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Our take on Genworth Financial
While Genworth had once been a proud provider of affordable life insurance, the company has recently undergone restructuring and no longer provides life insurance policies. Instead, Genworth provides long-term care insurance, which offers reimbursement to those who need assistance with basic things such as eating, getting dressed, and general hygiene.
Given that this is a relatively rare form of coverage, it may be considerably valuable to those who need it. Genworth doesn’t provide online quotes, but their website includes a calculator tool that offers estimates for the cost of care in your immediate geographic area.
Customers that are looking for term life insurance or other types of policies will need to look elsewhere, but those who are exploring long-term care options may find that Genworth’s policy is straightforward and user-friendly.
Unfortunately, the company suffers from some poor financial ratings, as well as having a history of lawsuits. Given that the company underwent restructuring as recently as 2016, we might expect to see some improvement, but applicants should be aware of this past performance when considering their plans for the future.
| A.M. Best Rating | C++ |
| S&P Rating | AA- |
| BBB Rating | B- |
| Customer Service Phone | 888-436-9678 |
| Website | www.genworth.com |
| Address | Genworth Financial 6620 West Broad Street Bldg 4, 3rd Floor Richmond, VA 23230 USA |
What We Like
Long-Term Care Coverage
While Genworth no longer offers life insurance products, they have carved out a niche market through their long-term care insurance plans, which provide reimbursement for care services, as well as essential home improvements.
Expenses Calculator
Genworth doesn’t provide online quotes, but their website offers a calculator that gives an estimate for long-term care expenses based on your ZIP code.
Mortgage Insurance
Some applicants may wish to explore their mortgage insurance, which provides the peace of mind that their home is paid for if they should unexpectedly pass away.
What We Don’t Like
Lack of Life Insurance Products
As part of a restructuring plan, Genworth discontinued its life insurance products as of 2016.
Poor Financial Ratings
Ratings from A.M. Best are lackluster when compared to other insurance companies on the market.
History of Lawsuits and Poor Customer Service
Even recently, the company has faced multiple lawsuits from both policyholders and shareholders. Customer complaints indicate that the company has a history of failing to reimburse its policyholders. None of these facts inspire much confidence in the company as a whole.
Genworth Financial Life Insurance Products
Genworth does not currently offer life insurance products. These products have been discontinued since the company underwent restructuring in 2016.
Instead, the company focuses on long-term care insurance. Since this is a product that naturally intersects with the world of life insurance, we will provide an overview of Genworth’s product.
Long-Term Care Insurance
The costs of quality long-term care can be considerably high. Genworth produces an annual study on the state of long-term health care. Currently, they estimate that roughly 70% of Americans will need long-term care as they age, and these costs represent expenses that Medicare and Medicaid will not seamlessly cover.
Applicants can use their online tool to get region-specific data based on their ZIP code, which will provide accurate estimates for what long-term care costs might look like in the future.
Genworth’s long-term care insurance provides daily reimbursements for services that assist in basic tasks, such as eating, bathing, or getting dressed. This reimbursement is based on a predetermined limit, but it can be applied to both in-home and residential services.
Long-term care insurance can also provide funding for essential home improvements, such as wheelchair ramps, safety bars for the bathroom, and any other adjustment required for long-term care.
Mortgage Insurance
A mortgage insurance policy ensures that the remainder of the mortgage is paid in the event that the policyholder passes away prior to the mortgage being paid off. These policies aren’t terribly common, mainly because they are selected by the lender during the mortgage financing process. It may be for that reason that Genworth is sketchy on the exact details of this product.
Policy benefits
Cost
Genworth relies on agents who individually customize their long-term care policies, but we like their online expense calculator that provides an estimate on long-term care costs for your area.
Genworth offers nothing in the way of online quotes or policy details. But given the specificity of the needs covered by long-term care insurance policies, this may actually be for the best, as an agent may be able to provide individualized advice based on a wide variety of needs, ranging from the applicant’s geography and age to available care services and more.
Applicants can still benefit from Genworth’s online tool, which can show the cost of long-term care based on the applicant’s ZIP code. This can be a great way for the applicant to get region-specific data and make sure that they get the best value for their policy.
Of course, it could also be said that the target market for long-term coverage may appreciate the humanizing touch of an agent. This may also take the burden off of loved ones who are attempting to walk the health care journey with their aging relative.
Performance
Financial ratings
Unfortunately, Genworth has not had a long history of positive ratings. Currently, the company’s life insurance division has some lackluster ratings from A.M. Best.
- Genworth Life Insurance Company: C++
- Genworth Life and Annuity Insurance Company: B
- Genworth Life Insurance Company of New York: C++
This indicates a “fair” performance, at best, which is hardly competitive in the broader context of the life insurance industry.
Their BBB rating is currently a B-, and numerous complaints allege that the company has failed to provide reimbursement to their long-term care policyholders.
Additionally, Genworth has been in the middle of several lawsuits in recent years, one of which was a 2016 settlement in the amount of $219 million. In 2017, two additional lawsuits were filed against the company: One by shareholders and another by policyholders.
These payouts don’t exactly inspire confidence in the company’s ability to keep its financial promises, nor do the negative ratings inspire hope for the future.
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Customer ratings
Despite some of the company’s negative reviews from the Better Business Bureau, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) has indicated that Genworth has a customer complaint index of 0.32 as of 2020, based solely on their long-term care products. This indicates that they receive fewer customer complaints than other companies their size.
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Brian is the founder and CEO of Insurist and carries Life, Health, and Property & Casualty licenses in all 50 U.S. states. Since 2013, Brian has been a member of Million Dollar Round Table, a designation for the top 1% of financial advisors worldwide. Brian has been featured in Yahoo! Finance, Money.com, Entrepreneur.com, Life Happens, Forbes, MSN, and Good Financial Cents. Brian’s goal is to show customers the best products, the quickest answers to their questions, and provide expert advice.
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Grant's past experience includes work as a licensed sales agent for Hagerty Insurance. He has reviewed thousands of existing auto policies across the nation and issued hundreds of new ones on everything ranging from classic cars undergoing restoration to modern exotics and motorcycles.
