If the insurer fails, this is who keeps paying you.

The backstop behind every annuity guarantee.

An annuity is one insurance company's promise. If that company fails, the promise does not simply evaporate — every state runs a life and health insurance guaranty association that steps in and continues covered benefits, funded by assessments on the other insurers licensed in that state. It has worked in every major life insurer insolvency of the past four decades.

It also has a ceiling. Each state sets its own maximum coverage for annuity benefits, and above that ceiling you are an unsecured creditor of a failed company. That ceiling is the single most important number in sizing an annuity premium, and it is the number almost nobody looks up before wiring money.

Association names, phone numbers, and websites transcribed from NOLHGA's policyholder directory, checked 26 August 2026. Contact details change; confirm at NOLHGA. Property and casualty coverage is a separate system administered by NCIGF.

What to do once you have it.

• Size the premium under the limit
  With room to spare for future interest credits, which count toward the ceiling too. A contract that starts under the limit can grow past it.
• Split larger amounts across carriers
  Two contracts at two separately-rated insurers gets you two limits. This is the entire reason laddering across carriers exists.
• Check whose limit applies
  Coverage generally follows the residence of the contract owner or payee. Joint ownership and trust ownership complicate this — ask the association directly.
• Re-check if you move in retirement
  Relocating changes which association covers you, and limits vary meaningfully between states. Snowbirds should establish which state is their legal residence.
• Weigh the limit against the rating
  A B+ carrier inside the limit is a defensible allocation. The same carrier above the limit is a concentrated bet on a company that pays extra because it has to.
• Or send us the contractFree
  We will check the issuing entity, its current rating, and your state's limit against the premium you are being asked to commit.