It’s no secret you have your choice of companies when it comes to choosing life insurance products. One major brand that’s practically a household name is MetLife, offering everything from auto to home to even dental insurance. So, of course, the company also has a host of life insurance products, which we’ll review in our MetLife insurance review.
It’s important to note that MetLife life insurance is offered through employers, not individuals. It makes sense to continue reading if you’re in a place where you are assessing an employer-based MetLife life insurance plan, thinking of offering life insurance to your own employees or you’re negotiating with an employer to provide a group plan. Below we’ll take a look at the life insurance offerings and the reputation of the company.
- Pros and Cons
- Life Insurance Products Offered by MetLife Life Insurance: 80/100
- Financial Strength Rating of Metlife Life Insurance: 90/100
- Customer Satisfaction Rating of Metlife Life Insurance: 60/100
- Consumer Complaints Rating of Metlife Life Insurance: 30/100
- Digital Experience Rating of Metlife Life Insurance: 50/100
Pros of Metlife Life Insurance
- Offers some useful products, like a group universal life plan that stabilizes investment options and supplemental term life that allows you to purchase more coverage at a later time.
- The company has a strong financial strength rating through AM Best of an A (Excellent) rating.
Cons of Metlife Life Insurance
- The company got a modest 744 out of 1,000 in the J.D. Power 2019 U.S. Life Insurance Study.
- MetLife has some negative customer reviews through the Better Business Bureau (BBB).
- This company only offers employer-based life insurance.
- There is no way to look at quotes online.
Life Insurance Products Offered by MetLife Life Insurance
As part of our MetLife Insurance review, we looked at the life insurance products the company offers. Metlife offers both term life and permanent life insurance.
However, a major drawback is that the company lists the term life as being available through the workplace and the permanent life as being available through employers. This means that the company only offer group life insurance policies to employers. Basically, you have to negotiate with your employer to offer a group plan if you want life insurance through MetLife and your employer does not already offer it.
Term life through MetLife operates more as one product type, since it’s a type of life insurance that is meant to protect you for a certain period of time. A single death benefit simply goes to your beneficiaries, which is in line with term life insurance plans across the market.
That being said, the site does differentiate between unique types of term life insurance:
- Basic term life insurance: This is described as an employer-paid coverage over a set period of time that gives benefits to beneficiaries.
- Supplemental term life: This allows you to purchase additional benefits over time and is also employee paid.
- Dependent life: This gives coverage to a spouse, eligible children or civil union partner/domestic partner.
As for permanent life insurance, the two types MetLife lists are:
- Group Variable Universal Life Insurance: Like most variable universal policies in the market, this option allows you to make added premium payments into a variety of investment options. These plans grow cash value that you can withdraw or take loans out of, as well as have life insurance protection.
- Group Universal Life: A somewhat unique product, this option allows the same benefits as the variable life plan, but it allows for a cash value component that includes only an interest-bearing account with a guaranteed minimum interest rate. Basically, it gives your investments more stability.
Overall, this company has some comprehensive and customizable products, as long as you are sourcing them from an employment standpoint. We gave them a 80/100 for strong products, but no individual option.
Financial Strength Rating of Metlife Life Insurance
We looked at the financial strength rating of the company. MetLife has an A rating through AM Best, which is rated as Excellent. The outlook is confirmed as stable. The long-term issuer credit rating through AM Best is also listed as “a” and has a stable outlook.
Customer Satisfaction Rating of Metlife Life Insurance
MetLife was rated in the J.D. Power 2019 U.S. Life Insurance Study. It received a 744 on a 1,000-point scale with the median being 761. It has a three-circle rating out of a possible five.
The company does have an A- rating through the BBB.
Consumer Complaints Rating of Metlife Life Insurance
Oddly, MetLife (NAIC company code 13092) has no complaints submitted to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners between 2016 and 2019. So it’s hard to get a feel for consumer complaints with this company.
However, customer reviews sit at a little over one star through the BBB. Most complaints are for health insurance or auto insurance. A review for whole life had an issue transferring a life insurance loan and other reviews talk about life insurance paperwork snafus.
Digital Experience Rating of Metlife Life Insurance
Since this is a company that offers plans through employers, there is no consumer-side digital experience to look at in our MetLife insurance review. There is simply not an option where you can try to get a quote. Under all the plan types, the website tells you to contact your company’s benefits administrator.
Final Thoughts in Our MetLife Insurance Review
Since MetLife does not offer consumer life insurance, this is an option that is best assessed by business owners, someone who has MetLife life insurance offered through their employer or someone who is negotiating with an employer to start a group life plan. The company does have some unique options on the market. Metlife’s outlook is listed as stable. However, consumer reviewers are very modest and it’s hard to get a good look at consumer complaints.