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American General Life Complaints

American General Life Insurance Company (AGL) is a Houston-based, Texas-domiciled insurer that issues life insurance and annuities in every state except New York, where its affiliate The United States Life Insurance Company in the City of New York issues the policies. AGL is a subsidiary of Corebridge Financial, and its policy service and claims run through the Corebridge Financial website and service centers.

REVIEWS & COMPLAINTS15on USAComplaints · 1 in last 3 yrs
PHONE800-445-7862Annuity customer service
WEBSITEcorebridgefinancial.com
HEADQUARTERSHouston, TX
PROFILE CHECKED2026-11-03
Submit a Complaint Read reviews & complaints ↓ Call 800-445-7862 Official website ↗
EDITORIAL

Company Information

Legal name
American General Life Insurance Company
Business type
Life insurance and annuity insurer in the Corebridge Financial group
Website
corebridgefinancial.comSource: Corebridge Financial support page, checked 2026-11-03
Headquarters
Houston, TXSource: American General Life SEC prospectus, principal offices, checked 2026-11-03
Owned by
AGC Life Insurance CompanySource: American General Life 2025 SEC financial statements, checked 2026-11-03
Owned by
Corebridge Financial, Inc.Source: American General Life 2025 SEC financial statements, checked 2026-11-03

Legal insurer: American General Life Insurance Company, a Texas stock life insurer regulated by the Texas Department of Insurance, with principal executive offices at 2727-A Allen Parkway, Houston, Texas 77019. In New York, policies are issued by The United States Life Insurance Company in the City of New York. Parent chain: AGC Life Insurance Company, then Corebridge Life Holdings, Inc., then Corebridge Financial, Inc., which is listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Official website for policy service and claims: corebridgefinancial.com. The Life consumer portal at lifeportal.corebridgefinancial.com lets policy owners look up policy details, make payments and update beneficiaries.

EXTERNAL SOURCE

Independent Sources

Shown for context — not merged with USAComplaints' own numbers.

BBB259 complaints in the last 3 years, 73 in the last 12 months, not BBB accredited
259 complaints · BBB business grade D-
CONSUMER ALLEGATION

Reviews & Complaints on USAComplaints

15 complaints on USAComplaints, including 1 published in the last three years.

Show 10 more on this page
EDITORIAL

Complaint Themes

Policy lapse and cancellationOld or inherited policy recordsDeath claim and beneficiary delaysPremium and rate changesAgent conduct

Themes summarize what people write about most often. One complaint can touch several themes, and some complaints (a positive report, or one later retracted by its author) fit none, so themes are not a count of complaints.

Had an experience with American General Life? Tell other people what happened.

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VERIFIED

Contacts

Customer service & general contact

Show all 11 contacts

Customer service & general contact (continued)

Other contacts

VERIFIED

Locations

  • Headquarters2727-A Allen Parkway Houston TX 77019
  • Mailing addressPO Box 818005 Cleveland OH 44181
EDITORIAL

American General Life: death claims, policy service and where to complain

Who to contact. Corebridge Financial's support page shows the right service center once you enter your policy number. It lists these lines for American General Life Insurance Company and The United States Life Insurance Company in the City of New York. For three of the life lines, the company's claims page gives a different mailing box for claims; both are shown below:

