Banner Life Insurance Review
Best for high coverage limits
Banner Life Insurance Company is a trusted life insurance company that offers coverage starting at $100,000 and up to more than $10 million to qualifying policyholders. While many providers have strict coverage limitations that may be insufficient to replace your income if you’re no longer able to work, Banner Life Insurance is an exception to this.
Read on to learn if Banner Life Insurance is among the best life insurance companies and how decide whether the company is right for you.
Banner Life Insurance pros and cons
- Quick and easy claims processing
- Multiple term lengths to choose from
- Coverage amounts start at $100,000 and can exceed $10 million
- Online quotes only available for term life policies
- Few life insurance riders and other add-on options
- No whole life insurance policies available
Pros explained
Quick and easy claims processing
Banner Life can process claims as soon as one day after they’re submitted. The company also declares to have paid out 99% of submitted claims, as of this writing. These two facts indicate that if you ever need to submit a claim through Banner Life, it’s likely to be paid out and might be done so quickly.
Multiple term lengths to choose from
Banner Life offers coverage terms up to 40 years, which is rare among life insurance companies. Overall, the provider has plans available for 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35 and 40 years.
Coverage amounts start at $100,000 and can exceed $10 million
Banner Life makes it easy to choose the coverage amount that works best for you. Plans start at $100,000 in coverage and go over $10 million for term life plans. What’s more, Banner Life does not require a life insurance medical exam, making it one of the best options if you want high-coverage life insurance. Still, you’ll need to meet certain health requirements to qualify for the maximum coverage amounts.
Cons explained
Online quotes only available for term life policies
Term life coverage will be your only option if you want a Banner Life Insurance quote online. These plans have a coverage end date, as opposed to whole life or universal life insurance, which lasts until you die if your policy is still active. You have to contact a licensed financial advisor over the phone to get a quote for a universal life insurance plan.
Few life insurance riders and other add-on options
Banner Life Insurance provides fewer rider and add-on options to choose from than many competitors. For example, there is no return of premium rider option available through Banner, and you may have trouble customizing your insurance plan to meet your personalized needs.
No whole life insurance policies available
Banner Life Insurance does not offer whole life policies. However, the company does provide universal life insurance, which is another type of permanent life insurance with fewer guarantees.
Whole life insurance policies have predictable premiums and guaranteed death benefit amounts. Universal policies give you the flexibility to pay different amounts toward life insurance in any given year (within limits) but are credited based on interest rates. This makes premiums fluctuate and can lead to plans being underfunded.
Banner Life Insurance plans
While many life insurance companies offer several plan options to choose from, Banner Life has only two: term life and universal. Here’s what Banner Life offers:
Term life insurance
Banner term life insurance is available for periods ranging from 10 to 40 years. It’s a good fit if you want coverage during a specific part of your life, such as raising children or until retirement. Term life insurance premiums are lower than universal life insurance, and you can convert your plan into a permanent universal plan if you ever choose to do so.
Banner is also one of the best no-exam life insurance options, meaning you won’t have to undergo a medical exam to qualify for coverage. However, these plans can expire without delivering any benefits to you. You’ll have to go through the underwriting process again if you choose to renew after an existing plan has already reached its conclusion.
Universal life insurance
A universal life policy provides insurance coverage that lasts until your death. You get to choose your payment amounts and build up a cash value so that you can borrow against your life insurance if needed.
In addition to offering this type of policy, Banner Life has a threshold on these plans called the “Lifetime Guarantee Amount.” Essentially, if you pay enough universal life insurance premiums, you have guaranteed coverage for the rest of your life, even if you stop paying.
Banner Life Insurance pricing
Banner Life’s pricing is affordable but can vary based on your personal health history and other factors. For example, your premiums may be higher if you want no-exam life insurance than if you are willing to complete a medical exam. Your prices could be impacted by he following factors:
- Age
- Gender
- History of alcohol and tobacco use
- Family and personal medical history
- Whether you have an existing terminal illness
- Occupation
- Where you live
While rates can vary, Legal & General, which is Banner Life’s parent company, has listed some sample offers on its website. These are summarized below:
| Length in years | Price per month | Price per year |
| 10 | $10.62 | $124.99 |
| 15 | $10.62 | $124.99 |
| 20 | $12.28 | $144.52 |
| 25 | $15.58 | $183.32 |
| 30 | $17.47 | $205.52 |
| 35 | $21.68 | $255.03 |
| 40 | $24.85 | $292.41 |
Based on these sample rates, you should expect to pay a bit more for long-term coverage. It’s also worth reiterating here that universal life insurance from Banner Life offers flexible premiums, so you can set your own price as long as you stay within the company’s limits.
