Brighthouse Life Insurance Review
Brighthouse has a fast track process for younger applicants with no major health issues in their medical history, a rare offering among life insurance companies.
Overview
Brighthouse (formerly MetLife), an A+ rated company founded in 1868, has a fast track process for younger applicants with no major health issues in their medical history, a rare offering among life insurance companies. They also feature competitive underwriting for some major health conditions.
Our Take
Brighthouse (formerly MetLife) has a faster than average application turnaround time, but unfortunately they make everyone go through an extra phone interview with an underwriter. They have very competitive underwriting and a fast track process for applicants with no significant health history.
Financial Strength
Founded
1868
Policyholders
6,500,000
AM Best
A+
BBB Rating
A+
JD Power
3 of 5
Accolades
Brighthouse (formerly MetLife) has won multiple awards, including Celent’s Model Insurer of the Year award in 2014 and being named #1 Life and Health Insurance company in Fortune magazine’s “World’s Most Admired Companies” in 2015.
Finding the best rates
Each insurer approaches health conditions differently. One insurer might ignore a heart attack from a few years ago, whereas a different insurer might rate you as a higher risk for the same thing. Here are the details of how Brighthouse treats a variety of common health conditions from an underwriting perspective.
Pricing for health conditions
| Health Condition | Pricing |
|---|---|
| Survivor/Family History | Good |
| Recent Weight Loss | Fair |
| Heart Attack | Good |
| Diabetes | Fair |
| Sleep Apnea | Excellent |
| Former Tobacco Use | Excellent |
| High Blood Pressure | Good |
| High Cholesterol | Fair |
Excellent - Above average; company provides excellent coverage for clients with this condition.
Good - Spot on; company doesn’t look at this condition unfavorably in underwriting.
Fair - Could use some work; clients with this condition may be issued a lower health rating, and subsequently higher rates than other insurers.
Brighthouse plan details
Unique Features
- Very competitive underwriting and fast track process for younger applicants with no significant health history
When applying
How's the application process?
Pros
- Electronic application
- Fast-track process for issue-free medical history
Cons
- Application form longer than average
- Slower than average application approval (31 days)
- Policy delivery by mail
After you're a policyholder
How's the customer service?
What you can do online
- Changing address
- Changing payment info
What you can't do online
- Updating beneficiaries requires paper forms
- Policy cancellation requires a phone call
Sample quotes
Quote for: $500,000, 20-year term life insurance policy for healthy, nonsmoking individuals, in California, monthly premiums
| Company | Plan | Male - Age 30 | Male - Age 40 | Male - Age 50 | Female - Age 30 | Female - Age 40 | Female - Age 50 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AIG | Select-a-Term | $21.11 | $30.62 | $79.93 | $18.08 | $28.46 | $59.60 |
| AIG | ROP Select-a-Term | $91.21 | $150.77 | $281.97 | $75.80 | $124.95 | $261.56 |
| Banner Life | OPTerm | $21.44 | $32.38 | $94.07 | $18.19 | $26.60 | $58.62 |
| John Hancock | Term | $26.95 | $34.65 | $81.70 | $24.20 | $34.00 | $78.99 |
| Lincoln Financial | LifeElements | $28.44 | $38.94 | $78.75 | $23.63 | $30.63 | $58.63 |
| Lincoln Financial | TermAccel | $21.00 | $29.75 | $78.75 | $17.94 | $25.81 | $57.31 |
| Mutual of Omaha | Term Life Answers | $21.66 | $33.47 | $85.53 | $23.41 | $28.66 | $64.09 |
| Pacific Life | Pacific PROMISE Term | $20.84 | $29.59 | $77.09 | $19.18 | $26.68 | $61.67 |
| Principal | Term | $22.75 | $31.94 | $79.63 | $20.04 | $27.56 | $59.24 |
| Protective | Custom Choice UL | $20.37 | $28.91 | $76.82 | $17.93 | $25.25 | $55.75 |
| Protective | Classic Choice Term | $20.21 | $28.38 | $75.68 | $17.63 | $25.94 | $55.47 |
| Prudential | Term Essential | $34.20 | $43.65 | $88.65 | $27.90 | $38.70 | $76.95 |
| Prudential | Return of Premium Term | $101.00 | $143.62 | $291.99 | $88.12 | $130.04 | $253.37 |
| SBLI | Level Premium Term | $21.32 | $40.05 | $96.06 | $24.48 | $34.71 | $65.87 |
| Transamerica | Trendsetter Super | $22.36 | $37.85 | $79.12 | $18.06 | $30.96 | $62.78 |
| Transamerica | Trendsetter LB | $24.95 | $38.27 | $92.89 | $20.65 | $34.84 | $73.11 |
Details
Annual Payment Discount
8%
Payment methods available
Check; Auto bank draft (for monthly payments only); No credit cards accepted
Is coverage available without a medical exam?
