Homesteaders Life Company

"It has been several months since the pasting of my Mother Avery Lee Thomas. I want to Thank Homesteaders Life for your exceptional service your team provides. We are Sincerely Grateful. Many Blessings to you all and your Families and the Families you Support. Thank from the Thomas family"

"Very convenient an helpful staff...I am so glad to be able to make these final arrangements with such caring people..."

"They are stuck in the 90s with your online services. Accounting is horrible. Bills never show balance and if you pay more than your regular payment, they send you a check instead of applying to your account. I had a $10 balance, a month later I get a refund for $37. When I called they said I now owes $98. Horrible company! Can't wait to see how I am treated when we need to use the policy!"

"*Rebuttal to the Homesteaders response begins here: If Homesteaders were truly sorry, they would resolve this matter as I have very reasonably requested. Instead, they continue to gloss over the fact that my mother was taken advantage of and that their "counselor" was negligent and predatory. Their refusal to pay my mother what she is owed is especially despicable considering they've already profited twice what she paid in. Shameful. *Original Review here: My mother was sold a predatory pre-need policy by Homesteaders Life some years ago. The “pre-need counselor” — really just a salesperson contracted and trained by Homesteaders — who prepared her policy failed to properly explain the financial ramifications or insurance component, nor ascertain whether or not she needed coverage of this sort in the first place. I grant that my mother made a mistake. People make mistakes and do a poor job of reading or understanding fine print. It happens all the time and it’s easier to do so when you’re a single mother with a demanding job. She placed too much trust in the funeral home, seeing as they had taken care of her parents as well, and she placed too much trust in the counselor. She simply wanted to make sure her funeral was taken care of, not purchase a redundant insurance policy designed to bleed her of double the face value of the funeral cost over ten years. I also grant that Homesteaders has a 30-day opt out policy — which basically says that if you catch your mistake within 30 days, great. If not, you are stuck forever with little or no recourse. This from a company who boasts about helping people. My mother caught her mistake a couple years later, by which time she’d paid in around $8,500.00. She returned to the funeral home and altered the cost of her funeral from nearly $14,000 to a more reasonable $6,000. Instead of moving to tie everything off, the funeral director took it upon himself to refinance the terms of the policy by cashing out the accrued amount, using it to make continued payments at a lower rate, and ultimately ensuring that my mother would now pay in nearly $13,000 despite the face value of just $6,000. When my mother finally told me about this issue, I thought for sure a company with Homesteaders reputation — as I then understood it — would be understanding of the situation and work with us to resolve the issue. Instead, they doubled down via their legal team and offered to return only around $2,500 so long as we signed an agreement to pursue no further action. This represents around half of what we are entitled to and roughly a quarter of the money that was paid in. I finally ended up speaking to their VP of Customer Service, hoping I could appeal to any sense of moral obligation they might have — but she made it clear that they feel they have none. Last, I only recently discovered that the counselor that sold the original policy was stripped of their license not long after my mother’s policy was sold. After digging a little deeper, I found that they recently stood trial in Floyd County for causing serious injury with a vehicle. Investigators in that case have noted that this former “pre need counselor” for Homesteaders has a history of illegal drug use and tested positive for drugs just after the incident. Despite all this, Homesteaders still will not budge. This person is no longer allowed to sell insurance but the negligent policies they sold are still binding. This company has proved at every turn that they value profit over actually helping families. The fact that my mother was mislead, preyed upon, and ultimately relieved of several thousand dollars for which no service was actually provided will forever be linked to her funeral plans — which in the end is more sad than having lost all that money. Rather than easing burdens Homesteaders has, in this case, created them and then refused to take any responsibility for them -- going to great lengths to hold on to just a couple thousand dollars. Homesteaders and and their representatives should not be trusted and avoided at all costs."

"A honest, reliable company would take responsibility for their mistakes not attempt to blame the customer. Two months ago I called this company to cancel mine and husband's funeral insurance and remove auto pay. The following month they withdrew again and I called. Apparently they lost the call and guaranteed to take care of it. This month another withdrawal for insurance hit my bank again. This time I call and they say again it will be taken care of. Of course I can't get a refund for any of this which is their miscommunication. I am told I must have called the funeral home. No I didn't I have phone records to prove every call not one to funeral home. Then I get the excuse they can't hear me and they hang up. I am shocked at how this company treats its customers and does not admit when it makes mistakes nor returns money when they are called on their mistakes. FTC might be my next recourse"