Baltimore Life Insurance Company Review
Welcome to EasyQuotes4You and thank you for visiting our site. In this article we are going to provide you with an in-depth review of Baltimore Life Insurance Company and its products. We hope this helps you decide if Baltimore Life is the right fit for you.
We hope you enjoy this unbiased review of Baltimore Life Insurance Company.
The History of Baltimore Life Insurance Company
Five men founded Baltimore Life in 1882 as The Baltimore Mutual Aid Society of Baltimore City. Total assets for the company was a whopping $260.93.
Eighteen years after the creation of The Baltimore Mutual Aid Society, the directors changed the name to what it is today, The Baltimore Life Insurance Company of Baltimore City.
Baltimore Life insures over 300,000 families, individuals, and businesses across America. They operate in 49 states and the District of Columbia through its network of independent agents.
Baltimore Life Insurance Company Contact Information
If you have a question about your policy or need to file a claim, Baltimore Life customer service info is below:
Baltimore Life Insurance Financial Strength
Whenever you decide to purchase a life insurance policy, your first question should always be: Is the life insurance company reliable?
Rating agencies such as the BBB, A.M. Best, and NAIC Complaint Index will help you decide a companies trustworthiness and financial stability.
Financial stability is extremely important because this is an indication on how well they will be able to pay claims.
Baltimore Life Insurance Company Ratings
Baltimore Life Insurance Company A.M. Best Rating
A.M. Best rating agency exclusively focuses on the insurance industry and is a trusted source to evaluate a company’s credibility. A.M. Best has ratings on over 3,500 companies in the world.
Baltimore Life Insurance Company has a rating of B++ (Good) with A.M. Best. This is the 5th best out of 16 possible ratings.
This rating means the Baltimore Life has been financially stable for several years and is good position to pay claims.
Life Insurance Offered By Baltimore Life Company
Baltimore Life Company offers a variety of insurance products that address most families needs. Take a look below and see for yourself.
Term Life Insurance offered by Baltimore Life
Baltimore Life Company offers 2 term life insurance products. They are:
- aPriority Term Life
- Protector Level Term Life
aPriority Term Life Insurance
aPriority Term Life has level premiums for 10, 15, 20, or 30 years. Death benefits start as low as $25K with non-tobacco rates for healthy customers.
aPriority Term Life offers a wide range of riders that allow you to customize your policy. They are:
- Accidental Death Benefit Rider: Pays an additional death benefit if death is accidental before the age of 70. Issue ages are 15-65 years old.
- Waiver of Premium Rider: Baltimore Life will continue to pay your premium if you become totally disabled. Premiums are paid until you recover or the policy terminates. Available for ages 16-55.
- Child Rider: Level term life insurance to protect all current and future children. Coverage lasts until your child reaches age 25 or the insured reaches the age of 70, whichever is first.
- Non-Occupational Disability Income Rider: If you are totally disabled from a non work related incident, you could receive a monthly benefit for up to 2 years. Available for ages 18-55.
- Accelerated Death Benefit Rider: If you are diagnosed with a terminal illness or confined to a nursing home you could receive a portion of your death benefit early. This rider is FREE and come with your policy.
Protector Level Term Life
Protector Level Term Life is a straightforward term life insurance policy. Premiums are guaranteed level for the chosen term period of 10, 15, 20, or 30 years.
Protector Level Term Life only offers a few riders compared to aPriority Term Life. Rider offered are:
- Child Rider
- Accidental Death Benefit Rider
Final Expense Life offered by Baltimore Life
Baltimore Life Company offers two simplified issue whole life products for seniors ages 50-80 years old. They are:
- Silver Guard I
- Silver Guard II
Silver Guard 1
- Day 1 Coverage: Some policies have a 2 year waiting period on naturally caused deaths, not Silver Guard I, you are covered day 1.
- Guaranteed Premiums: Premiums are guaranteed for life.
- Guaranteed Cash Value: Accrues cash value yearly and over time it may be available to help in an emergency.
- Guaranteed Non Cancelable: As long as premiums are paid, contract cannot be canceled, no matter what.
- $1,000 Cash Draft Benefit: This allows for $1,000 of the policy’s death benefit to be immediately available after the insured’s death. This comes free with the Silver Guard I product.
