Best Term Life Insurance Companies
Buying life insurance can be a daunting task especially when purchasing online. There are many companies and all of them claim to be the “best company for term life insurance”, or the “best no medical exam term life insurance company” etc.
The goal of this article is to break down the differences between the various insurance carriers so that we can answer the question of “what is the best term life insurance company?”
The following criteria were used to help rate each company:
Price
Financial Strength and long term viability
Riders
Conversion options
Flexibility of design
Underwriting
Application process
Before we go through the details, here are the scores for each company:
Price
The premium dollars being paid into a term life insurance policy, unlike universal life or whole life, cover strictly the cost of insurance. There is no cash value or savings aspect in a term policy. As such, the amount paid monthly matters tremendously and even if it is only a small difference between companies, if you purchase a 30 year term policy that’s 360 small differences, which can add up to a large difference.
However, pricing is definitely not the only thing to look at.
Another point, pricing varies by age, amount, length, gender, state, health status and more. So even if one company, for example State Farm is more competitive for client A. Another company, for example, Northwestern Mutual, may be better priced for client B and yet a third company, say New York Life, may be the right fit for client C.
Life Insurance CompanyPricing for a $500,000 20 year term policy:
Protective Life Insurance Company$19.40
Banner Life Insurance Company$19.43
American General Life (AIG) Insurance Company$19.66
Penn Mutual Life Insurance Company$19.78
Transamerica Life Insurance Company$19.78
Principal National Life Insurance Company$19.87
Savings Bank Mutual Life Insurance of MA (SBLI)$19.87
Sproutt Insurance$20
Lincoln National Life Insurance Company$20.22
American National Life Insurance Company$20.74
Sagicor Life Insurance Company$21.37
Minnesota Life Insurance Company$22.42
Nationwide Life Insurance Company$22.75
Guardian Life Insurance Company$23.17
Mass Mutual Life Insurance Company$23.50
Mutual of Omaha Life Insurance Company$23.76
Assurity Life Insurance Company$24.80
Prudential Life Insurance Company$36.75
*These numbers are based on a Healthy 30 year old male qualifying for the top health class in the state of PA.
As can be seen from the 18 companies quoted above, all with the exception of 1 are within $5 of each other. Therefore, although pricing is compounded by the length of the term it is still not a major difference across the board.
These numbers would vary widely if any of the above mentioned specifications were to change and some of the companies with higher premiums would be lower and vice versa.
Financial Strength and long term viability
Similar to Stocks and Bonds, Life Insurance companies are rated for their financial soundness and long term viability. When purchasing a life insurance contract, you want to be certain that the company will still be around when you need them most, i.e. when it comes time to claim the death benefit.
There are 4 companies that offer ratings across the industry A.M Best, Fitch, Moody’s and S&P. Each company uses their own scoring mechanism. So the top tier with A.M. Best would be A++, with Fitch it would be AAA. With Moody’s it is Aaa and with S&P it is AA+.
In order to simplify the ratings across all 4 ratings agencies, the COMDEX score was created. It is a composite of all 4 rating companies put together in a numeric score of 1-100.
Here are the COMDEX scores for all of the above priced companies:
CompanyCOMDEX scores
Guardian Life Insurance Company98
Mass Mutual Life Insurance Company98
Minnesota Life Insurance Company96
Banner Life Insurance Company95
Prudential Life Insurance Company95
Penn Mutual Life Insurance Company93
Protective Life Insurance Company92
Principal National Life Insurance Company91
Lincoln National Life Insurance Company91
Nationwide Life Insurance Company90
Mutual of Omaha Life Insurance Company90
Transamerica Life Insurance Company85
American General Life (AIG) Insurance Company83
American National Life Insurance Company79
Savings Bank Mutual Life Insurance of MA (SBLI)76
Assurity Life Insurance CompanyUnrated by comdex, A- with A.M. Best
Sagicor Life Insurance CompanyUnrated by comdex, A- with A.M. Best
Clearly all these companies have passing scores. With some scoring higher than others due to a multitude of factors. However, the answer to the question of “What is the best insurance company for term life insurance” would not rely solely on their rating. As such, we should take a look at their products as well.
