SBLI Whole Life Insurance Review
SBLI, formally known as The Savings Bank Life Insurance Company of Massachusetts, is known for selling a variety of whole life insurance products.
While the company is not as big as some of its competitors, its competitive rates and a large selection of policy options is more than enough to attract consumers.
Founded in 1907, SBLI currently offers protection to more than one million families throughout the United States.
Note: the company is licensed to do business in every state except New York.
If you are in the market for any type of insurance, especially whole life, it’s reasonable to believe that you could receive some good information and an attractive quote from SBLI.
There are many things to like about the company, which we discuss below, but in an overall sense, it’s more or less average across the board. In our opinion, any of the mutual companies are significantly better.
The Good
Affordable
Many people shop for whole life insurance based on price alone, which is why SBLI attracts a large number of consumers.
According to the SBLI website, it offers some of the lowest rates in the US on a variety of insurance products.
SBLI does however does a nice job explaining that a Whole Life policy alone may not be feasible financially for everyone.
They suggest considering Term in conjunction with a whole life policy to right-size your overall plan coverage needs.
While this isn’t reason enough to make a purchase, it’s one of the top-selling points of SBLI whole life insurance.
Large Selection
It’s always nice to have access to more than one type of whole life policy, and that’s exactly what you get with SBLI.
SBLI Whole Life Selection Includes:
- Continuous Pay
- Limited Pay 10
- Limited Pay 15
- Limited Pay 20
- Limited Pay Paid-up at 65
- Single-Premium
All of these options come with a variety of pros and cons, so consumers who are interested in SBLI insurance products should review the finer details of each one.
SBLI Term Insurance Selection:
- Level Term out to age 85
- Policies below $500,000 require no medical exam if applied for between age 16-60.
- Smart Term 360
- This is a decreasing premium term so you don’t overpay for coverage.
Term policies are convertible to whole life or universal life products.
Compare SBLI Whole Life and Term Quotes
Financial Strength
SBLI may not be among the best whole life insurance companies, but it does remain on solid financial ground.
Here are some of its current financial ratings:
- M. Best Company: A (Excellent)
- Standard & Poor’s: A- (Strong)
- Better Business Bureau: A+
Buying whole life insurance is a big decision. Knowing that a company is financially sound gives you peace of mind as you move forward.
The Not So Good
Poor Customer Service
As you search the internet for information on SBLI whole life insurance policies, you’ll find many people complaining about poor customer service.
Not only is this a big deal when shopping for a policy, as it can slow you down, but the same also holds true if you ever need to ask a question or make a claim.
This is something that can be fixed, but for the time being customers and potential buyers have no choice but to deal with this.
No Dividend Payments
As you may know, SBLI is not a mutual insurance company. For this reason, you’re missing out on the ability to earn money as the years go by.
With a mutual insurance company, its policyholders own the entity. This means that any profits either remain with the company or are distributed to policyholders as dividend distributions.
SBLI may be one of the more affordable whole life insurance companies, but you’re giving up the opportunity to earn a dividend.
SBLI’s whole life is poor for cash value accumulation and for death benefit accumulation.
Final Word
All in all, SBLI is not at the bottom of the industry. Instead, the company finds itself somewhere in the “middle range.”
Its rates are competitive and its selection is large, but it misses the mark in regards to customer service and whole life cash growth. As you do your research SBLI would definitely be a consideration for term coverage if you are looking for $500,000 or below however is you are looking for a high-quality whole life plan we would suggest considering a mutual life insurance company.
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