Insurance
Knights of Columbus insurance has been “Making a Difference for Life” for more than 120 years. Since our founding in 1882, our primary mission has been to protect families against the financial ruin caused by the death of the breadwinner. Today we do this, and help families secure their financial futures, through our top-rated portfolio of life insurance, long term care insurance and annuity products.
Why Choose Us?
Our Beginnings; A Sanctuary
In the late 19th century, North America was
experiencing an influx of people from all over the world,
particularly Europe. Many people were relegated to living in
unsanitary conditions, and performing hazardous jobs for poor pay.
Such was life for Catholics in New Haven, Connecticut.
The untimely death of the family breadwinner often devastated a
family. In 1882, a young Catholic priest, Father Michael J.
McGivney, curate at St. Mary’s Church in New Haven, envisioned an
organization to help Catholic families deal with this crisis. Out of
his vision the Knights of Columbus was founded. We are currently the
largest Catholic, family, fraternal organization in the world, and
boast a members-only insurance program that is among the strongest
in the industry.
As a member of our organization, you enjoy the opportunity to
participate as a family and positively affect your church and
community. One person can make a difference. With 1.6 million
members, the Knights of Columbus’ impact is enormous. Last year
alone, we donated $116 million to charitable causes, and performed
over 56 million hours of community service. That’s impact!
We have over 1,200 full-time life insurance professionals dedicated
to serving member’s needs. Each is assigned exclusively to a group
of members and families so that he’ll be there when you or your
family needs him. These agents are members of our organization and
share our members’ ideals and goals in community service.
How We Measure Up
Feel confident that we’ll be there when you need us. The independent rating services of IMSA, Standard & Poor’s and A.M. Best agree. Click on the icons below to see what they are saying about our insurance program.
Promised Benefits
From its humble beginnings, our insurance program has grown into a formidable institution, providing billions of dollars in future death benefits to our members and families.
Financial Strength
Prudent management has led to the rapid growth of our assets, providing adequate backing for our member’s protection, and securing our obligations to our insureds and their beneficiaries.
Ownership Benefits
Because we’re a Fraternal Benefit Society, we have no stockholders. Our owners are our members. We return our good fortune in the form of dividends to our policyholders.
Knights of Columbus Privacy Commitment to Our Insureds
The Knights of Columbus is committed to
protecting the privacy of our insureds.
At some point in the past, you may have given us certain personal
information. This information included your name, age, address,
marital status and social security number. If you applied for life
or long-term care insurance, you may have also given us: (1)
employment and medical information and (2) access to your health
history, mode of living, hobbies and other personal data. The only
information collected was that needed to underwrite your
application.
We maintain a high level of confidentiality concerning our insureds.
Our staff has been trained in the handling and protection of
personal information. Oversight of these matters is strict. Our
staff understands that improper disclosure of personal data is a
serious matter. If we ask an outside company to help us with our
insurance operations, we require it to adhere to the same standards
as we do.
Unless you have given us your written permission, no affiliates or
third party non-affiliates have access to your insurance records
other than as necessary to assist us in administering our insurance
operations. We never sell lists of the names and addresses of our
insureds to any vendor of goods or services.
Access to your records is limited to: (1) our employees who are
working with your file and (2) employees of organizations which are
under contract with us and which adhere to our standards. Should we
be forced to disclose information in connection with a civil suit or
a criminal investigation, we must comply. Such instances are,
however, very rare.
Our policy of protecting the security of personal data also extends
to former insureds who are no longer covered by us.
While personal information related to you as an insured will not be
disclosed, except as stated above, if you are a member of the
Knights of Columbus, we may share your identifying membership
information, such as name, address, telephone number and age, with
affiliated Knights of Columbus nonprofit organizations, such as
Knights of Columbus Charities, Inc., to inform you of opportunities
that may be of interest to you. We may also share this information
with companies working for these nonprofit organizations. We require
that these nonprofit organizations and the companies working for
them comply with our privacy policy.
Family Fraternal Benefits
Membership Means More
The Knights of Columbus offers special benefits of membership. Among these are unique programs that exist exclusively for K of C families faced with needs that often fall outside traditional insurance plans. The Family Fraternal Benefits package, available to all our good-standing members and their families, adds value to membership in our organization.
- Guaranteed Life Insurance Benefits for Uninsurable Children
- Death Benefits Available for Stillborn/Miscarried Children
- Orphan Benefits
- Member/Spouse Accidental Death Benefits
Our Evolution
When our organization began, in order to
help each other, our members “passed the hat” to assist families of
deceased members. Soon, however, this became impossible, as the
number of our members grew.
Out of this simple process, we've evolved into a modern, dynamic
insurance organization, and offer a wide variety of products to suit
virtually everyone’s needs.
- Permanent Plans – Policy lasts as long as you live, premium stays the same.
- Term Plans – Policy ends at end of specified term: renewable or convertible.
- Annuities – Provides an income that is guaranteed for life.
- Long Term Care – Provides funds for long-term, out-of-hospital care.
