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Editor’s note: Haven Life is no longer accepting new applications. Read our guide to the best term life insurance companies here for alternatives.
If you want the stability of a legacy insurance company and the user experience of a direct-to-consumer digital brand, Haven Life Insurance Agency may be a good choice for you as it has made our list of best term life insurance companies.
In this post, I’ll review Haven Life and identify its pros and cons to help you decide whether it fits your term life insurance needs.
Company Name | Haven Life |
---|---|
Company Type | New brand backed by legacy insurer |
Key Features | Self-guided, hassle-free customer experience; A++ A.M. Best rating |
Downsides | Not built for older individuals or those with pre-existing conditions |
Best For | Modern digital experience with the financial stability of an insurance dinosaur |
Founded in 2014 as an independent offshoot of MassMutual, Haven Life’s goal is to offer a more modern, online purchasing experience for term life insurance.
MassMutual is the second-oldest life insurance company in the United States. It holds an A++ rating from A.M. Best. That’s a crucial component when you shop for term life insurance. MassMutual owns Haven Life and backs all its insurance policies.
When it comes to understanding how to buy life insurance, money expert Clark Howard says you shouldn’t buy a term life insurance policy of longer than 20 years unless the company has an A++ rating, which indicates long-term financial stability.
Haven Life’s term life insurance application is fast, simple and online-only. Its entire customer experience is self-guided, though it offers help from a human being if you need it.
Haven Life has spent years working on automated, algorithm-based underwriting and streamlining its digital account management system.
Now that its term life insurance business has started to mature, Haven Life is launching new products.
I tried out the Haven Life website and also talked with corporate representatives. I came away wondering why MassMutual and other legacy insurance companies haven’t been quicker to adapt to the modern touches Haven Life has added.
The brand offers the following benefits:
The biggest downside of Haven Life is that it isn’t designed to meet everyone’s needs. If you’re 60+, have pre-existing conditions or want whole life insurance, Haven Life is probably not for you.
Here are some of Haven Life’s downsides:
Gender/Age | Policy Amount | 20-Year Term Life |
---|---|---|
Female/35 | $500,000 | $24.31/month |
$1 Million | $29.03/month | |
Male/35 | $500,000 | $26.64/month |
$1 Million | $34.08/month | |
Female/45 | $500,000 | $53.27/month |
$1 Million | $66.57/month | |
Male/45 | $500,000 | $70.83/month |
$1 Million | $80/month |
Haven Life offers two term life insurance products. Haven Simple, which is a term life insurance policy with no medical exam, and Haven Term, a traditional term life policy.
The no-exam product is only available for people ages 20 to 55½. It offers coverage between $25,000 and $500,000 with terms of five, 10, 15 or 20 years. It tends to be more expensive but offers an alternative to people who want some type of coverage but may not be approved for regular term life insurance or are dead set on skipping the medical exam.
Haven Term is the companies’ traditional term life insurance product. Haven Life offers coverage between $250,000 and $3 million, up from a previous minimum of $100,000. It also recently added a 25-year term option to its other choices: 10, 15, 20 and 30 years. Haven Life also raised the minimum age from 18 to 20 years old across all its life insurance products.
The company doesn’t offer life insurance to anyone older than 64. Those ages 60 to 64 are limited to the Haven Term option with coverage between $250,000 and $1 million and terms of 10, 15 or 20 years.
The online application takes about 25 minutes to fill out.
Haven Life isn’t as aggressive as some companies (Fabric, for example) about automatically approving applicants who have health challenges. However, if you’re in excellent health, you may qualify for InstantTerm. That’s the company’s name for its term life insurance policies you can get without a medical exam.
Even if you require a medical exam, a company representative told me that Haven Life’s average turnaround time from application to purchase is just 11 days. You can schedule the exam online at a location that’s convenient for you.
The company says its average customer is 38 years old, college-educated, makes $79,000 annually and has gone through at least one major life event in the last year (marriage, new mortgage, new child).
Riders (think: additional features, some of which are free and some of which cost money) for Haven Life customers include:
Haven Life made a major acquisition in 2018, purchasing online insurance broker Quilt and making it the cornerstone of a small innovation team tasked with creating new products, operating independently from the rest of Mass Mutual.
Here are some of the products that have emerged from those efforts:
If you apply for a standard term life insurance policy, it’s possible Haven Life will offer you InstantTerm (no medical exam).
Haven Life’s “Haven Simple” is a different product. It offers up to $500,000 in coverage, also without a medical exam. Because an offer isn’t contingent on your medical history and the coverage amount is lower, the application is much shorter and it’s possible to get coverage in minutes.
Haven Life says it created this product to meet customer demand. An alternative to the typical lump sum payout, Haven Secure pays the beneficiary between $1,000 and $10,000 monthly until the end of the policy term.
This is a longevity annuity designed to insure people who believe they’ll live long lives. According to a Haven Life representative, customers pay small monthly premiums until they reach 65. Once the customer reaches a designated payout age, between 91 and 100, the company sends a check each month (typically $2,000-$5,000). You can pay extra for Haven Life to return your premiums to a beneficiary if you don’t live into your 90s.
This policy provides an “emergency fund” for 6 to 12 months if you have an illness or injury that prevents you from working. You can file a claim within 14 days of disability. The company says claims get paid in seven days.
If you’re in the market for basic level-term life insurance and you prefer direct-to-consumer companies, Haven Life could be a great fit for you.
Its digital convenience and benefits make it one of the best term life insurance companies, especially considering MassMutual owns and operates it.
MassMutual has an A++ A.M. Best rating.
Just be sure to compare prices with other A++ A.M. Best companies before you purchase from Haven Life. Even small differences in monthly premiums can add up over 20 or 30 years, so it’s worth your time to make sure you’re getting the best deal.
This post was last modified on January 17, 2024 11:02 am
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