Bestow Life Insurance offers a quick, easy, and innovative way to buy life insurance coverage for healthy people.
Our Bestow Life Insurance Review will help you decide whether this technology-driven insurance agency is the right choice for your family.
We will take a closer look at the available plans, how to apply for coverage, the pros and cons, and why Bestow Insurance may not be the best choice for many buyers.
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About Bestow Life Insurance
Is Bestow life insurance legit? Bestow Life is a legitimate insurance agency founded in 2016.
Bestow Life is one of several fintech startups starting to make waves in the life insurance industry.
Bestow is an online insurance agency that offers policies issued by North American Company for Life and Health Insurance.
North American was started in 1886 and is rated A+ (Superior) by A.M. Best for its claims-paying capabilities and creditworthiness. AM Best ratings range from A++, their best, to D, considered the worst.
It is good to know that Noth American also has an A+ from the Better Business Bureau.
Ok then, who owns Bestow Life?
Melbourne O’Banion and Jonathan Abelmann are the co-founders of the privately held Bestow Insurance Agency located in Dallas, Texas.
In 2020, Bestow Insurance raised another $120 million across Series B and Series C funding, bringing total equity funding to $145 million.
Bestow Insurance has also acquired the nationally licensed Centurion Life Company to speed up the lengthy licensing process. Only time will tell, but this indicates Bestow plans to develop and sell its own products nationally eventually.
Bestow Insurance recently partnered with Equitable Life insurance Company to sell its new digital Term-in-10, only available through Equitable agents.
Equitable’s Term-in-10 product requires no medical exam and is available in coverage amounts of up to $1 million for 10,15, and 20 years.
Bestow Term Life Insurance
A whopping 75% of Bestow insurance customers bought their term life insurance policy in under 10 minutes on a smartphone.
Bestow offers various term life insurance plans with coverage ranging from $50,000 to $1.5 million, and those between 18 – 60 are eligible for coverage.
Bestow Life offers term plan lengths from 10 to 30 years. Bestow has stricter age limits than most insurers, affecting the term duration you can purchase as you age.
- 10-year term: This is the most inexpensive way to cover various short-term needs like paying off debts or funding a child’s college education. Bestow’s ten-year term policies are only available until age 60.
- 15-year term: Ideal for middle-aged consumers to protect income for a surviving spouse or pay off an existing mortgage balance. This coverage can be purchased to age 55.
- 20-year term: This popular plan covers various needs, from income replacement to pension protection. You can lock in 20-year term rates until age 50.
- 25 and 30-year term: These plans are best for younger insurance buyers with long-term protection needs. Bestow policies vary in qualifying age depending on gender and tobacco use.
Applicants with medical conditions, seniors over age 60, and New York residents do not qualify for term coverage through Bestow.
At this time, only term life insurance plans are offered through Bestow. They do not provide cash-value policies such as universal or whole-life coverage.
Plus, their term policies cannot be converted into permanent because there is no universal or whole life available at Bestow.
Bestow insurance is designed for younger tech-savvy buyers not wishing to speak to an agent or take a medical exam.
Seniors, smokers, and people with medical conditions will want to explore coverage with other insurance companies.
If you are concerned about the potentially high costs of buying Bestow term coverage, it’s time to use our insurance calculator to compare rates in minutes!
Buying Bestow Life Insurance
Bestow Inc. prides itself on its quick online application process, but how does it actually work?
You must head to their website on your laptop, desktop, or mobile device and select ‘Apply Now’ on their homepage.
You’ll need to fill out basic identification information such as your full name, email, address, phone number, gender, birth date, height, and weight.
Then you will need to answer twelve health questions. Unlike many other life insurance carriers, you do not have to undergo a medical exam; your answers and the information gathered about you online will suffice.
Following the twelve health questions, you will be asked twelve questions about your lifestyle. Questions range from employment, alcohol consumption, drug use, and citizenship.
You can receive an instant life insurance quote within minutes of starting an application online because of the technology used within their underwriting algorithm.
If you like the quoted premiums, you can decide if you wish to move forward and purchase a policy.
Bestow Life Insurance Review
Shopping for life insurance can be confusing, and many companies do not make it easy to obtain details about their rates and plans immediately.
Bestow Inc. offers a fast and convenient solution to healthy applicants looking for basic no-exam term life insurance coverage.
However, North American has dramatically limited many of its typical policy features because Bestow is using new technology to approve coverage quickly.
If you’re on the fence about signing up, we recommend reviewing the pros and cons of working with Bestow Life Insurance before deciding to buy a policy.
Pros of Bestow Insurance
- Cancellation policy: Typically, life insurance carriers give new policyholders ten days to cancel their policy if they are unhappy with no fees or obligations. With Bestow, new members have 30 days to try their policy and may cancel at any time within 30 days if they are unhappy. Policies cannot be canceled online through the customer portal; you must call their customer service line to cancel.