- Multiple Premium Pay Options: You have a choice on how long to pay for your policy. You can choose life pay, which means you pay for the rest of your life. Or you can choose 10-pay, which means you only pay for 10 years.
- Accidental Death Benefit Rider: Only available with life pay premium option.
Silver Guard II
The Silver Guard II are used for individuals whose health won’t allow them qualify for Silver Guard I. Silver Guard II is considered a graded death benefit whole life policy and the payout structure works a little different than Silver Guard I.
- If death is caused naturally in year one, your beneficiaries receive 30% of the death benefit.
- If death is caused naturally in year two, your beneficiaries receive 70% of the death benefit.
- In year three and beyond, 100% of death benefit is available no matter the cause of death.
- If death is caused by accident, full benefit is paid starting day 1.
- Also comes with:
- Guaranteed Premiums
- Guaranteed Cash Value
- Non-Cancellable
Universal Life offered by Baltimore Life Company
Baltimore Life Insurance Company offers 2 very competitive universal life insurance products. Universal life insurance offers permanent protection at a fraction of the cost of whole life insurance. They are:
- Lifetime Navigator UL
- aPriority UL
The Lifetime Navigator UL and aPriority UL are simple universal life policies with the following features:
- No-Lapse Guaranteed Premium
- Guaranteed Death Benefit
- Coverage to age 120
The Lifetime Navigator UL also comes with the Catch Up Privilege which allows you a 61 day period to “catch up” any missed premium payments to keep the premiums guaranteed.
Both UL’s offered by Baltimore Life Company has riders to choose from to help customize your policy. They are:
- Accidental Death Benefit Rider
- Waiver of Premium Rider
- Child Rider
- Accelerated Death Benefit Rider
Whole Life Insurance offered by Baltimore Life Company
Baltimore Life Insurance Company offers two whole life insurance products. Both of these products are used to maximize a consumers estate, reduce taxes on the estate, and require a single lump sum payment. They are:
- Single Premium Whole Life
- Generation Legacy
Single Premium Whole Life
This product allows consumers to move non-qualified funds (such as CD’s) into a whole life insurance policy to help reduce taxes on his/her estate.
This concept allows you to leave tax free inheritance to your beneficiaries. Check out the example below:
Judy age 55 has has $250,000 combined between her CD’s, mutual funds, money market, and savings/checking. She wants to leave an inheritance to her grandchildren.
By simply moving $50,000 from the CD to a single premium whole life policy, Judy was able to purchase a $91,000 tax free whole life insurance policy.
Not only did she save on her taxes each year by moving the CD money, she increased the inheritance to her grandkids by $41,000. Also no taxes are due on the life insurance proceeds.
Generation Legacy Whole Life
The Generation Legacy is a unique concept that combines an annuity and a life insurance policy for consumers looking to leave a legacy.
When you buy a Generation Legacy, you are actually issued two separate contracts. You are purchasing a single premium immediate annuity (SPIA) and a whole life policy with limited premium.
The payouts from the SPIA are used to pay the premiums for the whole life policy. If you are between the ages of 60-74, the payouts from the annuity are paid for 10 years.
When you reach this point, the life insurance policy is considered paid in full and the payments from the annuity stop.
If the insured should die before the 10 years, the beneficiary will receive the remainder of the unpaid payments from the SPIA plus the whole life death benefit. Check out the example below:
Barbara, age 65, a non-tobacco user, is in the 25 percent tax bracket and wants to leave her estate to her granddaughter. She has $50,000 in a non-qualified annuity ($20,000 of which is gain) and $200,000 in CDs and money market funds.
She receives a Form 1099 each year for the taxable income from her CDs and money market funds only. Interest is accumulating tax-deferred in Barbara’s annuity.
When Barbara dies, her granddaughter will likely have to pay income tax on the portion of Barbara’s annuity that is considered gain ($20,000), depending on the payout option.
This could even force Barbara’s granddaughter into a higher tax bracket in the year she receives the funds. If Barbara surrenders her annuity for a lump sum today, her tax on the $20,000 gain would be about $5,000.
Barbara decided to transfer the $50,000 from her annuity to Generation Legacy, naming her granddaughter as beneficiary, and keep the CDs and money market funds available for other uses during retirement.
