Farm Bureau Financial Services life insurance

Overview

Farm Bureau Financial Services is the consumer brand of the Iowa Farm Bureau family of insurance companies. Its life insurance and annuities are issued by Farm Bureau Life Insurance Company of West Des Moines, Iowa, and, in Colorado, by its subsidiary Greenfields Life Insurance Company. The NAIC files the two companies together as the Iowa Farm Bureau group, which ranked #61 among U.S. life insurance groups by 2024 individual life direct premiums written, according to NAIC market share data, with about $423.5 million in premiums and a 0.27% market share.

The life company sits under FBL Financial Group, Inc., a holding company that was listed on the New York Stock Exchange until May 2021. It is now privately owned within the Farm Bureau organization: Farm Bureau Property & Casualty Insurance Company bought out the public shareholders, and the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation retained its stake. FBL Financial Group also manages two affiliated property and casualty insurers, Farm Bureau Property & Casualty and Western Agricultural Insurance Company, for a fee.

The company sells only through exclusive, multiline Farm Bureau agents and financial advisors. Its contact page lists 14 states: Arizona, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Utah, Wisconsin and Wyoming. Greenfields Life covers Colorado. The brand says it has about 1,900 employees and 4,000 field associates. It is not the same company as Southern Farm Bureau Life, COUNTRY Financial or other state Farm Bureau insurers, which are separate organizations.

History

The organization traces its start to 1939, when the Iowa Farm Bureau formed Iowa Farm Mutual Insurance Company to meet farmers' liability insurance needs. A life company followed: Farm Bureau Life Insurance Company began operations in 1945 under the name Iowa Life Insurance Company. The property and casualty mutual was reorganized and renamed Farm Bureau Property & Casualty Insurance Company in 2010.

FBL Financial Group was incorporated in Iowa in October 1993 as the holding company for the life operations and went public on the New York Stock Exchange in July 1996, with the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation keeping majority control. The company expanded into Kansas through a merger in 2001. For years it also owned EquiTrust Life Insurance Company, an annuity and life writer sold through independent agents; FBL sold EquiTrust Life to an affiliate of Guggenheim Partners in 2011 and refocused on the Farm Bureau agency force. Greenfields Life was launched in 2013 to sell life and annuity products in Colorado, where the Farm Bureau property and casualty business is run by a different organization.

FBL's 2020 annual report described two kinds of markets: states where its affiliates manage the Farm Bureau property and casualty companies (Arizona, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Mexico, South Dakota and Utah) and "life partner" states where it owns the Farm Bureau life company but other Farm Bureau property insurers manage the agents (Colorado, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Wisconsin and Wyoming). Iowa, Kansas and Oklahoma were the largest sources of life premiums that year.

On January 11, 2021, FBL announced an agreement for Farm Bureau Property & Casualty to acquire the roughly 39% of shares it and the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation did not already own. The deal closed on May 25, 2021, at $61.00 per share in cash, and FBL stopped trading on the NYSE the next day. Dan Pitcher was chief executive through at least 2025; company announcements in 2026 name Ron Mead as chief executive officer.

Life insurance products

Farm Bureau Life's product pages list three families of coverage:

• Term. Choice Term offers level premiums for 10, 15, 20 or 30 years or to age 65, with annually increasing premiums if you extend coverage. Return of Premium Term (20 or 30 years) refunds all base premiums at the end of the term if you outlive it; see return of premium term life insurance: is it worth it. Increasing Term is a 20-year plan that lets you raise coverage up to double the original face amount in the first five years without new underwriting. Income Guard Term pays beneficiaries monthly income for a 10- or 20-year period plus a $20,000 lump sum.
• Whole life. AllLife whole life can be paid up at 100, paid up at 65, paid in 10 or 15 years, or bought with a single premium. FBL's 2020 annual report said it switched to non-participating whole life in May 2019 after years of selling participating policies, so new whole life buyers should not expect dividends.
• Indexed universal life. Foundations IUL credits interest from a fixed account (minimum 1%) or a capped one-year point-to-point index strategy, with flexible premiums. Surrender charges apply for the first 11 years, and partial withdrawals carry a $50 fee. See Indexed universal life (IUL) explained for how caps and floors work.

Term policies can add children's term coverage (ages 7 days to 23 years), waiver of premium after a 90-day disability, a terminal illness living benefit at no extra cost and, on some plans, guaranteed re-entry without a medical review. Term coverage may be converted to permanent insurance without a medical review, sometimes with a conversion credit; see converting term life to permanent: how the conversion option works. The Daily Living Rider lets an insured who is chronically ill draw part of the death benefit for care. The company notes that the rider is not long-term care insurance. Applications are underwritten; the site says some coverage amounts can be quoted and issued without leaving home, but it does not publish no-exam limits.

Other products

Farm Bureau Life issues fixed and indexed annuities, and FBL Wealth Management advisors offer mutual funds, IRAs, managed accounts and financial planning. The affiliated property and casualty companies sell auto, home, farm and ranch, and business insurance in the brand's core states.

Buying and service

You cannot buy a Farm Bureau Life policy online without an agent. You request a quote or find a local agent at fbfs.com, and the agent handles the application. According to FBL's 2020 annual report, life and investment products are sold to non-members as well as Farm Bureau members. In some states, though, the affiliated property insurers require membership, so ask your local office.

Policyholders can manage accounts and pay bills through the online login at login.fbfs.com and the Farm Bureau Financial Services mobile app for iPhone and Android. Life and annuity customer service is at 800-247-4170, Monday to Friday 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturday 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Central Time.

Claims

A beneficiary can file a life or annuity claim through the local agent or by calling the claims center at 800-247-4170. Claimants are asked for the policy or contract number, a certified death certificate and a beneficiary statement for their state of residence. The company posts separate statement forms for New Mexico residents, for residents of 10 listed states and for everyone else. A payment option election form is needed if the beneficiary chooses installment settlement options instead of a lump sum. A trustee certification is needed if proceeds go to a trust. The site does not publish average payout times for life claims. Our claims guide covers the general process.

Ratings and reputation

AM Best affirmed Farm Bureau Life's financial strength rating of A (Excellent) and its long-term issuer credit rating of "a+" with a stable outlook in July 2021, citing very strong balance sheet strength, strong operating performance and above-average profitability. That is the most recent life-company rating action published in a press release. In September 2026 AM Best revised its outlooks to stable for the affiliated property and casualty insurers, which are rated A (Excellent). The company does not publish S&P, Moody's or Fitch ratings for the life company.

Farm Bureau Life was named to the Ward's 50 list of top-performing life-health insurers in August 2026, the 27th time since 1991. Forbes and Statista's America's Best Insurance Companies 2026 list ranked the brand #38 for permanent life. It was not among the brands ranked in the J.D. Power 2026 U.S. Individual Life Insurance Study.

Who it suits

Farm Bureau Life fits households in its 14 states, plus Colorado through Greenfields, who want a single local exclusive agent for life, home, auto and farm coverage and a straightforward term, whole life or IUL policy. It is less suited to shoppers who want to compare carriers, buy online, live outside the territory, or want dividend-paying whole life, since new whole life has been non-participating since 2019.

• Strengths: Several term designs, including return of premium, increasing and income-paying term; guaranteed term conversion and re-entry features; local agents tied to Farm Bureau organizations; privately owned by Farm Bureau entities rather than outside investors.
• Weaknesses: Sold only through its own agents in a limited territory; no online purchase; whole life no longer pays dividends on new policies; the last published AM Best affirmation of the life company dates from 2021, and only AM Best is shown.

How to contact Farm Bureau Financial Services