American General Life Insurance Review & Complaints: Life Insurance (2023)

As part of American International Group (AIG), American General Life Insurance Company is backed by a major force in the insurance industry. Their main focus is on term life insurance products.

This American General Life Insurance review will cover everything you need to know about the Houston company’s policies and life insurance coverage. Life insurance is certainly an investment over any sort of period of time, but it can be worth it, especially if you’re concerned with taking care of your family.

Read on for a full review of American General. Ready to compare rates from the best insurance companies?

Just enter your ZIP code above to get started.

How long your coverage lasts. Rule of thumb: Your term should last at least until you retire, and should also cover your longest financial obligation (like a child’s college costs).

The amount your loved ones would receive if anything should your death happen before your policy expires. Rule of thumb: Most financial planners recommend an amount of 10-15x your current income.

Monthly estimates for Life insurance premium rates are influenced by a number of factors, but the health of the client has the biggest impact on the final cost.

Who is American General Life Insurance?

American General was founded in Houston, Texas as part of American Common Insurance Provider in 1926. The company was one of the earliest multi-line insurers in the country. A series of acquisitions over the years expanded operations, and American General went public in 1968, having reached $1 billion in assets.

After many changes, American General focused on the life insurance market, dropping many other lines of business along the way, (there is no longer an American General Life Insurance annuity option, for example). In 2001 they were acquired by AIG Direct, becoming part of one of the largest insurance companies in the world.

Under the AIG banner, American General writes term life insurance policy directly. Headquarters for American General Life insurance Company is in Amarillo, TX with an office in Nashville, TN. You can call the AIG Life Insurance Customer Service phone number at 800-551-0824. Your American General life insurance login will also give you access to policy information and American General life insurance forms.

AIG provides services for AIG life & retirement accounts, property-casualty, and supplemental insurance.

What term life products are offered by American General?

The American General website offers limited information on the product offering of their term life insurance policy. Most of what is listed are very general.

Term life policies are offered with a variety of term lengths and coverage amounts. The site does not state what any of these are, or whether or not they offer policies without medical exams to verify the health of the life insurance consumer.

Visitors to the site are directed to request a quote or call a quote hotline. This approach pushes insurance shoppers into a sales environment rather than simply gathering information.

How much are American General life insurance rates?

As noted, one is unable to obtain a quote short of filling out the request form or calling the “quote hotline”. As a direct sales company, American General blends information gathering with quoting, a tactic that may cause people to feel pushed into purchasing a policy to cover their financial obligations since they are already on the phone.

This company writes term policies only, which are marketed as affordable life insurance options. As a large company with a very clear niche, they may be competitive with other large insurers.

How are American General life insurance claims processed?

The American General website has does not provide specific claim information. There is a customer login area for policy management, and it is possible claims information is found within this section.

The customer login portal also should allow you to update beneficiaries, access policy documents and policy details, download statements, and access tax statements.

You should also be able to access electronic billing materials with transaction confirmations through this portal.

Unfortunately for the beneficiaries of life insurance policies, after the death of a loved one, it may be difficult to log in to an account owned by the deceased, making this less than useful for the claims process.

It seems likely that claims are handled through AIG since much of the information on the website points to the parent company.

Are American General life insurance ratings and customer reviews positive?

American General has an A- rating with the Better Business Bureau (BBB). There have been 20 complaints against the company in the past three years, six of which have been closed in the past 12 months. The BBB states the company’s failure to respond to one complaint is the reason the rating dropped to an A-.

There are 172 AIG Life Insurance reviews on Consumer Affairs, most of which are negative. Of the 34 star ratings left, 31 are one-star, and only one is five-star. Many of the complaints focus on problems with claims and contacting the company. Most of the life insurance consumer complaints refer to AIG, indicating that it is, in fact, the parent company handling the claims payment process.

Overall, the complaint volume is not high for such a large company. That said, there does tend to be some confusion when a smaller company is part of a huge corporation like AIG. It is very likely that other complaints about this company are mixed in with general AIG complaints.

American General Life Insurance: What’s the bottom line?

With so little information offered and the reliance on the AIG name and branding materials, company news on American General is hard to come by. They may well offer affordable term life policies and are certainly backed by a huge company, but it is difficult to recommend them specifically among AIG companies due to the lack of details about their track record for the obligations of insurance.

If you want to compare rates on life insurance now that you know all about American General, get started here. Enter your ZIP code now.