By doing this, she purchased $86,605 in life insurance. This significantly increased the size of Barbara’s gift to her granddaughter, and since Generation Legacy is life insurance, the benefit will pass to her granddaughter income tax free at Barbara’s death (under current tax law).
Over the next 10 years, Barbara will receive a Form 1099 as the annual payouts from Generation Legacy’s annuity are directed into a 10-pay life insurance policy.
Instead of paying $5,000 in tax at once (as she would if she cashed in the annuity), she will only be required to pay tax on a portion of the gain each year for the first 10 years.
If Barbara dies before the end of the 10-year annuity period, her granddaughter will receive the income tax-free life insurance benefit of $86,605 and unpaid payments from the immediate annuity*, rather than the smaller taxable annuity benefit.
If she dies after the 10–year annuity period, her granddaughter will receive the income tax-free benefit of $86,605 from the paid-up life insurance policy.
Living Benefits
The Generation Legacy also allows you to access a portion of the death benefit if you are diagnosed with a critical illness such as:
- Permanent confinement to a nursing home
- Home Health Care
- Terminal Illness
- Use of a certified adult day care center
Critical Illness offered by Baltimore Life Company
Baltimore Life Insurance Company offers a stand alone Critical Illness policy that pays directly to the insured. Even if you health insurance pays part or all of your treatment, benefits from a Critical Illness policy are still paid.
Illnesses that receive full benefits from Baltimore Life’s Critical Illness policy are:
- Cancer is defined as a malignant tumor characterized by uncontrolled growth of malignant cells and invasion of normal tissue.
- Heart Attack refers to an acute myocardial infarction, the death of heart muscle resulting from inadequate blood supply.
- Kidney Failure is defined as chronic, irreversible failure of both kidneys to function and requiring regular renal dialysis or kidney transplantation.
- Major Organ Transplant is defined as organ transplant from a donor to the insured of bone marrow solely for treatment of cancer or bone marrow failure, or transplant of an entire kidney, liver, heart, lung, or pancreas.
- Stroke refers to an acute cerebrovascular event producing neurological damage
Illnesses that receive partial benefits from Baltimore Life’s Critical Illness policy are:
- Coronary Angioplasty refers to balloon angioplasty, laser angioplasty, or atherectomy to correct narrowing or blockage of one or more coronary arteries. Provides a 10% benefit.
- Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting refers to major surgery requiring division of the breast bone to correct narrowing or blockage of one or more coronary arteries with bypass grafts. Provides a 25% benefit.
- Carcinoma in situ refers to a malignant neoplasm of epithelial origin that is confined to the basement membrane. Provides a 10% benefit.
Retirement Products offered by Baltimore Life Company
Baltimore Life Insurance Company annuity portfolio offers a wide range of products to address your retirement needs. Individuals have a choice of making periodic or single premium payments while earnings are tax deferred.
Flexible Premium Retirement Annuity (FPRA)
This annuity offered by Baltimore Life features a flexible premium with guaranteed income options, and many different payout choices. You may take partial withdrawals up to 90% of the annuity value.
Single Premium Deferred Annuity (SPDA)
Baltimore Life’s Our Choice SPDA comes with a guaranteed interest rate period of either 5 or 7 years. An additional 1% interest is added in the first year only.
The Our Choice SPDA comes with a terminal illness rider at no extra cost along with surrender charge free withdrawals annually. You can add a nursing home confinement rider at an additional cost.
Final Thoughts
We hope you enjoyed this review on Baltimore Life Insurance Company. Baltimore Life is a strong, stable life insurance company offering competitive products.
But just like with any other life insurance company, they may not be the best fit. This is why it’s important to work with an independent agent to help guide you to the company that best fits your needs.
Is Baltimore Life Insurance Company financially stable?
Yes, Baltimore Life is financially stable. They have a “B++” rating with A.M. Best, which is 5th out of 16.
What types of products does Baltimore Life offer?
Baltimore Life offers term life, final expense insurance, single premium whole life, critical illness insurance, and retirement annuities to consumers in 49 states and Washington D.C.
Does Baltimore Life offer a guaranteed issue product?
Yes, Baltimore Life’s Silver Guard II is a guaranteed issue whole life policy with limited benefits the first 2 years.