Federated Life life insurance

Overview

Federated Life Insurance Company is the life insurer of Federated Insurance, a commercial insurance group based in Owatonna, Minnesota, that protects businesses in select industries such as auto and equipment dealers, contractors and petroleum marketers. The Federated Mutual group ranked #73 among U.S. life insurance groups by 2024 individual life direct premiums written, according to NAIC market share data, with $273.2 million in premiums and a 0.17% market share.

The parent, Federated Mutual Insurance Company, is a mutual owned by its policyholders rather than stockholders. Federated Life is its life subsidiary. Federated does not market life insurance to the general public the way consumer-focused insurers do. Its life, disability and annuity products are sold by the same Federated marketing representatives who write a business's property, liability, auto and workers compensation coverage, mostly to business owners, their families and key employees. More than 500 local, state, regional and national trade associations and buying groups recommend Federated to their members.

Federated serves clients in 49 states and the District of Columbia from its Owatonna home office, a regional office in Phoenix and service centers around the country. Nicholas Lower has been chairman, president and CEO since January 2025, after becoming president and CEO in January 2024.

History

Federated traces its roots to a group of Minnesota retail implement dealers. In 1904, farmers and business owners in and around Owatonna pooled their resources to buy insurance at better value, in what became Federated Mutual Insurance Company.

Federated expanded from property insurance for equipment dealers into coverage for auto dealers, petroleum marketers and contractors across the Midwest. Over the following decades it became a multiline insurer, adding liability coverage and Federated Life Insurance Company, which was organized in the late 1950s. Federated later added workers compensation, group health insurance (which it no longer offers) and estate planning services delivered through an independent network of attorneys.

The group today also includes Federated Service Insurance Company, Federated Reserve Insurance Company, the surety company Granite Re and the excess and surplus lines insurer Federated Specialty Insurance Company. Federated has had no outside ownership change: it remains a mutual.

Life insurance products

Federated Life keeps a short product menu built around business owners' needs:

• Term life with 10-year and 20-year level-premium periods. Federated says term can be converted to permanent coverage later (conversion privilege).
• Universal life, permanent coverage with flexible premiums and cash value that grows tax-deferred and can be reached through loans and partial surrenders (universal life insurance).

Federated positions these policies for business uses as much as family protection: covering business loans, funding buy-sell agreements between owners, insuring a key employee (key person life insurance) and executive bonus or employee retention plans (section 162 executive bonus plans). It also suggests blending term and universal life so an owner can afford enough coverage now while building permanent coverage for estate and succession planning.

Federated does not publish rates, issue ages, no-exam options or a rider list online, and it offers no whole life, indexed universal life, variable life or final expense product on its site.

Other products

Federated Life sells disability income insurance to replace part of an owner's income after an illness or injury, plus two annuities: a flexible premium fixed annuity for retirement savings (qualified or non-qualified) and a single premium immediate annuity for guaranteed income. Its Business Succession Planning and Employee Retention Plan services are tied to these products. The wider group writes commercial auto, property, general liability, umbrella, workers compensation, errors and omissions, environmental liability and surety bonds, and a separate Federated Insurance Personal Lines website serves clients' personal coverage.

Buying and service

You buy Federated Life coverage through a local Federated marketing representative; there is no online application or quote tool. The practical path for most buyers is through their business: if your company is already a Federated client, its representative can review life, disability and succession needs alongside the commercial policies. For a buyer with no Federated commercial relationship, Federated is an unusual choice, and comparing an independent agent's quotes is worth doing (captive vs independent life insurance agents).

Policyholders can pay life policy premiums in mySHIELD, Federated's client portal and app. The Client Contact Center handles general policy service at 888-333-4949, and the main number is 800-533-0472.

Claims

Federated does not publish a separate life claims phone line or online death claim form. Beneficiaries should start with the policyholder's Federated marketing representative or call 800-533-0472, then expect to provide a certified death certificate and a claimant statement. Federated reminds owners to keep beneficiary designations current after marriage, divorce or a death and to name a contingent beneficiary. See how to file a life insurance claim for the general process.

Ratings and reputation

AM Best affirmed Federated Life's financial strength rating of A+ (Superior) in April 2026, along with the A+ (Superior) rating of Federated Mutual Group, and revised the outlook to stable. Federated says Federated Life has held the A+ rating for 46 years. AM Best affirmed Federated Life's long-term issuer credit rating at "aa-" (Superior) and upgraded the Federated Mutual Group's to "aa" from "aa-," citing balance sheet strength it assesses as strongest. Federated does not publish ratings from S&P, Moody's or Fitch.

In August 2026 the Ward Group, part of Aon, named both Federated Mutual and Federated Life to its 2026 Ward's 50 lists of top-performing property-casualty and life-health insurers; Federated says it is one of six organizations named to both.

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

Who it suits

Federated Life suits owners and key employees of businesses that already buy commercial insurance from Federated and want one representative to coordinate business protection, owner life insurance, disability income and succession planning. Its strengths are financial strength and that business-planning focus. It is a poor fit for an individual shopper looking for the lowest term rate, a 30-year term, whole life or an online purchase.

• Strengths: A+ (Superior) from AM Best (April 2026), held for 46 years; backed by a policyholder-owned mutual; life, disability and annuities tied to business succession and key-person planning.
• Weaknesses: Sold only through Federated representatives, mainly to its commercial clients; only 10- and 20-year term and universal life, with no whole life or 30-year term; no published rates, rider details or separate death claims line; only AM Best publishes a rating.

How to contact Federated Life