  • Life insurance customers: 844-452-3832, fax 855-601-1834. Service mail: PO Box 818005, Cleveland, OH 44181. Claims mail: PO Box 818100, Cleveland, OH 44181.
  • Life insurance customers served by the Clinton, Iowa center: 800-633-6259, fax 855-851-5407. Service mail: PO Box 4222, Clinton, IA 52733-4222. Claims mail: PO Box 650253, Dallas, TX 75265-0400.
  • Life insurance customers served by the second Cleveland center: 800-888-2452, fax 844-930-0370. Service mail: PO Box 818006, Cleveland, OH 44181. Claims mail: PO Box 818008, Cleveland, OH 44181.
  • Accident and health customers: 800-811-2696, fax 855-601-1834, PO Box 818005, Cleveland, OH 44181.
  • Variable universal life customers: 800-340-2765, fax 844-430-2639, PO Box 818016, Cleveland, OH 44181.
  • American General Long Term Care Administration: policy numbers beginning with 582, 888-565-3769, fax 888-443-5824, PO Box 64889, St. Paul, MN 55164-0889; policy numbers beginning with 130, 800-710-9876, fax 952-833-5410, PO Box 64036, St. Paul, MN 55164-4036.
  • Assured Edge, fixed, index and variable annuities: 800-445-7862, Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Central time; PO Box 15570, Amarillo, TX 79105-5570.
  • Direct traditional fixed annuities and single premium immediate or deferred income annuities (SPIA/DIA): 800-424-4990, Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Central time; PO Box 871, Amarillo, TX 79105-0871.

Reporting a death. Start a claim with the online "Report a Death Claim" form or by phone; all the forms you need are sent after the claim is started. The online form is for individual life insurance policies only and asks for the policyholder's personal details and manner of death, the policy number if you have it, and your own contact details. If the total benefit is $15,000 or less, the claim may qualify for expedited handling: the company says a claims team member contacts the beneficiary within 24 hours to confirm identity, and a check is sent within 5 business days after it receives proof of death. Above $15,000, a claims packet goes to all beneficiaries by mail or email within 5 business days of the first notice. For most claims the company says it will review and process the claim within 5 business days once all requirements are received in good order, and will tell you within 5 business days if anything is missing. Allow 3 to 5 days for a mailed check to arrive. To protect privacy, the company discusses a claim only with the beneficiaries, a beneficiary's attorney, the servicing agent, or a funeral home that has been assigned benefits.

Read the rest of this section

Claims that take longer. The company's investigation page says an investigation is standard when a policy is "contestable", meaning the death occurred within 2 years of the policy issue or reinstatement date; the medical history section of the claimant's statement and a Contestable Beneficiary Questionnaire may then be required, plus a Suicide Contestable Questionnaire if the death was a suicide. Deaths outside the United States, Canada and U.S. territories, and homicides, also need extra documents. Accidental deaths are investigated only for policies with an Accidental Death Benefit rider, or for a Guaranteed Issue Whole Life policy when the death is within 2 years of issue or reinstatement.

Keeping a policy in force, or after a lapse. Several complaints describe a policy that lapsed after a bill went missing or a payment stopped. Corebridge's support page offers a guide for setting up automatic bank-draft premium payments and lets policy owners make a single payment through the Life portal, though online payment is not available on every product. The same page links the Electronic Payment, Name and Address Change and Miscellaneous Service Request forms; they can be printed, signed and faxed or mailed as each form instructs. If a lapsed policy is reinstated, the company's claims-investigation page treats a death within 2 years of the reinstatement date as contestable, the same as a death within 2 years of the original issue date. Ask the service center for the policy's grace-period and reinstatement terms in writing, and keep a copy of any written cancellation request together with the date it was sent.

Old or lost policies. The NAIC Life Insurance Policy Locator is a free tool for finding a deceased person's life insurance policies and annuity contracts. You enter your own name, mailing address and email, then the deceased person's Social Security number or ITIN, legal name, dates of birth and death, veteran status and your relationship, taken from the death certificate. Participating insurers check the request; if a policy is found and you are the beneficiary, the insurer contacts you directly, and otherwise you are not contacted. The tool does not search for policies of living people.

If the company does not resolve it. Put your complaint to the company in writing first and keep copies of every form and the dates you sent them. Then file with the insurance department of the state where you live; the NAIC's state insurance departments directory gives each state's department contact details and how to file a complaint. AGL is domiciled in Texas, so the Texas Department of Insurance is its home-state regulator; Texas residents can use TDI's online complaint system, which accepts supporting documents, or call its Help Line at 800-252-3439, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Central time, Monday through Friday. TDI says it cannot make a company refund surrender charges or other fees set out in the policy, and cannot stop a company from raising life insurance premiums. Policies issued in New York come from US Life, so New York residents file with their own state regulator.