Riders
A rider is essentially an add on, or additional benefit aside for the death benefit. Riders come in all shapes and sizes and vary widely from availability to specifications from carrier to carrier. Here are some of the most common built in riders:
Accelerated Death Benefit (ACD) – In case of a terminal illness the insurance company would provide a lump sum payment of a portion of the death benefit. This rider, when available, is offered at no extra charge.
Accidental Death Benefit (ADD) – Provides additional death benefit in case of an accidental death. The idea being, if one were to die unexpectedly, there may be some extra costs that are required to get all of the deceased’s affairs in order which would require some extra cash in hand.
Children’s Insurance Rider (CI) – Cover the insured’s children with a small amount of term, often guaranteed issue with conversion benefits available when the child reaches adulthood. The amount of coverage available varies widely from carrier to carrier, with the range being from $1,000 – $100,000. This rider does have an additional cost, however the price is the same no matter how many children are being insured.
Critical Illness Rider (CIR) – In case of a critical terminal illness the insurance company would provide a lump sum payment of a portion of the death benefit. This rider is only available from American National and National Life at no extra charge. It is also available from Assurity with an extra charge or TransAmerica through their Living Benefits term policy. (Which costs more than a regular term policy from the same company, so essentially at an extra charge.)
Disability Waiver of Premium (WP) – If the insured were to become disabled, the policy would continue on without the need for additional payment. This Rider has an additional cost.
Extended Conversion Rider (ECR) – This extends the time period of when the term policy would be convertible to a permanent policy, namely a Universal Life or Whole Life policy. This rider is available at an additional cost.
Return of Premium (ROP) – Upon completion of the level term period, if the death benefit has not been paid out, all of the premiums are refunded to the policy owner. This rider has a large extra cost and is only available from a select few companies namely, AAA, Assurity, Cincinnati Life, Mutual of Omaha and State Farm.
CompanyACDADDCICIRWPECRROP
Sproutt Insurance✔✔✔✔✔✔✔
American General Life (AIG) Insurance Company✔✔✔✔
American National Life Insurance Company✔✔✔✔✔✔
Assurity Life Insurance Company✔✔✔✔✔✔
Banner Life Insurance Company✔✔✔
Guardian Life Insurance Company✔✔✔✔
Lincoln National Life Insurance Company✔✔✔✔
Mass Mutual Life Insurance Company✔✔✔✔
Minnesota Life Insurance Company✔✔✔✔✔
Mutual of Omaha Life Insurance Company✔✔✔✔✔✔
Nationwide Life Insurance Company✔✔✔
Penn Mutual Life Insurance Company✔✔✔✔
Principal National Life Insurance Company✔✔✔✔✔
Protective Life Insurance Company✔✔✔✔
Prudential Life Insurance Company✔✔✔✔
Sagicor Life Insurance Company✔✔✔✔
Savings Bank Mutual Life Insurance of MA (SBLI)✔✔✔✔
Transamerica Life Insurance Company✔✔✔✔✔
Conversion options
Converting a term life insurance policy into a permanent life insurance policy such as Universal Life Insurance or Whole life Insurance means that the insurance company provides you the ability to change or upgrade your term policy into a permanent life insurance policy with no questions asked. You are guaranteed the ability to be covered at the same health rate that you originally qualified for on your term policy.
Meaning, even if the insured were to develop health problems, the insurance company is telling you that they will cover you for life if you convert your policy during the available conversion period.
The premium required at point of conversion will be that of the attained age, but still the original health class.
To illustrate, if someone purchases a 10-year term policy from a company, for example Northwestern Mutual, at age 27 and qualified for the highest health rating. At any time during the next 10 years, the policyholder may convert their policy into a permanent policy, Universal Life or Whole Life without having to requalify for the new policy. This is true even if the insured would no longer qualify for highest health rating due to health or other issues.
