Best life insurance companies of 2022

Insurance companies are constantly changing their plans and terms to stay competitive in a crowded market. Taking into account Insurance Geek’s experience, as well as each carrier’s updates, we’ve compiled our list of the best life insurance companies for 2022.

Each life insurance company has made it to our list for various reasons, considering features such as price, underwriting time, product selection, and application process.

However, Insurance Geek did its best to include the companies that rank highly overall, based on types of life insurance policies.

There’s also a handy guide below that offers more information when you are shopping for a life insurance policy.

Without further ado, here is Insurance Geek’s list of the best life insurance companies in the USA for 2022.

Best by Category: Skip Ahead

2022 Best Term Life Insurance Companies

Term life insurance covers the policyholder for a designated period of time – usually 10, 20, or 30 years.

Because term life insurance policies cover the insured for a shorter period, the rates for a term life insurance policy are much more affordable than a permanent life policy.

Term life policies are the best life insurance coverage option for those who are looking for an affordable and flexible policy.

Here, our top picks for the best term life insurance companies:

Full Reviews

Principal

Full Reviews

Nationwide

Full Review

Lincoln National

Full Reviews

Principal’s best feature is their willingness to underwrite medical and recreational marijuana smokers at a non-tobacco rate.

Principal is hands down the best life insurance company for any marijuana smoker who wants an affordable price on term life insurance.

Most companies automatically assign smoker rates regardless of the frequency and whether an applicant smokes cigarettes. Therefore, if recreational marijuana use is a factor, it won’t affect the cost of your insurance if you’re getting it from Principle.

What’s considered “recreational,” you may ask, in order to be eligible for their services? Well, “recreational” is fluid, it changes as insurers gather data over the years, and varies from company to company. Currently, marijuana use twice per month is deemed recreational by Principal.

Principal is also a great carrier we often turn to with individuals who have pre-existing conditions and may be more high risk. They have been great at underwriting the whole entire client’s health history and approving those tough-to-place cases for their services.

Is that to say that they have a bad offer for whole life & universal life insurance? Not at all – quite the contrary – but it’s one of the best companies to get term life insurance coverage from.

There are several reasons why Banner makes it on our list.

The first is that this life insurance company bases table-rated cases on Standard Plus rates compared to other carriers’ Standard rates. This can be a huge plus for those who do not qualify for a standard rate due to less than stellar health and are more inclined toward a term life insurance policy.

Another great feature of Banner life is their “Add one-inch” program. This is a program in which they automatically add one inch to the eligible applicant’s height during the underwriting process. This could possibly boost the applicant’s rate class, which can dramatically lower the premium rate.

On a more concrete example: Say that you qualify for their Preferred Plus plan and fulfill all criteria except for the build of 5′ 6” because you weigh 170 pounds and are 5’5”, which falls in the Preferred rage, and not Preferred Plus. By adding one inch and adjusting the height, they are boosting your chances to qualify for the Preferred Plus.

Banner is also the only carrier to offer a 35 and 40-year term life policy amongst their services, so it is a great option for users looking for a longer-term policy.

Protective offers a unique policy called Custom Choice Universal Life.

This policy almost acts like a hybrid between a term and universal life policy.

How come?

Well, it acts as a term life insurance coverage in that it has a level premium, meaning the rate will be locked in for a period of time. You select the amount of coverage and the initial period that can vary from 10 to 30 years.

But, unlike other term policies, this policy won’t spike once the term ends.

So, if the policyholder purchases the 20-year option but wants to continue coverage into the 21st year, they may do so while keeping a level premium and a lower death benefit.

This is one of the most flexible policies out there and is a great option for those who want term life policies for low cost with the option to continue for a longer period of time.

Prudential’s Term Essential policy offers several features to save the policyholder money.

One such feature is their Age last birthday feature.

Prudential will use the client’s current age when underwriting, whereas other carriers, will round the applicant’s age up. This can be a big benefit if the applicant is close to their next year – for instance if their birthday is one month away.

