What is J.D. Power?

J.D. Power is a decades-old marketing research company best known for its customer satisfaction research, ratings, and awards. J.D. Power rankings help consumers differentiate between high-quality companies and products. When reviewing life insurance companies, Policygenius takes into account ratings provided by third-party organizations that analyze companies’ financial health, like Moody’s, and customer service, like J.D. Power.

You’re probably familiar with the J.D. Power Awards given to cars based on their quality and dependability. But J.D. Power and Associates, also conducts an annual survey to measure customer satisfaction with life insurance companies, assigning providers a score out of 1,000.

A life insurance policy protects your loved ones after you die, so it’s important to choose the right one. A provider that offers superior customer satisfaction can ensure that managing your policy while you’re alive is hassle-free, and the claims process for your beneficiaries is quick and painless.

Why J.D. Power ratings matter for life insurance shoppers

When buying life insurance, the top priority for most people is price. But remember that term life insurance stays with you for a decade or more, and permanent life insurance lasts the rest of your life. Price is key, but a company’s financial stability — i.e., their ability to pay your death benefit for the entire length of your policy — and customer service should be part of your decision too.

J.D. Power factors customer satisfaction and price into a company’s overall rating, but also includes less tangible parts of the customer experience like communication and interactions between a company and its customers. J.D. Power’s life insurance survey collects feedback from customers who own employer-sponsored group life insurance, annuity products, and private life insurance to provide a comprehensive rating.

How J.D. Power determines its life insurance ratings

For its 2020 U.S. Life Insurance Survey, J.D. Power surveyed a total of 9,143 customers between June and August 2020. Based on the survey results, J.D. Power assigns every life insurance company a score out of 1,000, which translates into a Power Circle rating between two and five. Two Power Circles means a company is less satisfactory than its peers, while five indicates best-in-class ratings.

J.D. Power researchers assess businesses based on reported customer satisfaction in six categories:

1. Application and orientation — the process of applying and learning about your policy

2. Communications — the quality of ongoing communication received from a company

3. Interaction — the quality of your interactions with your provider

4. Price — satisfaction with the cost of products offered by your provider

5. Product offerings — quality and variety of insurance products offered by your insurer

6. Statements — quality and accuracy of statements made by the provider

J.D. Power ratings are based on a limited number of customer surveys and are just one source of customer satisfaction data. We recommend you still do your own research and consider satisfaction ratings from places like the Better Business Bureau when comparing life insurance companies.

J.D. Power ranking of life insurance companies for 2020

The table below reflects overall customer satisfaction ratings out of 1,000 points for customers surveyed by J.D. Power with individual life insurance policies in 2020.

Note: Power Circles are not currently available for the 2020 U.S. Life Insurance Survey results.