Some companies, for example New York Life, offer a “conversion credit” where they will provide some of the money you paid into your term policy as a credit towards your permanent policy premium.
Just about all companies offer some sort of conversion program. The real question is which permanent policy you can convert your term policy into, and how long the convertibility is available for.
Flexibility of design
Term policies are sold in different term lengths, hence the name term life insurance.
The range is from one year through 40 years with the majority of companies selling policies in 5 year increments. The exception being that there are very few 5 year term life insurance companies.
Most companies sell 10, 15, 20 and 30 year policies. Some companies for example Sagicor and New York Life cap out at 20 years and others offer 25 year term options as well.
There are a few companies, AIG and New York Life to name a couple, that do sell odd number terms as well. For example, a 17 year term.
Currently the longest available term on the market is a 40 year term sold by both Banner and Protective.
If someone needs a term policy that will last longer than 40 years, they can customize a Universal Life policy to last for a long term for example 50 or 60 years but the cost will be considerably higher.
During the level term period, your premium is guaranteed to remain level. Once the level term is over, you can choose to keep your policy in force until age 80-95 depending on the life insurance carrier. However, the premium at that point will likely skyrocket and become uneconomical.
Regarding one year term there are 2 options, renewable and nonrenewable.
A Renewable one-year term, often referred to as an Annual Renewable Term (ART) is a policy that starts off lower than a level premium term policy, but rises in cost from year to year. The increases in premium start off slow but the jumps can get quite large as the policy ages.
A non-renewable 1-year term, a very seldomly purchased option, offers only one year of term life insurance protection and does not continue past the single year it was issued in.
Company1 yearART10 year15 year20 year25 year30 year35 year40 yearOdd Years
Sproutt Insurance✔✔✔✔✔✔✔✔✔✔
American General Life (AIG) Insurance Company✔✔✔✔✔✔✔
American National Life Insurance Company✔✔✔✔✔✔
Assurity Life Insurance Company✔✔✔✔
Banner Life Insurance Company✔✔✔✔✔✔✔
Guardian Life Insurance Company✔✔✔✔✔✔
Lincoln National Life Insurance Company✔✔✔✔
Mass Mutual Life Insurance Company✔✔✔✔✔
Minnesota Life Insurance Company✔✔✔✔
Mutual of Omaha Life Insurance Company✔✔✔✔✔
Nationwide Life Insurance Company✔✔✔✔
Penn Mutual Life Insurance Company✔✔✔✔
Principal National Life Insurance Company✔✔✔✔✔
Protective Life Insurance Company✔✔✔✔✔✔✔
Prudential Life Insurance Company✔✔✔✔✔✔
Sagicor Life Insurance Company✔✔✔
Savings Bank Mutual Life Insurance of MA (SBLI)✔✔✔✔✔
Transamerica Life Insurance Company✔✔✔✔✔
Underwriting
Life Insurance is underwritten in one of four ways:
Accelerated
Full
Guaranteed
Simplified
Accelerated – Means without an exam, and usually no need for Dr’s records. Many companies now offer close to instant results for those clients who qualify. This is only an option or the healthiest of clients. Accelerated is not guaranteed and when the insurance companies have any questions their first method of defense is to order an exam/Dr’s records. Once the exam is completed the policy will often still be issued at the highest of health ratings.
Full – Often referred to as Traditional underwriting. All life insurance used to be underwritten this way. Depending on the amount of insurance the requirements will vary. However, the most basic/common ones are blood, urine, height, weight, blood pressure and health questionnaire. Often referred to as a “para med” exam.
Guaranteed – If you apply and are within the correct age limits you will qualify, no questions asked.
Simplified – Ideal for those individuals without too complicated of a medical record but may have high body mass index (BMI). However, there is no medical exam required. Understandably, the pricing is considerably higher than an accelerated or fully underwritten term policy. If the insured is willing to go through full underwriting and qualify for anything higher, this method is likely not in their best interest.
