- Transamerica's Company Overview and Heritage: With over 120 years of experience, Transamerica has a long-standing reputation in the financial industry, now part of Aegon N.V., serving over 10 million customers in the U.S.
- Best For Who Prioritize Stability and Product Variety: Transamerica is ideal for those seeking diverse policy options and strong financial backing, especially if working with an advisor or needing high-value or specialty policies.
- Strengths in Financial Stability and Policy Options: The company boasts top-tier ratings and offers a wide range of products, from high coverage term policies to indexed universal life and final expense options, with some unique features like living benefits included at no extra cost.
- Weaknesses in Customer Satisfaction and Digital Experience: Customer complaints and satisfaction ratings are below industry averages, and the outdated digital interface and limited online management options can be frustrating for policyholders.
- Claims and Application Process Challenges: While claims processing can be delayed and inconsistent, most applicants require working with an agent, and the application process includes optional fast-track medical exams and digital tools for better experience.
Transamerica Life Insurance Overview
Transamerica is one of those names you’ve seen around, on a building in San Francisco (that iconic pyramid) or in your parents’ financial paperwork. The company has been in business for over 120 years, starting back in 1904 when founder Amadeo Giannini wanted to make financial services accessible to everyday people, not just the wealthy elite. Today, Transamerica operates as part of Aegon N.V., a global financial services giant, and serves over 10 million customers across the United States.
Here’s the thing about Transamerica: it’s a tale of two halves. The company is rock-solid financially and offers an impressive range of policy options. But customer satisfaction? That’s where things get complicated. If you prioritize financial stability and diverse product choices over stellar customer service, Transamerica might be a good fit. If hand-holding and seamless digital experiences matter more, you’ll want to keep shopping.
Transamerica didn’t score high enough to make our list of the best life insurance companies, but read on and determine if it might be right for you.
Who Is Transamerica Life Insurance Best For?
Transamerica makes the most sense for people who prioritize product variety and financial stability over customer experience. If you’re shopping for high-value term coverage (those $10 million policies aren’t standard elsewhere), need insurance as a foreign national, or want a policy with built-in living benefits, Transamerica deserves a spot on your shortlist. The company also works well for people who plan to work with a dedicated financial advisor or agent rather than managing everything solo online, since that’s really the only way to navigate their products effectively.
Key Strengths
Transamerica brings serious financial muscle to the table, with top-tier ratings from every major agency. The company also offers one of the widest selections of life insurance products you’ll find anywhere, from basic term coverage up to $10 million to affordable final expense policies. Their living benefits riders let you access your death benefit early if you’re diagnosed with a serious illness, which is a feature that many competitors charge extra for or don’t offer at all. Foreign nationals who visit or have ties to the U.S. can also find coverage here, something that’s surprisingly rare in the life insurance world.
Key Weaknesses
Customer complaints run significantly higher than industry averages, and the company ranked near the bottom in J.D. Power’s 2024 customer satisfaction study. The digital experience feels stuck in the mid-2000s, and policyholders don’t even have access to a mobile app (that’s reserved for agents only). Getting answers or processing transactions can mean long hold times and inconsistent service, depending on who answers the phone. Their whole life insurance options are basically limited to final expense products, so if you want substantial permanent coverage, you’ll need to look at their indexed universal life products instead.
Transamerica Life Insurance Affordability
When it comes to pricing, Transamerica generally falls in the middle of the pack for term life insurance rates, which is where most millennials should be looking anyway. The company’s rates are competitive with national averages, though they’re rarely the cheapest option you’ll find when comparing quotes side by side.
For term life insurance, you’re looking at monthly premiums that typically range from around $31 to $177, depending on your age, health, coverage amount, and term length. Whole life and permanent products cost substantially more, usually somewhere between $180 and $2,000 monthly, but that’s true industry-wide. The company does offer the Trendsetter Super policy online with instant quotes, making it easier to comparison shop without committing to a sales call.
