This review of VOYA, formerly ING, discusses the company’s pros, cons, and offers our readers an alternative. VOYA is one of the best life insurance companies available. There is no single company that fits all. Call us today to find the right company for you.
About ING / Voya Financial
America’s Retirement Company
Voya Financial and the Voya family of companies are known as America’s Retirement Company.
Voya has almost two-thirds its earnings in retirement planning accounts, and the most popular Voya product is group retirement plans through employers.
The company currently manages over 51,000 group retirement plans, with more than 5.7 million plan participants. Voya Financial Advisers, Inc+ sells securities included in Voya’s group pension plans.
Voya offers group insurance plans as part its suite of services to businesses and other organisations.
ReliaStar
Voya’s group products are issued through Minnesota-chartered ReliaStar Life Insurance Company. This company is a member the Voya Financial Family.
Voya’s Employee Benefits division offers group life insurance, supplemental and flexible spending accounts, HSA, HSA, and group disability insurance. It also provides stop-loss policies to plan sponsors.
Discontinued Individual Life Coverage
Voya stopped marketing individual life insurance policies after it sold its life insurance division. Voya’s individual life policies have been transferred to Resolution Life Group Holdings. Voya’s new policies can only be bought through group plans. Source.
Voya allows individuals to open IRAs or Roth IRAs for themselves, as well as contacting one of the company’s financial advisors.
Voya Financial is now ING U.S. Voya Financial offers life insurance products under ReliaStar Life Insurance Company. After separating from ING Group, the company’s name and logo were changed to Voya.
“It reminds us that a secure financial future is about more than just reaching a destination; it’s about a journey to empowerment and having positive experiences along the way.” “It reminds me that a secure financial tomorrow is more than reaching a destination. It’s about a journey towards empowerment and positive experiences along the road.”
Voya, the parent company of ReliaStar Life Insurance Company of New York, Woodbury, NY, and Security Life of Denver Insurance Company, Denver, CO, issues life insurance products.
The Positives
Voya Financial, i.e. TermLife2Go’s top pick is ReliaStar Life Insurance. They would be among the top 10 for the number of products and niches they offer. As we’ll show below, Voya is a solid company for life insurance.
A.M. Best Rating
Voya Financial via ReliaStar Life Insurance Company has an A rating as of May 9, 2019. The 3rd highest rating of the 15 ratings is an A (Excellent). Voya Financial has a solid financial foundation. You can rest easy knowing that Voya Financial will be able meet its financial obligations. This includes paying out a death benefit for your family in the event of your death.
Voya ReliaStar Life Insurance Company Ratings:
- A.M. Best rating: A (Excellent)
- Moody’s rating A2 (low Risk)
- Standard and Poor’s rating is A+ (Strong).
- Fitch rating: A (low Risk)
BBB rating
Voya Financial is not accredited by the Better Business Bureau and currently holds a somewhat concerning “B” rating from BBB. Voya Financial’s record in addressing and resolving consumer complaints to BBB is not as good as that of other insurers. This rating is relatively low.
Voya customers have only posted 9 reviews about the company on BBB’s website. However, Voya’s average rating of one star is not encouraging. Voya ranks slightly higher than 3 stars on another consumer site (out of 5) – somewhat better, but not outstanding.
NAIC
Voya is right. The NAIC reports that ReliaStar complaints received by state insurance commissioners are lower than those of comparable-situated insurers.
Voya has been rated highly by employees and recognized by many organizations as a great place to work.
Voya was also awarded for its diversity efforts, and was named by the Ethisphere Institute as one of the “World’s Most Ethical Businesses”. Source.
VOYA Insurance Policies
Voya Financial offers a wide range of different life insurance policies. It is important to understand the differences between policies, how they work, and which features you find most beneficial depending on your needs and goals.
Additionally, knowing the major differences between term life vs permanent life insurance is critical so that you can tailor a policy to your lifestyle. Term life provides protection that is only limited in death benefit for some people. Permanent coverage is becoming more popular for people who want to secure their financial future and lay the foundation for financial freedom.
