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Columbus Life Insurance Company

Researcher & Writer
September 08, 2017

At TermLife2Go, we desire to provide our visitors with as much helpful information about the top life insurance companies and policies as we can. We are always looking for new companies, policies and innovation. Another company making our life insurance review list is Columbus Life Insurance Company. Is this the right carrier for you?

In the following review of Columbus Life Insurance Company we will cover the history of the company, the company's ratings, both service and financial, and the products and services available.

About Columbus Life Insurance Company

Originally founded as Columbus Mutual back in 1906, the company soon changed names to Columbus Life Insurance Company. From the very beginning, the founder, Channing Webster Brandon, founded the business to provide value to the lives of policyholders and this vision has carried them forward ever since.

Furthermore, they were against the way all agents and policyholders were treated within the industry. Therefore, the foundations were laid for a fairer environment for both and it took just twenty years for the company to hit $100 million of life insurance in force.

At the same time, there was more opportunities for agents than ever before and many were progressing to where they could open their own agencies. By the 1970s, they had $4 billion of life insurance in force and the growth has continued to today in terms of assets, products, agencies, and more.

Now, it belongs to parent company Western and Southern Financial Group who also own Western and Southern Life Insurance Company, The Lafayette Life Insurance Company, and three others.

Columbus Life Financials

In terms of numbers, Columbus Life Insurance Company has impressed in recent years and today stands as one of the largest life insurance entities in existence. For example, their total assets at the end of 2016 reached $4.15 billion (an increase of $250 million from 2015).

Additionally, they now have six different insurance subsidiaries across 49 states and the District of Columbia. Although still headquartered in Columbus, they boast 3,000 financial service representatives all ready to help you get started today.

Columbus Life Insurance Company Ratings

A.M. Best

When it comes to financial ratings, A.M. Best seems like the best place to start because it’s a universal system. With life insurance and annuity companies, they’re judged on an equal playing field and this allows us to compare accurately without having to worry about company size, the number of customers they have, and various other small details.

With Columbus Life Insurance Company, they were rated just recently and were awarded with an A+ 'Superior' from A.M. Best. and means they’re more than financially secure.

With A.M. Best, there’s also a second rating that doesn’t get too much attention but could be pivotal for the long-term success of your policy; Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating. Essentially, the aim of this rating is to assess the long-term stability of the company and how they’ll look financially in the future. With a rating of A, Columbus Life Insurance Company should be able to keep paying claims long into the future which is great news.

Standard and Poor’s

Next up, we have Standard & Poor’s who like to provide a credit rating for all financial institutes and this includes life insurance and annuity companies. Thanks to strong capital and increased revenues over the last decade, the rating for Columbus Life was recently upgraded to AA and this leaves them in good standing for the future.

Fitch

With Fitch Ratings, we have another company that likes to assess the credit position of life insurance companies. Since June 2009, Columbus Life has held the score of AA which is considered ‘Very Strong’. As the third-highest score from 21 available scores, Columbus Life can meet all contract and policyholder obligations with ease and they should remain in this position comfortably looking ahead.

Moody's

Although rare, Columbus Life Insurance Company actually has ratings from the big three credit companies as well as A.M. Best which allows us to see a complete overview of their position. Held since February 2009, Columbus Life has now been rated as AA3 for over eight years and this is the fourth-highest rating. Overall, it suggests ‘excellent financial security’ and this is something all customers should be happy with.

Comdex

Finally, when it comes to finances at least, we have a Comdex rating and this is a combined score from all the agencies. With each agency using a different scale, the Comdex rating looks to bring them all together and create a comparable scoring system for all customers. With a Comdex score of 96, it’s not hard to see why they’re one of the most popular insurance providers around.

BBB

Moving away from the finances, looking into customer service can also be a great way to assess the health of a company. When we get left alone with no help from insurance companies, we feel frustrated and as though we made a bad decision. Therefore, the Better Business Bureau looks to provide a rating depending on how well a company deals with complaints as well as looking at their experience within the market and many other factors.

Nowadays, there are very few businesses who are actually accredited by the BBB but Columbus Life Insurance Company joins this exclusive list. With a BBB rating of A+, they have the best possible grade and this means they achieved a rating of over 97 out of 100. As you can probably guess, this is a sensational score and should mean that no customers will have problems getting hold of Columbus Life or having problems fixed thereafter.

Customer service

Finally, Columbus Life is actually known for their friendly customer service and the this comes back to the values held by Mr Brandon. Once you become a customer, you’ll have the full support of an expert team behind you and this is always good to know. While some companies like to leave us to our own devices, Columbus Life Insurance Company is available through email, phone, fax, and even social media.

Products and Services Offered Through Columbus Life

So here it is, the all-important question; what products do Columbus Life offer and will they meet your needs? As a starting point, let’s take a look at the annuity products before we move onto the life insurance options a little later.