Term Life insurance is available via accelerated, full and simplified underwriting. (Guaranteed is only available on small Whole Life policies.)
Most companies offer accelerated and full underwriting options, a few offer simplified as well.
CompanyAcceleratedFull Simplified
Sproutt Insurance✔✔✔
American General Life (AIG) Insurance Company✔
American National Life Insurance Company✔✔
Assurity Life Insurance Company✔✔
Banner Life Insurance Company✔✔
Guardian Life Insurance Company✔✔
Lincoln National Life Insurance Company✔✔
Mass Mutual Life Insurance Company✔✔
Minnesota Life Insurance Company✔✔
Mutual of Omaha Life Insurance Company✔✔✔
Nationwide Life Insurance Company✔✔
Penn Mutual Life Insurance Company✔✔
Principal National Life Insurance Company✔✔
Protective Life Insurance Company✔✔
Prudential Life Insurance Company✔✔
Sagicor Life Insurance Company✔✔✔
Savings Bank Mutual Life Insurance of MA (SBLI)✔✔
Transamerica Life Insurance Company✔
Application process
All the companies we have reviewed and the vast majority across the industry have varying levels of an online application.
This experience does vary widely with many companies using a hybrid of online application and telephone interviews, online questionnaires or interactive applications.
Many companies also offer the ability to choose between a few different options of how you would like to input your application.
Here are the most common electronic application methods:
Fully online application – Either the agent, or the customer can fill in the entire application and then electronically sign and submit the application to the insurance carrier.
Online application with an online questionnaire – The first part of the application is filled in by the agent, electronically signed by the applicant and then they receive an email to complete an online health and wellness questionnaire.
Online application with a telephone interview – The first part of the application is filled in by the agent, may or may not be, depending on the insurance company, electronically signed by the applicant, and then they receive a phone call to complete a telephone interview with the insurance company.
Here is a chart showing which companies offer which method:
CompanyFully online applicationOnline QuestionnaireTelephone interview
Sproutt Insurance✔✔✔
American General Life (AIG) Insurance Company✔
American National Life Insurance Company✔
Assurity Life Insurance Company✔✔
Banner Life Insurance Company✔✔✔
Guardian Life Insurance Company✔
Lincoln National Life Insurance Company✔✔
Mass Mutual Life Insurance Company✔✔
Minnesota Life Insurance Company✔
Mutual of Omaha Life Insurance Company✔✔
Nationwide Life Insurance Company✔
Penn Mutual Life Insurance Company✔
Principal National Life Insurance Company✔✔
Protective Life Insurance Company✔
Prudential Life Insurance Company✔✔
Sagicor Life Insurance Company✔
Savings Bank Mutual Life Insurance of MA (SBLI)✔
Transamerica Life Insurance Company✔
Synopsis
Sproutt Insurance – 6/7. Easiest process and fastest coverage
Easy and fast online process
Offers “no exam life insurance“
Best prices for healthy individuals
Typical riders available
Very flexible design
All underwriting options
American General Life (AIG) Insurance Company – 3/7. Offers the most flexibility in design
Low pricing
83 on the Comdex
Typical riders available
Convertible to Universal Life and Whole Life
Very flexible design
Only traditional underwriting
Must complete telephone interview
American National Life Insurance Company – 5/7. Most built-in riders
Middle ground pricing
79 on the Comdex
Large amount of riders available
Convertible to Universal Life and Whole Life
Flexible design
Accelerated underwriting available
Fully online application
Assurity Life Insurance Company – 3/7. Most riders available for purchase
Higher pricing
Unrated by Comdex
Large amount of riders available
Convertible to Whole Life
Regular design capabilities
Accelerated underwriting available
Fully online application
Banner Life Insurance Company – 5/7. Offers longer terms fully online
Low Pricing
95 on the Comdex
Some Riders available
Convertible to Universal Life
Longer terms available
Accelerated underwriting available
Fully online application
Guardian Life Insurance Company – 5/7. Great conversion options
