State annuity protection

Mississippi Annuity Guaranty Protection: $250,000 Annuity Limit Explained

Mississippi generally provides up to $250,000 in protection for the present value of covered annuity benefits with respect to one life, including eligible net cash surrender and withdrawal values, subject to eligibility requirements and statutory exclusions.

Mississippi annuity protection at a glance

Annuity benefit limit
$250,000
Present value of covered annuity benefits, including eligible net cash surrender and net cash withdrawal values.
Overall benefit cap
$300,000
Mississippi generally caps covered benefits at $300,000 in the aggregate with respect to one life across the ordinary per-life, governmental-plan-participant, and structured-settlement categories. Qualifying health-benefit-plan benefits may instead be subject to a $500,000 aggregate. The $300,000 aggregate does not increase Mississippi’s separate $250,000 ordinary annuity limit.
Who provides protection
Mississippi Life and Health Insurance Guaranty Association
The Mississippi Life and Health Insurance Guaranty Association is a nonprofit legal entity created by statute, funded through assessments of member insurers, and supervised by the Insurance Commissioner. It may act for an impaired member insurer and has specified duties for an insolvent member insurer.
Insurer requirement
Member insurer
The issuing insurer must qualify as a member insurer under Mississippi law, and the policy or contract must otherwise be covered under Article 5.

How the $250,000 limit works

Mississippi includes eligible net cash surrender and withdrawal values within the $250,000 annuity limit. Amounts above guaranty protection may remain claims against the insurer’s receivership estate.

Multiple annuity policies or contracts with respect to the same life at the same impaired or insolvent member insurer share Mississippi’s $250,000 ordinary annuity limit.

Coverage limits are generally applied separately to each impaired or insolvent member insurer, subject to Mississippi’s eligibility and interstate-coordination rules.

Mississippi generally caps covered benefits at $300,000 in the aggregate with respect to one life across the ordinary per-life, governmental-plan-participant, and structured-settlement categories. Qualifying health-benefit-plan benefits may instead be subject to a $500,000 aggregate. The $300,000 aggregate does not increase Mississippi’s separate $250,000 ordinary annuity limit.

  • A qualifying structured-settlement payee, or the beneficiary or beneficiaries of a deceased payee, may receive up to $250,000 in aggregate present-value annuity benefits, including eligible net cash surrender and withdrawal values, subject to Mississippi’s applicable $300,000 aggregate.
  • For a qualifying governmental retirement plan under IRC sections 401, 403(b), or 457 funded by a covered unallocated annuity, benefits attributable to each participant are limited to $250,000 in aggregate present-value annuity benefits.
  • Certain other qualifying unallocated-annuity contract owners or plan sponsors may receive up to $5 million in aggregate benefits, regardless of the number of qualifying contracts, subject to Mississippi’s principal-place-of-business and other eligibility rules.
  • Qualifying health-benefit-plan benefits may be subject to a $500,000 aggregate with respect to one individual; Mississippi’s ordinary annuity-specific limit remains $250,000.

A $300,000 annuity example

Assume a Mississippi resident owns an eligible deferred annuity with a covered present value of $300,000 when the member insurer becomes impaired or insolvent.

Annuity value

$300,000

Potential protection

$250,000

Possible receivership claim

$50,000

In this example, up to $250,000 may qualify for guaranty association protection, while the remaining $50,000 may remain a claim against the insurer’s receivership estate.

This illustration applies only the statutory guaranty limit and does not estimate the timing or amount of any additional receivership recovery.

Which annuities are covered?

  • Fixed annuity

    Generally covered

    Fixed annuities are generally covered up to Mississippi’s $250,000 present-value annuity limit with respect to one life, subject to eligibility requirements and statutory exclusions.

  • Fixed indexed annuity (FIA)

    Generally covered

    FIAs are generally covered to the extent of qualifying insurer-guaranteed benefits. Certain excess, uncredited, or forfeitable index-linked amounts may be excluded; however, when value is credited less frequently than annually, Mississippi calculates the value as though the earlier impairment or insolvency date were the contractual crediting date and treats the resulting amount as credited and nonforfeitable.

  • Multi-year guaranteed annuity (MYGA)

    Generally covered

    MYGAs are generally treated as fixed deferred annuities and are subject to Mississippi’s $250,000 present-value annuity limit and statutory interest-rate restrictions.

  • Variable annuity

    Guaranteed portions may be covered

    Only qualifying insurer-guaranteed benefits may receive protection; investment gains or losses borne by the contract owner through a separate account are generally excluded.

  • Registered index-linked annuity (RILA)

    Contract-specific

    For a RILA, qualifying insurer-guaranteed contractual obligations may be covered, while portions where the contract owner bears market or index risk are generally excluded.

  • Unallocated annuity contract

    Limited situations

    Unallocated annuity contracts are covered only in specified circumstances. For qualifying governmental §401, §403(b), or §457 plans, benefits attributable to each participant are capped at $250,000; certain other qualifying contract owners or plan sponsors may receive up to $5 million in aggregate benefits.

Who may qualify?

  • Residency is determined on the date of entry of the first court order determining the member insurer to be impaired or insolvent.
  • Eligibility depends on the claimant’s role under the covered policy or contract, residency, the issuing insurer’s member-insurer status, and the special rules applicable to ordinary annuities, unallocated annuities, or structured settlements.
  • A nonresident may qualify in limited circumstances when the issuing insurer is Mississippi-domiciled, the person’s state of residence has a similar guaranty association, and the person is not eligible for coverage there because the insurer lacked the required license under that state’s guaranty law.
  • Mississippi’s interstate-coordination rules are designed to provide protection through only one state guaranty association and prevent duplicate guaranty coverage for the same obligation.
  • The issuing insurer must qualify as a member insurer under Mississippi law, and the policy or contract must otherwise be covered under Article 5.

