Riversource Life Insurance Company Review

Christine Lacagnina Written by Christine Lacagnina
Christine Lacagnina
Written by Christine Lacagnina

Christine Lacagnina has written thousands of insurance-based articles for TrustedChoice.com by authoring consumable, understandable content.

Updated

Riversource Life Insurance Company at a Glance

  • Founded in 1894
  • Specializes in life insurance
  • "A+" (superior) rating by AM Best
  • "A+" (excellent) rating by the Better Business Bureau (BBB)
  • An affiliate of Ameriprise Financial

Riversource Life Pros: Longstanding carrier with a century and a quarter's worth of experience in the insurance industry. Offers several types of life insurance and other products like annuities and disability income insurance. High ratings through AM Best and the BBB.

Riversource Life Cons: Not much information about their claims process provided. No discount information provided. Vast majority of customer feedback is negative.

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What Type of Insurance Does Riversource Life Offer?

Riversource Life is a specialized insurance company which focuses on life insurance products. Their offerings include:

  • Term life insurance
  • Universal life insurance
  • Variable life insurance
  • Long-term care insurance
  • Disability income insurance
  • Annuities

Your independent insurance agent can help you find more information about the coverage offered by Riversource Life, and help you decide if this insurance company is right for you.

What to Know About Riversource Life

Riversource Life was founded in 1894, giving the carrier more than a century and a quarter's worth of experience in the insurance industry. The insurance company focuses on life insurance products, as well as disability income insurance, long-term care insurance, and annuities. 

Riversource Life works with independent insurance agents to help make the customer service side of insurance easier and more accessible for policyholders. Aside from their high rating through the BBB, Riversource Life is also rated "A+" by Standard & Poor's.

Thanks to their rich history and high ratings, Riversource Life has become known as a stable insurance company with a positive outlook for the future. AM Best, the leading global credit rating agency monitoring the insurance industry, gives Riversource Life an “A+” rating, indicating the carrier is a superior choice for insurance customers. High ratings from AM Best assure customers that Riversource Life offers guaranteed, reliable coverage from a financially sound carrier.

Established in 1899, AM Best is one of the oldest rating companies in the world. Reviews from AM Best indicate an insurance company’s financial strength and creditworthiness and are based on comprehensive evaluations of the company’s operating performance, business profile, and annual report. 

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What Discounts Does Riversource Life Offer?

Riversource Life does not make information about their discounts readily available. However, an independent insurance agent can help find discount and other money-saving information about the insurance company's coverage for you.

Riversource Life Customer Service

Here's a breakdown of Riversource Life's customer service options and availability.

  • Phone contact option
  • Mail contact option


Hours (CT)


Monday-Friday 7 am - 6 pm


Saturday CLOSED


Sunday CLOSED

To ensure a great customer service experience, work together with an independent insurance agent. Independent insurance agents can help handle claims and other matters for you, so you can relax and enjoy your coverage.

Riversource Life FAQ

What is Riversource Life's average claim response timeframe?

Riversource Life does not make information about their claims process readily available, nor do they state a claims response timeframe for customers.

What is Riversource Life's customer service availability?

Riversource Life has limited customer contact options, but their phone department is available at typical hours, Monday-Friday.

What is Riversource Life's claims process?

Riversource Life does not make their claims process easily accessible. However, an independent insurance agent can greatly assist you with filing claims, as well as keeping you updated throughout every step of the process.

Does Riversource Life's website create a user-friendly experience for customers?

Riversource Life's official website could benefit from including more information about discounts and claims processing for their customers. The layout is easy to navigate, however. 

Does Riversource Life have good disability income insurance?

Riversource Life's official website lists the following perks of their disability income insurance:

  • An income tax-free monthly benefit
  • Guaranteed coverage up to age 65 (as long as premiums are paid in full and on time)
  • No change to your coverage without your consent
  • Coverage for bonuses and commissions
  • For an additional cost you can also add optional coverage to help your benefit keep pace with wage and cost-of-living increases.

An independent insurance agent can help you find out more about Riversource Life's disability income insurance, as well as their other available products.

Is Riversource Life a good insurance company?

Riversource Life has many decades' of experience under their belt, as well as several high ratings through various companies. However, the overwhelmingly negative percentage of customer feedback makes us question whether Riversource Life can be considered a good insurance company afterall.

Riversource Life Customer Reviews

Yelp
5 Stars
If it's set up right when opened (or in our case upon the death of the original beneficiary) there is no problem. My sister and I were co-beneficiaries and we filed the death certificate with notarized forms as specified in the web site (you can also call if you have a question).  The annuity was split between us and direct deposit started and we received our 1099 forms in Feb. of the follow year. Just read the directions carefully and follow them step by step and you shouldn't have a problem.


Yelp
Always takes a long time for having routine answers addressed, reps don't seem knowledgeable at all.


Yelp
I have an annuity with RiverSource of NY which I annuitized. This is the only financial institution in the 21st century that does not offer direct deposits. As a retiree and dependent on the US mail to receive my monthly check I find myself chasing RiverSource for two weeks to replace a lost check.  I would caution anyone to invest funds with this backwards company.


Yelp
STAY AWAY!!! RiverSource is an insidious and corrupt company. My father is quite sick and needs the income from his annuity for end-of-life care, but no matter how many forms we fill out and fax and send registered mail, they always say it is the wrong form! These are the forms they are sending us! We ask them over the phone how to complete the forms, going through every single section and part of the form, and then when we submit it exactly as they requested and they say it needs to be resubmitted. Or they say they didn't receive it, or it went to the wrong department. We have now hired attorneys to deal with this situation at considerable cost. My father was always so responsible, I have no idea what idiot sold him this annuity but please stay away from this company. If your loved one is still alive and healthy just cancel your account with them. It's better to pay the penalty than to have to deal with their incompetence and stonewalling.


Better Business Bureau
RiverSource is actively resisting the transfer of my wife's funds to another financial institution. Every request is met with a rejection. Each rejection specifies additional requirements. When all the requirements were met, RiverSource rejected the transfer requests because my wife's signature had gone stale, even though RiverSource's own documents show receipt of the signature before it went past the 60-day stale threshold. When I asked for Supervisor Mary's full name for the purpose of submitting a formal complaint, she disconnected the call.


TrustedChoice.com's Final Review

We give Riversource Life a final rating of 2.0 out of 5 stars. Riversource Life has quite a bit of experience under their belt at this point. The insurance company has received high ratings for financial strength through multiple review companies, such as AM Best, the BBB, and Standard & Poors. They offer several forms of life insurance, as well as a couple other important forms of coverage.

However, the insurance company's official website is quite lacking in terms of details about their claims process. Even more disturbing, though, is the overwhelming amount of absolutely dismal customer reviews for the carrier relating to both coverage quality and customer service experiences. 

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