Higher pricing
98 on the Comdex
Typical riders available
Convertible to Universal Life and Whole Life
Flexible design
Accelerated underwriting available
Must complete telephone interview
Lincoln National Life Insurance Company – 4/7. Fully online or phone capabilities
Low pricing
91 on the Comdex
Typical riders available
Convertible to Universal Life
Flexible design capabilities
Accelerated underwriting available
Fully online application
Mass Mutual Life Insurance Company – 6/7. Fully online with excellent convertibility
Higher pricing
98 on the Comdex
Typical riders available
Convertible to Universal Life and Whole Life
Flexible design capabilities
Accelerated underwriting available
Fully online application
Minnesota Life Insurance Company – 2/7. Accelerated underwriting up to $2MM
Average pricing
96 on the Comdex
Typical riders available
Convertible to Universal Life
Regular design capabilities
Accelerated underwriting available
Must complete a telephone interview
Mutual of Omaha Life Insurance Company – 4/7. Offers simplified underwriting
Higher pricing
90 on the Comdex
Typical riders available
Convertible to Universal Life
Flexible design capabilities
Accelerated underwriting available
Fully online application – with simplified underwriting
Nationwide Life Insurance Company – 3/7. Very accepting accelerated underwriting program
Higher pricing
90 on the Comdex
Typical riders available
Convertible to Universal Life and Whole Life
Regular design capabilities
Accelerated underwriting available
Must complete a telephone interview
Penn Mutual Life Insurance Company – 4/7. Up to $7.5MM with no medical exam fully online
Low pricing
93 on the Comdex
Some riders available
Convertible to Universal Life and Whole Life
Regular design capabilities
Accelerated underwriting available
Fully online application
Principal National Life Insurance Company – 4/7. Offers $3MM without an exam completely online
Low pricing
91 on the Comdex
Typical riders available
Convertible to Universal Life
Regular design capabilities
Accelerated underwriting available
Fully online application
Protective Life Insurance Company – 4/7. Has 35 and 40-year term options
Low pricing
92 on the Comdex
Typical riders available
Convertible to Universal Life
Longer terms available
Accelerated underwriting available
Must complete a telephone interview
Prudential Life Insurance Company – 4/7. Offers expanded underwriting tables
Higher pricing
95 on the Comdex
Typical riders available
Convertible to Universal Life
Flexible design
Accelerated underwriting available
Fully online application
Sagicor Life Insurance Company – 4/7. Fully online with as fast as instant decisions
Low pricing
Unrated by Comdex
Typical riders available
Convertible to Universal Life and Whole Life
Regular design capabilities
Accelerated underwriting available
Fully online application
Savings Bank Mutual Life Insurance of MA (SBLI) – 2/7. No exam guaranteed
Middle of the road pricing
76 on the Comdex
Typical riders available
Convertible to Universal Life and Whole Life
Regular design capabilities
Accelerated underwriting available
Must complete a telephone interview
Transamerica Life Insurance Company – 3/7. Provides more options to older ages
Low pricing
85 on the Comdex
Many riders available
Convertible to Universal Life
Flexible design capabilities
Accelerated underwriting available for LB term
Must complete a telephone interview
FAQs
Are term life insurance rates locked in?
Yes, the premiums are guaranteed to remain level for the duration of the term of your policy. So a 30-year term policy, for example, will have the same premium every month for 30 years. Once the level term period is over your premium will rise if you choose to keep the policy.
Can you get 5 year term life insurance?
Yes, however most companies do not offer the option.
How does no exam life insurance work?
There are 3 types of no exam life insurance.
Accelerated – For the healthiest of individuals
Guaranteed – As long as you are within the correct age limits, you will be accepted. However, the amount of insurance available is limited and the premiums are higher. There are usually other details as well to be aware of prior to purchasing a guaranteed issue policy.
