Bankers Life Insurance Review 2024

Founded in 1879, Bankers Life offers a solid lineup of term and permanent policies, plus riders to help you customize coverage. The insurer has a network of agents in 230 branches across the country, and you’ll need to speak to an agent to apply for a policy.

While Bankers Life caters to a range of needs with its coverage, it has a high customer complaint ratio with the National Association of Insurance Commissioners.

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Bankers Life insurance rating

Bankers Life earned 3 out of 5 stars for overall performance. NerdWallet’s ratings are determined by our editorial team. The scoring formula takes into account consumer experience, complaint data from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners and financial strength ratings.

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Bankers Life insurance policies

Bankers Life offers a mix of term and permanent life insurance.

Term life insurance. Open to people up to age 70, ReliaTerm lasts 10 or 20 years. You can buy a term life insurance policy worth $100,000 and up. If you want to convert your coverage to a permanent policy, you can do that during the first five years or until you’re 70 years old, whichever comes later.

Whole life insurance. Bankers Life has five whole life insurance products:

• BasicLife. This policy is open to people ages 17 to 85. Depending on your age, you can buy as little as $2,500 in coverage. The death benefit stays level throughout the length of the policy so long as premiums are paid.

• BasicLife Graded. If you’re 50 to 85 years old, you can get coverage as low as $2,500 with this policy as well. Like BasicLife, there is a death benefit, but it is graded, meaning it starts out lower and increases over the first two years until it reaches the full amount. Therefore, your beneficiaries won’t receive the full payout if you die within the first two years of taking out the policy.

• InnovativeLife SP 1 and InnovativeLife SP 2. Available to people up to age 85, these policies require you to pay off your coverage upfront. They’re designed to help you maximize your life insurance cash value.

• SecureView. For people ages 17 to 75, the SecureView policy offers steady premiums and as low as $30,000 in coverage.

Universal life insurance. Bankers Life offers two universal life insurance policies, both of which offer flexible premiums and death benefits. TurningPoint Fixed-Interest Universal Life builds cash value at a minimum interest rate of 3%, while Clearvantage Indexed Universal Life is tied to the growth of the S&P 500 with a guaranteed minimum interest rate of 1%. The policies are available to applicants up to 85 years old, with coverage amounts beginning at $30,000.

Child whole life insurance. LifeStart offers a minimum of $10,000 of coverage for a child 0 to 16 years old at the time of purchase. The premiums stay the same, and the policy builds cash value over time. Once the child reaches the “age of majority,” which is 18 in most states, you can transfer ownership of the policy to them.

Bankers Life insurance riders

Depending on your policy, you may be able to customize your coverage with these add-ons:

• Accelerated death benefit rider. If you’re diagnosed with a terminal illness, this rider allows you to tap part of your policy’s death benefit while you’re still alive.

• Accidental death benefit rider. Pays an additional sum to your life insurance beneficiaries if you die within 90 to 180 days of being in a covered accident.

• Additional insured level term rider. Provides coverage for an additional person, such as a spouse.

• Child term rider. Adds coverage for your child on your life insurance policy.

• Disability income rider. Pays extra benefits if you become disabled.

• Guaranteed insurability rider. This rider is available on Bankers Life's juvenile policy. It lets you buy more coverage for your child’s whole life insurance policy, regardless of the child’s health.

• Payor benefit. Available on Bankers Life's juvenile policies, this rider waives premiums on your child’s policy if you become disabled or die.

• Reinstatement without evidence of insurability. Reactivates your coverage if you let your policy lapse while suffering a cognitive impairment. You won’t need to take another medical exam, but you must ask for reinstatement within 90 days of your policy lapsing.

• Waiver of premium rider. Pauses your premiums for a specified period of time if you become disabled or unemployed.

» MORE: Life insurance riders: What you need to know

Bankers Life customer complaints and satisfaction

Over three years, Bankers Life has drawn far more than the expected number of complaints to state regulators for a company of its size, according to NerdWallet’s analysis of data from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners.

What Reddit users say about Bankers Life

Reddit is an online forum where users share their thoughts in “threads” on various topics. The popular site includes plenty of discussion on financial subjects like life insurance, so we sifted through Reddit forums to get a pulse check on how users feel about insurers. People post anonymously, so we cannot confirm their individual experiences or circumstances.

The vast majority of Reddit posts about Bankers Life focus on what it’s like to work for the company, particularly as a sales agent — not on what it’s like to be a policyholder. Some commenters, including previous employees, note that Bankers’ products aren’t as competitively priced as others in the market.

Questions from Reddit: Our experts answer

How do you buy a Bankers Life insurance policy?

You’ll need to work directly with a representative to buy a Bankers policy. You can call the company at 888-489-6003 to get a quote. Alternatively, you can visit the Bankers Life website, click on “Products” in the top navigation menu and then select “View Products + Get a Quote.” You’ll fill out some personal information so an agent can call you back.

Which of Bankers Life’s permanent life insurance policies should I buy?

Bankers sells two major categories of permanent life insurance for adults: whole and universal. Both policy types accumulate cash value, but whole life has level premiums and a fixed death benefit, while your premiums and death benefit are both adjustable with a universal policy. Learn more about different types of life insurance.

More about Bankers Life

In addition to life insurance, Bankers Life offers annuities and these other types of insurance:

• Long-term care insurance. Helps pay for a nursing home, assisted living facility or at-home care if you’re chronically ill.

• Critical illness insurance. Helps cover health expenses if you’re diagnosed with a critical illness, such as cancer, or need to undergo a surgery such as amputation or a transplant.

• Hospital indemnity insurance. Kicks in if you’re hospitalized due to a covered accidental injury or illness.

• Medicare supplement insurance. Also known as Medigap, these plans supplement out-of-pocket costs Medicare won’t cover.

How to contact Bankers Life

Bankers Life can be reached by:

• Phone: Call the life insurance department on 1-800-283-8011, or 1-800-845-5512 if you’re in New York.

• Email: Fill out the form on Bankers Life’s contact page.

• Live chat: Not available.

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