Bankers life insurance started in 1879 as the Hotel Men’s Mutual Benefit Association. John D. MacArthur studied mass-marketed household goods and realized the same approach could be applied to life insurance. When the Medicare bill was signed, Bankers Life was one of the first insurers to offer Medicare Supplement insurance. They focus on the retirement and health care needs of seniors. Products are sold through insurance agents.
In 2018 Bankers Life had over 700,000 policy holders. They are headquartered in Chicago, IL.
- Pros and Cons of Bankers Life Insurance
- Products Offered by Bankers Life Insurance: 80/100
- Financial Strength Rating of Bankers Life Insurance: 70/100
- Customer Satisfaction Rating of Bankers Life Insurance: 70/100
- Consumer Complaints Rating of Bankers Life Insurance: 60/100
- Digital Experience Rating of Bankers Life Insurance: 50/100
Pros and Cons of Bankers Life Insurance
| Pros | Cons |
| – Some policies do not require a medical exam – Provides personal, long-term service through agents – Many products to support you in your golden years | – It says you can get a quote online, but when we tried it, the website said they needed more information and prompted us to call – Digital experience is somewhat antiquated |
Products Offered by Bankers Life Insurance
Bankers Life offers four types of life insurance:
- Term
- Whole
- Universal
- Juvenile
Bankers Term Life Insurance:
Bankers Term Insurance is available in amounts from as low as $25,000. You can get an initial term policy up to age 75, and it’s renewable up to age 95. All term policies have the option of converting to a permanent life insurance policy up to age 75. Terms can be 5, 10, or 20 years.
Bankers Whole Life Insurance:
Whole life at Bankers Life offers guaranteed cash value accumulation. There are five types of whole life policies available. They vary in the amount of coverage available, with death benefits as low as $2,500. There are several single premium options. Whole life insurance with low death benefits, from $5,000 to $40,000, are usually for final expenses purpose. And they usually don’t require medical exam.
Bankers Universal Life Insurance:
Universal life is offered in two policy types: Fixed interest universal life insurance, that builds cash value at a guaranteed minimum interest rate of 3%. Indexed universal life insurance builds cash value by reflecting overall market performance, with guaranteed interest rate of 1% (with the potential to earn more).
Bankers Juvenile Whole Life Insurance
Juvenile whole life: This is whole life insurance offered for children ages zero to 16. Face values can be as low as $10,000.
In addition, there are riders available to add to policies (not every rider is available on every policy):
- Living benefit chronic illness accelerated death benefit. Learn more about life insurance with living benefits
- Accelerated death benefit for terminal illness
- Accidental death. Learn more about accidental death life insurance
- Additional insured level term
- Children’s term. Learn more about life insurance for children
- Disability income
- Primary insured level term
- Unemployment waiver of cost
- Waiver of cost
- Waiver of planned periodic premium
- Guaranteed insurability benefit. Learn more about guaranteed insurability
- Payor benefit
Bankers Life also have Medicare Supplemental insurance, which is underwritten by Colonial Penn.
They also have long-term care insurance and annuities. They focus on a holistic approach for middle-income senior citizens: Their slogan is “Everything you need for the life of your retirement.”
Financial Strength Rating of Bankers Life Insurance
A.M. Best gives Bankers Life a solid A- (Excellent) rating. This means Bankers Life can meet its financial obligations.
Customer Satisfaction Rating of Bankers Life Insurance
J.D. Power does not review Bankers life insurance, so we will have to turn to other sources.
One thing to take note of is that Bankers Life was cited by the FCC for violating rules around the Do Not Call Registry. This was back in 2007, so certainly a long time ago, but perhaps worth mentioning.
They also had to pay a $10 million dollar, multi-state settlement in 2012 for securities licensing violations. You can read about it here.
Consumer Complaints Rating of Bankers Life Insurance
The NAIC assigns a ratio of consumer complaints for insurance companies with 1.0 being the median average. Bankers Life Insurance gets a ratio of 0.0, which means they have essentially no complaints. There are five total complaints listed. The reason they get a ratio of zero even though they have a few complaints listed is because given the size of the company, five complaints is negligible.
The BBB gives Bankers Life an A+. They’ve been accredited since 2013. Reviews and complaints don’t influence the BBB’s rating (most companies have at least a few complaints); however, prospective customers should take note. There are 84 complaints listed. Many of them are about long-term care insurance and Bankers Life not paying on time, and some concern high-pressure sales. To be fair, there are also a few five-star reviews.
There are also 84 complaints filed in the last three years. Of those, most of them are either with a problem with a product or service (46) or with billing and collections (26). There are a few other complaints in Advertising and sales, delivery issues, and guarantee and warranty. Again, if you are considering Bankers Life it’s worth it to read through them.
Digital Experience Rating of Bankers Life Insurance
Although the website says you can obtain a quote online, we tried several times and were also told they needed more information. They listed a phone number to call. If they needed more information, why not just ask for it on the form? You might be able to obtain a quote, but maybe not.
Once you register your account online, you can pay your bill, access your policy information, and submit requests. Speaking of requests, if you want to change any part of your policy, you’ll have to fill out a form and submit it. You will also have to fill out a form to make a claim.
At the moment, because of the Coronavirus, they are offering remote meeting with agents.
You can find Bankers Life on Facebook, YouTube and LinkedIn.
There is a mobile app if you are agent, but not one for customers.
Last Thoughts
Bankers Life Insurance has been around for a long time and has millions of dollars in assets. If you are within their target demographic, i.e. middle-income families approaching retirement, they might work for you. They focus on this type of customer and they have a lot of experience with this group. If you consider them, your experience might come down to the skill and competence of your agent. Also, be sure to carefully read documents and don’t get talked into anything that doesn’t align with your goals.
