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Costs and Benefits of Transamerica Long Term Care Insurance


ConsumersAdvocate.org Rating: 4.5 / 5 (Excellent)
44 Customer Comments & Reviews - see all comments
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Transamerica Corporation is the holding company for several investment firms and life insurance companies operating under the Transamerica brand since 1928. The corporation's insurance companies have received high ratings from all major U.S. credit rating services, including an A+ (Superior) financial strength rating with A.M. Best.

How is Transamerica rated?

Breakdown

4.5/5
Benefit Limits
4.5/5
Policies & Coverage
4.5/5
Customer Service

Overall Rating: 4.5 / 5 (Excellent)

Transamerica insurance companies are financially stable U.S.-based enterprises operating under the management of multinational life insurer AEGON N.V. Their products, which include everything from life and long term care insurance policies to annuities and retirement solutions, are backed by extensive industry experience as well as unbeatable financial strength and creditworthiness. Among their most flexible insurance options is the TransCare III LTCI policy, which can be customized through a comprehensive list of plan riders and several benefit options. The policy is simple and straightforward, featuring every existing care alternative as well as a pool of money approach for lifelong benefits. Anyone looking for a dependable long-term care insurance policy from a trusted provider may want to look into Transamerica's customizable LTCI options.

Policies & Coverage

Policies & Coverage - 4.5 / 5

Transamerica Life Insurance offers an individual long-term care insurance plan clients can customize through several benefit options and elimination periods. Although they do not market state partnership or group policies, Transamerica's TransCare III LTC insurance covers all available care options from in-home services to services rendered in qualified facilities such as adult daycares and nursing homes. TransCare also features an excellent selection of plan riders, with several inflation protection alternatives, as well as waiver of premium, return of premium, alternate care, shared care, full restoration of benefits, joint waiver of premium, and elimination period credit options.
Policy Types
Individual / Standard
Types of Covered Care
In-Home Care
Assisted Living / Adult Day Care
Nursing Home
Hospice Care
Medical Help Systems
Facility Coverage
Any Facility
Available Policy Riders
Inflation Protection
Shared Care
Return of Premium
Waiver of Premium
Alternate Care
Available Discounts
Partner / Household
Preferred Health

Inflation Protection

*Compound Benefit Increase Option: Provides for an annual 3% or 5% increase of the benefit amount minus paid claims *Tailored Benefit Increase Option: - A 5% compound benefit increase for individuals under 61 years of age - A 3% compound benefit increase available for those between the ages 61 and 75 - No more benefit increases after the policyholder's 76th birthday *Step-Rated Compound Benefit Increase Option: Premiums increase by 3% or 5% of the current premium as the benefit increases by 3% or 5% of the current benefit amount minus paid claims.

Claims & Benefits

Benefit Limits - 4.5 / 5

Daily benefit amounts offered through Transamerica Insurance Company can range from $50 to $500, with maximum policy amounts ranging from $18,250 to $1,095,000. There are also several elimination period options, from zero waiting periods to 365 days. To qualify for coverage, the policyholder must require substantial assistance to perform at least two of the six daily living activity requirements, or need constant supervision due to severe cognitive impairment. Since the company also extends a pool of benefits approach that allows customers to keep using available benefits past the policy's intended term, there is no limit to the benefit period, and policyholders may continue to receive payments for as long as there are funds available in the plan.
Maximum Daily Benefit Limit
$500 per day
Unlimited Lifetime Benefit Period?
Yes
Elimination Period
0, 30, 60, 90, 180 or 365
Eligibility Requirements
Activities of Daily Living Limitations
Alzheimer's or Cognitive Impairment

Financial Strength & Ratings

Financial Strength - 4.5 / 5

Transamerica's life insurance companies have been awarded stable long-term financial strength ratings from all major U.S. credit rating services and are deemed to have a superior ability to meet their ongoing financial obligations. Having been in operation for over a century, these businesses also offer vast industry experience which, paired with the unbeatable creditworthiness of its parent company AEGON International, ensures their life insurance products are of the highest quality.
Underwriter
Transamerica Life Insurance Company
Moody's Financial Rating
A1
AM Best Financial Rating
A+
Standard & Poor's Financial Rating
AA-
*The above information reflects the financial strength of the underwriter of the Transamerica long term care insurance policies: Transamerica Life Insurance Company.

Transamerica Reputation

Customer Service - 4.5 / 5

Transamerica Corporation is not accredited by the Better Business Bureau, and holds a C- rating with the organization based on 26, mostly negative, customer reviews. Although they have received a small number of complaints for an enterprise of their size, they remain well bellow the national median complain ratio for individual life insurance products as reported by the NAIC in 2016.
BBB Rating
C-
Number of BBB Positive Reviews
4
Number of BBB Neutral Reviews
1
Number of BBB Negative Reviews
26
Date Collected
2017-12-29

Contact & Additional Information

Company Type
Underwriter
Year Founded
1928
Homepage URL
Company Phone
(800) 797-2643
Headquarters Address
4333 Edgewood Road NE, Cedar Rapids, IA, 52499

What We’re Hearing From Our Readers
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Customer Comments

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Tom D
7/25/2019
My father-in-law purchased this poorly serviced policy. They have an arcane way to send claims to them via fax, this gave them an out when payments were never received. On many occasions they claimed that they never received the fax from the nursing home, even when the nursing home produced a fax received receipt. We finally resorted to using 2 fax numbers to submit the claim, this proved to be of no help. Phone calls to Transamerica were reported recorded and notes were taken, each phone call to them revealed that they had no sense of customer service and I had to go through the same facts over and over again. Many claims took from 2-3 months to process. To add insult to injury,... Read More
6 People found this helpful.


