choose between several term lengths to suit your situation. The available terms are:

• 10 years ($150,000 face amount only)
• 15 years ($100,000 face amount only)
• 20 years ($100,000 face amount only)
• 30 years ($100,000 face amount only)

The Pros and Cons of the Columbus Life Insurance Company

The main advantage of purchasing life insurance from the Columbus Life Insurance Company is its financial stability and strong industry reputation. The company holds an A+ rating from A.M. Best and the Better Business Bureau (BBB). Its broad range of permanent and term life insurance plans and a wide choice of riders and features is another positive, and most people should be able to find a plan to suit their needs. 

However, the Columbus Life Insurance Company isn't suitable for New York customers because it isn't licensed to sell insurance in the state. The company doesn't offer online filing, which could be an issue if you prefer to manage your insurance online.

Columbus Life Insurance Company Reviews: What People Are Saying

It's difficult to find customer reviews online for the Columbus Life Insurance Company, and some reviews are from independent agents. However, the majority of the available reviews are positive. Customers cite the company's excellent customer care and helpful agents as reasons to purchase insurance from the Columbus Life Insurance Company. One reviewer noted that the company's business model resulted in them being passed between agents and receiving conflicting information from different staff members.

Is a Columbus Life Insurance Company Life Insurance Company Right for You?

An insurance policy from the Columbus Life Insurance Company could be a good option for you if you want to purchase permanent or term life insurance from a company with an established industry reputation. Its wide range of optional features and riders provides excellent flexibility, letting customers build a comprehensive plan to meet their needs and circumstances.