Transamerica doesn’t advertise a ton of discounts as you’d find with auto or home insurance, but working with an independent agent can sometimes help you find better rates or identify where Transamerica’s underwriting guidelines might favor your specific health situation. The company has a reputation for being more lenient toward certain health conditions than other carriers.
Riders add cost to your policy, but Transamerica includes some valuable features at no extra charge. Both term products come with accelerated death benefits for terminal illness built in. Optional add-ons, such as disability waiver of premium, children’s insurance coverage, accidental death benefits, and the income protection option (which lets you structure payouts as monthly income rather than a lump sum), are available at additional fees.
On the underwriting side, Transamerica offers simplified issue options that skip the medical exam for coverage up to $2 million for qualifying applicants under age 45, and up to $1 million for those up to age 55. Their final expense products can be approved in as little as 10 minutes with no exam required.
Transamerica Life Insurance Coverage Options
Transamerica offers eight main policy types, giving you more options than many competitors. The downside is that navigating all these choices can feel overwhelming without professional guidance.
Their term life lineup includes two products. The Trendsetter Super Series offers coverage from $25,000 to over $10 million with term lengths of 10, 15, 20, 25, or 30 years. This is the flagship product you’ll find quotes for online, and it includes a terminal illness accelerated death benefit at no additional cost. You can convert it to permanent coverage or renew annually after your term ends (though premiums will jump significantly). The Trendsetter LB policy caps at $2 million but offers expanded living benefits that cover chronic and critical illnesses, as well as terminal conditions. This makes it a wise choice if you’re worried about accessing funds while you’re still alive to deal with a significant health crisis.
The whole life options are where Transamerica falls short compared to competitors. Their entire product line consists of final expense policies designed to cover end-of-life costs, with face amounts topping out at $50,000. The Final Expense Solutions lineup includes Immediate Solution, 10-Pay Solution, and Easy Solution products aimed at applicants ages 0 to 85. These work fine for funeral and burial coverage, but won’t serve as wealth-building vehicles or estate planning tools. If you want robust permanent coverage, whole life from Transamerica isn’t your best bet.
For permanent coverage with growth potential, Transamerica’s indexed universal life products are the main attraction. The Financial Foundation IUL II and Financial Choice IUL II link your cash value to market indexes like the S&P 500 while protecting against downside risk with a guaranteed minimum interest rate. These products offer death benefits starting at $25,000 with various index account options. Just be aware that IUL products are complex and not available in California or New York.
Term policies can be converted to permanent coverage, typically up until your 70th birthday or the end of your initial level term period, whichever comes first. The conversion happens without new medical underwriting, which is valuable if your health has changed since you first bought coverage.
Living benefits are available across multiple product lines. You can access a portion of your death benefit early if diagnosed with a qualifying terminal, chronic, or critical illness. The Trendsetter LB term product and the IUL products include these features, while other policies offer them as optional riders.
Transamerica Life Insurance Reliability
Financial stability is where Transamerica truly shines. The company holds strong ratings from all major credit rating agencies: AM Best assigns it an A (Excellent), S&P assigns it an A+ (Strong), Moody’s assigns it an A1 (Good), and Fitch assigns it an A+ (Strong). These ratings place Transamerica among the more financially secure insurers in the marketplace, though they’re not quite at the very top tier occupied by carriers with A++ or AA+ ratings.
The company’s Comdex score, which aggregates ratings from multiple agencies into a single percentile ranking, sits around 78 to 87, depending on the source. This confirms Transamerica’s position as a financially healthy insurer you can trust to pay claims decades from now.
Behind those ratings sits serious capital. Transamerica reports over $427 billion in revenue-generating investments and has paid more than $62.8 billion in insurance, retirement, and annuity claims and benefits throughout its history. The backing of parent company Aegon N.V., one of the world’s largest financial services organizations, provides additional stability.
