SBLI Life Insurance Review [2024]: Combining Legacy, Stability, and Customer Satisfaction

What is SBLI?

Year founded	1907
Types of life insurance offered	Term life, whole life, simple term life
Coverage amounts	$100,000 to $5 million (term life)
Term options	10,15, 20, 25, and 30
Medical exam required	Usually not for policies of up to $1 million
Eligible ages	18-74
Availability	Nearly all states, but no simple term insurance in NY
Customer support	Phone: (800) 694-7254 (Monday - Friday 8 AM - 6 PM EST) Email: customerservice@sbli.com In-person: Appointments available in Woburn, MA

The former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis founded SBLI in 1907 in Massachusetts. He established the company with the mission of providing affordable and reliable life insurance to working-class families.

Over the last century, SBLI has grown and yet maintained its commitment to offering straightforward, competitively priced life insurance products. It offers term life, simple term life, and whole life insurance in addition to numerous riders for additional coverage.

With a strong focus on customer service and financial stability, SBLI has earned a reputation as a trusted life insurance provider that currently helps more than 1 million families secure their financial futures. Policyholders praise SBLI for its outstanding customer service. Plus, the company has excellent ratings with both the Better Business Bureau (BBB) and AM Best.

What types of life insurance does SBLI offer?

The types of life insurance that SBLI offers — term life, simple term life, and whole life insurance policies — can all provide financial protection for your loved ones after your death. But before you start the quote process with SBLI, you should have a good idea of which option is best for your needs. Let’s look into each of its life insurance products.

Term life

Term life insurance covers you for a specific period of time, typically up to 30 years. If you die during the policy’s term, the benefit is paid to your beneficiaries. But if the policy expires before your death, your beneficiaries get nothing.

SBLI offers term life insurance policies for 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30 years. However, the term lengths you qualify for may depend on your age when you apply for coverage.

One highlight of SBLI’s coverage is that you can convert all or part of the policy to whole life insurance without additional underwriting. You can take advantage of this convertibility during the policy’s term or up to age 70. Some other life insurance companies don’t offer this feature.

Callout: If you’re a healthy adult between 18 and 50, SBLI’s Accelerated Underwriting program may let you get coverage of up to $1 million without a medical exam.

Although SBLI term life insurance is available if you’re up to age 74, I think it’s best for adults under 50 who are raising young children and have other financial obligations, such as a mortgage or car loan. It can help your loved ones cover living expenses, pay off debt, or make major purchases in the case of your untimely death.

Simple term life

If you’re a healthy adult who is 55 or younger and you only need term life coverage for 10 or 20 years, you can apply for SBLI’s simple term life insurance.

This option differs from regular term life insurance because those who meet the qualifications can get instant coverage by completing an online application and answering a few health-related questions. You won’t have to do a medical exam. Coverage amounts are up to

$1 million if you’re aged 18-50 and up to $500,000 if you’re aged 50-55.

However, SBLI’s simple term life insurance isn’t available if you’re a NY state resident, you’re replacing an existing policy, or you have a serious health condition such as cancer, heart disease, and diabetes. You also can’t get coverage over $1 million.

Whole life

Whole life insurance, also called permanent life insurance, provides lifetime coverage that pays out benefits to your beneficiaries regardless of when you die. Since there’s no set term of coverage, you’re covered as long as you continue to pay your premiums.

While whole life insurance premiums can cost more than term life, the death benefit payouts are guaranteed. Plus, the cash value of this SBLI policy grows on a tax-deferred basis, enabling you to borrow against the money you’ve accrued if you need it. But if you don’t pay back the money borrowed, it can reduce your policy benefit and possibly leave you on the hook for income taxes and a 10% federal tax penalty if you are under age 59½.

You may also earn dividends with a SBLI whole life insurance policy because the company is a private mutual life insurance company owned by its policyholders, not investors.

I think that SBLI whole life insurance is best if you seek lifelong coverage with the potential to build a cash value over time. Think of it as life insurance and a financial investment wrapped up in one.

First, you get peace of mind that your loved ones will be financially supported no matter when you pass away. Plus, it may help with your long-term financial goals, such as leaving a legacy for your heirs, funding a trust, or covering estate taxes. The ability to borrow may also come in handy for covering medical expenses if you’re diagnosed with a serious illness.

Getting specifics on SBLI’s whole life insurance is more complicated since little information is shown online. To learn about coverage amounts and the need for a medical exam, you need to call a life insurance specialist at (844) 282-2894. I tried to get more information through the chatbot on the SBLI website, but the system just put me back on the whole life webpage.

Riders

SBLI offers several riders that can help you customize your life insurance to better fit your unique needs, but you may have to pay a higher premium. While some riders are available with all the insurer’s life insurance products, others are only for select policies.

The available riders include:

Accelerated death benefit rider: This coverage is provided on all SBLI policies at no additional cost. If you’re diagnosed with a terminal illness and given up to 12 months to live, this coverage will pay up to 50 percent of your base policy’s death benefit ($250,000 maximum).

Children’s level term rider: Available with both whole and term life insurance, this rider covers all your children, natural or legally adopted, who are 16 days to 22 years old. The covered child must be unmarried and financially dependent on you. You can later convert the rider to a whole life insurance policy for up to five times its value.

Guaranteed purchase option rider: If you have SBLI whole life insurance, this rider lets you buy more coverage without a medical exam or health questions required. However, you’ll need to qualify for more coverage based on SBLI’s allowed ages and life events.

Single-pay paid-up additions rider: With this rider, you can give your policy’s death benefit and cash value a boost by making a one-time additional cash deposit when SBLI issues your policy. You can only get this rider for whole life insurance.

