Best Term Life Insurance Provider?

[Malaysia41]

Holy crud!  I'm helping my bro find term life insurance.  He's still figuring out how much he wants to buy, but in the meantime, I thought I'd read up on who the best providers are. 

Check this out - the highest rated life insurance provider has just a 1.6 star rating out of 5!

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/insurance/life.html#highest-rated-1

So, I'm turning to the forums.  If you've, uh, collected on a life insurance policy, will you share your experience dealing with your particular TERM life insurance provider? 

Sorry if that question is indelicate, but I don't know how to softball pitch it.  y'know?

[Malaysia41]

Reading through the reviews on that consumer affairs link, it seems most complaints are to do with whole life and such savings vehicle insurance plans.  So far, John Hancock looks ok for term. 

[3okirb]

It really depends on your health.  If you're healthy, one of the best is Protective.  Banner is harder to get the best rates with.

[Malaysia41]

OMG I'm continuing to read the reviews. 

Insurance companies sound at best poorly managed, unorganized and inept.  At worst, they are  deceptive crooks.

Thanks for the links I'll look at banner and protective.  My life insurance (which I'm canceling this year) is with protective.

[3okirb]

Keep in mind that insurance companies are some of the biggest companies in the world.  Many of them are in the Fortune 500.  Most companies that are rated A and better will be fine, but an experience agent will be able to help you pinpoint the best price that you will actually qualify for depending on your health, etc.  Some term is also convertible, which can give you better options down the road if your health takes a turn for the worse and you still need coverage.  Usually, they aren't even more expensive, you just have to know the products.

Good luck!

[halibut637]

Consider more than "reviews" by other sites that are star rated. Not that consumeraffairs is incorrect, because they are a good resource it seems, but user input is usually dominated by folks who didn't have a positive experience. The individuals who are happy with their insurance are not about to go online and start hyping up the insurance companies. Good insurance isn't exactly like a sweet new TV from amazon, ya know?

There are several other options when looking for good term companies:

First consider the rating on your own, and make sure it's up to date at A.M. Best (http://www.ambest.com/). They change frequently, especially if updates are required for downgrades. Keep in mind, companies are not REQUIRED to be rating by A.M. Best, Fitch, Moody's or Standard & Poor's. It's election only.

Check out individual company reviews and go to the company website directly. Sites likes BestLifeRates.org (http://www.bestliferates.org/companies/) have full directories where you can go straight to the carrier website to verify what is said.

When in doubt, throw out a question at Reddit's Personal Finance subreddit (http://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance) and someone can probably give you their own experience.

There's also ConsumerReports (http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/money/insurance/life/life-insurance-safety/overview/life-insurance-safety-ov.htm) who tells you what else to look for other than rating alone. Rating matters a little, as does other consumer experience, but not every company is available everywhere anyway.

Reach out to a CFP and ask their advice, contact 3 independent brokers where you live, or just bundle your insurance with your home and auto if you don't mind paying a few extra bucks. Protective is okay, as mentioned above, Banner is good, Transamerica is good, and the mutuals are decent but slightly weighted in price.

Hope this helps.

[jackiechiles2]

term4life.com seems to be the better way to check your rates to be sure you're getting the best deal.

[La Bibliotecaria Feroz]

The Zander Insurance site (zanderins.com) will compare rates for you, and then you could check out the companies giving the best rates.

[tj]

I used terminsurancebrokers.com and was happy. They'll shop your medical history around anonymously and then you tell them which to apply to based on those results.

[3okirb]

Just go find a life insurance agent that has some experience in your town.  They'll know things like the fact that Banner will very rarely give you their best rate, and that Transamerica has poor conversion options.  You don't pay more because you used an agent instead of an 800 number.

[tj]

Its impossible to get life insurance without an agent. If you apply through a carrier's website, they just farm your info to an agent. I used TermInusranceBrokers, as I already mentioned. They are located in Virginia, but they have licenses in several states.

[Dicey]

Its impossible to get life insurance without an agent.

I respectfully disagree. About ten years ago, I wanted to buy $75k in term insurance for a specific number of years. A google search came up with WAEPA. Their prices were way below every other provider. I did have to jump through some hoops to show that my dad was a retired federal employee, but the coverage was cheap and provided great peace of mind while I needed it. I was never contacted by an agent. Everything was done by phone or on line. You may not have a conection that allows WAEPA to work for you, but there are tons of other options out there. A little due dilligence goes a long way.

http://www.waepa.org/About_WAEPA.asp

[tj]

Its impossible to get life insurance without an agent.

I respectfully disagree. About ten years ago, I wanted to buy $75k in term insurance for a specific number of years. A google search came up with WAEPA. Their prices were way below every other provider. I did have to jump through some hoops to show that my dad was a retired federal employee, but the coverage was cheap and provided great peace of mind while I needed it. I was never contacted by an agent. Everything was done by phone or on line. You may not have a conection that allows WAEPA to work for you, but there are tons of other options out there. A little due dilligence goes a long way.

http://www.waepa.org/About_WAEPA.asp

If you have access to a policy through an industry organization or employer, that is obviously different. I was referring to individual policies that anyone can get.

[3okirb]

All policies are sold by an agent.  It's the law.  The agent can run a website, or work in a call center, but it's a licensed agent and they ALL get commission/bonuses for selling.  There is no exception.  Just print out a quote sheet that you put together online and bring it to your local guy and ask him to get you the cheapest one.  If there's a red flag for the company, or he knows that you won't qualify based on your height/weight, medical conditions, etc., he'll let you know.

If you want a truly unbiased opinion, shoot me an e-mail (briko3@yahoo.com) - sorry if that's not allowed, and I'll look over what you have and give you my opinion based on writing literally thousands of these things for people.  Then you can bring it to whoever you want to write the policy for you.  Then you can have the completely unbiased opinion of an experienced CFP with no "dog in the fight".