With more than 120 years in the insurance business, Transamerica has weathered economic crises, world wars, and market crashes while continuing to meet obligations to policyholders. That track record matters when you’re buying a product designed to protect your family for decades.
Transamerica Life Insurance Customer Service
This is where the Transamerica experience gets rocky. Customer service has consistently been the company’s weak point, and the data backs that up across multiple metrics.
Phone Support: Transamerica’s main customer service line for policyholders operates at 800-797-2643, available Monday through Friday from 9 am to 6 pm Eastern Time. Additional lines exist for specific products and needs. The company also provides 24-hour automated access to account information at 800-322-3789. Average hold times reportedly run less than a minute according to some sources, though many customer reviews describe long waits and multiple transfers to get questions answered. Quality varies significantly depending on which representative you reach, with some customers praising helpful staff while others report misinformation and a lack of follow-through.
Digital Support: Here’s where things really disappoint. Transamerica’s mobile app is designed exclusively for insurance agents and financial advisors, not for policyholders. If you want to manage your policy digitally, you’re limited to the website, which multiple sources describe as feeling dated and difficult to navigate. Basic tasks, such as changing bank account information, require mailed forms rather than online updates. Website technical support is available at 866-301-2473 during business hours.
Online account management lets you view policy information and file claims, but the experience falls short compared to modern fintech companies. Chat support is not prominently featured, and email inquiries are handled through contact forms rather than direct addresses. The company does offer the iGO e-App for streamlined digital applications, and recent improvements to final expense underwriting have reduced approval times. Still, the policyholder portal hasn’t received the same attention.
Third-Party Ratings: The Better Business Bureau gives Transamerica an A+ rating, though this reflects the company’s response to complaints rather than customer happiness. The BBB shows 217 complaints closed in the past 12 months as of November 2025 and 334 over the past 3 years. Transamerica is not BBB accredited.
Trustpilot reviews show mixed sentiment, with some customers praising helpful representatives while others describe frustrating experiences with claims and account management. The company maintains an overall positive score on Trustpilot, though negative reviews are detailed and specific about the problems encountered.
Reddit discussions in communities like r/insurance and r/personalfinance reveal common themes: slow response times, delays in claim payouts, concerns about pushy sales tactics (particularly around whole life and IUL products), and frustration with policy lapse notices. Some users report positive experiences, but the overall sentiment leans negative.
J.D. Power’s 2024 U.S. Individual Life Insurance Study ranked Transamerica 18th out of 21 companies for customer satisfaction, with a score of 615, compared with an industry average of 648. The study leader, State Farm, scored 699 on the same 1,000-point scale. Transamerica particularly underperformed in billing, payment, and general company interactions, according to the study.
Transamerica Life Insurance Claims Process
Filing a claim with Transamerica follows a standard process, but the execution has generated mixed reviews from beneficiaries and policyholders.
When a policyholder passes away, beneficiaries should contact the claims department at 800-527-9027. You’ll need to provide a certified death certificate (original, not a copy), the policy documents if available, identification, and a completed claim form. If you have a registered Transamerica online account, you can download forms or complete the First Report of Death Claim electronically. Otherwise, you’ll need to call customer service or work with an agent to get the paperwork started.
The company states that claims are paid within 7 to 10 days after final approval. However, the approval process itself can stretch longer depending on case complexity. Industry sources indicate that most claims are processed within 2 to 4 weeks under normal circumstances. Complicated cases involving contestability periods (the first two years of a policy), unclear cause of death, or beneficiary disputes may take considerably longer.
Customer reviews of the claims experience are where concerns emerge. Multiple beneficiaries have reported extended delays, requests for documentation that had already been submitted, and difficulty reaching representatives who could actually resolve issues. Some claims have dragged on for months, according to BBB complaints and consumer review sites. Other beneficiaries describe smooth, helpful experiences with quick payments, suggesting that outcomes vary significantly.
