The life insurance industry has been taking a step toward catching up to the needs of the modern day consumer and companies have started to provide products in a more convenient fashion. A lot of these include life insurance policies with simplified underwriting and offer no exam. There are many companies competing in the no exam life insurance bracket and Phoenix Life Insurance is one of them with their new Safe Harbor Term products. As an independent life insurance agency, we are able to give an unbiased review of the products we offer. So let’s review them and see how they stack up against the competition.
Highlights:
- Three different products available with different features, all with a simplified process
- All guaranteed level term products with option to renew
- Option to convert to permanent on express product
- Electronic application
- Complete no exam available for up to $400,000
- Instant underwriting possible
- Policy comes with living benefits options
- Additional riders such as unemployment rider and accidental death available
- Phoenix Life is a “B” rated company
That’s the highlights of what you will learn in this article. If you want to compare quotes simply use our no exam quoter, otherwise let’s discuss this in detail.
Phoenix Safe Harbor Term Life
Phoenix offers 3 product types under the “Safe Harbor” umbrella. These include the Term High Band, Term Low Band, and Term Life express. Each come with their own product features so let’s detail them.
Safe Harbor Term HIGH Band
The Term High Band product offers a level term life insurance policy for 10 to 30 year term lengths. You can get up to a $1,000,000 in coverage up to age 70 and up to $500,000 in coverage from ages 71 to 80. This only requires a simplified version of the paramedical exam. This means you would still take a medical exam, but it would exclude the blood and urine sample. So it would only include a measurement of your height, weight, blood pressure and an oral swab. Preferred rates are available for this policy.
This policy does not come with an option to convert but does come with an Annual Renewable Option. This means that at the end of the term you can renew it on a guaranteed basis (not having to prove good health). The downfall of this is that the premium will be adjusted to your new age every year. This can cause the rate to go up pretty drastically after the term expires. The upside is, even if you’ve attained a serious illness, you will maintain the same health rating from the inception of the policy.
Safe Harbor Term LOW Band
While this is pretty much the same product as the HIGH band, what separates it, is the underwriting class. Life insurance companies often have benchmarks called “bands” which determine the rates and qualifications for the policy based on underwriting, coverage amount, etc. The LOW Band term product offers a level term for 10 to 30 years. The caps on coverage amount are as follows:
- $400,000 for ages 18 to 50
- $300,000 for ages 51 to 60
- $200,000 for ages 61 to 70
- $100,000 for ages 71 to 80
This policy requires no medical exam during the application process which is a big upside. Like the HIGH Band, it also comes with an option to renew the coverage annually. Which is usually only beneficial if you have coverage needs for a short period beyond the term expiration.
Safe Harbor Term Life Express
This seems to be the stand out product for Phoenix Life Insurance. Based on the product details it is a major competitor in the no exam life insurance market. It has a level premium throughout the term lengths which are 10 to 30 years. This means during the term period, your rates will be locked in. This is a simplified issue policy which means no exam required and also no Attending Physician Statement (APS) necessary. However, keep in mind it is still underwritten so your electronic medical records will be verified.
The other good feature of this specific Safe Harbor product is the term conversion. It is convertible to a permanent policy during certain periods of the policy. While the option to convert isn’t as lenient as most typical term policies, here are the guidelines for conversion.
- Convertible in the first 5 years on a 10 year term policy
- Convertible in the first 7 years on a 15 year term policy
- Convertible in the first 10 years on a 20 year term policy
- Convertible in the first 10 years on a 30 year term policy
This means that close to the first half of the policy term length, you can convert your policy on a guaranteed basis. This means you will get the same health rating, without going through underwriting again. So if you were in perfect health when you got the policy, but are in poor health during conversion, you will still be able to convert at the best health rating. Your premium will simply be adjusted to your new age. The best rate available for this product is Standard.
Policy Add On’s
Most term life insurance companies come with add on features known as riders and the Safe Harbor products from Phoenix are no exception. They offer 4 riders which are the Critical Illness Benefit, Chronic Illness Benefit, Terminal Illness Benefit, Unemployment Rider and Accidental Death. Let’s go over each in detail.
There are 3 riders that are considered Accelerated Death Benefit riders. These riders “accelerate” a portion of your death benefit in the event of a critical illness, chronic illness, or terminal illness.
Critical Illness
This is one of the accelerated benefits. If you are diagnosed with a critical illness, then you will be allowed to accelerate up to 95% of your total death benefit amount. You can use this money to pay for medical expenses or anything else. Keep in mind that, the accelerated portion will be subtracted from the total coverage amount. So if you were to pass away, your beneficiaries will only receive what’s left over. The critical illnesses include:
- Heart attack
- Stroke
- Cancer
- Renal Failure
- Major organ transplant
- ALS
Chronic Illness
The Chronic Illness Benefit provides a portion of your death benefit in the event that you’re unable to participate in 2 of the typical daily living activities. This includes things like dressing, eating, bathing and anything else associated with daily life. Like the critical illness rider you can use the money as you please or to help pay for expenses. So if you have severe cognitive impairment or require a caretaker, you can accelerate a portion of your death benefit.
