Life insurance provides a death benefit that will ease financial pressures on loved ones following your passing. It’s one of the most critical financial decisions anyone can make.
Selecting a life insurance company requires long-term commitment and it’s crucial that you find an insurer with a good track record. To do this, examine factors like their financial strength ratings, customer reviews and more when making your choice.
1. Look at Financial Strength Ratings
Financial strength ratings of life insurance companies provide a vital indicator of their ability to pay out both your death benefit and cash value of policies. There are several independent agencies that rate insurers’ financial strength such as AM Best, Fitch, Moody’s Investor Services, and Standard & Poor’s that use criteria like stability over time and meeting customers obligations when assigning ratings to insurers.
Most large life insurance companies in America possess excellent financial ratings, suggesting they will likely meet their obligations should something go amiss. You can quickly research an insurer’s ratings online by typing their name + financial strength rating into a search engine; as ratings can depend upon multiple factors it is wise to consult several sources before making a purchase decision.
How are ratings determined? The process for rating companies can be quite intricate. Each ratings agency uses their own scale and standards when judging a company’s ability to pay out claims, as well as ways of explaining which companies fall where on this scale (A+ being very strong; A = stable etc). Some have even included subcategories within these broad categories such as A++ or BBB ratings as an additional gradation level.
As well as looking at an insurance company’s current ratings, it is also wise to research its historical ratings. Insurance ratings reflect stability and performance over time – so it is vital that you see how they have performed previously. Even if they experienced problems in the past but managed to recover successfully it should be taken into consideration when making your decision.
Find out more about an insurance company by reviewing any complaints filed with state regulators, available online. These will give an idea of how well they have treated previous customers and help prevent any potential issues in your dealings with them.
2. Look at Customer Complaints
Customer satisfaction ratings should also be considered carefully when selecting an insurance provider. Aim for one with an excellent track record in paying out claims quickly and providing superior customer service; use the complaint index from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners as an indicator to find this data; this tool measures the proportion of complaints each provider receives relative to market share – lower scores indicate fewer complaints versus expected; higher numbers signify that it’s receiving more complaints than average in its industry sector.
Customers may also use customer satisfaction surveys conducted by third-party organizations like J.D. Power or Demotech as an indicator of an insurer’s customer service standards and overall policy quality. Though these surveys don’t directly assess policy quality, they provide insight into how well an insurer treats its customers.
Insurance companies that prioritize customer satisfaction often deliver superior service and experience fewer customer complaints, helping to reduce premium costs while drawing more customers in. Customer satisfaction also serves as an indicator of overall financial health for any given company.
Though some companies with outstanding customer satisfaction ratings may advertise them on their websites, for more accurate assessments it’s wise to visit an independent rating agency’s site to validate these claims for accuracy. These organizations specialize in evaluating providers of various forms of coverage.
When reviewing customer satisfaction ratings, be aware that they tend to favor larger institutions due to them meeting other criteria for high marks such as coverage options and availability. As such, smaller institutions will usually find it more challenging than their larger counterparts to earn such ratings.
No matter the company, customer satisfaction ratings can still provide useful insight. If any friends or family members who already hold life insurance with one insurer share their experiences with it, talk with them.
Reliable life insurance companies include those with strong financial strength and consumer ratings. There are, however, other considerations when selecting a life insurance provider; by researching all aspects, you can ensure they will meet all your needs and expectations.
3. Look at Customer Reviews
If you need life insurance for yourself or your family, the last thing you want is to work with an insurer who has had difficulty paying out claims. A good way to do this is to review any insurer you’re considering doing business with through the National Association of Insurance Commissioners database of consumer complaints as well as reviews on Google or Yelp from current or former policyholders of that insurer.
Your customer satisfaction score should also be taken into consideration, such as with the J.D. Power 2023 Individual Life Insurance Customer Satisfaction Study results. Use this data to narrow your options down; take note if a company provides policies you need or rider features you desire in an insurance policy.
Ratings don’t guarantee an insurer will remain operational over time; rather, they offer some insight into their ability to meet financial obligations. When selecting life insurance providers for yourself or a loved one, be sure they boast high marks in financial strength as well as customer complaints ratings – you could end up depending on them for decades-long claim payments!
Other key considerations when shopping for insurance should include the company’s product, policy types and riders available, ease of application process and contestability period if applicable – an opportunity for cancellation if it later turns out the policyholder provided false or incomplete information when signing up for coverage.
At your next conversation with friends and family about life insurance, find out their experiences using companies they have used before, the agents they’ve dealt with and any conflicts of interests they represent that might exist between your policy and any conflicts of interests between policies represented. It may also help to check if your agent is licensed in your state with multiple carriers they represent; this way you’re more likely to understand and change or cancel it when necessary.
4. Look at the Company’s Website
As opposed to group insurance through an employer, purchasing life insurance on your own allows you more freedom in choosing which provider to work with and finding a policy that fits both your needs and budget. Finding a dependable company is essential if you want to ensure the wellbeing of your family no matter what may come their way – do your research by reviewing each company’s financial strength ratings, customer complaints ratings and satisfaction surveys before comparing policy types, premiums and available and included riders before making your selection.
AM Best’s financial ratings provide insight into an insurer’s ability to meet its obligations, such as paying claims. But you can also use other measures of reputation assessment like referrals from friends, family or a trusted financial professional.
One factor to keep in mind when selecting an insurance provider is whether they underwrite their own policies. Some providers sell through independent agents who do not actually underwrite life insurance on behalf of themselves – which could increase premium costs as well as create potential conflicts of interest when it comes to recommending specific policies.
If you work with an independent agent, it is crucial that you inquire which life insurance providers they represent and how they choose providers. Furthermore, check national claim databases or your state’s department of insurance to see if there have been any complaints against their chosen insurance firm.
Visit a company’s website to gain more insight into their products, services and reputation. A well-designed site should be simple to navigate and contain useful information regarding life insurance products they provide – term, whole or universal life. Inquire whether they offer no-exam life policies which allow applicants to bypass medical exams in speeding up application processes for quicker coverage; no exam may also help those with health concerns save on costs with traditional life policies.