Transamerica does not publicly disclose claim denial rates, making it difficult to compare them with industry benchmarks. The company offers beneficiary support through Everest Funeral Concierge services on certain products, providing help with funeral planning and arrangements at no additional cost.
For accelerated death benefit claims (accessing funds while still living due to illness), the process requires medical certification and periodic documentation every 90 days to continue receiving payments.
Transamerica Life Insurance Application Process
Getting coverage through Transamerica typically requires working with an agent. The company does not offer direct online applications for most products, which sets it apart from more digitally-focused competitors.
You can get started by connecting with a Transamerica financial advisor, a local agent, or an independent agent through their subsidiary World Financial Group. Online quotes are available only for the Trendsetter Super term product. For everything else, you’ll need to call or meet with someone.
The company has made strides in streamlining underwriting for specific products. Their iGO e-App platform provides a more responsive digital application experience when working with an agent. Final expense products through FE Express Solution can deliver approval decisions in as little as 10 minutes with no medical exam required for qualifying applicants.
Medical exam requirements depend on coverage type and amount. For term life insurance, exams are required only for policies with a death benefit of $2 million or more. Whole life and final expense coverage don’t require medical exams. Applicants between 18 and 45 can qualify for up to $2 million in coverage with no exam, while those between 46 and 55 can get up to $1 million exam-free.
When an exam is required, Transamerica covers the cost and provides a list of approved medical professionals and labs. The exam typically includes basic measurements, blood work, and a health history review.
Approval timelines vary by product and health complexity. No-exam term policies typically take about a week to process. Fully underwritten policies that require medical exams and review of doctors’ records (attending physician statements) can take two to four weeks or longer. Some applicants report faster turnarounds, while others with complex health histories experience extended review periods.
The company accepts applications from individuals aged 18 to 80, with some products available to those as young as newborns (for children’s coverage) or as old as 85 (final expense).
Transamerica offers digital tools, including a life insurance needs calculator and an Insurance Plan Explorer questionnaire (about 3 minutes to complete) that helps identify suitable products before you speak with an agent.
Pros & Cons of Transamerica Life Insurance
Weighing your options means understanding exactly where Transamerica excels and where it falls short compared to the competition.
Pros
The product variety at Transamerica is genuinely hard to match. Between term, final expense, indexed universal life, and specialty products, you can find coverage for almost any situation under one roof. Their term life coverage can reach $10 million or higher in some circumstances, appealing to high earners and business owners who need substantial protection.
Financial strength ratings inspire confidence that the company will be around to pay your beneficiaries decades from now. The combination of AM Best A, S&P A+, Moody’s A1, and Fitch A+ puts Transamerica in the upper tier of financially stable insurers.
Living benefits included in many policies let you tap into your death benefit during a health crisis without buying separate riders. This can be a lifeline if you’re facing massive medical bills or need to cover expenses while unable to work.
No medical exam is required for coverage up to $2 million for younger applicants, making the process faster and less intrusive than for traditional fully underwritten policies.
The company also stands out for covering foreign nationals with ties to the United States, filling a gap that many competitors simply ignore.
Cons
Customer satisfaction scores consistently rank below industry averages, with J.D. Power placing Transamerica near the bottom among surveyed life insurers. The NAIC complaint index runs over four times higher than expected for a company of Transamerica’s size.
The digital experience feels outdated, with no mobile app for policyholders and a website that hasn’t kept pace with modern expectations. Managing your policy often requires phone calls and mailed forms rather than quick online updates.
Whole life insurance options are limited to final expense products with low maximum coverage. If you want traditional whole life or robust cash value growth, you’ll need to look elsewhere or consider their more complex IUL products.
Claims processing has generated significant complaints, with some beneficiaries reporting months-long delays and repeated requests for documentation. While many claims proceed smoothly, the inconsistency is concerning.
Working with an agent is required for most products, which can be a hurdle if you prefer self-service shopping.