Prudent also allows the policyholder to convert to any of their other permanent options during the conversion period (the level period or age 65, whichever comes first, but never less than 5 years).

They also have a Term Elite policy that comes with a few extras and makes the conversion from term to permanent coverage more convenient.

Finally, their PruTerm One offers coverage one year at a time, which isn’t for everybody but can be ideal for a short-term loan or something like that.

Pru has one of the most lenient underwriting processes, and so is a top choice for those with pre-existing conditions as well as foreign nationals.

Lincoln’s TermAccel is the best in the class of the simplified issue term products on the market.

Its content is up to $1,000,000 with the possibility of no exam up to age 60. It’s not a true no exam, though, so it fell into our best term life insurance category.

Next, they offer Lincoln LifeElements policy that takes a bit more to approve, but it’s easier to convert it to permanent life insurance prior to the end of the premium payment or insured’s age 70.

The guaranteed level premium cost can last for 10, 15, 20, or 30 years with both policies.

Additional benefits include level term coverage for insured’s children and accelerated death benefits rider that pays out an amount of the death benefit in case of a severe terminal illness.

Ohio National is the only carrier that offers a 20-year term life at 65 years old.

Sure – it’s amazing when a 35-year old decides to get life coverage, but know that there are options for someone looking for coverage later on in life with companies like Ohio National.

A potential downside might be that they offer guaranteed level premiums only for 10, 15, and 20 years, with no possibility for more. After the initial period, premiums are annually increasing.

The conversion feature is also available, either during the initial premium paying period or up to the insured’s age of 70.

There’s the option for the insured children’s insurance up to the age of 21 at additional cost.

What is more, Ohio National is also extremely competitive on pricing. They consistently offer some of the lowest term rates than any carrier for life insurance policies.

One of Pacific’s best features is their competitive height and weight chart, which is more lenient compared to other companies.

They also offer the lowest premiums on term products for every age, gender, and term length.

You can get two types of term life insurance policies with them.

The more popular option is classic level-premium term life, where the premium is the same for the entire period of up to 30 years.

Next, you can also get Pacific’s annual renewable term life policy where you prolong and renew your coverage each year, though the cost increases.

Nationwide is a carrier that is ready for the next life insurance generation – not to mention their excellent customer service and overall customer satisfaction.

Their term life policy is called YourLife Guaranteed Level Term.

They offer competitive pricing and something called “intelligent underwriting,” which allows a healthy individual to skip the medical exam up to $2,000,000 in term coverage. No other insurance company in the county offers this capability.

The guaranteed level premium remains stable for up to 30 years.

Nationwide also has excellent whole and universal life insurance products that you can check out below.

Oh, and they offer huge discounts if you go for custom bundle packages. So, for example, if you choose to get auto insurance or home insurance in addition to the life insurance policy, you can save up a lot with Nationwide!

2022 best whole life insurance companies

Whole life insurance coverage is a type of permanent life insurance that offers both death benefit protection and cash value buildup.

With whole life insurance, the death benefit and premium are locked in for life, regardless of whether the policyholder’s health declines.

The best whole life insurance companies:

Lafayette

Nationwide

Full Reviews

Sagicor

Full Reviews

The array of whole life insurance products that Lafayette offers is incredible:

  • Heritage 15
  • Contender 15
  • Patriot 15
  • Sentinel 15
  • 10 Pay Life
  • Liberty 15 Single Premium
  • Protector 15 Simplified Issue

Should you need more detailed information on any of these, you can contact an independent licensed agent, and they will help you determine what’s the best option for you.

Generally, all seven options for Lafayette’s whole life insurance policy offer guaranteed death benefit protection, cash value accumulation, and level premiums over the insured’s entire lifetime.

Each whole life insurance policy (excluding Protector 15) may earn a dividend, and so doubles as an investment account and life insurance plan.

The dividend-paying whole life policies are all non-direct recognition.

Thus, as long as the loan is repaid and the interest is paid, the cash value in the permanent life insurance policy would be the same as if the applicant had not taken a loan.

