Ameritas Charge: Why It Appears, Cancel, or Dispute It

An unfamiliar Ameritas charge on a bank statement is almost always an insurance premium collected by Ameritas Life Insurance Corp., a Lincoln, Nebraska mutual insurer that sells life insurance, annuities, disability income coverage, and dental, vision, and hearing plans.¹ The charge may belong to you, to a spouse or family member on a shared account, or to an employer-linked group plan; in a small share of cases it reflects a billing error, a post-cancellation draft, or an unauthorized transaction. What you do next depends on which of those it is.

Why the Descriptor May Not Look Like “Ameritas”

Ameritas processes certain online premium payments through the Bank of New York Mellon, so a transaction can route through that institution’s payment system before it settles on your statement.² The company also accepts credit cards, EFT drafts from checking or savings accounts, and checks, and the descriptor can vary by payment method.³

Employer-sponsored dental, vision, and hearing plans are another common source of confusion. Some employers deduct premiums through payroll, but other group configurations bill the employee directly. And if you share the account with a spouse, parent, or adult child, check whether anyone in the household enrolled in individual or family dental or vision coverage, which Ameritas markets directly to consumers.

Identify the Charge if You Hold an Ameritas Policy

Log in at accounts.ameritas.com, select your policy number, and open the Transactions History tab. You can filter by transaction type and date range to match a specific premium against the entry on your bank statement.² Recent bills sit under the Documents tab.⁴

If the amount is wrong, or you were billed after cancellation, call the line that matches your product:

Life insurance, annuities, or disability income: 800-745-1112, Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Central. Secure messaging is available inside the online account.⁵
Individual or family dental, vision, and hearing: 800-300-9566 or cs@ameritas.com.⁶
Group (employer-sponsored) dental, vision, and hearing: 800-659-2223 or group_assistants@ameritas.com.⁶

Contractual Fees That Surprise Policyholders

Some charges people don’t recognize are fees written into the policy rather than errors. A few of the more common ones:

Ameritas dental plans charge an $8 administrative fee each time a premium is paid by check rather than by credit card or EFT.³
Annuity rider charges show up as a separate line on some contracts. The Ameritas Income 10 index annuity, for example, carries a current annual charge of 1.00% of the rider charge base for its Guaranteed Lifetime Withdrawal Benefit riders, with a contractual maximum of 2.00% for single life coverage and 2.50% for joint spousal coverage.⁷
Surrender charges vary by product. Some variable universal life policies carry no surrender charge, while other products impose fees that can meaningfully reduce an early payout; the schedule sits in each policy’s prospectus or contract.⁸
Cost-of-insurance rate increases on universal and variable life policies can push monthly premiums up sharply. Complaints filed with the Better Business Bureau describe monthly premiums jumping from $225 to $936, followed by “shortfall” bills totaling several thousand dollars more.⁹

Policyholders who surrendered coverage have also reported net payouts below the stated account balance because of withdrawal fees. In one BBB complaint, a consumer who invested $10,000 received $7,657.36 upon surrender, which the company said was processed “in accordance with the policy provisions.”¹⁰ If you’re planning to surrender or withdraw, ask for the exact net figure in writing before authorizing it.

Cancel To Stop Future Drafts

To end billing, call 800-745-1112 during business hours and request cancellation. Ameritas recommends speaking with your financial professional first.⁵ Dental coverage terminates automatically once a payment is more than 31 days past due, so simply stopping payment will eventually end that kind of plan, though it can leave an unpaid balance or affect future insurability.³ A formal cancellation call is cleaner.

Dispute a Charge You Don’t Recognize

If no one in your household holds an Ameritas policy, treat the charge as potentially unauthorized and contact your bank or card issuer right away. Federal law requires you to report an unauthorized transaction within 60 days of the statement date to preserve your full dispute rights.¹¹

For a debit card or electronic fund transfer, reporting within two business days of discovery caps your liability at $50; waiting longer can raise the cap to $500.¹¹ For a credit card, the Fair Credit Billing Act caps liability on unauthorized purchases at $50 when reported within the 60-day window.¹²

Once you file the dispute, the bank generally has 10 business days to investigate. If it needs more time, it must issue a temporary credit for the disputed amount (minus up to $50) and complete the review within 45 days, or 90 days for newer accounts, foreign transactions, or point-of-sale debit purchases.¹¹

Escalate to an Insurance Regulator

If Ameritas won’t reverse a charge you consider improper, you can file a complaint with your state’s department of insurance, which has authority over insurance transactions inside its borders regardless of where the insurer is headquartered. Ameritas itself is domiciled in Nebraska and regulated by the Nebraska Department of Insurance; the department’s consumer complaint hotline is 877-564-7323.¹³ In BBB responses, Ameritas has typically asked complainants to sign a HIPAA authorization before it will discuss policy specifics through a third-party portal, and on fee and surrender disputes has stated it found “no basis to depart from the terms of the contract.”¹⁰ Having your policy number, billing history, and any cancellation confirmation ready before you call speeds either channel.

1
Ameritas. Our Story
2
Ameritas. Life Insurance FAQ – Clients
3
Illinois Health Agents. Ameritas FAQs
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Ameritas. Annuities FAQ – Client
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Ameritas. Disability Income FAQ – Client
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Ameritas. Contact Us
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Ameritas. Income 10 Index Annuity
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U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Ameritas Advisor ClearEdge VUL Prospectus
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Better Business Bureau. Ameritas Life Insurance Corp Customer Reviews
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Better Business Bureau. Ameritas Life Insurance Corp Complaints
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Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. How Do I Get My Money Back After an Unauthorized Transaction
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Discover. What Is This Charge on My Credit Card
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Nebraska Department of Insurance. Company Information