Primerica life insurance

Overview

Primerica is a Duluth, Georgia, financial services company that sells one kind of life insurance: term life. Its policies are sold by a large network of independent representatives who also offer mutual funds, annuities and other products, mainly to middle-income households in the United States and Canada. The Primerica group ranked #16 among U.S. life insurance groups by 2024 individual life direct premiums written, according to NAIC market share data, with about $3.09 billion in premiums and a 1.98% market share.

The parent, Primerica, Inc., trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol PRI. Policies are issued by Primerica Life Insurance Company, a Tennessee-domiciled insurer, everywhere in the U.S. except New York, where its subsidiary National Benefit Life Insurance Company issues them. The company says its life companies insured about 5.5 million lives and carried about $967 billion of term coverage in force at the end of 2025, and paid an average of $4.8 million in claims a day that year. It issued 331,787 new policies in 2025, with an average face amount of about $252,900.

The sales pitch is built on the "buy term and invest the difference" idea: buy inexpensive term coverage and invest the money a permanent policy would have cost. That philosophy and its trade-offs are covered in our guide to buy term and invest the difference: does it hold up.

History

Primerica traces its business to 1977, when Arthur L. Williams Jr. formed A.L. Williams & Associates, an independent general agency that sold only term life insurance through seven regional vice presidents and 85 sales representatives. The agency grew quickly and became one of the largest sellers of individual life insurance in the country. The insurance company itself is older: Primerica Life was formed in 1927 as Fraternal Protective Insurance Company.

In the late 1980s the A.L. Williams operations, the life insurer and the company's broker-dealer were acquired, through a series of transactions, by predecessors of Citigroup, and the business operated inside Citigroup for two decades. In April 2010 Citigroup took Primerica public in an initial public offering and sold another block of shares to private equity funds managed by Warburg Pincus. Just before the IPO, Primerica's life companies ceded 80% to 90% of the term business in force at year-end 2009 to reinsurers then affiliated with Citigroup; Primerica still administers those older policies.

Primerica bought e-TeleQuote, a marketer of Medicare insurance plans, on July 1, 2021, and disposed of that business as of September 30, 2024. In October 2022 it introduced its current generation of term products, PowerTerm and PrecisionTerm, extending them to New York in September 2025. Glenn J. Williams has been chief executive since April 2015.

Life insurance products

Primerica sells term life only. Policies carry level premiums for an initial period of 10 to 35 years; Primerica says its life companies are among the few offering a 35-year term. When the level period ends, the policyholder can renew or exchange the policy, both at higher premiums based on the older age, and the company says coverage can continue to age 95 as long as premiums are paid. See renewing term life insurance after the level period ends for how post-level premiums usually behave.

There are two underwriting routes:

• PowerTerm is a rapid-issue product for face amounts up to $300,000. The representative submits the application electronically, Primerica pulls data from outside sources, and its system decides in real time whether the policy can be issued quickly or needs more underwriting.
• PrecisionTerm is traditionally underwritten for face amounts over $150,000. It generally involves paramedical testing, though some applicants have testing waived based on their data.

Between $150,000 and $300,000 the applicant can choose either route. Primerica's 2025 annual report describes an optional waiver of premium rider that waives premiums during a qualifying disability, and another term rider that increases coverage after the first year. Primerica does not sell whole life, universal life or final expense policies.

Other products

Representatives who hold securities licenses can sell mutual funds from outside fund companies, managed accounts and annuities issued by Brighthouse Financial, Corebridge Financial, Equitable and Lincoln Financial, all through Primerica's broker-dealer, PFS Investments. Primerica reported about 3.1 million client investment accounts at the end of 2025. Representatives can also refer clients to mortgage, auto and home insurance, prepaid legal and identity theft products offered with partner companies.

Buying and service

You cannot buy a Primerica policy online on your own. The website directs shoppers to a local representative, who starts with a free Financial Needs Analysis and submits the application electronically. Primerica had 151,524 life-licensed representatives at December 31, 2025. They are independent contractors rather than employees, and most begin part-time while keeping other jobs.

Representatives are paid commissions, most of them advanced when an application is submitted, and part of each commission goes to the representatives above the seller in the sales organization who recruited and trained them. Leaders who build a team and obtain both insurance and securities licenses can become regional vice presidents and receive stock awards tied to sales. Primerica's annual report notes wide differences in productivity: many recruits never get licensed, and new policies averaged 0.18 per life-licensed representative per month in 2025. Our guide to recruiting-based insurance sales explains how these structures work, and you can check any agent's license with your state.

Existing policyholders can manage their coverage through the MyPrimerica website and app, or call client services at 800-257-4725.

Claims

Beneficiaries start a claim by calling 888-893-9858 (8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern, Monday through Friday). A claims specialist assigns a claim number, and each beneficiary then sends a claim form, a copy of a state or federal ID and one certified death certificate showing cause and manner of death. Documents go to the Claims Department at 1 Primerica Parkway, Duluth, GA 30099-0001, or by fax to 470-564-7662.

Primerica says most death claims are processed in about 14 days once all documents arrive. If the insured died within two years of the policy's issue or reinstatement, the claim is contestable and may require a beneficiary interview, a medical authorization, a tobacco-use affidavit and medical or driving records (see the two-year contestability period). Benefits are paid by lump-sum check or into an Estate Account, a draft account the beneficiary writes checks against; read about the trade-offs of retained asset accounts: the checkbook you didn't ask for. A funeral home can be assigned part of the benefit.

Ratings and reputation

AM Best affirmed the A+ (Superior) financial strength rating of Primerica Life Insurance Company, National Benefit Life and Primerica Life Insurance Company of Canada on February 26, 2026, with a stable outlook, citing the group's strongest level of risk-adjusted capitalization. Primerica's 2025 annual report says Primerica Life also holds insurer financial strength ratings from S&P and Moody's.

In the J.D. Power 2026 U.S. Individual Life Insurance Study, released in October 2026, Primerica ranked 8th of 23 brands with 669 points, above the study average of 649 and up from 13th (below average) in 2025.

On April 18, 2024, the short-selling newsletter The Bear Cave published a report alleging that some of Primerica's highest-producing agents had engaged in misleading conduct. Primerica responded the same day that the assertions were false and called the report an attempt to drive down its stock price. Several securities law firms then announced investigations on behalf of shareholders.

Who it suits

Primerica fits families who want plain term coverage, possibly for an unusually long 30- or 35-year period, and who prefer to sit down with a representative from their own community rather than compare quotes online. It fits less well for anyone who wants permanent coverage, wants to compare several insurers' prices in one place, or prefers an experienced full-time advisor.

• Strengths: Level terms of 10 to 35 years; A+ (Superior) from AM Best, affirmed February 2026; rapid-issue underwriting up to $300,000; a large claims operation that paid about $4.8 million a day in 2025.
• Weaknesses: Term only, with no permanent policies; sold only through Primerica's own representatives, so you see one company's prices; many representatives are part-time and experience varies widely.

How to contact Primerica