Additionally, each of the whole life policies offers the insured a different investment and goal strategy.

So, for example, if the insured wanted the lowest premium whole life possible, they could choose their Heritage 15 product.

If the policyholder wanted a whole life that was specifically for cash value growth, they could choose the Sentinel 15, which is designed just for that.

As mentioned, the quality of Nationwide’s whole and universal insurance products is not behind their term policies.

Nationwide offers two permanent life insurance products.

One is non-participating whole life, and the other is a simplified issue product that is offered to current Nationwide customers. It’s a simplified issue product with little to no underwriting. The simplified policy is an excellent way for current Nationwide customers to get a small whole life policy even if they have some major health issues.

As usual, the price will vary based on criteria such as health, age, and tobacco use, but Nationwide makes it as straightforward as possible, much more than some other carriers.

They offer the Nationwide Whole Life 100 and 20-pay Whole Life as well.

The former offers the same constant premiums that stop when you turn 100, and the latter offers the same premiums until the policy is paid out after 20 years.

Their policies can be customized for an additional charge to include beneficiaries for accidental death, a spouse rider that provides level term insurance for your spouse, and more.

When it comes to single premium whole life insurance, no other company can compete with Sagicor.

Sagicor’s preferred rates for this type of permanent life insurance are better than most carriers’ preferred plus rates.

Their standard policy for a lifetime of protection is what they conveniently call a Whole Life Plan.

The guaranteed cash value grows over the duration of the policy, and it can also be used as a loan in addition to paying the beneficiary.

One of their products under this series is Life Paid-up at 65, which provides standard premium rates for your entire life. After the age of 65, premiums are no longer required.

Overall, when looking for a single premium whole life policy, Sagicor is your choice.

Best universal life insurance companies

Universal life insurance, like whole life, is a type of permanent life insurance coverage.

However, universal life insurance is considered to be more flexible than whole life.

We say that it’s more flexible because a universal life insurance policyholder is allowed to change, within limits, their death benefit as well as the timing and the amount of their premium payments, unlike with the term policy.

Each time the insured pays the premium, the insurance company will allocate a portion to cover the cost of the insurance and another portion to the policy’s cash value account.

The policyholder may even move funds between the cash value and the death benefit components of the universal life plan.

Here are the best universal life insurance companies:

Allianz

Nationwide

Full Reviews

Lincoln

Full Reviews

Allianz was the first-ever carrier to offer a fixed index universal life (FIUL) policy, Allianz Life Pro+Advantage.

This insurance plan offers a combination of three tax advantages:

  • income tax-free death benefit,
  • tax-deferred accumulation value,
  • and tax-free loans.

Because of these tax benefits, FIUL can be a great addition to your investment plan. You’ll enjoy your accumulation value without taxes that may undermine it.

What’s more, there’s the possibility to access your accumulation whenever you want per your financial needs.

The FIUL plan automatically comes with a chronic illness accelerated benefit and a terminal illness accelerated benefit.

Based on the applicant’s state, they can apply for a variety of other riders as well.

Nationwide featured for the third time on our list? That’s right; we told you they have excellent offers!

Namely, Nationwide is the only carrier that offers a first indemnity Long-Term Care (LTC) rider.

This type of policy means that the monthly benefit is paid to the policyholder tax-free, regardless of monthly expenses.

Their universal life plan, called Nationwide YourLife CareMatters, also includes impressive multipliers that can help the policyholder earn more interest compared to other IUL products.

Other universal life products by Nationwide include:

  • Nationwide Survivorship Indexed UL, permanent life insurance on two people that pays an income-tax-free death benefit in the event of second insured passing away
  • Nationwide Indexed UL Accumulator II, which offers advanced tax protection
  • Nationwide Indexed UL Protector II, the one with the LTC rider

For New York residents, Nationwide has three universal life products available:

  • Nationwide YourLife Indexed UL Accumulator, excellent both for accumulation and your current assets
  • Nationwide No-Lapse Guarantee UL II, with a lifetime guarantee
  • Nationwide YourLife Indexed UL Protector, with tax-deferred cash value increase and permanent death benefit

Should you require more information on the universal life insurance policies mentioned here, feel free to reach out to an Insurance Geek, and s/he will gladly assist you!

