Best Life Insurance Companies in California for 2023
Traditional insurers and more recent internet-based organizations are represented in our ranking of the top life insurance carriers in California. Our top-ranked insurer in California, Bestow, provides term insurance without a medical exam. In our analysis, State Farm and USAA are the top insurance providers for entire and universal coverage.
Bestow and Haven Life, the top two suppliers in our ranking, are web-based. This indicates that the entirety of your application—possibly with the possible exception of a medical examination for a Haven Life policy—will be submitted online. Only term life insurance is provided by both companies.
Digital insurance provider Haven Life offers coverage underwritten by either MassMutual or C.M. Life, a division of MassMutual. Bestow is a digital insurance agency that sells policies issued by the North American firm for Life and Health Insurance as well as an insurance firm that provides its own policies.
The remaining businesses in our rating are more conventional insurance providers, like State Farm and Nationwide. The organization that issues the policies marketed by Haven Life, MassMutual, also determines the rating.
In our ranking of the top whole and universal life insurance providers, State Farm and USAA are tied for first place if you’re looking for a permanent life insurance coverage. As long as payments are paid, permanent life insurance policies typically last for the duration of the insured’s life and accrue cash value. This sets them apart from term life insurance policies. Both of them also offer term and no-exam insurance.
Unlike its car, renter, or homeowner plans, which are solely offered to members of the military community, USAA’s life insurance products are accessible to the general public.
What Are the Best Term Life Insurance Companies in California?
Our assessment places Bestow as California’s top term life insurance provider. This online business exclusively offers term life insurance. Its plans come in terms of between 10 and 30 years with coverage up to $1.5 million, but there is no provision for adding riders.
Haven Life is ranked No. 2 right behind Bestow. Two separate term insurance are available from Haven Life: one that typically necessitates a medical checkup and one that does not. While the no-exam policy’s coverage is capped at $1 million, the policy that requires a medical exam covers coverage up to $3 million.
State Farm and USAA, tied for third place, and Nationwide and MassMutual, tied for fifth place, make up the top five.
The short duration of a term life insurance policy is one of its distinguishing features. The top five businesses provide term insurance with terms between 10 and 30 years. For instance, if the insured has a 20-year term insurance, that indicates that, provided premiums are paid, the policy will only be in effect for 20 years. The insurance company will pay the recipient the death benefit if the insured passes away during the term. No death benefit is paid if the insured passes away after the policy’s term has ended.
What Are the Best Whole Life Insurance Companies in California?
State Farm and USAA are the top-rated providers of whole life insurance in our ranking. Following them in a tie for third place are Nationwide and MassMutual.
As long as premium payments are current, a whole life insurance policy normally builds cash value, lasts for the insured’s lifetime, and has the potential to produce dividends.
The cash value of an insurance is distinct from its death benefit. The premiums paid, interest gained on the account, and occasionally dividends paid by the insurance company all contribute to the value’s gradual accumulation. Because portion of the premiums go toward the policy’s cash value, a whole life policy may be more expensive than a term policy.
There are several ways the policyholder can use the policy’s cash value. It can be used to pay the policy’s premiums. In other circumstances, the policyholder may borrow against the cash value. If those money are not returned, the death benefit would be decreased in both cases.
The finest universal life insurance providers are tied for first place with State Farm and USAA. MassMutual and Nationwide are tied for third place. While State Farm, USAA, and MassMutual each offer three different universal life insurance options, Nationwide offers five.
Universal life is a kind of permanent life insurance, like whole life insurance, that often has a cash value and will endure for the insured’s lifetime as long as premiums are paid. The difference between the two is that universal policies often provide more flexibility. Depending on the policy, you may be able to change your death benefit and premiums after the insurance goes into force. For instance, you might reduce your premium payments if your income dropped and you had enough cash value to make up the difference.
Various kinds of universal life insurance exist as well, including indexed universal life (IUL) and variable universal life (VUL). The interest rate for the cash value of an IUL policy is dependent on market index rates. The cash value of a VUL insurance may be invested in securities such as equities, bonds, and money market mutual funds. If the investments perform poorly, this could slow the growth of your cash value and, depending on the policy, the death benefit. However, it can also boost the rate at which it grows.