Waiver of premium rider: If you become totally and permanently disabled, this rider will waive your whole or term life insurance policy’s premiums for some financial relief.

Accidental death benefit rider: Available with any SBLI life insurance product, this rider is beneficial if you should die within 180 days of having an accident, and it pays your policy’s death benefit and the rider's face amount. SBLI requires your death certificate or a physician’s statement confirming your accident-related death for payout.

Guaranteed level premium term rider: If you have SBLI whole life insurance, you can pick this rider to add term life insurance coverage for 10 to 30 years. You’ll have level premiums on that term policy for affordability.

Why you might want to purchase life insurance from this company

You might want to buy life insurance from SBLI if you value working with a long-standing company that has received high marks for its excellent customer service and financial stability. Here are some areas that SBLI shines in the life insurance market.

1. Financial stability

SBLI received an A- (excellent) rating for its financial strength from AM Best. It has also received an A- (strong) rating from Standard and Poor’s. This financial stability is crucial since it helps ensure that SBLI can meet its obligations to you as a policyholder and pay out your coverage amount to your beneficiaries.

2. Customer service

SBLI is known for keeping its large number of policyholders happy. The company has an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau. According to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), SBLI also came in well below the industry standard for complaints in 2021, 2022, and 2023.

I think the customer experience with any insurer is very important to consider so you won’t have too many frustrations getting help with your policy down the road.

3. Affordable premiums

With SBLI, you may find more affordable premiums on term life and whole life insurance policies. This is partly because SBLI is a mutual life insurance company owned by its policyholders.

Many other publicly traded insurance companies are owned by shareholders who want to profit from their investments. This profit-driven mentality — plus fluctuations in the stock market — can push premium prices up and make it harder to fit the coverage within your budget.

4. LegacyShield

SBLI provides LegacyShield with all its life insurance products at no additional cost. This is a digital platform that helps you store all your important insurance and estate planning documents in one place. So, when you die or become terminally ill, your loved ones can easily access your life insurance policy, will, healthcare directive, trust, and estate plan.

Why you might prefer a different life insurance company

While it’s good, SBLI life insurance may not be for everyone. Here are a few situations where this insurer could fall short of meeting your needs.

1. You want to work with an agent in person

Unless you live near the SBLI corporate headquarters in Woburn, MA, you won’t be able to meet with an insurance agent face-to-face. Although SBLI provides life insurance in most states, it doesn’t have local offices, and most agent communications are through the company’s website or by phone.

If meeting with an agent one-on-one is important to you, New York Life may be a better option for insurance because it has over 12,000 agents nationwide available to meet in person. It also has a larger selection of life insurance products and is very financially strong.

2. You want universal life insurance

SBLI doesn’t offer universal life insurance, a type of permanent coverage that offers flexibility in the premiums you pay and the death benefit your beneficiaries receive. Unlike whole life insurance, which has fixed premiums and a guaranteed death benefit, universal life lets you adjust the amount and timing of your premiums, which can be helpful if your financial situation changes.

If you need universal life insurance, Northwestern Mutual may be worth considering. As one of the best life insurance companies in the country, it offers term, whole, and universal life insurance products. It also gets good customer satisfaction ratings through sources like J.D. Power.

3. You prefer to use a mobile app to manage your life insurance

SBLI doesn’t offer a mobile application for its policyholders. So, if you like to have “an app for that,” you may want to look elsewhere for life insurance.

State Farm Insurance offers its Life Enhanced mobile app, which policyholders can use to access their insurance information, create a will or healthcare directive, and use end-of-life and estate planning tools. It also features a rewards program and tools for a more healthy lifestyle.

How to get a life insurance quote from SBLI

You can get a quote for term life insurance by using the quick quote tool on SBLI’s website. Almost immediately, you can find out how much your premium is by inputting the following parameters.

• Your desired coverage amount ($100,000 to $5 million)
• Term length (10, 15, 20, 25, or 30 years)
• Birthdate
• Gender
• First and last name
• Email address
• Phone number
• Zip code

The system will also ask if you’ve used nicotine products or marijuana within the last five years and if you or a family member was ever diagnosed with certain conditions (including things like mental health issues, cancer, diabetes, and heart disease).

Hopefully, you don’t smoke cigarettes because, if you do, your term life insurance premium will be considerably more expensive than those who don’t. For example, I went through the online quote system and got estimated monthly premiums between $20.75 and $35.87 for $500,000 of coverage for 20 years for a non-smoker.

But when I indicated that I smoked, the quoted premium price for the same amount of coverage went up to between $76.82 and $92.70. That’s pretty typically for insurance rates, however.

If you’re unsure of how much life insurance you need, SBLI provides a handy life insurance calculator that can help.

You won’t be able to get a quote online for whole life insurance. Instead, you must call and talk to a SBLI insurance specialist who can help you customize an insurance policy that fits your needs and budget. I’m not a fan of this; I would rather know coverage options and costs before I call to talk to anyone.

There’s no quote process for the SBLI simple term life insurance — you just apply for coverage. However, you can get an idea of the cost by using the term life insurance quick quote process.

FAQ

Bottom line

SBLI stands out as a reliable and customer-focused life insurance provider with a long history of serving individuals and families. The company offers a range of life insurance products that cater to diverse needs with flexible options and affordable premiums. SBLI's strong financial stability, high customer satisfaction ratings, and unique benefits like LegacyShield further enhance its appeal.

While it may not offer every type of life insurance or the convenience of a mobile app, I think that SBLI remains a solid choice if you’re seeking trustworthy and straightforward life insurance coverage. Just make sure that you carefully consider your specific needs, including your coverage amount and any riders that make sense for your family’s situation. If SBLI’s downsides are a dealbreaker, I recommend checking out the other top life insurance companies.