If you own an Ameritas whole life policy and the premium has begun to feel like a bill paid for someone else’s benefit, you have more than two choices. Most owners assume the list is keep paying or surrender. There is a third path outside the contract, a life settlement, in which a licensed institutional buyer purchases the policy for a lump sum, and there are two more written inside the contract itself, reduced paid-up insurance and extended term insurance. Which of the four leaves your household better off is arithmetic, not instinct.
This page is education only, and every carrier fact below comes from Ameritas’s own published material or from state insurance department and rating agency records, stamped with the year it was published. Ratings and phone numbers change, so confirm anything that matters directly with the carrier before you act on it.
In This Article
- Who Actually Holds Your Ameritas Whole Life Policy Today
- Is Ameritas Still Writing New Business, or Is the Block in Runoff?
- The Real Comparison: Settlement Offer, Surrender Value and Reduced Paid-Up
- How Dividends Change the Math on a Participating Policy
- The Change-of-Ownership Step Every Settlement Requires
- What to Ask When You Call Ameritas
- What Pine Lake Does and Does Not Do
- Frequently Asked Questions
Who Actually Holds Your Ameritas Whole Life Policy Today
Ameritas has been rearranged several times, and the paperwork trail confuses owners who pull an old policy out of a drawer and find a company name that no longer appears online. Here is the chain, in order.
- Effective January 1, 1998, the company converted from a mutual insurer to a mutual insurance holding company structure under the Mutual Insurance Holding Company Act of the Nebraska insurance laws. Nebraska’s Director of Insurance approved the plan in October 1997 and policyholders approved it in December 1997.
- In 1999, Ameritas Mutual Insurance Holding Company merged with Acacia Mutual Holding Corporation to form Ameritas Acacia Mutual Holding Company.
- Effective January 1, 2006, that entity merged with Union Central Mutual Holding Company to form UNIFI Mutual Holding Company. Effective May 2, 2012, UNIFI was renamed Ameritas Mutual Holding Company.
- Effective July 1, 2014, Acacia Life Insurance Company and The Union Central Life Insurance Company were merged into Ameritas Life Insurance Corp., with Ameritas Life the surviving company. Nebraska approved the merger and all outstanding liabilities of Acacia and Union Central were assumed by Ameritas Life. A.M. Best withdrew the separate ratings of both companies the same day because the legal entities had ceased to exist.
The practical translation matters more than the corporate history. If the cover of your whole life policy reads Acacia Life Insurance Company or The Union Central Life Insurance Company, you do not have an orphaned contract. You hold an obligation of Ameritas Life Insurance Corp., and you service it through Ameritas.
Is Ameritas Still Writing New Business, or Is the Block in Runoff?
Ameritas is not in runoff. As of 2026 it continues to sell new individual life insurance across term, whole life, universal life, indexed universal life and variable universal life, including its FLX Living Benefits indexed universal life series. That matters for a practical reason: a carrier still administering an active new-business operation generally has staffed service teams, current forms and a working policyholder portal, which makes an ownership change cleaner than it would be with a closed block administered by a third party.
On financial strength, Ameritas publishes its own ratings page. As of 2026 it lists an A.M. Best rating of A (Excellent), dated June 25, 2026, described as the third highest of A.M. Best’s thirteen ratings and held for fifty years, and a Standard & Poor’s rating of A+ (Strong), dated April 8, 2026, described as the fifth highest of S&P’s twenty-one ratings. A.M. Best separately affirmed the Financial Strength Rating of A (Excellent) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating of a+ for Ameritas Life Insurance Corp. of Lincoln, Nebraska and Ameritas Life Insurance Corp. of New York of White Plains, New York on June 4, 2026, with stable outlooks.
Ameritas also reported, as of December 31, 2025, assets of $32.4 billion, capital and surplus of $2.2 billion, revenues of $5.3 billion and a net gain from operations of $195.9 million, serving roughly six million customers. Ratings are reviewed and can be revised, so treat these as year-stamped figures and check the carrier’s site for the current numbers.
The Real Comparison: Settlement Offer, Surrender Value and Reduced Paid-Up
Whole life is the one policy type where the alternatives are genuinely competitive, because the contract carries guaranteed cash value. That guaranteed value is the floor under every other decision. Four outcomes are usually on the table.
- Keep paying. The death benefit stays intact and cash value keeps building on the guaranteed schedule.
- Surrender. You receive the guaranteed cash surrender value less any outstanding loan, and coverage ends. Gain above your cost basis is generally taxable, which is a question for your own tax adviser.
- Reduced paid-up insurance. You stop paying premiums and the existing cash value buys a smaller death benefit that is fully paid up for life.
- Life settlement. A licensed buyer purchases the policy for a lump sum, becomes the owner and beneficiary, and takes over the premiums.
Order the numbers before you weigh feelings. If a settlement offer does not comfortably beat the guaranteed surrender value net of loans and fees, the surrender or paid-up route is the better trade, and any honest review will tell you so.
| Document | Where it comes from | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Policy cover page and schedule page | Your file or Ameritas Accounts | Shows issuing company name, face amount and guaranteed values |
| Most recent annual statement | Ameritas Accounts or mailed statement | Current cash value, loan balance and dividend credits |
| Current in-force illustration | Request from Ameritas service | Projects values forward under guaranteed and current assumptions |
| Reduced paid-up and extended term quote | Request from Ameritas service | Shows what coverage survives with no further premiums |
| Policyowner’s Change and Service Request form | Ameritas Accounts, Forms tab | The signed form Ameritas requires to record an ownership change |
How Dividends Change the Math on a Participating Policy
If your Ameritas whole life contract is participating, dividends move every number in the comparison above. Dividends are not guaranteed and are declared annually at the company’s discretion, but the option you elected years ago is quietly driving your current results.
