Bestow life insurance review: Online apps, no riders
Bestow sells instant-approval term life insurance online to people 18 to 60, but riders aren’t offered.
By
Logan SachonLogan SachonSenior Managing Editor, Life Insurance & ResearchLogan Sachon is a former senior managing editor of life insurance and research at Policygenius. As a journalist, her work has appeared in The Guardian, Business Insider, CNN Money, BuzzFeed, Money Under 30, VICE, New York Magazine, and elsewhere.
Edited by
Adam MorganAdam MorganEditorial DirectorAdam Morgan is an editorial director at policycentral who leads the life insurance and annuities team. Previously, he led editorial teams matrixed across multiple financial publications at Red Ventures — including Bankrate, NextAdvisor, Million Mile Secrets, and others. As a journalist, his work has appeared in Esquire, Scientific American, The Guardian, Los Angeles Times, and elsewhere.
Our proprietary ratings methodology takes multiple factors into account, including customer satisfaction, cost, financial strength, and policy offerings. See the “Ratings methodology” section for more details.
4.5
AM Best rating
AM Best is a global credit rating agency that scores the financial strength of insurance companies on a scale from A++ (Superior) to D (Poor).
A+
Cost
Using a mix of internal and external rate data, we grade the cost of each insurance company's premiums on a scale from least expensive ($) to most expensive ($$$$$).
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The bottom line
Bestow sells one term life insurance policy through an online application to people 18 to 60. Rates are competitive, but no riders are offered.
Note: Bestow products are not available through the policycentral marketplace.
Pros
Instant-decision online application
Competitive rates
Can pay premiums by credit card
Cons
Not available in NY
No riders available
Basic coverages offered
Term life insurance: Bestow sells one term life insurance product for people age 18 to 60. It is a no-medical-exam policy for terms of 10, 15, 20, 25, or 30 years and coverage amounts of $50,000 to $1.5 million.
Additional coverages offered
There are no riders included or offered for Bestow’s policies.
Ratings methodology
Price
3.3/5
Our price rating scale looks at life insurance rates for a sample 20-year term policy with a $1 million coverage for a 35-year-old female non-smoker with a Standard Plus (or Standard if no Standard Plus is available) health classification. The quote we got from Bestow puts it in the second most affordable category for our rating system.
Customer experience
5.0/5
Our customer experience scale uses data from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) complaint index. Bestow has a score of at 0.0, which means it received no complaints in the year 2021. The number expected for a company of its size would be 1.0. The company that issued its policies until 2023, North American Company for Life and Health Insurance, also has a NAIC complaint index score of 0.0.
Transparency
4.1/5
Our transparency rating scale measures how easily shoppers and policyholders can find information about an insurer on its website. Bestow gets points for having clear contact information, a support hub, easy-to-access information about its insurance products, and an online chat feature, but loses points for not having its rates clearly posted outside of its quoting tool.
Financial strength
4.2/5
Our financial strength rating is a weighted combination of three industry-leading metrics to measure a company’s financial health: A.M. Best, Standard & Poor’s, and Moody’s. Bestow is not rated by any of these agencies, but the North American Company for Life and Health Insurance, the company that issued its policies until 2023, is. It has an A+ rating from A.M. Best and an A+ rating from Standard & Poor’s. It is not rated by Moody’s.
A closer look at Bestow
Who is Bestow best for?
Bestow is best for people with few or no health problems who want to avoid the life insurance medical exam and get instant coverage, but don't mind forgoing additional coverage options like riders.
What makes Bestow unique?
Bestow only offers term life insurance and doesn’t offer any riders on its term policy, making it unique in the industry. It also accepts credit card payments for premiums, which is rare: most life insurance companies don’t let you pay your premiums with a credit card.
Who should consider a different life insurance company?
People who want their life insurance policies to offer additional coverage, like living benefits through an accelerated benefit rider, which provides a portion of the death benefit early in case of a terminal diagnosis, should look elsewhere. And many people with complicated health histories likely won’t qualify and may find better options with fully underwritten policies.
Bestow life insurance rates
Bestow does not publish its term life insurance rates.
Bestow’s history, reputation, and social responsibility
Bestow was founded in 2017 and is based in Dallas, TX. The company sells one term life insurance policy to clients in all states except New York.
Until January 1, 2023, Bestow’s life insurance policies were underwritten by the North American Company for Life and Health Insurance. As of January 1, 2023, policies sold by Bestow are issued by Bestow Life Insurance Company, which is re-insured by companies including Munich Re and the Hanover Insurance Group. [1]
While Bestow is no longer partnered with North American, it will still service all policies underwritten by the company. [2]
Bestow in the news
In September 2022, Bestow was named one the Fortune best places places to work in financial services and insurance. (Great Place to Work)
In December 2020, Bestow announced that it had reached a deal to acquire Centurion Life Insurance Company. The acquisition was completed in September 2021. (Coverager)
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Bestow vs. other life insurance companies
Compare Bestow to similar life insurance companies using the table below.
policycentral uses external sources, including government data, industry studies, and reputable news organizations to supplement proprietary marketplace data and internal expertise. Learn more about how we use and vet external sources as part of oureditorial standards.
Logan Sachon is a former senior managing editor of life insurance and research at Policygenius. As a journalist, her work has appeared in The Guardian, Business Insider, CNN Money, BuzzFeed, Money Under 30, VICE, New York Magazine, and elsewhere.
Adam Morgan is an editorial director at policycentral who leads the life insurance and annuities team. Previously, he led editorial teams matrixed across multiple financial publications at Red Ventures — including Bankrate, NextAdvisor, Million Mile Secrets, and others. As a journalist, his work has appeared in Esquire, Scientific American, The Guardian, Los Angeles Times, and elsewhere.
