Best Life Insurance Companies
#1 Northwestern Mutual
#2 Haven Life
#3 State Farm
#4 Banner Life
#5 Principal
#5 Pacific Life
#7 Guardian Life
#7 Nationwide
#7 Primerica
#7 MassMutual
#11 New York Life
#11 Allstate
#13 John Hancock
#13 Protective
#15 Mutual of Omaha
#15 Prudential
Best Life Insurance Companies of 2021
Life insurance is essential if you have anyone in your life who depends on your income. Unfortunately, many people don’t have the right type of coverage or the right amount. About half of all U.S. households have less life insurance than they should, according to the Life Insurance Marketing and Research Association. A separate study by employee benefits provider Unum finds that about a third of all households will be financially strained within the first month of losing a breadwinner.
The good news is that life insurance doesn’t cost as much as you might think it does. Some people even estimate that life insurance costs up to five times as much as it actually does, reports the Insurance Information Institute (III).
We make the process of shopping for life insurance as easy as possible by doing the research for you and rating the top life insurance companies. To create our rating, we evaluated dozens of companies, scoring each on elements such as financial strength, customer service, and cost. Read on to see which companies made our list of the Best Life Insurance Companies of 2021. Our Best Life Insurance Company ratings are based on information that was collected between June 1, 2020, and August 19, 2020.
Best Life Insurance Companies of 2021
How to Choose the Best Life Insurance Company Buying a life insurance policy is similar to buying a home in that you are paying for something that will be part of your life for many years to come. Just as you inspect a home before you buy it, you should evaluate any insurance company before buying a policy. Follow these tips to make sure the life insurance company you are considering is a sound business that will flourish decades into the future.
Financial strength: Get a financial strength rating from at least one of the five independent agencies: AM Best, Fitch Ratings, Kroll Bond Rating Agency, Moody’s, and Standard & Poor’s. This rating is based on an assessment of a life insurance company’s financial stability. We base a portion of our Best Life Insurance Companies ratings on the AM Best financial strength rating, and every company on our list earned AM Best’s highest rating of Superior. Customer service: Working with your life insurance agency or company will likely never be fun, but it shouldn’t be any harder than it needs to be. Look through professional and consumer reviews to gain a sense of what the life insurance company’s customer support is like. Life insurance companies that don’t make you spend a lot of time on hold, have easy-to-navigate websites, and have agents who are more interested in helping you than a commission will make your experience smoother and less stressful.
Policy types: Not all life insurance companies offer every type of policy. Rather than choosing the wrong type of policy because you like the company, start with a company that sells the kind of insurance that best fits your needs. We break down the differences between the types of life insurance and give a brief definition of other terms in our section below on Types of Life Insurance Policies. Policy options and add-ons: Other important considerations when buying a policy include the amount of the premium, choices of premium payment arrangements, selections for term periods (for a term life policy), and the rate of return on the cash value (for a universal or whole life policy). Start off on the right foot by getting a firm understanding of what each of these terms means. See our Types of Life Insurance Policies section below for more information.
Company size: All else being equal, companies that hold the most assets are likely to be the most solvent, and therefore are less likely to run into financial trouble and possibly leave you or your loved ones holding a worthless policy. In addition, if you need a jumbo policy with a high payout, a large insurance company will probably be more willing to back it. Potential advantages of using a smaller life insurance company include more personalized customer service and a more congenial atmosphere.