Terminal Illness
If you’re diagnosed as having less than one year to live the Terminal Illness Benefit will come to the rescue. It will provide up to 95% of the death benefit amount to help you deal with the terminal illness. You can use this money to spoil your family, check off the bucket list, or to fight the illness. The good news is, if you beat the illness, you won’t have to pay the money back. It will just be subtracted off the total amount your beneficiaries receive when you die.
Remember with all these accelerated options, you don’t have to use the money if you choose not to.
Outside of the Accelerated Benefits, there are other additional riders. Those include the unemployment and accidental death rider.
Unemployment Rider
This rider provides you with an ability to maintain keeping your policy in force in the event of unemployment. It will waive 6 months worth of premiums to help you deal with finding another job to be able to pay the policy. This way you won’t have to worry about the policy lapsing due to job loss. The rider kicks in after 4 weeks of unemployment. Available for ages 18 to 60.
Accidental Death Benefit Rider
This is not to be confused with the “Accelerated Death Benefit” as it is a completely different rider available at an additional cost. With this rider your beneficiaries will get an extra death benefit amount on top of the policy coverage amount if the death is the result of an accident. For example, let’s say your coverage amount was $500,000 and you died of natural causes. Your beneficiaries will get $500,000. But if you have the Accidental Death rider and you die due to an accident, then your beneficiaries may get an extra portion on top of the $500,000. That amount will vary on policy details. So if your accidental offers a $100,000 extra benefit, your beneficiaries will get a total of $600,000. This rider is available at extra cost.
Remember, that each of these riders comes with its own set of stipulations in relation to coverage amounts, policy types, ages and premiums. So discuss these details with your agent if they’re of interest.
In Comparison to Competitors
Overall, those are the product details for Phoenix Life Insurance Safe Harbor Term products. Now let’s see how they compare against competitors. Because of their strong focus on simplified underwriting, I will compare them to all the no exam life insurance carriers. The grading will range on the application, underwriting, cost, and coverage amount.
Application Process
Phoenix Life Insurance has an application process similar to Sagicor with a complete electronic process. It can be done in around 10 minutes while on the phone with an agent. The signature is also electronic so as far a the convenience factor, it’s definitely there during the application. In comparison to traditional term, it definitely beats the paperwork, in comparison to the fastest no exam, it’s right up there with the leaders. So the process is fairly simple: application, signature, and then straight to underwriting by skipping the exam.
Underwriting
Traditional term life insurance underwriting usually takes 6 to 8 weeks. A typical simplified issue underwriting takes anywhere between 1 to 30 days depending on the company. The leaders in speed are Sagicor and Fidelity with 24 to 72 hour approvals. Safe Harbor Express has instant underwriting available to as little as a few days. What separates them a bit from the rest is they are more lenient. Most no exam companies have strict guidelines while Phoenix Safe Harbor is more favorable for those with health risks.
Cost and Coverage Amount
When it comes to cost, the Safe Harbor Express isn’t too competitive against the no exam carriers, probably due to their more lenient underwriting. The only competitive rates given are by the Safe Harbor LOW Band and even that was a little pricy. Here are the quote examples below. Keep in mind rates can vary based on your individual situation.
Here is a quote for a 35 year old male, 10 year term for $250,000 worth of coverage at a standard rate.
- Phoenix Safe Harbor Express – $48.07
- Phoenix Safe Harbor LOW Band – $23.69
- Sagicor – $27
- Fidelity – $24
- American National – $22
- Assurity – $56
If you want to compare rates for yourself, simply use our no exam quoter.
As far as the coverage amount Phoenix Express competes with Sagicor at a cap of $400,000. Most no exam carriers limit the coverage at $250,000.
Grades
Overall here are the grades for the given criteria.
Application: A – Fast and easy
Underwriting: A – Fast and more lenient
Cost: C – not competitively priced, but still may be good for clients in less than perfect health. Approvals where others deny. (Rates can vary)
Coverage Amount: B – Only because there is company out there offering a million with no exam.
Pros and Cons
What’s easier to read than a pros and cons list? Here are the pros and cons of Pheonix Life
Pros
- Variety of simplified products for clients with different situations
- Electronic application process
- Express options available
- Flexible underwriting
- Higher cap on coverage than most no exam carriers
- Up to $1,000,000 in coverage without blood and urine sample
- Highly customizable, with some riders at no additional cost, including living benefits
Cons
- Not all products are convertible
- Cap on coverage as most no exam carriers
- More limits on age brackets than most carriers
- Preferred rates not available for full no exam
- B rated company
The Verdict
Overall, Phoenix Life Insurance came out strong with its range of Safe Harbor Term Life Insurance product. They offer a fast and simplified application process all while still being flexible in their underwriting guides. And while we usually don’t recommend B rated companies to our clients, Phoenix LIfe Insurance does stack up well against the competitors and becomes an exception in some cases.
Start Here
If you are interested in the Safe Harbor products give us a call and will do the shopping for you. We represent all the top companies on the market and can make comparisons at no extra cost to you! If you have any questions, call us at 888-492-1967 or hit the chat button below. Welcome to InsureChance!
