Auto-Owners Life life insurance

Overview

Auto-Owners Life Insurance Company is the life insurer of Auto-Owners Insurance, the Lansing, Michigan, property and casualty group best known for home, auto and business insurance sold through independent agents. The life company sells level term, whole life, universal life, annuities and disability income insurance through the same independent agencies, so a family can usually buy its life policy from the agent who handles its car and house.

Auto-Owners Life is the only life company in the NAIC's Auto-Owners group (group code 280). It ranked #89 among U.S. life insurance groups by 2024 individual life direct premiums written, according to NAIC market share data, with about $162.0 million in premiums and a 0.10% market share. The parent group is far larger on the property and casualty side: its 2025 annual report shows about $16.8 billion of net written premiums for the group, against about $231 million of net premiums earned by the life company.

The life company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Auto-Owners Insurance Company, a mutual insurance company owned by its policyholders. Auto-Owners says it is represented by about 50,000 agents in 26 property and casualty states, and the life company is licensed in 30 states. At the end of 2025 the life company reported $52.2 billion of life insurance in force and $4.77 billion of total assets, and it received more than 35,000 life, disability and annuity applications during the year.

History

Vern V. Moulton and four associates organized Auto-Owners Insurance Company in July 1916 in Mount Pleasant, Michigan. The company moved to Lansing in 1917, when it had $174.25 in assets, and Moulton led it as president from 1929 until late 1957. It expanded to Indiana, its first state outside Michigan, in December 1935.

Auto-Owners Life Insurance Company was established, and incorporated, in 1966. The group moved into its current home office on Anacapri Boulevard in Lansing on the last day of 1976 and celebrated its 100th anniversary in July 2016.

Since then the group has grown mainly through affiliations on the property and casualty side: Atlantic Casualty Insurance Company, a North Carolina nonstandard and excess lines insurer, in 2016; the Concord Group Insurance Companies of New Hampshire in April 2017; and Capital Insurance Group of Monterey, California, in 2019. Auto-Owners remains a mutual group with no outside shareholders.

Life insurance products

Auto-Owners' website describes three life products, each underwritten and issued by Auto-Owners Life Insurance Company:

• Level Term: a level death benefit for 10, 20 or 30 years. Coverage may extend all the way to age 95, meaning the policy can be kept after the level period at higher premiums. See level term insurance and what happens when your term life policy expires for how that works.
• Whole Life: permanent coverage with death benefit protection to age 110, flexible payment options and guaranteed cash values that can be reached through policy loans or surrender (see how whole life insurance works).
• Universal Life: flexible premiums, payment schedules and coverage amounts with cash value. Policyholders can decrease the death benefit at any time or increase it, subject to underwriting (see universal life insurance).

Auto-Owners does not publish rates, maximum issue ages, underwriting classes, no-exam options or a rider list online. Its site offers a life insurance needs estimator, then directs shoppers to an independent agent for a quote. Some coverage details vary by state.

Other products

The life company also issues annuities, which Auto-Owners describes as having no setup or annual administration fees, a minimum guaranteed interest rate, the ability to add contributions at any time, and penalty-free withdrawals of up to 10% of the cash value each year. It also sells individual disability income insurance. The wider group sells auto, home, business and workers' compensation coverage.

Buying and service

Auto-Owners works solely through independent agents. You cannot buy a policy online; the agency locator on its site finds an agent, and the agent provides quotes and handles the application. Because independent agents can represent several insurers, an Auto-Owners agent may also be able to show quotes from other life companies (see captive vs independent life insurance agents).

For service, Auto-Owners points customers first to their local agent. Policyholders can also use an online access account, and the company's contact page lists 800-346-0346, Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Eastern time, along with a dedicated life email option on its contact form. The corporate office is at 6101 Anacapri Blvd. in Lansing.

Claims

Auto-Owners' general claims instructions are to report a claim to your local independent agent, who acts as the first point of contact, and Auto-Owners has more than 100 claim offices in 26 states. For a life insurance death claim, beneficiaries can contact the agent who sold the policy or call Auto-Owners at 800-346-0346; the how to file a life insurance claim guide and life insurance claim checklist explain the documents insurers typically request, such as a certified death certificate and claim form. The company does not publish life claim payment statistics.

Ratings and reputation

Auto-Owners' 2025 annual report, published in March 2026, states that Auto-Owners Life Insurance Company is rated A+ (Superior) by AM Best, the same rating as Auto-Owners Insurance Company. When AM Best affirmed the life company's A+ in December 2022, it also affirmed a long-term issuer credit rating of "aa-" (Superior) with a stable outlook. Auto-Owners does not publish S&P, Moody's or Fitch ratings for the life company.

The life company's 2025 financial statement shows net income of about $49.3 million and $598.4 million of capital and surplus. Auto-Owners Life was not among the brands ranked in the J.D. Power 2026 U.S. Individual Life Insurance Study.

Who it suits

Auto-Owners Life suits people in its 30 licensed states who value a local independent agent and want uncomplicated term, whole life or universal life coverage from a company backed by a large, policyholder-owned property and casualty group. Shoppers who want to compare prices online, need coverage in a state Auto-Owners Life does not serve, or want specialized products such as indexed or variable universal life will need to look elsewhere.

• Strengths: AM Best A+ (Superior) rating; owned by a large mutual group with more than $18.2 billion of policyholder surplus at the end of 2025; sold through independent agents who can also compare other insurers; term coverage that can extend to age 95.
• Weaknesses: licensed in only 30 states; no online quotes, rates or applications; a short product list with no indexed or variable products and no published riders or no-exam options; limited public detail on life claim handling.

How to contact Auto-Owners Life