Annuities

Do you have your retirement planned? Are the finances in place to enjoy your retirement? No matter how far away it may seem, it’s never too early to start planning what happens when your working income comes to an end and this is where annuities come in handy. With Columbus Life, there are four main options;

  • ADVANTAGE Fixed Index Annuity – Allocation will be decided by you solely whether you want the S&P 500 Index or perhaps you want your money tied to a personalized GS Momentum Builder Multi-Asset Class Index (Goldman Sachs). Even if the index declines, your interest rates will never be negative.
  • PASSPORT Single-Premium Deferred Annuity – If you have a set amount of money to spend right now, why not pay a single premium and guarantee interest rates for up to seven years? Each year, you’ll be able to withdraw up to 10% of the annuity’s value without incurring a charge and you can even benefit from a 2% interest rate boost for the first twelve months.
  • ACCOUNTMAX Market Value Adjusted Fixed Annuity – With this annuity, you have the perfect balance between security and growth. With the security of guaranteed rates, you also have an opportunity to receive higher rates to earn for your retirement.
  • LIFESOURCE PLUS Single-Premium Immediate Annuity – Rather than being restricted in how much you can withdraw before retirement, this single premium option allows you to withdraw from the first year. As soon as the contract is in place, you’ll start to receive payments.

Life Insurance Policies offered through Columbus Life

With life insurance, the focus for Columbus Life is very much on Universal Life Insurance with five different products in this area. In addition to this, they also offer one term life policy so let’s break it down.

NAUTICAL Term Life Insurance

If you only need life insurance for a set period of time, this policy will be cheaper than a permanent policy and the death benefit remains free from tax.

As long as you’re under the age of 70, the convertible term life insurance policy can be converted into a permanent option and the premiums will remain the same from the first day to the last.

The level term life insurance is available in 10, 15, 20 and 30 year term lengths.

You can also choose return of premium life insurance, where your premiums are returned in full upon the expiration of the term.

You can visit our term life insurance quotes page for both exam and no exam quotes.

Universal Life Insurance

Within this permanent life insurance category, you have three different options; Indexed Explorer Plus, Explorer Plus, and Voyager.

Voyager Universal Life

With Voyager, you have flexible universal life with a lifetime no-lapse guarantee which means Columbus Life cannot lapse your insurance for any reason other than a failure to pay premiums on your part.

Explorer Plus

With the Explorer Plus Universal Life policy, you have access to cash value that will grow free from tax and you can borrow cash value from the policy after just one year. As long as sufficient premiums are paid to keep the insurance going, your policy has several no-lapse guarantee options. Payments will be flexible now and into the future as long as the policy is properly funded.

Indexed Explorer Plus

Finally, Indexed Explorer Plus is Indexed Universal Life which allows your money to be indexed to the S&P 500.

Some features include:

  • Cash Value growth that can be withdrawn or borrowed against.
  • No Lapse Guarantees for the first 10 Years. As long as you pay your minimum required premium you policy will not lapse, even if sufficient cash value is available.
Survivorship Universal Life Insurance

Finally, Columbus Life Insurance Company also offer two flexible premium survivorship universal life insurance products. If you haven’t heard of this previously, the product will insure two people with the death benefit reaching a beneficiary once the second person passes away.

Available for those aged between 20-79, you can get coverage starting at $100,000 with the LEGACY PLUS option. Also, you can benefit from a 10-year no-lapse guarantee. If both insureds are under the age of 65, the LEGACY G option allows for coverage starting at $250,000. With lifetime protection, these two options are perfect for partners, business partners, and others who want to insure as a pair.

Life Insurance Riders

Life insurance riders are additional options that are added to your policy for added benefits.

Accelerated Death Benefit: Columbus Life offer a superb Accelerated Death Benefit rider for no charge. If you come down with an illness and cannot complete two of six ‘Activities of Daily Living’, you’ll receive an advance on your death benefit for medical bills, care, and any other expenses that arise.

Children's term rider: This rider provides easy life insurance for children because there are no exams and it will typically cover all children age 15 days and older. The coverage lasts until age 23.

Waiver of Premium rider: If you become disabled, the waiver of premium rider will kick in after 6 months and pay your premiums for the duration of your policy or your disability.

Additional riders are available upon request.

Conclusion of our Columbus Life Insurance Review

Columbus Life is a solid company with a strong financial history. It offers many great policies, both life insurance and annuities.

Now, the real question is, is this the right company for you?

At TermLife2Go, we work with dozens of top rated carriers. It may be that Columbus Life is the right fit for you. But maybe not. There is only one way to know for sure.

So what are you waiting for? Give us a call today to see what we can do for you!

We hope you enjoyed our Columbus Life review. Please leave any questions or comments below.

Written by
TermLife2Go
We are a team of life insurance experts with the simple mission of helping you find the best coverage for your unique situation. We research, review, and rank life insurance companies to make that process easier.