No
What is the rule for converting the policy?
If issued before age 65, the policy is convertible until the earlier of the end of the term period or on the age 70 policy anniversary.
Is temporary coverage available?
Yes, up to $1,000,000.
Available Riders
Riders are additions to your overall life insurance policy that turn a basic life insurance policy into something that covers more circumstances.
Disability Income Rider
If you become totally disabled as a result of a qualifying event, you will not have to pay premiums for a fixed period of time.
Accelerated Death Benefit Rider
Allows you to receive a portion of the death benefit if you are diagnosed with a qualifying terminal illness.
Common Features
This policy, like all term life policies offered on our site, provides life coverage for a specific period of time (the term). The key features of this policy are standard across all the term policies we offer:
- Level premium - which means the cost of the policy (the premium you pay) is fixed for the entire term of the policy. It will not increase during the term of the policy.
- Good value - term life policies are significantly less expensive for the same amount of death benefit coverage than permanent life policies.
- Regulated - the cost of this term life policy, for a given coverage amount and term, will always be the same for you regardless of who you buy it from. That’s because the policy will be priced based on the underwriting table the insurer files with the state insurance regulator.
- No-risk obligation for you - you, as the policyholder, can cancel your policy at any time if you decide you don’t want it anymore. The insurer, however, cannot cancel your policy as long as you pay the premiums on time.
- No exclusions - except for suicide during the first two years of the policy (which is standard by law across life insurance policies).
- Terminal illness benefit - you can access a portion of the policy’s death benefit while you’re still alive if you’ve been diagnosed with a terminal illness. You might see this referred to as an "accelerated death benefit."
- Convertible - which means, if you choose to, you can convert the term life policy to a permanent life policy. The conversion will generally cost you more and is subject to certain conditions.
The review on this page is only for this company's term life insurance products.
50 West 23rd Street, Floor 9
New York, NY 10010
Monday-Thursday | 9am-11pm ET
Friday | 9am-8pm ET
Saturday | 9am-9pm ET
Sunday | 10am-9pm ET
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Yes, we have to include some legalese down here. Read it larger on our legal page. Policygenius Inc. (“Policygenius”) is a licensed independent insurance broker. Policygenius does not underwrite any insurance policy described on this website. The information provided on this site has been developed by Policygenius for general informational and educational purposes. We do our best efforts to ensure that this information is up-to-date and accurate. Any insurance policy premium quotes or ranges displayed are non-binding. The final insurance policy premium for any policy is determined by the underwriting insurance company following application. Savings are estimated by comparing the highest and lowest price for a shopper in a given health class. For example: for a 30-year old non-smoker male in South Carolina with excellent health and a preferred plus health class, comparing quotes for a $500,000, 20-year term life policy, the price difference between the lowest and highest quotes is 60%. For that same shopper in New York, the price difference is 40%. Rates are subject to change and are valid as of 2/17/17.
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