EDITORIAL

Complaint themes in posts about American General's life insurance

15 published complaint reports are linked to this profile. They are the writers' own accounts, not findings by a regulator or court, and the company's side is not part of the posts. Almost all of the posts were written between 2004 and 2012, while AIG owned the business, and one dates from 2026. They return to a few problems: a policy lapsed or cancelled after 20 years or more of premiums, in one case after an annual bill did not arrive; premiums still drafted after a written cancellation; a request to move from smoker to non-smoker rates refused; unanswered requests about old or inherited policies first sold by Herald Life, Independent Life and Accident and other companies that American General absorbed; slow ownership changes and cash-value payments after a policy owner's death; repeated requests for forms already sent after a death claim; and agents' conduct, including one writer's account of a forged signature. One post is from a former employee describing sales management in a regional office.

Better Business Bureau. BBB lists American General Life Insurance at the Cleveland, Ohio, address used for life insurance service mail. That file shows 259 complaints in the last 3 years, 73 of them in the last 12 months. The company is not BBB accredited, and BBB rates the file D-, giving as its reason the business's failure to respond to 26 complaints. BBB keeps a separate file for the parent, Corebridge Financial, in Houston; its complaints are not included in these figures.

EDITORIAL

State insurance department orders

New Hampshire, 2024. In a consent order (docket Ins. No. 24-012-EP), the New Hampshire Insurance Department found that American General Life Insurance Company had not answered two department requests for information within the required 10 working days. The requests concerned an investigation in which AGL itself was not the subject; the company sent a partial answer after the department issued an order to show cause and completed it in March 2024. AGL agreed to a $2,500 administrative penalty and to describe the training or procedure changes it had made to prevent a repeat.

EDITORIAL

2000 class settlement over burial insurance premiums

Insurance Journal reported on September 11, 2000 that U.S. District Judge John Nixon had approved a $214 million settlement of a class action claiming that American General Life and Accident Insurance Co. overcharged black and low-income policyholders for burial insurance. American General had agreed to the settlement in June 2000. According to the report, it covered an estimated 9.1 million policyholders nationwide, paid at least $150 per policy and could add benefits such as premium reductions. Many of the policies had been sold by companies American General acquired, and American General said it had been unaware of those companies' discriminatory practices. The same report says American General also agreed to a $1.2 million regulatory settlement with Florida's insurance department, with insurance departments in 33 other states sharing another $5.8 million. American General Life and Accident was merged into American General Life Insurance Company at the end of 2012.

EDITORIAL

American General Life Insurance Company and its place in Corebridge Financial

Who issues the policies. The disclosure on the company's claims page says life insurance is issued by American General Life Insurance Company (AGL), Houston, Texas, except in New York, where it is issued by The United States Life Insurance Company in the City of New York (US Life). It adds that each company "is responsible for the financial obligations of its products" and that AGL does not solicit, issue or deliver policies or contracts in New York. The Corebridge Financial website states that all its products and services are written or provided by subsidiaries of Corebridge Financial, Inc., whose common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

Ownership. The notes to AGL's 2025 financial statements filed with the SEC describe AGL as a stock life insurance company domiciled and licensed in Texas and regulated by the Texas Department of Insurance. AGL is wholly owned by AGC Life Insurance Company, a Missouri-domiciled life insurer, which is wholly owned by Corebridge Life Holdings, Inc., which in turn is wholly owned by Corebridge Financial, Inc. The same notes list Corebridge's three largest shareholders as of December 31, 2025: Nippon Life Insurance Company (about 24.6%), Argon Holdco LLC, a Blackstone subsidiary (about 12.5%), and American International Group, Inc. (AIG, about 10.1%). AGL's SEC prospectus gives its principal executive offices as 2727-A Allen Parkway, Houston, Texas 77019.