Lincoln Financial offers an IUL product called WealthAccumulate.

The policy offers 4 index options to choose from: Perform Plus, Perform, Balance, and Conserve.

The WealthAccumulate is hands down one of the best index universal life insurance products available today.

The product offers a 56% multiplier bonus on the perform plus and perform index options.

On top of the aggressive 56% multiplier, they offer another bonus which they call PPC (standing for positive performance credit).

If the underlying index has two positive years in a row, your credit will include an additional bonus credit.

What’s more, there are their incredibly flexible LifeGuarantee universal life insurance services:

  • Lincoln LifeGuarantee UL, which allows you to adjust the amount of the death benefit, as well as the frequency and amount of premium payments
  • LincolnLifeGuarantee SUL, a survivorship life insurance coverage that pays on the second death for two people insured

Keep in mind that these two are not available in New York. For more information on availability, you can contact a licensed independent agent.

Securian Financial, formerly known as Minnesota, stands out as a UL carrier for offering three types of UL insurance:

  • Fixed,
  • Indexed,
  • and Variable.

Each type of UL policy can cater to the insured’s risk tolerance.

Here’s more information about them:

Fixed universal life offers cash value growth tied to a fixed interest rate, making it the most stable of the three options. The premium payments are flexible.

Indexed universal life is tied to the movement of an underlying index, but does not participate in the market. It’s probably the most balanced of the three. There’s also the survivorship option for two people.

Variable universal life offers cash value buildup based on the performance of the investment options you choose, making it the riskiest option out of the three. The market risk can have a negative effect on the accumulated value of the policy. So, if your motto is High risk, high reward, you should go for this type of life insurance coverage.

What we really like about Securian is the IUL product they offer for children. If you have kids, you’re going to want to read this article LIRP for Kids.

The key benefit of life insurance for kids is that the value can grow much more than with any other type of policy. And they’ll have it available in the future as a means of protection and financial security!

Best no exam life insurance companies

Typically, most types of life insurance will require a medical exam.

No exam term life insurance, just as the name implies, does not require a medical exam in order to buy a policy.

A no medical exam life insurance policy is best for those without health issues, who have a clean MVR and little to no medication history.

Any individual who has significant health issues will want to apply for a fully underwritten life insurance option. Or, if your conditions are bad enough, even a guaranteed issue whole life policy.

Here are the best no exam term life insurance companies:

Sagicor

Full Reviews

SBLI

Phoenix

The main benefit of Sagicor’s no exam policy is the quick underwriting turnaround.

This is due to their completely digital underwriting process, known as “Accelewriting.” So, if you want to find out the decision very quickly (within minutes) and without any face-to-face meetings, Sagicor could be your choice.

On top of that, they offer an eDelivery of your policy if it is approved. Does it get more convenient than that?

The other strong point of their no-exam policy is Accelerated Benefit Insurance Rider, which is included at no additional cost. This rider will help cover medical costs by allowing you to use a portion of the death benefit if you are admitted to a nursing home facility or diagnosed with a terminal illness.

Sagicor is the first carrier to offer up to $1,000,000 without an exam. They also allow a preferred plus rate class.

SBLI’s no exam policy offers some of the lowest premiums.

For death benefits under $750,000, their no exam premiums are on par with their regular term insurance.

They also offer no exam for all health classes, just like Sagicor. However, they are limited by age and are available for ages 18-60.

Interested in more information?

Well, their Accelerated Underwriting requires just a telephone interview. While the decisions are a tad slower than with Sagicor, they are still pretty fast: You’ll learn the decision within one week of applying.

Phoenix accepts applications between the ages of 18-80.

Many no exam carriers only accept applicants up to the age of 65 or 60, so this makes them one of the most lenient no exam carriers when it comes to issuing age.

