Ohio National Life Insurance Review
About Ohio National Life Insurance Company
Founded in 1909, Ohio National Life Insurance Company is a mutual insurance holding company headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio. The company has nearly $42 billion in assets under management, and employs more than 1,300 associates at its headquarters.
As a mutual insurance company, Ohio National focuses primarily on its policyholders and clients, rather than trying to maximize profits for stockholders. Mutual insurance companies are owned by their policyholders. Participating policyholders receive dividends, giving them a share of the profits in the company.
Ohio National Financial Ratings
Ohio National enjoys high ratings by the popular third-party business rating services. This includes both industry rating services and the Better Business Bureau (BBB).
Here are the most recent ratings on the company:
- Standard & Poor’s: “A+”, 5th highest rating on a 21 part scale (as of January, 2018)
- A.M. Best: “A+ Superior”, second-highest rating on a 16 part scale (as of August, 2017)
- Moody’s: “A1”, fifth highest on a 21 point scale (as of October, 2016)
- Better Business Bureau: “A+” (on a scale of A+ to F), BBB accredited since 1938
Based on the ratings above, Ohio National is financially one of the stronger companies in the insurance industry. That’s a good sign, because it indicates that the company is very stable. This is important because life insurance is a very long-term arrangement.
Products Offered by Ohio National
Even if you are only planning to purchase a term life insurance policy, it’s always good to know that an insurance company has related products. As time goes on, you may want access to additional financial products and services.
Here are the basic product lines offered by Ohio National:
Life insurance:
- Term life insurance
- Whole life insurance
- Indexed universal life insurance
- Universal life insurance
- Variable universal life insurance
Annuities:
- Fixed annuities
- Fixed index annuities
- Variable annuities
Disability Income Insurance: For business overhead expense, and business buy-sell agreements. These plans provide coverage for individuals in virtually all types of occupations.
Retirement Plans: You can choose between a Full-Service Platform (fully managed by Ohio National) and an Investment-only Platform (managed by a third-party administrator). 401(k), 403(b), Profit sharing, SEP and SIMPLE IRA, and 412(i) plans available.
Business Solutions: These include executive fringe benefits (SERPs, executive bonus plans, simple dollar insurance), retirement plans, and business owner needs (buy-sell planning, family business planning, key person insurance, etc.).
Investments: Ohio National has a full-service broker/dealer subsidiary, offering mutual funds, variable annuities, full-service stock and bond trading, unit investment trusts, structured products, group retirement plans, 529 college savings plans, health savings accounts, and cash management accounts.
The above programs are one of the big advantages of working with a large, well-established financial services company, like Ohio National.
Ohio National Term Life Insurance
Ohio National term life insurance policies have the following features:
- Terms of 10, 15 or 20 years.
- “Basic” level term policies – these plans provide the lowest premium pricing, but also offer a limited conversion option. This is a perfect plan if your need for life insurance is temporary.
- “Plus” level term policies – these plans come with expanded conversion options, enabling you to convert a term policy to whole life, universal life or variable universal life plans. They provide you with the ability to convert term insurance into permanent insurance, for just a few extra dollars per month.
Why term life insurance, and not permanent?
The basic advantage of term life insurance is that it costs substantially less than permanent coverage. This will be especially important if you are early in life, have a tight budget, and a need for a large amount of life insurance to provide protection for a young family.
Term life insurance can also be used for very specific purposes, such as paying off your mortgage upon your death. A “Plus” plan with a conversion option, can allow you to convert the term plan to permanent coverage at a later date, as your finances allow.
Ohio National Sample Term Quotes
Here are sample quotes for 20-year term policies with a $1 million death benefit. They are for preferred non-smokers at various ages. The policies are the “FlexTerm Plus”, which offer conversion to permanent life insurance.
- Male, age 30 – $575 per year
- Female, age 30 – $445 per year
- Male, age 40 – $835 per year
- Female, age 40 – $705 per year
- Male, age 50 – $2,065 per year
- Female, age 50 – $1,525 per year
- Male, age 60 – $5,655 per year
- Female, age 60 – $3,955 per year
These are just sample rates for comparison only. The actual premium you will receive will be based on your exact age, as well as your specific level of health. Rates for smokers are substantially higher.
Ohio National Customer Service
Live contact with Ohio National Customer Service Representative is available during regular business hours.
Term life insurance premium payments can be made 24 hours a day, seven days per week, online or by phone. You will be required to supply your policy number, the last four digits of your Social Security number, your bank routing number, and your checking or savings account number.
Payments are accepted on the same day if they are received by 5:00 PM Eastern time. In addition, an Electronic Monthly Debit can be set up for premium plans that involve monthly payments. However, there is no option to pay by credit card, at this time. All policies have a 31-day grace period.
Popular Ohio National Policy Riders
Like all life insurance companies, Ohio National offers a number of different policy riders. Three of the most popular include:
Guaranteed Insurability Option (GIO): With this rider, you can add additional life insurance later in the policy term. More significantly, you can do so with no proof of insurability required. It enables you to take a relatively small policy initially, and then increase your death benefit as your finances allow. It’s also an excellent rider to include with a policy for a child.
If you start out with a $50,000 policy, you may be able to increase it to $100,000 or more as the child ages. This will be preferable to purchasing a brand-new policy later, when you may have developed health conditions that would make the additional coverage much more expensive.
Chronic Illness and Terminal Illness: If this rider is added to your policy, you can receive part of your death benefit upon the diagnosis of a qualifying chronic or terminal illness. It will give you access to some of your death benefit while you are still alive. It can provide you with much-needed cash during the treatment phase of a major illness.
Additional Paid-up Insurance (API): This rider allows you to purchase paid-up life insurance by adding additional premium payments to your regular payments. It enables you to increase your death benefit over time.
Ohio National Pros and Cons
Ohio National Pros:
- Large, well-diversified, well-established company; there’s no concern about Ohio National going out of business down the road.
- The company is highly regarded by the rating agencies, which is a strong indication of its financial integrity.
- 24/7 premium payment capability, just in case you’re running a little bit late.
- Full menu of additional services, including disability insurance, retirement plans, business services and investments. This company gives you growing room.
- Solid policy riders that enable you to either increase your insurance coverage or convert a term policy to permanent coverage at a later date.
Ohio National Cons:
- Underwriting guidelines are a little bit on the tighter side. This is typical of insurance companies that have very high ratings.
Should You Get a Term Life Policy Through Ohio National?
This is an excellent company to work with, and despite the sometimes tighter underwriting guidelines, it’s entirely possible to get an inexpensive policy.
All insurance companies have preferred customer bases. For example, some companies take a more favorable view of people with hypertension, or certain occupations that may be deemed dangerous by other companies.
This isn’t to say that Ohio National takes a favorable view of these conditions. But it is possible that you will get a better premium rate from this company than from others, based on your own personal circumstances and health profile.
Give us a call, or complete the brief application to the left of this article, and we’ll see if Ohio National – or another insurance company – is the right choice for you. As an insurance broker, we work with them all, and we’ll work to get you the best policy for the lowest premium.
