Liberty Mutual life insurance review: Instant policies
Liberty Mutual sold its own life insurance business in 2018 and now offers simplified issue term and whole life insurance through its partner TruStage.
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.
4.1
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 ($$$$$).
NA
The bottom line
Through its partner TruStage, Liberty Mutual offers instant issue life insurance policies in low coverage amounts without underwriting, meaning they are more expensive than traditionally underwritten life insurance policies for most people.
Note: Liberty Mutual and TruStage life insurance products are not available through the policycentral marketplace.
Pros
Instant issue life insurance options
No medical exam or underwriting required
Cons
Not available in New York State
Coverage capped at $300,000 for term life and $100,000 for whole life
Term policies are renewable, with premiums increasing every five years
Basic coverages offered
Simplified issue term life insurance: Liberty Mutual sells a five-year renewable term life insurance policy through TruStage with coverage amounts from $5,000 to $300,000. It is a "simplified issue" policy, meaning you can get covered by just answering a few medical questions online.
Simplified issue whole life insurance: Liberty Mutual sells a simplified issue whole life insurance policy through TruStage with coverage amounts from $5,000 to $100,000.
Guaranteed issue whole life: For applicants age 45 to 80, Liberty Mutual sells the TruStage Guaranteed Accepted Whole Life policy, a guaranteed issue policy that is available for coverage amounts between $2,000 and $20,000.
Additional coverages offered
Unlike most life insurance companies, Liberty Mutual’s TruStage policies do not offer any additional riders.
Ratings methodology
Customer experience
4.8/5
Our customer experience scale uses data from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) complaint index. Since Liberty Mutual’s life insurance options are offered in partnership with TruStage and underwritten by CMFG Life Insurance Company, we looked at CMFG Life Insurance Company’s ratings. Its NAIC Index score is 0.51, meaning it has fewer complaints than expected for a company of its size. (The expected score would be 1.0.)
Transparency
3.3/5
Our transparency rating scale measures how easily shoppers and policyholders can find information about Liberty Mutual’s life insurance offerings on its website. While the company makes it easy to find contact information online, we’d love to see average prices, a chat feature, and an online help center.
Financial strength
3.8/5
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. Since Liberty Mutual’s life insurance options are offered in partnership with TruStage and underwritten by CMFG Life Insurance Company, we looked at CMFG Life Insurance Company’s ratings. It has an A rating from A.M. Best, an A+ rating from Standard & Poor’s, and an A2 rating from Moody’s.
Note: Liberty Mutual does not have a price rating, as we were unable to obtain a quote for a 20-year term policy with $1 million coverage, the sample policy we use in our price rating scale.
A closer look at Liberty Mutual
Who is Liberty Mutual best for?
Liberty Mutual’s life insurance offerings through TruStage are best for people who need a small amount of coverage, need it now, and may not qualify for traditionally underwritten life insurance.
What makes Liberty Mutual unique?
It’s rare to get a whole life insurance quote online, but you can do so through Liberty Mutual’s partner TruStage. You can also get covered for either renewable term or whole life insurance without talking to an agent.
Who should consider a different life insurance company?
Most people looking for their best rates for either term or whole life insurance should consider a different company, as fully underwritten policies will almost always be more affordable if you qualify for one.
Also, level term life insurance, which has set premiums for the life of the policy and is the most common and affordable form of life insurance, is not available from TruStage. TruStage’s renewable term’s premiums increase every five years, meaning that coverage that seems affordable now may become unaffordable before your coverage needs end. Additionally, anyone who needs more than $300,000 in term coverage or $100,000 in whole life coverage will need to keep looking.
Liberty Mutual life insurance rates
Liberty Mutual and its partner TruStage do not publish their life insurance rates. Plus, they do not offer a $500,000 20-year level term policy, our standard sample policy for sharing rates. (Their term policies max out at $300,000, and offer a five-year renewable term, not a level term.)
Liberty Mutual’s history, reputation, and social responsibility
Liberty Mutual was founded in 1912 in Boston, and today is the sixth largest property and casualty insurer in the world. [1]
In 2018, it sold its individual life and annuity business to Protective and its group life insurance business to Lincoln Financial. [2]
Today, new life insurance customers are directed to TruStage to complete their life insurance application. Customers who have life insurance through Protective and are looking to purchase more via Liberty Mutual can get quotes for the Protective Series Passport Term policies. [3]
The company’s ESG pillars include increasing customer resilience, enabling sustainable growth, improving lives and communities, and advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). [4] As part of those initiatives, Liberty Mutual has a company-wide goal to increase representation of women and people of color at all levels in the U.S. by 2025. [5]
Liberty Mutual in the news
In December 2022, Computerworld named Liberty Mutual to its 2023 list of the best places to work in IT. (Liberty Mutual)
In August 2022, PEOPLE named Liberty Mutual to its list of 100 Companies Who Care. (PEOPLE)
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Liberty Mutual vs. other life insurance companies
Compare Liberty of Mutual 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.
