Best 9 term life insurance companies of 2023

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A term life insurance policy is affordable if you’re interested in purchasing life insurance.

While you won’t get lifelong or any cash value advantages, a term life policy can protect your family in the event of your untimely death in your prime earning years. Of course, many companies offer the option to extend or convert your term life insurance to a permanent one.

But it’s essential to know conversion is not guaranteed unless you buy a separate rider. Applicants would have to pass underwriting a second time, and the death benefit would be based on qualifications at that time. If you have a rider for guaranteed conversion, the life insurance company can still raise your rate and reduce your benefit. It only guarantees the option to convert.

We’ve rounded up our top picks for the best term life insurance companies to help you find a policy meeting all your needs.

Best overall: Banner Life OpTerm

Best for affordability: Protective Classic Choice Term

Best no medical exam: Brighthouse Financial SimplySelect

Best for customer service: State Farm

Best for whole life conversions: Pacific Elite Term

Best for seniors: Prudential Term Essential

Best for foreign nationals: Transamerica Trendsetter Super

Best for military personnel: USAA Level Term V

Best for low-income parents: MassMutual Term LifeBridge

Compare the best term life insurance companies

Best overall: Banner Life OpTerm

We’re kicking off this list with our best pick for term life insurance. Banner Life received an outstanding score of A+ from AM Best. However, it needs a ranking in JD Power’s individual life insurance customer satisfaction survey.

Banner Life OpTerm policy has affordable life insurance rates for all ages and approved health classifications. Unfortunately, shoppers with a history of severe health complications, including HIV, cancer, etc., do not qualify for Banner Life policies. Shoppers ages 20 to 75 years old may be eligible for coverage with no maximum and up to 40 years of coverage. You can also expect fast approval and may qualify for a medical exam waiver with the Banner Life OpTerm plan.

Best for affordability: Protective Classic Choice Term

Protective’s Class Choice Term plan has some of the most affordable rates for the best value in the life insurance market. According to Insider’s article on the average life insurance cost, the average life insurance rate for 35-year-old males and females (with a standard 20-year term length and a life insurance benefit of $1,000,000) is about $52 and $43 per month, respectively.

At Protective, the same life insurance policy for a male applicant would cost $46.63 per month. A policy for a female applicant quotes at $38.44 per month. Both of these rates are below the industry average. So while you can find cheaper, you get the most out of your buck with Protective.

Protective’s Classic Choice Term is excellent for its customizability and range of options. This plan offers $100,000 to $50 million in coverage, some of the highest life insurance benefits in the market. Additionally, you have several term options ranging from 10 to 40 years.

You may fancy Protective’s ala carte of riders, including its child and disability riders. Protective also offers an income provider option endorsement, which allows you to decide how to allocate your death benefit among your beneficiaries.

Best for no medical exams: Brighthouse Financial SimplySelect

If your health isn’t at its best, you might lean towards a policy requiring no medical exam. This is a common misnomer. No medical exam policies still ask health questions, and the company can look at past medical records. So these policies are more frequently issued with lower death benefits to young, healthy applicants. Of course, when you’re working with a company like Brighthouse Financial, life insurance agents can run a preliminary application to see your chances of success. If you don’t qualify for a no medical exam policy, Brighthouse Financial agents can quote other term or whole life options to fit your needs.

Brighthouse Financial‘s SimplySelect term life insurance offers best-in-class coverage even without undergoing a physical exam. The company also received an A rating from AM Best and a 741 rating with JD Power, according to its 2022 life insurance study.

This policy allows instant approval with some of the lowest rates. You can get anywhere from $100,000 to $3 million in coverage with term lengths of 10, 20, or 30 years. However, higher policy limits may be subject to stricter underwriting. Also, its convertible and renewable rider options allow you to extend your coverage or convert your policy to a whole life insurance plan.

Best for customer service: State Farm

Reliability and trustworthiness are imperative for a long-standing insurance company, and it doesn’t get any better than State Farm. State Farm’s life insurance earned an A++ for financial stability with AMs Best. It also received 839 out of 1,000 in 2022 for overall customer satisfaction with JD Power, making it the number one spot for customer service among its industry competitors.

State Farm sells property and casualty products, including home, renters, and auto insurance. So, you can pair your life insurance with another insurance product to reduce your premium.

Best for whole life conversions: Pacific Elite Term

A term to permanent life insurance conversion allows you to extend your coverage and take advantage of those coveted cash-value benefits. Pacific Elite Term offers some of the best options if you’re planning on purchasing a whole, universal, or variable life insurance plan eventually. With this term life plan, you can convert after the first ten years of term coverage. This policy also adds cash credit to your permanent policy after conversion, which may reduce the overall cost of your premium.

Keep in mind conversion is not guaranteed. Your insurance agent can advise when you’d submit your application to convert. Once you do, underwriting will assess your health and risk at the time of application (not when you originally applied for your term policy). Insurance companies will also set rates based on your current application.

With competitive rates and availability in all 50 states, Pacific Life may be your pick of the litter for policy convertibility. In addition, Pacific Life has outstanding customer satisfaction and financial strength scores, ranking 5th place with JD Power (above the industry average) and A+ with AM Best. Pacific Life may also allow qualifying buyers to forego a medical exam.

Best for seniors: Prudential Term Essential

For seniors, getting life insurance at an affordable rate can be challenging. However, Prudential‘s Term Essential is an excellent option for shoppers over 60 needing short-term coverage at a competitive price.

