The Insurancy Blog
Insights that make insurance simple
264 expert guides, company reviews and original studies. Written and reviewed by licensed insurance agents.
Category:All articles264
Life InsuranceLife Insurance Policy Features and Types Explained
Policy features decide who a policy fits. Accidental policies pay only for accidents, graded and modified benefit policies phase in payouts for higher-risk buyers, no exam and rapid issue policies trade labs for speed, guaranteed issue asks no health questions, return of premium refunds your payments if you outlive the term, and living benefits let you use the policy while alive.
Brian Greenberg•Updated Jul 2026
Life InsuranceLife Insurance to Secure an SBA Loan - What Lenders Require
SBA lenders routinely require life insurance before closing when a business depends on its owner: a policy at least equal to the loan amount, with a collateral assignment giving the lender first claim until the debt is repaid. Term life fits best, and no-exam accelerated underwriting means even a tight closing timeline is workable for healthy applicants.
Brian Greenberg•Updated Jul 2026
Life InsuranceMIB Report - What Life Insurers Know About You
MIB (formerly the Medical Information Bureau) is a member-owned data exchange life insurers use to cross-check applications. Your MIB report contains coded flags from previous individual life, health, and disability applications: reported conditions, lab abnormalities, and hazardous activities. You can request your file free once a year directly from MIB and dispute anything inaccurate.
Brian Greenberg•Updated Jul 2026
Life InsuranceMillion Dollar Life Insurance - Cost and How to Qualify
A million dollar life insurance policy is standard planning, not a luxury, for households replacing a solid income: coverage of 10 to 15 times annual income puts many families squarely at seven figures. Healthy applicants find level term at this size surprisingly affordable, insurers verify income to justify the amount, and accelerated underwriting now approves qualifying buyers for $1 million or more with no medical exam.
Brian Greenberg•Updated Jul 2026
Life InsurancePrivate Placement Life Insurance (PPLI) - How It Works
Private placement life insurance (PPLI) is a variable universal life policy offered privately to accredited investors and qualified purchasers. Inside the policy, premiums flow into insurance-dedicated funds spanning hedge fund and institutional strategies, growing tax deferred with an income tax free death benefit. PPLI demands large commitments, strict diversification, and hands-off investor behavior, which limits it to high net worth planning.
Brian Greenberg•Updated Jul 2026
Life InsuranceSingle Premium Life Insurance - Pay Once, Covered for Life
Single premium life insurance (SPL) is permanent coverage purchased with one lump-sum payment instead of ongoing premiums. The policy is guaranteed paid-up from day one and builds cash value immediately, which makes it a wealth transfer tool for people with idle savings. The tradeoff is tax treatment: nearly every SPL policy is a modified endowment contract (MEC), so lifetime withdrawals and loans are taxed earnings-first with a penalty before age 59 and a half.
Brian Greenberg•Updated Jul 2026
Life InsuranceGraded Benefits vs Contestability - Key Differences
Graded death benefits and the contestability period both affect early claims but are different mechanisms. Graded benefits are a product feature of guaranteed issue policies: natural-cause payouts phase in over two to three years. Contestability is a legal window, typically the first two years of any policy, when the insurer can investigate claims and rescind coverage for material misrepresentation on the application.
Brian Greenberg•Updated Jul 2026
Life InsuranceLife Insurance Underwriting Process - Step by Step
Underwriting is how a life insurer turns your application into a price: an underwriter reviews your health history, exam results, prescription records, MIB report, driving record, and lifestyle to assign a rate class. The process runs from instant (accelerated) to several weeks (fully underwritten), and preparation, honest answers, and the right carrier match improve the outcome.
Brian Greenberg•Updated Jul 2026
Life InsuranceLife Insurance Waiting Periods - Graded Benefits Explained
Most fully underwritten life insurance has no waiting period: coverage is effective the day the policy is in force. Waiting periods belong to guaranteed issue and some simplified issue final expense policies, which phase in the death benefit over the first two to three years, typically refunding premiums plus interest if death occurs from natural causes during the graded window. Accidental deaths are usually covered in full from day one.
Brian Greenberg•Updated Jul 2026
Life InsuranceIrrevocable Life Insurance Trust (ILIT) - How It Works
An irrevocable life insurance trust (ILIT) is a non-amendable legal structure that owns a life insurance policy so the death benefit stays outside the insured's taxable estate. The grantor funds premiums with annual exclusion gifts, beneficiaries receive Crummey withdrawal notices that qualify those gifts for the $19,000 annual exclusion, and at death the trustee collects and distributes the benefit under the trust terms.
Brian Greenberg•Updated Jul 2026
Life InsuranceWhat Is LexisNexis? How Insurers Use Your Data
LexisNexis Risk Solutions is a data broker life insurers rely on during underwriting: it supplies motor vehicle records, prescription histories, public records, and its Risk Classifier score that predicts mortality risk from data instead of labs. It powers many instant-decision products. You have the right to request your LexisNexis consumer file and dispute errors under the FCRA.
Brian Greenberg•Updated Jul 2026
AIG Life Insurance Review - Now Corebridge Financial
AIG no longer sells life insurance under the AIG brand: its life and retirement division became Corebridge Financial, which went public in 2022 and completed its separation from AIG. Policies continue to be issued by American General Life Insurance Company, rated A (Excellent) by A.M. Best. Existing AIG life policies remain fully in force, and the product shelf, led by Select-A-Term with its 18 term-length choices and the QoL living benefit riders, continues under the Corebridge name.
