Guardian’s dividend payments to eligible policyholders make it a good choice for whole life.
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
Whole life shoppers will be happy with Guardian's dividend payouts. Term shoppers can find competitive rates, but will have to take a medical exam, as there is no no-med term option.
Note: Guardian products are not available through the policycentral marketplace.
Pros
Affordable rates
Dividend-paying whole life policy
Term and whole life options for people who are HIV positive
Cons
No no-med option for term life
$250,000 term coverage minimum may be too high for some
Basic coverages offered
Term life insurance: Guardian sells term life insurance for terms of 10, 15, 20 or 30 years for people age 20 to 65. Coverage is available from $250,000 up to $5 million.
Whole life insurance: Guardian offers a number of payment plans for its whole life insurance policies, including 10 Pay and 20 Pay. Also, as a mutual company, its policies pay dividends to eligible policyholders.
Universal life insurance: Guardian also sells universal life insurance, a type of permanent life insurance with flexible premiums.
Survivorship life insurance: Guardian offers a survivorship life insurance policy called Guardian EstateGuard. Survivorship plans cover two people and pay out when the second person dies.
Additional coverages offered
Accelerated death benefit rider: Included for no additional cost, the ADB rider provides a portion of the death benefit if you’re diagnosed with a terminal illness.
Waiver of premium rider: For an additional cost, the waiver of premium rider waives premiums during a period of disability.
Charitable benefit rider: For no additional cost, adds an extra 1%, up to $100,000, to your death benefit to be paid out to the charity of your if your beneficiaries make a claim.
Ratings methodology
Price
4.2/5
Our price rating scale compares insurance companies' life insurance rates for a sample $1 million 20-year term policy for a 35-year-old female non-smoker with a Standard Plus health classification. Guardian’s rates put it in the second most affordable category according to our rating system.
Customer experience
4.8/5
Our customer experience scale uses data from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) complaint index. Guardian has a score of at 0.63, which means it receives fewer complaints than expected for a company of its size. (That number would be 1.0.)
Transparency
3.7/5
Our transparency rating scale measures how easily shoppers and policyholders can find information about an insurer on its website. Guardian gets points for having clear contact information and displaying company and financial ratings information, but loses points for not making basic details about its policies clear on its website.
Financial strength
5.0/5
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. Guardian has an A++ rating from A.M. Best, a AA+ rating from Standard & Poor’s, and an Aa1 rating from Moody’s.
A closer look at Guardian
Who is Guardian best for?
Guardian can be a good option for people who are shopping for whole life insurance because, as a mutual company, its whole life policies are dividend-paying.
Who should consider a different life insurance company?
People looking for no-med term life insurance will need to look elsewhere, as Guardian requires a medical exam for all term life applicants. Anyone who needs less than $250,000 in term coverage will need to look elsewhere as well.
Guardian life insurance rates
Guardian does not publish its term life insurance rates.
Guardian’s history, reputation, and social responsibility
Guardian was founded in 1860 as the Germania Life Insurance Company of America, and became the Guardian Life insurance Company of America in 1918. In 1925, it converted to a mutual company owned by its policyholders.
The company later expanded into employee benefits, including disability insurance, vision, dental, and hearing, and now offers many of those policies to individuals, too. [1]
Today the company has 7,700 employees and is based in New York City. It has paid dividends to eligible whole life policyholders each year since 1868. It tracks its sustainability and equity initiatives through an executive-level ESG Council. [2]
Guardian in the news
In December 2022, Guardian paid eligible policyholders $1.26 billion, the largest dividend in the company’s history. (Guardian)
In January 2021, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Foundation named Guardian a Best Place to Work for LGBTQ Equality. (Guardian)
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Guardian vs. other life insurance companies
Compare Guardian 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.
