Ladderlife.com / Ladder Review – Pros & Cons
- idelgadoaristud
- Apr 19, 2020
- 4 min read
Updated: Nov 9, 2022
TERM LIFE INSURANCE FOR THE DIGITAL GENERATION
While Ladder Financial is a relatively young startup, founded in California in 2017, its policies are underwritten by Fidelity Security Life Insurance Company, a well-established insurer. Fidelity Security has an Excellent (A-) financial strength rating from A.M. Best, indicating the company is capable of paying any claims by policyholders.
What does Ladder offer?
Online application process. No need to get an appointment with an insurance agent.
Ladder offers level term life insurance policies, meaning premiums don't change for the entire term length of the policy. Policies are available with term lengths of 10 to 30 years.
Life insurance is only offered to those between the ages of 20 and 60.
Policies are available to all U.S. citizens in the 50 states.
You can purchase a term policy from Ladder with a face value between $100,000 and $8 million. This is significantly more coverage than you can typically purchase without a medical exam. With Haven Life, for example, offers up to $3 million in coverage without an exam. they're a great option for those who need a large amount of life insurance coverage.
Some applicants will receive an immediate decision. Some applicants may need to take a medical exam before receiving an approval.
Flexibility - Ability to increase or decrease coverage online as your financial needs change.
If you only need your coverage extended for a short period of time, Ladder also gives you the option to renew your policy annually for up to five years. However, your premiums will increase over what they were initially.
Pros
If you are young and healthy, this is a good policy for you. Remember that you are bypassing two steps as compared to policies sold by an insurance agent (who is representing the company during the underwriting process when filling the application for life insurance) plus the phone interview required on some life insurance products (to verify that there were no errors in the application).
Ladder offers great online term life insurance coverage with competitive rates, particularly if you want a policy with a face value over $1 million.
Rates are better than average when compared to those of the top insurers given they eliminate policy fee and commissions to agencies and insurance agents.
An easy to use online life insurance application and management system.
Fast underwriting decisions. LadderLife controls the underwriting and risk analysis. The application takes around 20 minutes to complete. When done, the applicant will either receive an approval, a rejection, or a request for a medical exam at no expense to you.
Flexible to change terms and to increase or decrease face values.
LadderLife does have a live chat option (with actual people) as well as a phone number posted to call in a call center where representatives are salaried, not commissioned, so their role is to help, not to sell.
Cons
Only represents one A- company per state– Fidelity Security Life Insurance Company and Allianz Life Insurance Company of New York to issue policies in New York. No ability to compare other company’s costs.
Not eligible if younger than 20 or older than age 60.
Only term life insurance policies. No permanent life insurance, universal life insurance, guaranteed universal life insurance or final expenses.
No riders or supplementary coverage - no return of premiums, no riders for cancer, total disability, annuities, accidental health, waiver of premiums, no life benefits for terminal, critical or chronic conditions.
There is limited educational information on their website.
Frequently Asked Questions About Ladder
Can I still get coverage even if I’ve had some health problems? The only way to know for sure is by filling an application since each customer is underwritten individually and receives a price based on many factors – (medical history, current health, age, and gender). It is possible to be denied coverage due to health issues, but I recommend you to be honest when filling the application. It is better to be denied during the application process than your family receiving a denied death claim because you omitted to mention something that was asked during the application process.
Will applying to Ladder hurt my credit score? – No. The request for this data is only a soft credit inquiry and doesn’t impact your credit.
Does Ladder have good customer service? – YES. Their website portal is very efficient in handling the life insurance application / underwriting process. They have live chat and a phone number to call if you need or want to speak to someone.
Are there any customer complaints about Ladder? – Any insurance can have complaints. Check the reviews on your state insurance department. Also google for news for Ladder Insurance.
Is the Ladder website good, safe and reliable to use when buying life insurance? Well, if you are too concerned about this, I would recommend you to get an appointment with a life insurance agent. Some people find it more trustworthy to make business face to face. However, always ask for credentials. In my experience since 2002 as a life insurance agent only a handful of prospects have asked me to show my credentials to them.
by Ignacio Delgado-Aristud on April 18th, 2020
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