What is not covered?

  • Portions of a policy or contract that are not guaranteed by the member insurer, or under which the policy or contract owner bears the investment risk, are generally excluded from guaranty protection.
  • Interest, crediting rates, or similar factors above Mississippi’s statutory limits based on Moody’s Corporate Bond Yield Average may be excluded from guaranty protection.
  • Reinsurance policies or contracts are excluded unless assumption certificates have been issued under the reinsurance agreement.
  • Self-funded or uninsured employer or association benefit arrangements are excluded, including specified MEWA, minimum-premium, stop-loss, and administrative-services-only arrangements.
  • Dividends, experience-rating credits, voting rights, and fees or allowances for servicing or administering a policy or contract are generally excluded.
  • A policy or contract issued in Mississippi while the insurer lacked the required license or certificate of authority is excluded.
  • Unallocated annuity contracts are covered only in specified circumstances, including qualifying benefit-plan and government-lottery arrangements. PBGC-protected plans, book-value accounting guarantees backed by plan-owned assets, and portions outside the statutory plan or lottery categories are excluded.
  • Medicare Part C or Part D and Medicaid benefits are excluded.
  • Claims based on marketing materials, unauthorized side letters or riders, misrepresentations, extra-contractual claims, penalties, and consequential or incidental damages are generally excluded from guaranty protection.
  • Structured-settlement rights acquired through a factoring transaction are excluded.

What happens when an insurer becomes impaired or insolvent?

  1. Rehabilitation, conservation, or liquidation proceedings begin

    A member insurer is an impaired insurer when a court places it under an order of rehabilitation or conservation. An insolvent insurer is one placed under a liquidation order with a finding of insolvency.

  2. Claimant, insurer, and contract eligibility are reviewed

    The Association determines whether the claimant, issuing insurer, and policy or contract satisfy Mississippi’s residency, ownership, member-insurer, coverage, and interstate-coordination requirements.

  3. Covered obligations are continued, transferred, reinsured, or paid

    For an impaired insurer, the Association may guarantee, assume, reissue, or reinsure covered policies or provide financial support with the Commissioner’s approval. For an insolvent insurer, it must provide protection through one of the methods authorized by §83-23-215.

  4. Amounts above guaranty protection may remain in receivership

    Amounts above the Association’s protection may remain claims against the insurer’s receivership estate, with any additional recovery depending on available estate assets and court-approved distributions.

How the guaranty system is financed

The Association is funded through assessments of member insurers. Class A assessments fund administrative, legal, and other general expenses; Class B assessments fund duties relating to impaired or insolvent member insurers.

Assessment allocation
Member insurers
Class B assessments are allocated among Mississippi’s statutory accounts and subaccounts and among member insurers based generally on covered Mississippi premiums during the three most recent calendar years for which information is available preceding the impairment or insolvency year.
Annual assessment cap
Defined by state law
Annual assessment cap — 2%. For each applicable life-and-annuity subaccount and the health account, total annual assessments generally cannot exceed 2% of the member insurer’s average annual Mississippi premiums on covered business during the three calendar years preceding the year in which the affected insurer became impaired or insolvent.
Premium-tax treatment
State-specific rule
Tax treatment — 20% per year for five years. A member insurer may offset 20% of a qualifying assessment against Mississippi premium, franchise, or income tax liability in each of the next five years; if the annual offset is less than 20%, the unused balance may be carried forward until fully used.
What the 2% figure means
The 2% figure is an annual cap on assessments against an individual member insurer for each applicable account or subaccount; it is not a consumer coverage limit or a fixed statewide guaranty-fund balance.

What to know before buying

  • Mississippi’s $300,000 aggregate does not increase the ordinary $250,000 annuity-specific limit. The statute states the annuity limit with respect to one life, while the Association FAQ illustrates coverage on a per-contract-owner basis; unusual ownership structures may require case-specific review.
  • Mississippi prohibits any person, including a member insurer, agent, or affiliate, from using the Association’s existence for sales, solicitation, or inducement to purchase covered insurance. The approved summary document must be delivered with covered policies or contracts and must conspicuously explain the Association’s limitations and exclusions.

How state protection differs from FDIC insurance

  • What it covers
    State protection: Mississippi guaranty protection may apply to eligible insurer-guaranteed contractual annuity benefits, subject to statutory limits and exclusions.
    FDIC: Federal deposit coverage concerns eligible funds in a bank deposit account.
  • What system stands behind it
    State protection: The Mississippi Life and Health Insurance Guaranty Association is a nonprofit legal entity created by statute and funded through assessments of member insurers; it may act when a member insurer becomes impaired or insolvent.
    FDIC: The FDIC provides the insurance framework for deposits at federally insured banks.
  • Coverage-limit basis
    State protection: At one impaired or insolvent member insurer, Mississippi generally provides up to $250,000 in present-value annuity benefits with respect to one life, subject to the applicable $300,000 aggregate and statutory exclusions.
    FDIC: The deposit calculation uses the customer, bank, and account-ownership classification.
  • Whether it applies to annuities
    State protection: Eligible annuity benefits may receive Mississippi guaranty association protection, but annuity contracts are not bank deposits and are not insured by the FDIC.
    FDIC: Federal insurance instead applies to an eligible bank deposit, not to the annuity.

Sources and last verified

Last verified: September 28, 2026