- Paid-up additions. Each dividend buys a small block of additional paid-up coverage, raising both the cash value and the death benefit. That lifts the surrender floor and increases the face amount a buyer would evaluate.
- Premium reduction. The dividend is applied against the premium notice, so your actual out-of-pocket cost is lower than the gross premium printed on the schedule page.
- Accumulate at interest. Dividends sit in a side account earning interest, usually accessible without touching the base policy.
- Paid in cash. A check arrives; nothing is added to the contract.
Before you decide anything, ask Ameritas which dividend option is currently in force, what the last declared dividend was on your specific policy, and what the reduced paid-up figure would be if you stopped paying today. Owners regularly discover their real annual cost is materially lower than the number that prompted the phone call in the first place.
The Change-of-Ownership Step Every Settlement Requires
No settlement is complete until the carrier records a change of ownership. Ameritas states that a form is required for an ownership change; unlike a mailing address, it cannot be updated online. The document is the Policyowner’s Change and Service Request form, reached through Ameritas Accounts under View Account and the Forms tab, then signed and uploaded back for processing. A beneficiary change is a separate signed form. Nothing is final until Ameritas records the change and issues written confirmation, which you should keep. Before that step is reached, a review needs the underlying paperwork listed below.
What to Ask When You Call Ameritas
Ameritas lists a policy owner service line of 800-745-1112 for owners outside New York and 877-280-6110 for New York, Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Central, with a separate claims line at 800-487-5553. Confirm current numbers on the carrier’s own contact page. Ask for the following in writing rather than over the phone.
- The current guaranteed cash surrender value and the date it was calculated.
- Any outstanding policy loan balance and the loan interest rate.
- The dividend option currently in force and the most recent declared dividend.
- The reduced paid-up death benefit and the extended term period if premiums stopped today.
- Total premiums paid to date, which is the starting point your tax adviser will use for cost basis.
- Whether the contract contains any restriction on assignment or transfer of ownership.
Those six answers convert a vague worry about premiums into a decision you can actually check.
What Pine Lake Does and Does Not Do
Pine Lake Life Solutions provides education and a free, no-obligation policy review that reads your Ameritas paperwork and lays the four outcomes side by side. Life settlements are regulated at the state level, and rules on waiting periods, licensing and disclosure differ from state to state.
Pine Lake Life Solutions is an independent education and referral resource. Pine Lake is not affiliated with, endorsed by, appointed by or connected to Ameritas Life Insurance Corp. or any Ameritas company, and Pine Lake does not purchase policies. Nothing here is legal, tax or investment advice, and no eligibility or dollar value is promised. The only thing offered is a free, no-obligation policy review at (305) 209-7183.
Frequently Asked Questions
My policy says Acacia Life or Union Central. Is it still valid?
Yes. Effective July 1, 2014, Acacia Life Insurance Company and The Union Central Life Insurance Company were merged into Ameritas Life Insurance Corp., which survived the merger. Nebraska approved the transaction and all outstanding liabilities of both companies were assumed by Ameritas Life. You service the policy through Ameritas today.
Is a settlement always better than surrendering an Ameritas whole life policy?
No. Whole life carries guaranteed cash value, and that guaranteed surrender value is the floor. If a settlement offer does not clearly exceed the surrender value net of any policy loan and transaction costs, surrendering or electing reduced paid-up coverage is the better outcome. The comparison should be run before any offer is accepted.
Do dividends affect what a buyer would pay?
Indirectly, yes. Dividends are not guaranteed, but if yours are buying paid-up additions they increase both the cash value and the total death benefit, which changes the figures any buyer evaluates. If dividends are reducing your premium, your real out-of-pocket cost is lower than the gross premium on the schedule page.
What is Ameritas’s financial strength rating?
Ameritas publishes an A.M. Best rating of A (Excellent) dated June 25, 2026, and a Standard & Poor’s rating of A+ (Strong) dated April 8, 2026, on its own financial strength page. A.M. Best affirmed the A (Excellent) Financial Strength Rating with a stable outlook on June 4, 2026. Ratings can be revised, so confirm the current rating with Ameritas.
Does Pine Lake buy Ameritas policies?
No. Pine Lake Life Solutions is an education and referral resource and does not purchase policies. Pine Lake is not affiliated with or endorsed by Ameritas. The only service offered is a free, no-obligation policy review at (305) 209-7183.
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Related Reading
- Sell My Ameritas Universal Life Policy
- Sell My Ameritas Term Policy
- Cash Value Loan Vs Surrender
- Extended Term Nonforfeiture Option
- Keep Or Sell Policy Npv
- Change Of Ownership Life Insurance
- Sell My Massmutual Whole Life Policy
Pine Lake Life Solutions does not purchase life insurance policies and does not provide legal, tax, or investment advice. Information provided is for educational purposes only. Eligibility for any option, including life settlements, is not guaranteed and depends on individual circumstances, policy terms, underwriting, and market conditions. Consult independent legal, tax, or financial professionals before making decisions regarding a life insurance policy.