Our Verdict & Rating for Transamerica Life Insurance
Transamerica presents a genuine dilemma for insurance shoppers. The company offers legitimate strengths that many competitors can’t match, particularly in product variety, financial stability, and specialized coverage options. At the same time, below-average customer satisfaction and an outdated digital experience make it harder to recommend without reservations.
The fundamental question is what matters most to you. If you’re buying a 20-year term policy and plan to interact with your insurer once a year (to pay premiums), the customer service issues might not affect you much. The policy will pay out when it’s supposed to, regardless of how long hold times are. If you anticipate needing regular support, making changes to your coverage, or potentially filing claims against living benefits, the service gaps become more relevant.
For millennials specifically, the lack of modern digital tools is a significant drawback. We’re used to managing everything from banking to health insurance through well-designed apps. Transamerica’s reliance on phone calls and paper forms feels like a step backward.
Who Should Consider Transamerica
You might be a good fit for Transamerica if you’re shopping for high-value term coverage above $1 million, since their competitive rates and $10 million maximum stand out. The company also makes sense if you have health conditions that disqualify you elsewhere, as their underwriting tends to be more flexible on specific issues. If you’re working with a financial advisor who recommends Transamerica and will handle policy management for you, the customer service concerns become less relevant. Foreign nationals needing U.S. coverage should definitely include Transamerica in their comparison shopping.
Who Should Consider Another Provider
Look elsewhere if digital-first convenience matters to you. Companies like Haven Life, Ladder, and Bestow offer streamlined online experiences that Transamerica simply can’t match. If customer service quality is a priority, carriers like State Farm, Guardian, and Northwestern Mutual consistently rank higher in satisfaction surveys. Those seeking robust whole life insurance with cash value accumulation should explore MassMutual, Northwestern Mutual, or Guardian instead. If you want the fastest possible coverage, carriers with instant-issue policies and approval in hours rather than days may serve you better.
Methodology
Our final rating weighs five key factors based on their importance to most life insurance buyers:
Stability (20%): Financial ratings from AM Best, S&P, Moody’s, and Fitch, plus company history and backing.
Coverage Options (10%): Product variety, coverage limits, term lengths, riders, and policy flexibility.
Affordability (30%): Premium competitiveness, available discounts, underwriting options, and overall value.
Claims Process (20%): Speed of payment, clarity of process, customer experiences, and beneficiary support.
Customer Service (20%): Phone availability, digital tools, third-party ratings, and overall satisfaction metrics.
Frequently asked questions
Answers to common questions about Transamerica life insurance.
Transamerica Life Insurance is most suitable for people who prioritize product variety and financial stability, such as those seeking high-value term coverage, coverage for foreign nationals, or policies with built-in living benefits. It’s also ideal for individuals planning to work with a dedicated financial advisor rather than managing coverage online alone.
Transamerica’s main strengths include its strong financial ratings, a wide range of policy options including high coverage amounts, and features like living benefits riders that allow early access to death benefits in case of serious illness. The company’s financial stability gives confidence it can meet long-term obligations, and it offers coverage for foreign nationals.
Transamerica has higher-than-average customer complaints and rated poorly for customer satisfaction. Its digital experience is outdated, with no mobile app for policyholders, and managing policies can be cumbersome. Claim processing has also faced criticism due to delays and inconsistent service, and their whole life options mainly cover final expenses, not substantial permanent coverage.
Transamerica offers competitive rates for term life insurance, generally aligning with national averages, though not always the cheapest. Their premiums typically range from $31 to $177 per month based on various factors. They also include some valuable features at no extra charge, like accelerated death benefits, and offer additional riders for extra costs.
To file a claim, beneficiaries should contact the claims department, providing a death certificate, policy documents, identification, and a claim form. The process aims for payment within 7 to 10 days after approval, but delays can occur, especially in complex cases, and some beneficiaries have reported longer wait times. Claims involving living benefits require medical certification and periodic documentation.
