Sons of Norway Life Insurance: A Rising Star In 2023

Sons of Norway is a Minnesota-based life insurance company issuing policies for over 125 years (since 1895). The Company operates in 37 states, offering a variety of insurance and retirement products at highly competitive rates. As of mid-2022, Sons of Norway had $791 million in life insurance in-force.

What is a fraternal insurance company?

Sons of Norway is organized as a fraternal benefit society.

A fraternal benefit society is a membership organization that is legally required to offer life, health, and related insurance products to its members.

Fraternal benefit societies must be made up of members with a common bond and organized into lodges or chapters (local membership groups).

What makes these organizations particularly unique is that they must carry out charitable and other programs for the benefit of their members and the public and they must be not-for-profit.

What are the benefits of becoming a Sons of Norway member?

When you buy a Sons of Norway life insurance policy, you get a free membership into the society, which comes with some fun benefits.  First, you get the Viking magazine along with the monthly E-Post newsletter to get the most out of the Norwegian culture. Second, you will have access to cultural resources and language lessons. Finally, you will have access to discounts on travel, clothing, food, entertainment, rental cars, and more!

Sons of Norway Life Insurance Offerings

Sons of Norway sells two permanent life insurance products: Guaranteed Issue Whole Life (GIWL) and Simplified Issue Whole Life (SIWL) insurance.

These are both no-exam policies, with rates that never increase and cash value growth that is guaranteed.

The distinguishing feature of a Guaranteed Issue Whole Life insurance policy (also known as Guaranteed Acceptance Life Insurance) is that approval is guaranteed.

Eligibility & Coverage

As long as you fall within the eligibility criteria (by state and age), you are guaranteed to be issued a policy.

In other words, no underwriting is done at all – no medical exam or health questions.

Guaranteed Issue life Insurance coverage is available to individuals ages 0-85 in the 37 turquoise-shaded states below (both compact and non-compact states).

Coverage amounts range from $5,000 to $25,000. These face amounts are lower than Sons of Norway’s Simplified Issue product; however, these amounts still allow individuals to cover their funeral costs (~$10,000 on average) and have funds left over for other end-of-life expenses (e.g., medical bills).

Waiting Period

As with all Guaranteed Issue policies, there is a waiting period before full coverage begins.

If the Insured dies of natural causes during the first 24 months, Sons of Norway simply refunds the policyholder’s premiums paid (plus 4.5% interest).

Note that this applies to deaths from natural causes only.  Sons of Norway pays out the full face amount of the policy if the insured passes away due to accidental death.

Cash value

Guaranteed Issue policies also build cash value over time.

Here’s how this works. As you pay your monthly premiums, a portion of this amount goes to a savings account, called a “cash value account”.  The funds in this account build over time as you pay additional premiums and as interest is earned.

This is a great feature to have as you pay into your policy.  Cash value can be used for any purpose whatsoever – e.g., to pay urgent medical expenses or even to take a trip to Norway!

Sons of Norway’s most popular product is their SIWL insurance product.

Currently, these policies are available to ages 0-74 (0-85 as soon as Sons of Norway removes their COVID restrictions).

Life insurance coverage amounts vary by issue age. Individuals ages 0-59 can buy coverage between $25,000 to $50,000. However, individuals 60-74 have access to a wider coverage range, with policy face amounts starting at $10,000 and going to $50,000. The reason being, older individuals are more likely to be purchasing life insurance for final expenses, and with the average funeral costing ~$10,000, lower coverage amounts are particularly popular among seniors.

Cash Value Accumulation

Sons of Norway’s SIWL product has two ways for you to build “savings” – through cash value and dividends.

Cash values are guaranteed at issue and are shown to applicants before they apply (unlike most life insurance providers, which offer these only in the policy contract).

This allows you to borrow money against the policy should you have urgent expenses. As you continue to pay into the policy over time, your cash value builds just like it would in a savings account.

The below chart demonstrates how cash builds over time. For example, a 60-year-old applicant would be able to borrow up to $4,969 by the time he’s 80 years old.

The second and more unique way Sons of Norway allows you to accumulate cash is through dividends. You can receive your dividends in cash, they can be used to offset your premiums (meaning, your premiums would decrease over time!), or they can be used to purchase additional insurance (called “paid-up additions”).

Sons of Norway Simplified Issue whole life policies offer two riders (benefits) which we will cover in the next section.

Sons of Norway Policy Riders

Sons of Norway offers two riders. As a reminder, a rider is an additional benefit you can add to your policy. The two riders are

• Children’s Insurance Rider
• Guaranteed Purchase Option Rider

Adding riders to your policy is a great way to get additional protection for you and your loved ones. Often they are little to no cost.

