There are many life insurance companies out there now.  Some, you may recognize while others may not be as common to the average purchaser of term life insurance.  Even these companies may have been around for decades so you're in a good position of strength in the term market.  Let's look at the term life companies out on the market and figure out what's important when selecting one.

It's a decision that needs to ring true for years if not decades.  Which life insurance company to go with.  With all the talk of financial collapse and sophisticated (and deadly, it turns out) financial instruments such as CDO (Collateral Debt Obligations), it's nice to know that term life insurance is an old and tried product.  The life insurance companies have a pretty good understanding of the product and that's good.  It's much simpler than other types of life insurance policies such as whole, universal, or variable.  These options usually have some contact or foundation in the stock markets and are subject to volatility and risk associated with equities.  So term life insurance is a solid and well-known product to the the life companies.  Let's look further at how they differ.

There are different kinds of life insurance carriers which we discussed more in detail in a separate article.  This really doesn't matter to you as the policy holder.  What matters to you is the life insurance rate and the trust in the companies' ability to pay out benefits if needed over a long period of time.  The insurance rate is probably the most important since you need to be able to afford it over a the long run.  The good news is that you can quickly find the most affordable life insurance rates instantly through our quoting engine.  That same quote will provide the company ratings across the three major rating agencies on the same page.  You can find further detail on the make-up of the company, length in business, etc from our our life company pages. 

Now that the rate and life company rating is in clear view, let's look at some other factors that will drive your choice of company.  An important but often overlooked item is that of ease of use.  How quickly does the life company respond back once the application is in process.  How involved is the term life application to complete.  Also, how pragmatic or reasonable is the insurance company in regards to health classes, eligibility, and amounts of coverage.  If you apply based on a certain term life rate and the carrier comes back with a higher rate based on health class, that's not a very good start.

Each person's situation will be different and a given life company may be a better fit assuming the rate that they offer is competitive.  We can help you match your needs with the right company based on our experience with life companies.  We expect the companies to make the move towards online application (if anything, to save money in an already tight margined market) over the next 3-5 years.  That's also an indication that a life insurance company is progressive and easy to deal with.  It shows their intention to make the process quicker, easier, and more stream-lined...all welcomed changes. 

At this time (and things change), assuming apples and apples (rates, company rating, etc) we are seeing Genworth and Banner emerge as strong options.  Fortunately, the gap between the best and worst of the life insurance companies that we quote is very narrow.  Otherwise, we wouldn't include them.