Older company names. Effective December 31, 2012, American General Life and Accident Insurance Company of Nashville, Tennessee, and several other AIG life insurers were merged into American General Life Insurance Company, and their policyholders became AGL policyholders, according to an A.M. Best notice published in January 2013. That is why complaints about "American General Life and Accident" (often shortened to AGLA by policyholders) and about small policies first sold by companies that it had absorbed now belong with AGL. Complaints written while AIG owned the business often call it "AIG American General".

Not this company. American General Finance, the former consumer-loan business, is a different company; complaints about it are collected on this site's OneMain Financial profile.

VERIFIED

Company Relationships

  • Owned byAGC Life Insurance Company
  • Owned byCorebridge Financial, Inc.
  • Affiliated withThe United States Life Insurance Company in the City of New York
EDITORIAL

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I file a death claim with American General Life?

Complete the online "Report a Death Claim" form on the Corebridge Financial website or call the service center for the policy. Have the policyholder's details, the manner of death and the policy number if you have it. If the total benefit is $15,000 or less, the claim may be eligible for expedited processing, in which case the company says a claims team member contacts the beneficiary within 24 hours; above $15,000, a claims packet with all required forms is sent by mail or email within 5 business days.

What is the American General Life customer service phone number?

For life insurance customers of American General Life Insurance Company and US Life, the Corebridge Financial support page lists 844-452-3832. Accident and health customers call 800-811-2696, variable universal life customers 800-340-2765, and annuity owners 800-445-7862 (Assured Edge, fixed, index and variable annuities) or 800-424-4990 (direct traditional fixed and SPIA/DIA income annuities). Some life policies are served by other centers, 800-633-6259 or 800-888-2452, and long-term care policies have their own lines: 888-565-3769 for policy numbers beginning with 582 and 800-710-9876 for those beginning with 130. Entering the policy number on the support page shows which center handles yours.

How long does American General Life take to pay a death claim?

The company says that for most claims it reviews and processes the claim within 5 business days once all requirements are received in good order, and that for benefits of $15,000 or less it sends a check within 5 business days after it receives proof of death. Mailed checks take another 3 to 5 days. Claims that need an investigation take longer, for example when the death occurred within 2 years of policy issue or reinstatement.

How can I find a lost American General life insurance policy?

Use the free NAIC Life Insurance Policy Locator with the deceased person's details from the death certificate. If a policy is found and you are the beneficiary, the insurer contacts you directly; if nothing is found or you are not the beneficiary, you are not contacted. If you hold old paperwork from American General Life and Accident or a company it absorbed, enter the policy number shown on it on the company's claims page to find the service center that handles it, or call the life insurance line, 844-452-3832.

Who owns American General Life Insurance Company?

AGL's 2025 financial statements say it is wholly owned by AGC Life Insurance Company, which is wholly owned by Corebridge Life Holdings, Inc., which is wholly owned by Corebridge Financial, Inc.

What is the difference between American General Life and US Life?

The company's claims page says life insurance is issued by American General Life Insurance Company (AGL), Houston, Texas, except in New York, where it is issued by The United States Life Insurance Company in the City of New York (US Life). Each company is responsible for the financial obligations of its own products.

Where can I file a complaint about American General Life?

Write to the company first and keep copies. If that does not resolve it, file with the insurance department of the state where you live; the NAIC's state insurance departments directory gives each department's contact details and how to file a complaint. AGL is domiciled in Texas, so the Texas Department of Insurance is its home-state regulator; Texas residents can file through TDI's online complaint system or call its Help Line at 800-252-3439, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Central time, Monday through Friday. You can also file a complaint with BBB, which keeps a file for American General Life Insurance in Cleveland, Ohio.

Are American General Finance complaints about American General Life?

They are separate. American General Finance was a consumer-loan business; complaints about it are collected on this site's OneMain Financial profile, not on this page.