Aflac life insurance

Overview

Aflac is the U.S. brand of Aflac Incorporated, the Columbus, Georgia, insurer best known for its quacking-duck advertising and for supplemental insurance sold at the workplace: cancer, accident, critical illness, hospital indemnity and short-term disability policies that pay cash benefits on top of health insurance. Life insurance is a smaller part of the business. Aflac sells term and whole life policies, mostly through employers by payroll deduction, and final expense whole life directly to consumers.

The Aflac group ranked #68 among U.S. life insurance groups by 2024 individual life direct premiums written, according to NAIC market share data, with $287.8 million in premiums and a 0.18% share. Most of Aflac Incorporated's business is supplemental health insurance in the U.S. and Japan, where Aflac Life Insurance Japan is a leading seller of cancer and medical insurance. The parent trades on the New York Stock Exchange as AFL.

A name that confuses people: Aflac's main U.S. insurer is legally named American Family Life Assurance Company of Columbus. It has no connection to American Family Insurance (AmFam) of Madison, Wisconsin, whose life company is American Family Life Insurance Company; that company has its own profile at American Family Life. Check the full legal name on your policy. "Aflac" started as the acronym of the Columbus company's name.

History

John Amos and his brothers Paul and Bill founded American Family Life Insurance Company of Columbus on November 17, 1955, in a six-room office in Columbus, Georgia, with 16 employees. In 1957 it introduced a cancer insurance policy, and in 1964 it began "cluster selling" at workplaces and became American Family Life Assurance Company of Columbus. It expanded to 37 states by 1970. In 1974 it entered Japan and listed on the New York Stock Exchange. The company formally adopted the acronym AFLAC in 1989.

Daniel P. Amos, the son of Paul Amos, became CEO in 1990 and is still chairman and CEO of Aflac Incorporated. The Aflac Duck first appeared on January 1, 2000.

Acquisitions broadened the U.S. business:

• 2009: Continental American Insurance Company of Columbia, South Carolina, now Aflac's group insurance company.
• 2019: a dental and vision business, now Aflac Dental and Vision.
• November 2020: Zurich North America's U.S. group life, disability and absence management business, for $140 million, which Aflac reinsured and took over.
• 2021: formed Tier One Insurance Company for direct-to-consumer products.

Virgil R. Miller was named president of Aflac U.S. in 2023 and president of Aflac Incorporated in 2025.

Life insurance products

Aflac sells individual life insurance in three forms. It publishes few product details online, and policies vary by state.

• Term life: term policies that Aflac says usually run 10 to 30 years. They are typically bought at work through payroll deduction but owned by the employee, so they are portable if you change jobs.
• Whole life: permanent coverage with level premiums and cash value, also sold mainly at the workplace, including coverage for children.
• Final expense whole life: sold directly to consumers online or by phone and underwritten by Tier One Insurance Company. You answer health questions; there is no medical exam. The level plan covers ages 45 to 80, with face amounts from $5,000 up to $50,000 at ages 45 to 55, falling to $20,000 at ages 76 to 80. A modified plan for ages 45 to 75 covers $2,000 to $25,000 and pays a limited benefit in the first two policy years, the full benefit from year three. That makes it a graded policy.

Group term life is sold to employers through Continental American Insurance Company (Aflac Group Insurance). Continental American is not licensed in New York, Guam, Puerto Rico or the U.S. Virgin Islands. Aflac's life policies are best seen as supplemental coverage rather than a family's main policy: face amounts are modest and Aflac does not offer universal, indexed or variable life.

Other products

Aflac's core U.S. products are supplemental health policies: accident, cancer, critical illness, hospital indemnity, short-term disability, dental and vision. Through its group business it also offers group life, disability and absence management, and Tier One sells Medicare supplement insurance.

Buying and service

Most people get Aflac through an employer that offers it as a voluntary benefit; an Aflac agent or benefits broker enrolls workers, and premiums come out of each paycheck. You can also start a quote on aflac.com or use the website's agent locator. Policyholders manage coverage and file claims through the MyAflac website and mobile app.

Customer service is at 800-992-3522. New York policyholders call 800-366-3436, and group (Continental American) customers call 800-433-3036. Written complaints go to the Aflac Consumer Response and Resolution Department, P.O. Box 5388, Columbus, GA 31906-0388.

Claims

Aflac encourages beneficiaries to file claims online through MyAflac, which runs 24/7, or by downloading claim forms and mailing or faxing them; the claims fax is 877-442-3522. The claims phone line is 800-992-3522, Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Eastern. In Illinois, life claim forms must be requested by phone. New York claims are faxed to 877-844-0201 and group claims to 866-849-2970. Expect to provide a certified death certificate and the policy number; see the claims guide.

Ratings and reputation

In October 2026 AM Best affirmed the A+ (Superior) financial strength rating and "aa" long-term issuer credit rating of American Family Life Assurance Company of Columbus, along with those of Aflac New York and Continental American, with a stable outlook. AM Best has rated the group's balance sheet strongest, its operating performance strong and its enterprise risk management very strong. It has also noted pressure to reverse declining U.S. premiums and grow new sales. On June 12, 2025, Aflac found that a hacker using social engineering had accessed its U.S. network. Files stolen included claims and health information and Social Security numbers of customers, beneficiaries, employees and agents. Aflac began notifying about 22.65 million people in December 2025 and offered free credit monitoring. About two dozen proposed class actions were filed in Georgia federal court. See privacy and your life insurance data: who sees it and your rights for what such breaches mean for policyholders.

Aflac was not ranked in the J.D. Power 2026 U.S. Individual Life Insurance Study.

Who it suits

Aflac life insurance suits workers who want a modest amount of portable life coverage through payroll deduction, often packaged with Aflac's accident, cancer or hospital plans, and older adults who want a small final expense policy without a medical exam. It is a poor fit as the main coverage for a young family with a mortgage, where a large individually underwritten term policy usually offers more coverage per dollar, and for anyone who wants universal or indexed life.

• Strengths: A+ (Superior) from AM Best, affirmed September 2025; portable workplace coverage that stays with you after a job change; final expense with no medical exam to age 80; a large U.S. claims and service operation with online claims filing.
• Weaknesses: life insurance is a side business, with limited published product details; modest face amounts; the 2025 data breach exposed information on about 22.65 million people; the legal name is easily confused with American Family Insurance.

How to contact Aflac