Simplified – Most people would qualify, provided they don’t have too complicated of a medical history.
How much term life insurance can I get without a medical exam?
Depending on the company, some offer $500k others $750k or $1MM. There are even a few that go above the million mark to $2MM and $3MM. The highest on the market currently is $7.5MM. But this is a constantly evolving field and the various carriers are always trying to innovate. So you can expect higher amounts to be available without an exam in the future.
Is a physical required for term life insurance?
No. However, depending on the company you apply with, the amount of insurance you are looking for and your health and wellness it may be advantageous for you to take an exam in order to qualify for the best rates. In this article we reviewed 18 different companies including the best no medical exam term life insurance companies.
What happens if you don’t use term life insurance?
You paid for protection and are still alive, in my book that means you won! However, you do not get any of your premiums back, similar to car or homeowners insurance where if you don’t get into an accident or don’t have a fire the insurance company doesn’t give you back your money. (Unless you purchase the return of premium rider (ROP) on your term life insurance policy. In which case you will get a full refund at the end of the level term period as well.)
What is the best age to buy long-term care insurance?
Similar to life insurance, the cost of long-term care insurance goes up with age. However, due to the many nuances, long-term care is typically purchased as people are nearing retirement.
What is the best life insurance to buy?
Any life insurance is better than no life insurance. If something happens and your beneficiaries are able to continue living a normal life due to the death benefit provided, they will not care if it was term, Whole Life, Universal Life or Variable Universal Life etc. They will be grateful that you had the foresight to take care of them while you were alive as well as after your passing.
Which is better term or whole life insurance?
That would depend on your financial situation, age, investment acumen and more details. Best advice would be to speak with a licensed insurance advisor who can provide all of the pros and cons to any route you may take. However, in short, Term costs less, but you only get insurance for a certain amount of time (check our term life insurance calculator to learn more about the costs). If you die during the term, you definitely came out ahead on a pure return on investment basis. (On the other hand, you won’t be able to enjoy your victory.) Whole Life premiums are significantly more, however they provide a lifetime guaranteed death benefit, and there are also living benefits. Many people purchase a combination of the two to take advantage of both types of policies are their benefits.
Terms
At Sproutt Life Insurance we do not sell State Farm Life insurance. State Farm Life Insurance can be purchased by going onto State Farm’s website or by searching for State Farm in your browser, typing State Farm into Google, asking Siri to find State Farm or going to a State Farm office.
At Sproutt Life Insurance we do not sell Northwestern Mutual insurance. Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance can be purchased by going onto Northwestern Mutual’s website or by searching for Northwestern Mutual in your browser, typing Northwestern Mutual into Google, asking Siri to find Northwestern Mutual or going to a Northwestern Mutual office.
At Sproutt Life Insurance we do not sell Haven Life insurance. Haven Life Life Insurance can be purchased by going onto Haven Life’s website or by searching for Haven Life in your browser, typing Haven Life into Google17, or asking Siri to find Haven Life. Haven Life’s policies are issued by Mass Mutual and we do sell their policies.
At Sproutt Life Insurance we do not sell New York Life insurance. New York Life Life Insurance can be purchased by going onto New York Life’s website or by searching for New York Life in your browser, typing New York Life into Google, asking Siri to find New York Life or going to a New York Life office.
This article was not reviewed by the association of insurance commissioners. Nor was it commissioned by the association of insurance commissioners. The association of insurance commissioners do not endorse the contents of this article nor do the association of insurance commissioners necessarily have anything against the wording.
The financial strength of any insurance company can change from time to time. Current financial strength is not a guarantee of future financial strength. However, financial strength is a good indication of longevity of an insurance company.
We did not account for the customer service of the various companies we reviewed. Reason being, you will not need to deal with their customer service department when purchasing a policy via Sproutt. Any policy purchased through Sproutt can be handled by our customer service department, We pride ourselves in our excellent customer service and strive to offer the best service to all of our customers at all times.