Brian Greenberg•Updated Jul 2026
Company ReviewsAllstate Life Insurance Review - Sold to Everlake in 2021
Allstate, famous for auto and home coverage, no longer underwrites its own life insurance. It sold Allstate Life Insurance Company and related annuity businesses to Blackstone-managed entities in 2021, and those operations were renamed Everlake Life. Existing Allstate life policies remain in force and are serviced by Everlake, while Allstate agents today refer life shoppers to third-party carriers.
Brian Greenberg•Updated Jul 2026
Company ReviewsAmerican Amicable Life Insurance Review - No-Exam Term
American Amicable is a Waco, Texas insurer with roots to 1910 that specializes in simplified-issue products sold through independent agents: no-exam term (including its Term Made Simple line), final expense whole life, and mortgage protection coverage. Underwriting relies on health questions plus database checks, making it a practical placement for applicants who want to skip the exam or carry moderate health histories.
Brian Greenberg•Updated Jul 2026
Company ReviewsAmerico Life Insurance Review - Mortgage Protection Focus
Americo Financial Life and Annuity, headquartered in Kansas City with corporate roots tracing to 1906, is one of the biggest names in agent-sold mortgage protection term life. Its shelf also includes final expense whole life (the Eagle series) and universal life, all built around simplified, no-exam underwriting and independent agent distribution. Americo fits homeowners approached about mortgage protection and final expense buyers, though comparing against level term always belongs in the process.
Brian Greenberg•Updated Jul 2026
Company ReviewsBestow Life Insurance Review - No Longer Selling Policies
Bestow, once a leading direct-to-consumer no-exam term startup, no longer sells life insurance to the public. The company pivoted to providing underwriting and policy technology to insurers. Term policies Bestow sold were issued by North American Company for Life and Health (a Sammons company) and remain fully in force. Shoppers who liked Bestow's instant no-exam experience have strong current alternatives, led by Ethos.
Brian Greenberg•Updated Jul 2026
Company ReviewsColonial Penn Life Insurance Review
Colonial Penn is an A rated (Excellent) life insurer founded in 1968 in Philadelphia and owned by CNO Financial Group. It is best known for the heavily televised $9.95 per unit guaranteed acceptance whole life program for ages 50 to 85, which asks no health questions but pays a graded benefit in the first two years. The catch every shopper should understand: a unit is not a fixed amount of coverage, and the same $9.95 buys less coverage the older you are.
Brian Greenberg•Updated Jul 2026
Company ReviewsColumbian Mutual Life Review - Acquired by JAB in 2025
Columbian Mutual Life Insurance Company, a New York insurer with roots to 1882 known for final expense and simplified-issue coverage, entered rehabilitation under the New York regulator after financial strain, and in November 2025 JAB Insurance agreed to acquire Columbian and its subsidiary, taking the company out of rehabilitation. Existing policies continue under regulatory protection. Final expense shoppers today should compare active specialists.
Brian Greenberg•Updated Jul 2026
Company ReviewsCompanion Life of New York Review - Mutual of Omaha Arm
Companion Life Insurance Company of New York is the New York-licensed carrier through which Mutual of Omaha serves New York residents. Because New York requires a separately licensed entity, New Yorkers buying Mutual of Omaha's well-regarded term and final expense products receive policies on Companion Life paper, with the same underwriting philosophy and the backing of the Mutual of Omaha organization.
Lisa A Koosis•Updated Jul 2026
Company ReviewsCostco Life Insurance Review - Protective Member Program
Costco's life insurance offering has been a member benefit program providing term life insurance through Protective Life, with pricing perks for Executive members. The coverage itself is standard Protective term, a strong, competitively priced product, with the Costco wrapper adding member conveniences. Program availability and terms can change, so members should verify current details through Costco Services, and every shopper should still compare two or three carriers before buying.
Brian Greenberg•Updated Jul 2026
Fabric by Gerber Life Review - Term Life for Parents
Fabric by Gerber Life is a digital life insurance brand aimed squarely at young parents, offering term policies with accelerated no-exam underwriting for qualifying applicants, plus free extras like online wills and family finance tools. Policies are issued within the Gerber Life family, part of Western & Southern Financial Group. Fabric fits busy parents who want solid term coverage and estate basics handled in one sitting.
Brian Greenberg•Updated Jul 2026
Company ReviewsFamily Life Insurance Review - ManhattanLife Group Carrier
Family Life Insurance Company, founded in 1949 and today part of the ManhattanLife group of companies, is a niche carrier known for mortgage protection term and simplified-issue whole life sold through independent agents. Its products emphasize easy underwriting and agent service rather than rock-bottom pricing, making it one of several reasonable placements in the simplified-issue segment.
Lisa A Koosis•Updated Jul 2026
Company ReviewsFidelity Life Review - RAPIDecision Term, Now Part of iA
Fidelity Life Association, the Chicago-area insurer founded in 1896 and known for its RAPIDecision product family, became part of Canada's iA Financial Group through the 2024 acquisition of its parent, Vericity. RAPIDecision term issues quickly with partial coverage up front, a distinctive hybrid: a portion of the death benefit starts immediately while the remainder can depend on completing underwriting. It fits shoppers who want coverage in force fast.
Brian Greenberg•Updated Jul 2026
Company ReviewsGenworth Life Insurance Review - No New Policies
Genworth Financial no longer sells life insurance. The company suspended new sales of traditional life insurance products in 2016 and wound down its remaining life and annuity sales in the years that followed, refocusing on long-term care insurance and its Enact mortgage insurance business. Existing Genworth life policies remain in force and continue to be serviced, but shoppers looking for coverage today need to compare active carriers.
Brian Greenberg•Updated Jul 2026