Banner Life Insurance financial stability
Banner Life is an extremely reliable and reputable insurer from a financial stability standpoint. The company earned an A+ (Superior) rating for financial strength from AM Best and a 95 COMDEX Score, which is a composite of all major financial strength ratings. Banner Life also earned a very strong rating (AA-) for its financial strength from Fitch and Standard & Poor’s (S&P).
Banner Life Insurance was founded in 1949 and has a long track record of solid financial management. There’s no reason to assume Banner Life Insurance will mismanage your funds, and it should be able to pay out any claims you’re entitled to receive without issue.
Banner Life Insurance accessibility
Banner Life Insurance is available in 49 states and D.C., but not New York. Its customer support team is available during its regular business hours.
Availability
The best family life insurance companies strive to offer coverage to as many types of Americans as possible. Banner Life Insurance is no exception, offering plans in 49 states and Washington, D.C.
New York residents can’t get coverage through Banner Life Insurance. However, they can pursue a life insurance plan from William Penn, which is owned by the same parent company, Legal & General, and may offer similar plans.
Contact information
Although there’s no chat-based support option, you can contact Banner Life over the phone or by sending an email. The company offers a toll-free phone number (800-638-8428), a direct phone number (301-279-4800) and a fax number (301-294-6960). Representatives are available from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET, Monday through Friday. You can also contact Banner via email at customerservice@bannerlife.com.
User experience
Banner Life Insurance strives to provide the best user experience possible by offering a variety of digital tools. These include:
- A mobile-friendly app
- Telephone-based AppAssist for clients who need help navigating the company’s applications
- Digital delivery of documents and forms
The company also offers accelerated underwriting and can pay out claims as soon as one day after they’re approved. However, Banner Life doesn’t have an online chat option.
Banner Life Insurance customer satisfaction
Banner Life Insurance reviews are difficult to find for the company itself, as most users seem to submit reviews for its parent company, Legal & General. That company has a Trustpilot rating of “Excellent,” with an average of 4.1 out of 5 stars across more than 1,375 user-submitted reviews.
Banner Life Insurance reviews from the Better Business Bureau (BBB) are less favorable However, there are only three as of this writing, which is insufficient to draw any conclusions. The company has an A+ rating from the BBB but is not currently accredited.
Banner Life Insurance is a good company based on its positive user reviews and affordable pricing. The company is also highly rated by financial strength analysis firms. It has a proven track record of paying out the vast majority of claims it receives.
Still, Banner Life Insurance doesn't offer whole life coverage, and its plans aren't available in New York. It also only offers term life insurance quotes online and has limited customer service hours for people living on the West Coast.
Banner Life doesn't require a medical exam for term life policies as long as you meet specific criteria. The company doesn't explicitly state these criteria but says that you have a better chance of qualifying for no-exam life insurance the better your medical, financial, criminal and prescription medication history is.
Note, however, that your Banner Life Insurance payment could be higher if you skip a medical exam. Life insurance companies often charge higher premiums to customers with less medical data to account for the greater risk they're assuming through this type of coverage.
How we evaluated Banner Life Insurance
We considered the following factors while evaluating Banner Life Insurance and its parent company, Legal & General America:
- Banner Life Insurance ratings from real customers
- Plan options and add-ons
- Average premium amounts
- Policy exclusions and restrictions
- Third-party ratings
- Financial stability ratings from trusted analysts
As you perform your evaluations, you can place your own personal weights on each factor. This will play a role in determining whether Banner Life Insurance is the right fit for your insurance needs.
Summary of Money’s Banner Life Insurance review
Banner Life Insurance has a 50-year track record of providing term and universal life insurance policies to residents of the U.S. It receives solid reviews from customers and financial stability analysts and offers some of the longest coverage lengths and highest coverage amounts of any provider in the industry.
However, the company offers fewer types of life insurance than competitors and has no whole life plans. You’ll want to think carefully about term vs. whole life insurance before choosing it. It also has fewer riders and add-ons available than other companies, making it difficult to truly personalize a Banner Life Insurance term policy.
If you want a type of life insurance plan that Banner Life offers, the company can be a great option. But because its offerings are limited, the company isn’t the right choice for everyone — especially if you’re interested in a customized plan.