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Priscilla Z
1/25/2019
I wish there were some way of commenting individually on these reviews to share what I learned when I, too, went through a frustrating experience. Because I communicate better in writing than in a phone call, I wrote a letter to the Transamerica claim department describing my problem and received a detailed written response. (So glad I hadn't used words like "fraud" or "scam" in my letter because the mix-up turned out to be my fault!) Based on my own experience with Transamerica I am strongly recommending it to a friend who is researching long term care insurance. Before he signs I will urge him to read the policy carefully, beginning to end, no matter how complex and boring it... Read More
6 People found this helpful.


A
Andrew D
8/27/2020
Customer service is "boiler plate" answers. Can't believe state insurance commissioners allow this company to raise premiums. Have had LTC insurance with them and their predecessors since 2002. Reading other horror stories have got me wondering if it is worth forking over ever increasing premiums. Considering using money to age in place until a medicare LTC facility can take me in.
5 People found this helpful.


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Greg H
5/2/2020
I am a 72 year old woman in Stage 4 Kidney Failure with many co-morbidities. I spent much of 2019 in hospitals and rehab facilities. After the insurance and medicare ran its course, the LTC should have picked up and paid as per policy. I could only do 1 of the 6 ADLs and am now only doing 3 of 6 ADLs after intensive physical therapy. I have now gone through various rounds of talking and filing claims to useful idiots at TransAmerica, as have my children, who are my PoAs. TransAmerica will not pay me despite 25 years of premiums and the promise that I would get this coverage should I need it. I think they would prefer I die than they pay. The bottom line is making money and screwing... Read More
5 People found this helpful.


Beth S
11/8/2019
This company completely sucks. No one should buy insurance from them. Their process is subjective and ridiculous. They sent a OLD LADY as the nurse to do an evaluation, and I mean old, well into her 80's. Their "evaluation criteria" is a joke. My dad has had 2 severe strokes and needed home modification, which is supposed to be covered up to $10,000 and they have "determined" he didn't need it, despite a NEUROLOGIST saying it was more than necessary after 10 days in the hospital. His premiums have skyrocketed and he's paid a small fortune for this. BAD, BAD, BAD, BAD, SO BAD. I WISH THERE WAS A CLASS ACTION SUIT AGAINST THEM.
5 People found this helpful.


nanerby48
8/20/2019
We are new to this process as my husband's 84 year old mother is now in need of some living assistance. She has a very substantial policy that she's held for decades. My husband's first phone call to customer service (for basic information on her policy) was met with rudeness and a condenscending attitude. His second phone call was put on hold for 40 minutes until he simply hung up. Not a very good first or second impression of this company!
5 People found this helpful.


C
Cathy M
8/10/2020
PLEASE DO NOT BUY LONG TERM CARE FROM TRANSAMERICA LONG TERM CARE!!!! Once they get your money, if you make a legitimate claim, they make you do multiple things to delay the process and to make you prove you "qualify" for their LT care benefits. We have escalated with Transamerica multiple times and appealed their decision to decline benefits. Each time they come back with my mother is living at an Assisted Living facility and not a Nursing Home so the benefit is declined. I have asked what my mother's current assisted living facility does not provide that a Nursing home does, and Transamerica only responded with the Texas state's definition of a Nursing Home versus an Assisted... Read More
4 People found this helpful.


douhood
10/6/2019
Claims payments are reliable, but very, very slow. They presently owe me five weeks. Claims representatives are very polite and helpful. Call wait times are ridiculous....up to two hours. Sometimes you can leave a callback number, which is very helpful. They should do that every time. Premiums seem high.
4 People found this helpful.


nblaw3533
5/2/2023
It is next to impossible to speak with anyone at Transamerica long term care department. I have been on hold for over 95 minutes more than once and then don't get a person who can answer my questions and sends me off to another department for another 30 minute wait or get disconnected entirely. I've been told by others that it takes an attorney to get help from this department. HELP!!
1 People found this helpful.


Lane S
3/1/2023
TransAmerica is extremely slow at monthly payments… This month they failed to even make end of month deadline… So I will need to act as their personal banker and pay for my mothers long term care again… Very disappointed in customer service and the corporate level management is failing miserably. No letters this month explaining reason for late payment… They stated they received all needed documents to process claim for the month but failed to do so… I also requested a call back from Corporate and as of this review they have failed at that also.
1 People found this helpful.



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