Allstate Life Insurance Review (2024) (2024)

While Allstate no longer sells its own life insurance policies, you can still get life insurance quotes through Allstate for policies underwritten by John Hanco*ck, Lincoln Financial and Protective Life.

Allstate has an A+ financial strength rating from AM Best, but a more accurate way to measure financial strength is by reviewing the grade for each company that partners with Allstate. Fortunately, Protective, John Hanco*ck and Lincoln Financial also all received A+ AM Best ratings*, meaning they are well positioned to pay claims and honor life insurance policy contractual obligations. These ratings should provide peace of mind that the products and services you receive from Allstate will be among the best.

*AM Best ratings are accurate as of July 2023.

When someone purchases life insurance, they are essentially entering into an agreement with an insurance company. The policyholder is responsible for making regular premium payments, while the insurer is obligated to pay a death benefit to the policyholder’s beneficiaries upon their passing. The exact amount of the premium and the death benefit can differ based on a variety of factors, including the policyholder’s age, gender, health and lifestyle.

Some whole life insurance policies have a cash value in addition to the death benefit value, functioning as a savings or investment account that earns interest and can be borrowed against in certain situations.

When shopping for a life insurance policy, consider these points:

• Choose the type: Term or whole life.
• Identify potential riders to customize the policy for you.
• Determine the amount of coverage and time you need it.
• Ensure competitive quotes are for the same coverage.
• Check each company’s financial health and customer ratings.

Learn more: What Is Life Insurance and How Does It Work?

Term Life Insurance

Term life insurance is a policy that lets a policyholder buy coverage for a specific period, generally between 10 and 30 years. However, Allstate offers policies for up to 40 years in some cases. If the insured person passes away during that period, the insurance company will pay a predetermined amount to the beneficiaries named in the policy. When the policy period ends, the policy is no longer in force. Allstate’s partners’ policies are also convertible to a permanent policy.

Many companies offer term insurance policies. Check out our list of top-rated term life insurance providers.

Allstate offers a limited Basic Term Life policy for 15 years with $50,000, $100,000 or $150,000 coverage levels. No medical exam is required, but you must complete a health questionnaire. Life insurance coverage may be available for up to 40 years in some cases.

The Allstate TrueFit Term Life Insurance policy lets you use a single policy to layer your coverages. Layering means you can match your coverage needs over different time spans in a way that would normally only be possible by purchasing multiple term policies of different lengths and amounts. TrueFit policies can be set at any specific time frame between 10 and 30 years.

You must be at least age 18 to buy a policy, and several riders are available to assist in customizing a policy.

Whole Life Insurance

Whole life insurance is one of several types of permanent life insurance policies that provides coverage for the policyholder’s entire life as long as premiums are kept up to date. Whole life policies also have a cash value component that term policies do not, meaning you can borrow against the premiums you’ve paid into the policy in most cases. Whole life policies are more expensive than term life policies.

Allstate offers a policy option called the Whole Life Advantage. This allows policy holders to return excess credits to the policy, which can cause the policy to build cash value faster.

The Allstate Universal Life (UL) policies are similar to whole life policies in that they can build cash value over time, but the terms and premium payments can be adjusted as needed. The Variable Universal Life policies allow policyholders to invest the cash value in options. That can provide a higher return but also has more financial risk.

An Allstate Indexed Universal Life (IUL) insurance policy is similar to a regular UL policy, except that the cash value grows based on a stock market index, such as the S&P 500. The cash value is not directly invested in the index and won’t lose value due to negative index returns but that also means gains are capped.

Allstate’s Variable Universal Life Insurance is a UL policy that allows you to invest the cash value component directly in the stock market through sub accounts, which are like mutual funds for VUL policies. Unlike an IUL policy, you have direct market exposure, meaning there are no caps on gains or losses.

Allstate Life Insurance Riders

Riders, sometimes called add-ons, are endorsem*nts that add coverage to your policy to let you customize it to meet various needs. Available riders and specific terms will vary depending on the specific provider Allstate directs you toward.

Some possible riders include:

A child term rider adds term coverage for dependent children. Most of these riders cover every dependent child under a certain age. Many offer the option to convert the term coverage to a permanent policy once they become an adult.

A waiver of premium rider lets you pause premium payments in certain circ*mstances, such as when you become totally disabled and complete a waiting period.

An accidental death benefit rider pays additional amounts to beneficiaries if the insured dies due to an accident. Terms and conditions often apply.

