Haven Life
Haven Life is a digital insurance agency that offers two term life insurance options:
Haven Term and Haven Simple. Haven Term offers policies with durations of 10 to 30 years and coverage up to $3 million. Haven Simple offers policies with durations of 5 to 20 years and coverage up to $500,000. While many life insurance policies require a medical exam prior to coverage, Haven Life’s Simple plan doesn’t.
One restriction to note, however, Haven Term is limited to those 64 and under and Haven Simple eligibility cuts off at 55.
Bestow
Bestow is an online insurance agency that sells term life insurance policies. It doesn’t offer any other types of life insurance or riders. But, none of the policies it sells require a medical exam.
The term life policies that Bestow sells are for between 10 and 30 years in length with coverage amounts between $50,000 and $1.5 million. There is an enrollment age limit of 60 years old.
As mentioned, there are no medical exams required during the application process, but Bestow will look at your credit and medical history, prior attempts at buying insurance, and driving records.
Bestow doesn’t issue the life insurance policies it sells. Instead, the policies are issued by North American Company for Life and Health Insurance.
New York Life
New York Life is the highest-rated company in our rating to offer both term and permanent policies. Its permanent life insurance options include both whole and universal policies. The term policies it offers can also be converted to a permanent policy.
You also have the option of adding riders such as Disability Waiver of Premium, Accidental Death Benefit, and Living Benefits.
The New York Life website doesn’t necessarily provide a lot of information on its policies, so you may have to contact a New York Life agent for more detail. Also, its term policies are more expensive than most of the companies in our rating.
Northwestern Mutual
Northwestern Mutual offers both term and permanent life insurance options. Its term policies range in length from 10 to 20 years. Among its permanent life insurance policies, Northwestern Mutual offers universal and whole life insurance. You can start out with a term life policy from Northwestern Mutual and then later, without additional fees or medical exam, convert it to a whole life policy.
There is limited pricing information available on its website, and policies must be purchased through a life insurance agent. The type of riders available to customize your policy will depend upon the type of policy you choose, so make sure to ask your life insurance agent.
Lincoln Financial Group
Lincoln Financial Group offers both term and universal policies. Its two term policies, TermAccel and LifeElements, have durations of between 10 and 30 years with coverage options ranging from $100,000 to $1 million. Some policyholders may also be able to convert their term coverage to a permanent life insurance policy. starting at $100,000. Depending on your application, you may not be required to take a medical exam.
Lincoln offers three types of permanent life insurance: universal life, variable universal life, and indexed universal life.
John Hancock
John Hancock sells term policies and three different types of universal life insurance. It offers term policies that range in duration from 10 to 30 years and provide coverage of between $750,000 to $65 million. Both the minimum and maximum coverage amounts are higher than you might find with other companies. For example, Haven Life’s Haven Term policy starts at $100,000 and tops out at $3 million.
While John Hancock doesn’t have any whole life policies it does offer three different types of universal policies; universal life, indexed universal life (IUL), and variable universal life (VUL).
It also offers a way to save money with its Vitality Plus program. By making healthy decisions, such as watching a webinar on nutrition or going to the gym and recording your results in its mobile app, you can earn discounts with various retailers.
If you’re concerned about the cost of life insurance, you’re not alone. According to a study by LIMRA, a life insurance trade association, the top reason most people don’t purchase life insurance is they believe it to be too expensive. However, life insurance may be more affordable than you think. The same study revealed that over half of Americans overestimate the cost of a life insurance policy
Coverage: Think about how much life insurance coverage you need. This can help narrow your search. Companies with high minimum coverage amounts could have you paying for more coverage than you need. For example, if you are young with limited or no debt and no dependents, then a policy from a company with a minimum coverage amount of $750,000 might not make much sense. But, if you have a mortgage, a partner who doesn’t work, and/or several dependents who want to go to college, a policy that maxes out at $50,000 might not provide ample financial security.
Riders: Life insurance riders are typically add-ons that help customize a standard policy to better meet your needs. Here is a short list of some typical riders and what they do:
Accelerated death benefit — a rider that allows you to access the money in your death benefit before you die, typically in the case of a terminal illness.
Term conversion rider — This lets you convert your term type policy to a permanent type of life insurance.
Accidental death and dismemberment — Pays a set amount of money for accidental death in addition to the regular death benefit.
Waiver of premium rider — If you become disabled this rider lets you waive the premiums for your policy.
Price: There are a lot of insurance companies to choose from, so one thing you can do to narrow your choices is compare prices. You might find that some insurance companies offer similar policies for different prices. For instance, State Farm and Nationwide could offer policies with the same coverage amount and riders for a different cost. If you want to get a quote for different life insurance companies, check out our Life Insurance Quotes guide.
Customer Satisfaction: It is also important to look at how satisfied customers are with an insurer. If you are looking for a company that is easy to work with, then looking at customer reviews can help. You can visit the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) website to see the number of complaints filed within a state.