VOYA Term life
Fixed 10, 15, 20, 25, 25 and 30-year terms are available with VOYA TermSmart products
VOYA ROOP Endowment Term also has fixed terms of 20, 25, and 30 years. This is one of the only return of premium life insurance policies currently available in the marketplace.
Whole Life
Also offered as part of employer-sponsored plans, Voya’s whole life insurance coverage provides life insurance guaranteed to remain in place for an enrolled employee’s entire life. Whole-life policies earn interest and accrue cash value over time. Once the policy’s cash value is sufficient, policyholders can borrow against it.
While premiums for whole-life are significantly higher than those for term, the premium payments are not subject to change and are set at the same level.
Voya whole-life policies can be canceled by an employee who leaves the company. However, the employee will still have the coverage and will pay the premiums to Voya.
Voya’s group whole-life plans offer several optional riders, which provide additional benefits.
A policyholder can access the policy’s death benefit through an accelerated benefit rider if they are diagnosed with a terminal disease.
If the insured is totally disabled, a premium-waiver rider will waive the policyholder’s obligation of paying premiums.
VOYA Indexed Universal Life Insurance Series
Voya Financial is an innovative, top universal life insurance company. There are several options for indexed universal life insurance from the company: Accumulation, Global Choice and Global.
VOYA Universal Life-CVClients have the option to accumulate tax-deferred cash value which can be used for future purposes. Flexible premium payments are available to clients. These can be paid in any amount and at any time.
VOYA Strategic Accumulator Survivorship Universal LifeThe second-to-die insurance is also known as insurance that pays a death benefit upon the death of the spouse who survives.
Indexed Universal Life and Survivorship Universal Life are great vehicles for estate planning. They can be used to fund irrevocable life insurance trusts or business planning such as key man insurance, buy-sell agreements, and funding irrevocable insurance trusts.
ING Voya Financial Life Insurance Niches
It is important to recognize the unique niches of Voya Financial when you offer a Voya Finance review. VOYA doesn’t ask about family history of cancer. This is an enormous advantage for consumers who otherwise would qualify for the highest rate class. However, if the client has a family history of cancer in their parents, they will only be eligible for the preferred rate class.
VOYA has also liberal blood pressure underwriting standards. Clients can be eligible for a super preferred rate class if their blood pressure is 135/90. Most carriers allow 85 on the diastolic number. Clients over 61 years old can still qualify for super preferred rates as long as their blood pressure reading is 140/95.
VOYA is a great option for clients with high cholesterol. The top rate class may be available to clients with high cholesterol levels of 300 and a HLD ratio between 5 and 4.5. The HDL ratio permitted jumps to 6 and 5.5 for clients aged 61 or older.
VOYA provides a wide range of build options for clients aged 61 or older. A 5’10” person can still be eligible for the highest rate class, even if they weigh 216 lbs.
Finally, VOYA is a solid choice for older diabetic clients looking for life insurance.
The Negatives
Sometimes, the best option is not always the most effective.
VOYA is amazing in many ways. They are not always the best option when it comes to life insurance. There are other companies that offer better universal and term insurance rates, and even health classes for certain situations.
As you might have seen in other VOYA Financial Insurance reviews, VOYA is not the best option if you are just quitting smoking. A company will offer a preferred rate classification if you have not smoked for a year. The best rate class would be offered after a year without using VOYA or tobacco.
Another example is that VOYA does not offer the top rate class for clients who have a family history of cardiovascular deaths before the age of 65. Some competitors to VOYA don’t ask about family history of cardiovascular disease or are only concerned with deaths before 60.
No competitive no exam option
VOYA offers some excellent products but does not offer a medical exam. This is problematic for those considering no exam versus exam coverage. For those with a fear of needles, or for those who believe they might have some latent health issue, choosing from among the best no exam life insurance companies could be a real game changer.
One of many available companies
The point is that VOYA, via ReliaStar Life Insurance is only one of many life insurance companies. It is important that people looking for VOYA Life Insurance Reviews keep their options open. Customers looking for the best life insurance deal should look into multiple companies. This will ensure that you get the best company for the lowest price.