A terminal illness rider is also known as an accelerated death benefit rider. It provides access to part of the death benefit while the insured is still living if diagnosed with a terminal illness leading to death in 12 to 24 months.

A chronic illness rider allows the insured to access a portion of the death benefit before they die if they are diagnosed with a chronic illness that limits their ability to perform at least two activities of daily living.

Life insurance providers offer competitive pricing for policies. Although each company has its own way of determining policy costs, there are several common factors that influence the premium you pay. Some of these include:

• Age
• Coverage amount
• Credit standing
• Gender
• Health and medical history
• Lifestyle
• Policy type

Allstate requires potential applicants to input personal information to get a quote and be directed to their partner providers.

It is always recommended that you work with a financial advisor or licensed insurance agent to comparatively shop the many life insurance plan options to ensure you get the right coverage for you and your loved ones.

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) tracks the number of complaints insurance companies receive compared to their size and market share and the index is used to compare a company’s performance to other companies.

Since Allstate no longer underwrites individual life insurance policies, the best thing to do is check the complaint index for each company Allstate partners with to offer life insurance. Protective, Lincoln Financial and John Hanco*ck each score better than average, which means they have fewer complaints than expected.

Here are some samples of customer reviews for Allstate Life Insurance:

“I have been with Allstate quite a few years. They have always handled my account with knowledge and have always been patient with me. They have answered my questions anytime that I called them .” —Linda J. via Trustpilot

“I have had a critical illness policy since 2012, which I pay on monthly. I developed a rare cancer and sent in a blood panel and initial diagnosis paperwork. I received my expected check quickly. I called customer service several times about this claim and everyone I spoke with was polite and knowledgeable. Great outcome for me.” —Beverly via ConsumerAffairs

“I got an Allstate Hospital policy through my ex-employer. I left my employer and it took 3 months to receive an updated invoice so I can pay my policy. Come to find out my rates went up more than 3x. So I am canceling my policy. I really don’t need it. In addition, it took me almost a year to get the agent that signed me up to send my policies to me.[…]” —Sue via ConsumerAffairs

“My father, 96 years old, died last week during the 30 day grace period after the annual premium was due. He had the same policy and the premium was paid by his former company, Sears, for 40 years until this month. Now Allstate is not replying to simple claim requests from my father’s trust representative. Any death during the grace period is historically paid less the premium amount due that month. That is not happening. A very sad ending to my father’s legacy and an embarrassment to Allstate. 40 years!” —David via ConsumerAffairs

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When buying a life insurance policy from Allstate, remember that you are actually buying a policy from Protective Life, John Hanco*ck or Lincoln Financial. The upside is that all three companies are financially strong and will be able to meet claim obligations. The combined offerings mean that you also have a wide choice of types of policies and riders to choose from to customize the policy you want.

Although you will likely need to work with an insurance agent for most policies rather than doing everything online, this is a minor drawback to an otherwise solid choice to meet your insurance needs. We recommend getting quotes from at least three providers to find the best fit for your needs.

Our team researches and ranks life insurance companies using an in-depth scoring system that considers the factors most important to consumers like you. Our analysis includes a comprehensive review of each provider we feature based on available coverage, customizability, availability, customer service and company reputation. Here are the factors we take into consideration when rating life insurance providers:

• Brand trust (40%): Life insurance payouts can exceed $100,000 or more, which makes choosing a reputable and trustworthy installer important. To assess brand trust, we use J.D. Power and Associates customer satisfaction surveys, AM Best credit rating scores and the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) complaint index. The higher a company scores in each area, the more points it receives.
• Coverage (33%): The more policy options a life insurance company offers, the more opportunities you have to obtain the right coverage for your specific needs. For this reason, we give companies the most points for offering multiple types of life insurance, including various term, permanent and no-exam options.
• Availability and ease of use (19%): Since life insurance coverage options can be complex, we consider the ways a customer can reach a company — and how easy communication is. For this category, we research how many communication channels a company offers for general customer support, claims processing and the application process. Companies earn the most points for offering various ways to interact with an agent, both in-person and online.
• Riders (8%): Companies offering various life insurance riders or endorsem*nts allow policyholders to better customize their coverage. In this category, we determine how many riders a company offers and award the most points to providers with more than 10 options.

We use our rating system to compare and contrast each company against key factors to help us determine the best life insurance companies in the industry. To learn more, read ourfull life insurance methodologyfor reviewing and scoring providers.AM Best Disclaimer