Financial Strength: Another thing to consider is whether the company will be able to pay the death benefit to your beneficiary when you die. One way to assess that is by looking at the company’s financial rating. A number of rating agencies, such as AM Best, provide a credit rating score. A credit rating is an indication from the rating agency of whether a company is likely to default on its debts. The less likely a company is to default on its debts the better its credit rating. All the companies in our rating have a credit rating of A or better from AM Best. A high credit rating can indicate that a company is financially strong and will likely be around to pay the death benefit to your beneficiary when you die.
For more information on selecting a life insurance company read our guide on How to Buy Life Insurance.
What Is Life Insurance?
Life insurance is a type of insurance that provides money to your chosen beneficiary when you die. You choose a life insurance company that offers a type of policy and death benefits that you want, apply, and if you are accepted the insurance company promises to provide the specified amount of money to your beneficiary (this can be a relative, loved one, or even an organization) when you die, as long as you paid the required premiums.
This money is often used to cover burial expenses and replace lost income. For example, if the primary wage earner in a family dies the money would help the remaining family members pay their bills.
Types of Life Insurance Policies
There are generally two types of life insurance: permanent and term life. Examples of permanent life insurance policies are universal and whole life. Read on for information on the various types.
What Is Term Life Insurance?
Term life insurance is a kind of temporary life insurance. A term life insurance policy is defined by how long it remains active, or its term. A term can generally be as short as a year or may last 30 years. Term policies may also provide the option of being converted to a permanent life insurance policy or renewed for another term.
What Is Permanent Life Insurance?
A permanent life insurance policy is designed to be a life insurance policy for the long haul. These policies generally contain two parts: the death benefit and the cash value. The cash value can work as a kind of savings component or type of investment, depending on the exact policy. Examples of permanent life insurance include whole and universal life policies.
What Is Whole Life Insurance?
A whole life policy is a type of permanent life insurance that contains both a death benefit and cash value. The cash value can grow if the company you buy insurance from pays dividends into it. Mutual life insurance policies and some policies sold by stock insurers frequently contain dividend options. Dividends can be based on things like the financial performance of the company.
What Is Universal Life Insurance?
Universal life insurance is another example of permanent life insurance. One of the key differences between whole and universal life insurance is in the policy’s flexibility. With many universal policies, you can adjust your premiums and the death benefit while the policy is active. There are also several different types of universal life policies, including indexed universal life (IUL), variable universal life (VUL), and guaranteed universal life insurance.
What Is No-Exam Life Insurance?
A no-exam life insurance policy is a type of policy that doesn’t require you to take a medical exam when applying. These policies can be either term or permanent policies. The approval process for these types of policies is often brief because you don’t have to schedule and undergo a medical exam as part of the application process.
While companies may waive the medical exam for some applicants, a no-exam policy won’t require anyone to take a medical exam.
Available Policy Types
Haven Life » Term Life Whole Life Universal Life Survivorship No Medical ExamBestow » Term Life Whole Life Universal Life Survivorship No Medical ExamNew York Life » Term Life Whole Life Universal Life Survivorship No Medical Exam
How Much Does a Life Insurance Policy Cost?
The cost of a life insurance policy can vary widely, even among policies for people in the same demographic. Some of the factors that go into determining the cost of premiums for a life insurance policy include the life insurer, age, sex, health, and policy add-ons (also called riders).
If you just look at a person’s sex, the difference in cost for a 35-year old female and male in the Standard Risk class with a $1,000,000 20-year term life policy from Banner Life is just over $15 per month. If you take those same two people and type of policy and apply it to New York Life the difference is almost $50 per month.
Age is another important factor. The difference between a 35-year-old female in the Standard Risk Class and the same female and risk class at 65 years old with a $1,000,000 20-year term policy from Haven Life is almost $975 per month.
Individuals in high-risk groups, such as those who use tobacco products, will often have higher premiums. For information on inexpensive life insurance companies visit our rating for the Cheapest Life Insurance Companies of 2022. And for more information on life insurance premiums visit our Life Insurance Quotes guide.
For more information on how much life insurance policy costs read our guide to Life Insurance Quotes.
Do I Need Life Insurance?
Whether or not you need life insurance is a highly personal decision. Here are a few circumstances that may make a life insurance policy worth considering.
Your partner or children depend on your income. Many people open a policy to make sure their loved ones maintain financial stability. Death benefits can be used to cover everyday expenses that may become challenging if they lose your income. This includes mortgage or rent, utility bills, food and groceries, tuition, etc.
You have outstanding debts. Car loans, mortgages, credit card bills, and other types of debt can leave your dependents with an additional financial burden. A life insurance policy can pay down those debts and offer relief to your beneficiary.
You want to cover end-of-life expenses. According to LIMRA, 83% of consumers point to burial costs as a reason for purchasing life insurance. That’s no surprise given current and predicted funeral expenses. A 2021 National Funeral Direct Association (NFDA) study indicates that the average cost of a funeral, including a viewing and burial, is $7,848. Adding a burial vault can raise that to nearly $9,500. Those costs are likely to rise. The U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics data shows a 227.1% increase in funeral costs between 1987 and 2017.
A financial professional can be a good resource to help you determine whether you need a life insurance policy and what it should account for. They’ll also be able to help you review a variety of policy options and determine which will best meet your needs.