The Savings Bank Life Insurance Company (SBLI)

While its policy options are limited and some applicants could find lower rates elsewhere, SBLI is ideal for young, healthy individuals looking for no exam term coverage.

Product Availability

Price/Value

Cost is one of the biggest factors to consider when you purchase life insurance, and what you pay for coverage could be significantly cheaper with one company than another.

Your life insurance rates will be based on risk factors like your age and health, along with your coverage needs.

SBLI is a solid choice for younger applicants in terms of affordability, offering average or below average rates for those in good health.

The company is also known for extending its accelerated underwriting to applicants with well-managed health conditions like high blood pressure and sleep apnea.

However, SBLI is less competitive for former smokers, diabetics, and for individuals over the age of 50.

Financial Strength

Financial performance is another key indicator of a life insurance company’s strength.

It’s vital to choose an insurer you can count on to protect your family if your pass away.

One of the best ways to assess a life insurance carrier’s solvency is to explore its credit ratings.

Credit rating agencies closely evaluate a company’s financial performance and outlook, assigning a financial strength score.

SBLI is rated by two of the premier agencies, earning stable ratings from both:

• A.M. Best: A
• Standard & Poor’s: A-

To date, the company has paid out over $4 billion of dividends and policy benefits.

Based on their claims paying history and credit ratings, SBLI is a solvent company you can depend on.

User Experience

Another chief concern when you chose a life insurance company is user experience.

With the right carrier, the process of researching, applying for coverage, and managing your policy can be simple.

To assess user experience, we’ve factored in third-party ratings, as well as the company’s online resources and application process.

Ratings

Two of the best measures of user experience are the Better Business Bureau’s rating, and the J.D. Power individual life insurance company survey.

The BBB rates companies based on their transparency, business practices, and interactions with clients.

SBLI is accredited by the Better Business Bureau, and it has earned an “A+” rating for its user experience.

The company did not make the most recent J.D. Power survey, which ranks the nation’s top life insurance companies based on overall customer satisfaction.

Website

SBLI’s website is cleanly organized and easy to navigate.

Prospective customers can easily learn more about the company’s history, community partnerships, and financial performance.

They can also find basic info about each of SBLI’s policy options. Users can also access online quotes, as well as see sample rates for some policies.

The site allows policyholders to update contact info, make payments, and change beneficiaries.

Beneficiaries can file claims online, a service many companies do not offer.

Application

SBLI’s application process can look different depending on which policy option you choose.

With traditional underwriting, you are required to complete an application, usually over the phone, and submit to a medical exam.

If you apply for $750,000 or less of term coverage and you are under the age of 60, you could be eligible for accelerated underwriting.

With accelerated underwriting, you can bypass the medical exam, though you’ll still be required to give consent to information regarding your:

• Prescription use
• Medical Information Bureau records
• Motor Vehicle Records history
• Fair Credit Reporting Agency data

SBLI provides online quotes, and in some cases, you can apply for term life insurance online.

The company’s turnaround time is quicker than average, with many applicants getting a response within a week.

Product Availability

SBLI offers several policy options, but they basically boil down to term and whole.

Term

Term life insurance is popular for its affordability and simplicity. You choose a death benefit amount and a term, like 10, 20, or 30 years.

As long as you keep up with premiums, your beneficiaries will receive the death benefit if you pass away during the term.

SBLI offers three term options:

• SBLI Term Life: This policy offers affordable coverage starting at $100,000, with level premiums, convertability, guaranteed renewability up to age 95, and accelerated underwriting.
• One Year Non-renewable Term Life : Designed for immediate short term needs, these standalone policies cannot be renewed, but they may be converted into permanent coverage.
• SmartTerm 360: This policy adapts to life changes, combining separate 10, 20, and 30-year level term policies which decrease in cost and coverage amounts as you age.

Whole

For a much higher rate, whole life policies give you lifelong coverage and an accumulating cash value account which you can access while you’re alive.

SBLI’s whole life policies start at $25,000 with varying maximum face amounts depending on which state you live in.

The policy also offers level premiums and a guaranteed death benefit.

Whole life policyholders are also eligible for dividends. While dividends are never guaranteed, SBLI has consistently paid out dividends over the years.

Final Expense

A form of whole life insurance, final expense coverage is designed to help you pay for a funeral and other end-of-life costs.

As such, it comes with a small death benefit, which can range from $2,000 to $35,000.

Thes policies are designed for older applicants who may not be eligible for a traditional term policy.

It’s important to note that SBLI’s final expense policy comes with a 3-year graded death benefit, meaning the beneficiaries only receive a fraction of the face amount if the insured passes away during the first 3 years of coverage.

Brand/Size

In 1907, Louis Brandaies, the future Supreme Court judge nicknamed “the people’s lawyer,” founded the Savings Bank Life Insurance Company with a specific mission in mind.

At that point in history, reliable life insurance was reserved for wealthy applicants, leaving the common American without access to dependable coverage.

Brandeis set out to offer affordable policies to all, setting up shop in Massachusetts.

With a value-minded strategy and a heart for helping people, SBLI grew in excess of $100 million of active policies in 23 short years, with $100 million in assets by the early 1950s.

Today, the company operates in all 48 of the land-locked states, as well as D.C., and has breached the $125 billion mark of active life insurance.

Philanthropy

SBLI has held tightly to its founder’s wishes by contributing to the communities it serves.

The SBLI Charitable Foundation proudly supports numerous organizations, including the following:

• American Diabetes Association
• American Heart Association
• National Brain Tumor Society
• National Breast Cancer Foundation, Inc.
• National Multiple Sclerosis Society
• The Jimmy Fund
• United Way

Brand Recognition

SBLI is a moderately well-known life insurance carrier, having built a strong reputation over the last hundred plus years.

In addition to partnering with popular non-profits nationwide, the company connects with the public through social media.

SBLI frequently engages with its followers on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Youtube.

Consensus

To round out our review of SBLI, we factored in other industry experts’ opinions of the company and how highly they rank it.

The general consensus is that SBLI is a dependable carrier with some clear advantages.

However, the company doesn’t typically feature as one of the best life insurance companies overall.

This is likely due to the limited policy availability and less competitive pricing for some applicants.

Regardless, SBLI offers affordable term rates for younger applicants and a great accelerated underwriting program.