Prudential’s Term Essential allows for higher age limits than many competitors. As a result, underwriters may overlook minor age-related conditions, likely at a better cost than its competitors. Exclusions for terminal or costly illnesses like cancer, multiple sclerosis, and HIV may still apply. The plan provides coverage as little as $100,000 up to $1 million and term lengths of 10, 15, 20, or 30 years. Additionally, this policy offers a Living Needs Benefit rider, free of charge, with all of Prudential’s term life policies. This rider gives you access to a portion of your death policy if you become terminally ill, a beneficial option for senior retirees.

Not all senior applicants will qualify for a life insurance policy with Prudential Term Essential. But options may be more flexible than it would be with competitors.

Best for foreign nationals: Transamerica Trendsetter Super

Life insurance can be an invaluable tool, but it may be hard to qualify for those who don’t have US citizenship. As one of the oldest and largest life insurance carriers, Transamerica accommodates foreign nationals within the US to offer the best coverage options.

Transamerica Trendsetter Super is a term life policy providing some of the most competitive rates. If you’re 18 to 80 years old, you can get coverage of as little as $25,000 up to $2 million. Qualifying applicants may also waive the medical exam requirement. We recommend talking to a licensed insurance agent if you are still determining if you qualify.

Best for military personnel: USAA Level Term V

USAA is one of the nation’s leading insurance providers, created with active military members and veterans in mind. With USAA, military members and veterans may appreciate the unique benefits of purchasing its Level Term V policy. This plan doesn’t require a medical exam, but you may have to answer a health questionnaire online.

USAA‘s equivalent of a guaranteed insurability rider is its Life Event Option rider. For qualifying life events (like getting married or having a child), you can get up to $100,000 of coverage. While many insurance companies offer this add-on at an additional cost, USAA’s Life Event Option rider is built into the policy without the extra fee. Also, if you’re injured in the line of duty, USAA helps pay for your medical bills and even replaces your health coverage if you retire or leave the military.

The critical thing separating USAA from other life insurance companies is its options for active duty military members outside of SGLI (a group life policy tied to your service in the military, i.e., you lose it once you separate from the military). As a result, its death benefits may be lower compared to some competitors. But active duty military members, particularly if deployed, will not qualify for coverage at all with other life insurance providers.

Best for low-income parents: MassMutual Term LifeBridge

For many families, getting life insurance isn’t in the budget or may not be a financial priority. Fortunately, MassMutual created the LifeBridge program to assist low-income families with affordable coverage.

With MassMutual’s LifeBridge program, qualifying parents and guardians get a free 10-year life insurance policy. In addition, this policy pays your designated beneficiary a $50,000 death benefit.

While MassMutual‘s term life insurance through the LifeBridge program isn’t as elaborate as some of the options on this list, this free plan will cover your dependent’s educational expenses and sustain a good living if you pass away.

Best term life insurance companies ranked by customer satisfaction

Using the responses of over 6,000 life insurance customers, JD Power gathered information on customers’ satisfaction with the application process, communications and interactions with the company, product offerings, prices, and statements.

Why trust our recommendations?

Insider strives to create the highest quality and most helpful content. While we have paid partnerships, we don’t get paid based on the brands we write about and what we write about insurance products. Moreover, our partners only see the post after its publication and can’t make changes afterward. For information on how we choose and rate our financial products, visit our editorial page standards.

Our methodology

We choose our picks for the best term life insurance best on a company’s customer satisfaction points, financial stability ratings, affordability and

• Customer satisfaction: We use JD Power’s life insurance customer satisfaction survey to assess a company’s customer service practices. Life insurance companies with ratings of more than 774 out of 1000 are considered above the industry standard.
• Company offerings: We compare each company’s offerings. These include but are not limited to riders, policy flexibility, no medical exam options, and instant approvals.
• Financial stability ratings: We use AM Best, an industry-leading credit rating agency, to assess an insurance company’s financial health. A company with an A++ to B+ is stable and likely to be around for years. On the other hand, anything lower than a B means a company is unstable or unable to meet its financial obligations.
• Affordability: According to our article on average life insurance rates, a reasonable monthly premium is on par with or below the average cost of life insurance, which is between $40 to $55 a month.

How to pick the best term life insurance policy for you

No two policies will be exactly alike. So, it’s essential to find the best term life insurance by doing some research. Keeping the following in mind is an excellent place to start.

• Budget: The average term life insurance policy is between $40 and $55. However, there may be more affordable options if getting the cheapest coverage is your goal. Keep in mind inexpensive doesn’t equal quality.
• Occupation and lifestyle: Applicants with risker hobbies or jobs (think sky-diving and miners) may have to pay a pretty penny for coverage. Our advice is to shop around for high-quality providers with the best rate.
• Health: Finding an affordable life insurance policy can be challenging, especially for seniors, smokers, and applicants with certain preexisting medical conditions. We look at diverse options to ensure readers have essential resources to make informed decisions. Keep in mind some conditions may preclude you from life insurance in general.
• Length and coverage amount: Think about how long you want to be covered and how much you need. If you’re looking to optimize your term life insurance options, some companies will insure you for over 40 years with over $1 million in coverage. For the best prices in the long term, it’s often better to apply for whole life policies at a younger age.
• Age: Younger policyholders tend to get better rates. If you’re a shopper over 60 years old, look into companies serving senior clients at a lower price with benefits that meet your needs, like AARP or Prudential.
• Company trustworthiness: Good customer service and financial stability are paramount when picking an insurance company. We suggest checking AM Best and JD Power’s customer satisfaction life insurance survey to determine a company’s reliability.

FAQs

Alani Asis

Personal Finance Reviews Fellow