One of the best features of Phoenix’s no exam policy is that it will consider below-average health, as long as they have observed your health history.

Phoenix life also included two amazing living benefits with every policy – critical and chronic illness riders.

This means that you can access up to 95% of your entire death benefit if you experience a critical illness such as a heart attack, stroke, cancer, renal failure, major organ transplant, or ALS.

Or, if you have a chronic illness, which means you are unable to perform without substantial assistance for at least 90 days at least 2 of the 6 activities of daily living (bathing, continence, dressing, eating, toileting, transferring), or severe cognitive impairment.

Best rated life insurance companies

Here is a list of the best rated life insurance companies, by A.M. Best, Standard & Poor’s, and Comdex ratings. You can also see a link to our full carrier review pages.

Carrier Name A.M. Best Standard & Poor’s Comdex Geek Rating
Banner A+ AA- 94 See Review
Sagicor A- NA NA See Review
Allianz A+ AA 90 See Review
Securian A+ A+ 93 See Review
Nationwide A+ A+ 91 See Review
Phoenix B BB NA See Review
Pacific Life A+ AA- 90 See Review
SBLI A NA 84 See Review
Assurity A1 NA NA See Review
Lafayette A+ A 97 See Review
Ohio National A+ A+ 89 See Review
Prudential A+ AA- 91 See Review
Protective A+ AA- 92 See Review
AIG A+ A+ 83 See Review
Principal A+ A+ 90 See Review
Lincoln National Life A+ AA- 91 See Review

Understand the Ratings

A.M. Best is a reputable company that rates insurance companies according to its A.M. Best Financial Strength scale. It ranges from A to C.

Take a glance at the A.M. Best Financial Strength scale below:

Superior A.M. Best Financial Strength Rating: A+ and A++

Excellent A.M. Best Financial Strength Rating: A and A-

Good A.M. Best Financial Strength Rating: B+ to B++

Fair A.M. Best Financial Strength Rating: B and B-

Marginal A.M. Best Financial Strength Rating: C+ and C++

Weak A.M. Best Financial Strength Rating: C and C-

Poor A.M. Best Financial Strength Rating: D

In addition to A.M. Best Rating, there are more scales that rate customer service of a life insurance company, such as the JD Power customer satisfaction index, Standard & Poor’s best rating, and Comdex best rating.

Standard & Poor’s best rating obtains the data from their financial research. There are 17 ratings expressed by letters.

Comdex’s best rating ranges from 1 to 100 and is comprised as an average score based on the major insurance rating organizations.

J.D. Power carries out studies and surveys that collect the information and data on customer service via customer experience. J.D. Power expanded its focus from car ratings to insurance companies.

All of the life insurance companies that are featured on our list have excellent customer service and score high, regardless of whether A.M. Best Rating, J.D. Power studies, or other scales are considered.

How to Choose the Best Life Insurance Company for You?

Now you know what companies to consider when buying life insurance.

For any additional info or advice, feel free to reach to us! We’ll obtain and compare the best life insurance quotes for you.

Get Life Insurance Quotes Today

Luckily, getting in contact with an Insurance Geek doesn’t mean you have to go to your library and find someone with their nose in a life insurance book (although we might be found there, too).

Instead, just choose your coverage level and fill out a quick form on our site, and a Geek will contact you to help you find the best life insurance plan for your needs.

We ask only for the basic data, nothing more, and your privacy is 100% guaranteed.

Don’t let the life insurance options overwhelm you – see us as your personal insurance shopping assistants, eager to help you find the best policy at the best price and assist you in the application process.

Rest assured that all of our carriers are top-graded for customer satisfaction and customer service because that’s one of the primary factors we assess.

That said, our experience tells us that the best discounts are for bundled policies.

So, if you wish to get more than life insurance – for example, auto insurance, too, notify us, and we’ll help you tailor your policy!

Final Words

Now you know what companies to consider when buying life insurance.

For any additional info or advice, feel free to reach to us! We’ll obtain and compare the best life insurance quotes for you.