- Responsive customer support: Bestow provides multiple ways for anyone to get a hold of their customer support team. You can call, email, or use the live chat feature on their website to speak with a representative. Many customer reviews noted they had no issues reaching a support representative when they had a question or problem.
- No medical exam required: Unlike traditional life insurance carriers, with Bestow, you don’t need to undergo a medical exam to complete the application process and receive coverage.
- Quick and easy application process: The technology Bestow uses to make their underwriting decision allows users to get a quote within minutes without speaking to an agent, and no medical exam is required. The application can be completed on your phone, laptop, or desktop.
- Good complaint index: The complaint index is a ratio that insurance companies receive every year from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners that reflects the number of complaints received compared to the industry average. North American Life Company has a lower complaint rating than the industry average.
Cons of buying Bestow insurance
- Limited plan options: Only one type of life insurance policy is offered through Bestow, term life insurance. Whole life insurance is not available, nor are term life conversions.
- Medical issues: Many people with common medical problems will not qualify for coverage with Bestow life insurance.
- No riders: They do not offer any riders that you can add to your life insurance policy.
- Price: Bestow does not require a medical exam to receive coverage, so their policy prices are slightly above average. However, you are paying for the convenience of getting coverage within minutes.
- Age limitations: They have much stricter age limits than most insurers, affecting the term length you can buy.
- Not in New York: Bestow is not available to residents of New York. If you live in New York, you must buy coverage with another company like William Penn or United States Life.
North American offers a complete portfolio of more reasonable term and permanent policies sold through independent agents.
Call us if you are interested in learning more about cheaper term policies from North American that are available at older ages with conversion options.
Help, Bestow Insurance Denied Me Coverage
Remember, the Bestow life insurance agency is a financial technology company in the life insurance business.
Like both Ethos Life and Ladder Life, they use algorithms and big data to make underwriting decisions bypassing typical agents and underwriters to sell their term life insurance policies.
Bestow life insurance is set up to sell policies without human involvement in their sales process. They only offer customer service and some product help from non-commissioned licensed insurance agents.
Not everyone will qualify for a life insurance policy!
After Bestow reviews the answers to your questions and applies its underwriting algorithm, many applicants are denied coverage.
Typical Bestow Insurance Denied Response:
“Unfortunately, we can’t continue with every application received at Bestow. In some cases, we are not able to offer coverage. Your application may not have been approved because of your health, lifestyle, or credit history.”
Other times, your finalized offer for life insurance is more expensive than what was initially quoted or that you have found elsewhere online.
Please remember, you don’t have to make a decision right away!
We always advise speaking with another independent agent as a logical choice for intelligent life insurance buyers in these everyday situations.
Why Choose Affordable Life USA?
For over thirty years, we have been one of the most trusted life insurance agencies in America.
But don’t take our word for it; compare us with any other insurance agency, and you’ll see that we offer the cheapest insurance premiums while still delivering a high level of customer service.
While, Bestow has only been around a few years and recently began laying off about 20% of its staff, according to Coverager.
Remember Bestow only sells term insurance, if you need more term and permanent coverage options, call us.
We promise to quickly answer all your questions and help you find accurate quotes based on your unique needs and medical history.
We are an independent agency and provide life insurance quotes from a network of many highly rated life insurance companies.
Banner, Prudential, Transamerica, and Lincoln offer exceptional prices on term life insurance.
Great insurance companies for universal life include Corebridge, Penn Mutual, Pacific Life, and Protective Life.
We can help you shop around and examine plans from multiple insurers to guarantee you are getting the most desirable policy.
Using our calculator, you can evaluate life insurance quotes without speaking with an agent.
Trending Life Insurance Reviews
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Affordable Life USA is dedicated to providing comprehensive life insurance solutions to families and business owners throughout the United States.
For over thirty years, our agency has provided a platform for comparing hundreds of life insurance policies without the stress of high-pressure sales tactics.
Our experienced team of financial planners has helped thousands of clients obtain affordable coverage through our efficient online application process.
Our founder, Eric Van Haaften, expanded our consumer-centric sales model nationally by leveraging the influence of renowned publications such as Time, Newsweek, and The Wall Street Journal.
Eric acquired his love for quantitative analysis while getting his business degree from Ferris State University, which provided a solid foundation for his analytical approach to financial planning.
Eric has obtained a professional LUTCF designation, awarded by the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors and the American College of Financial Services.
Another professional accolade is qualifying for the prestigious Million Dollar Round Table. MDRT members are recognized for their exceptional knowledge, ethical conduct, and outstanding client service.
Eric is also an active member in his local community in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where he serves as the treasurer of the Senior Sing Along charity.
Affordable Life USA, LLC
Eric Van Haaften, LUTCF
1-877-249-1358