Children’s Life Insurance Rider

Sons of Norway allows you to buy additional protection for your children. If you are 18 to 55 years old, you can purchase a policy for your child with coverage amounts ranging from $1,000 to $10,000. Children’s life insurance is good until the age of 22 and can convert to a whole life policy, allowing you to add more coverage amount up to five times the original coverage amount.

Guaranteed Purchase Option Rider

Also known as GPO, this benefit allows you to add more coverage without going through any underwriting. As long as you are under the age of 36, you can add this rider for a premium. The premium charge will end at the age of 40.

You can add additional insurance at ages 25, 28, 31, 34, 37, and 40. However, you can also add more insurance with marriage and the birth or adoption of a child as well. Each increase allows you to add coverage from $10,000 to $25,000.

Here’s what you can expect when applying for a Sons of Norway life insurance policy:

Applying For A Policy

Buying insurance from Sons of Norway policy is easy. You can do this over the phone with a licensed life insurance agent, or you can apply online.

The application broadly includes personal information, beneficiary information, health questions (if applying for Simplified Issue), and payment information. In the next section, we will cover the health questions asked on the application.

When applying for Simplified Issue Life Insurance, Sons of Norway will use third-party data to determine your approval. This includes Motor Vehicle Report, the Medical Information Bureau, and Prescription History.

You can expect the entire process to take about 25 minutes to complete.

For Simplified Issue, remember that Sons of Norway does decline applicants who have been declined or offered a high substandard by another insurance carrier. It’s best to apply for Guaranteed Issue.

Underwriting: Medical Questions

Below, you’ll find the 10 medical questions that are asked on Sons of Norway’s Simplified Issue Whole Life insurance application.

(As mentioned above, there is no underwriting done for GIWL so there are no medical questions.)

1. Are you currently taking any prescribed medications (please include a description of “why prescribed” in section 7)?In the last 5 years have you been treated, examined or advised by a member of the medical profession for any of the following:
2. high blood pressure, diabetes or high blood sugar?
3. atrial fibrillation, cardiac pacemaker, heart attack, heart valve disorder/replacement, cardiac bypass surgery, congestive heart failure, coronary artery disease (CAD)
4. cirrhosis, hepatitis (chronic or type B or C), cancer, tumor or disorder of the lymph nodes?
5. alcohol abuse and/or addiction, drug abuse and/or addiction, chronic pain or patient in pain clinic?
6. cognitive or mental disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, Down’s syndrome, psychotic disorders, anxiety, or depression?
7. disorder of the nervous system such as Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) or Parkinson’s?
8. chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD
9. Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis?

What to Expect After Submission

After submitting an application, you can expect to have an approval decision within 24 hours. Once you are approved, your first payment will be drafted on the same day.

Currently, Sons of Norway only accepts EFT (Electronic Funds Transfer) payments. You will be required to submit your checking information at the time of application.

You will have 30 days from the time of submission to decide if you like to keep your policy or cancel with a money-back guarantee.

Advantages of Sons of Norway Life Insurance

• Low rates: Sons of Norway offers some of the lowest rates compared to many insurance companies. This is especially true if you are in great health. Although, Sons of Norway’s Guarantee Issue is one of the lowest if you’re looking for a whole life policy with no medical exam or health questions.
• Easy application: The application process is incredibly easy. The Simplified Issue policy has personal information, beneficiary information, payment information, and health questions. In fact, there are only 7 health questions to answer, making the entire application about 15 minutes to complete.
• Membership benefits: Sons of Norway is a membership organization that you can take advantage of. Here are a few of the benefits: Viking magazine, and you will have access to discounts on travel, clothing, food, entertainment, rental cars, and more!

Disadvantages of Sons of Norway Life Insurance

• Restricted age eligibility: Unlike most life insurance companies, Sons of Norway still has its COVID age restrictions in place. While individuals 75-85 can typically apply for a SIWL policy, at the moment, the maximum age has been lowered to 74 years and 364 days. On the other hand, Aetna offers immediate coverage to individuals as old as 89
• Limited riders: Sons of Norway’s life insurance policies have limited riders. Their Guaranteed Issue whole life coverage has no riders, while their Simplified Issue option has only two (a Children’s Insurance Rider and a Guaranteed Purchase Option (GPO). However, even the riders in themselves are limited. The GPO Option is available only to applicants under 38 years old, while the Children’s Insurance Rider is available only to those under 55 years old
• High coverage minimums:  Sons of Norway has the highest minimum coverage for individuals under 60 years old. For this demographic, the smallest policy you can buy is $25,000. For people looking to buy insurance for final expenses, this coverage is unnecessary and often too costly for their budgets.