Banner Life Insurance Review

Banner Life Insurance Company is headquartered in Frederick, Maryland, under its parent company, Legal & General America. Banner Life offers life insurance policies in 49 states and Washington, D.C. William Penn covers New York and is the other company under Legal & General. Combined, the company insures more than 1.5 million policyholders nationwide.

Banner Life is known for its affordability, excellent third-party rankings, generous term conversion options and being one of a few companies offering 40-year term life insurance policies. Although it offers fewer riders than other insurers, it’s rated highly by third parties for customer service and financial stability.

Life insurance is a binding agreement between an individual, known as the policyholder, and an insurance provider. The policyholder agrees to make regular premium payments, while the insurer agrees to pay out a death benefit to named beneficiaries in the event of the policyholder’s death. The policyholder’s age, gender, health status and lifestyle choices determine the premium price and policy payout.

Whole life insurance policies have a cash value in addition to the death benefit, functioning as a savings or investment account that earns interest and can be borrowed against in certain situations.

You can learn about the basics of life insurance here. When shopping for a life insurance policy:

• Choose term or permanent life insurance
• Identify potential whole life or term riders to customize the policy for you.
• Determine the amount of coverage and time you need it.
• Ensure competitive quotes are for the same coverage.
• Check each company’s financial health and customer ratings.

Banner Life offers these types of policies.

Term Life Insurance

Term life insurance is a policy that lets a policyholder buy coverage for a specific period, generally between 10 and 30 years. If the insured person passes away during that period, the insurance company will pay a predetermined amount to the beneficiaries named in the policy. When the policy period ends, the policy is no longer in force.

Many companies offer term insurance policies, and you can see our best term life insurance providers here.

Banner offers term life policies in periods ranging from 10 to 40 years.

This type of policy is generally more affordable than permanent life insurance. Banner uses the brand name OPTerm to identify its term life policies.

OPTerm policies are convertible to permanent insurance and renewable after the term expires. You can convert term coverage to permanent life insurance until the end of the term you selected or until you turn 70, whichever happens first. Term policies are available to applicants up to 75 years old and come with a terminal illness accelerated benefit rider at no additional cost.

Although Banner’s term policies are renewable, your coverage will decrease if you renew past the term you selected.

Universal Life Insurance

Universal life insurance is a permanent life insurance policy that provides coverage for the policyholder’s entire life as long as premiums are kept up to date. Universal life policies also have a cash value component that term policies do not, meaning you can borrow against the premiums you’ve paid into the policy in most cases.

Banner Life Insurance offers a universal life insurance policy called Life Step UL. It has flexible payment options and death benefits. In addition, if you have a Banner term life policy, this is the permanent coverage you can convert it to.

A “short-pay” option lets the policy owner increase premiums to pay up the policy in a shorter amount of time and still have lifetime coverage. You can pay more upfront and less in retirement or in other ways that work best for your situation.

Banner life policies have an account value with a guaranteed minimum interest rate. This policy also automatically includes an accelerated death benefit rider for terminal illnesses.

Banner Life Insurance Riders

Banner’s selection of riders is somewhat limited compared to other insurers. The company offers these add-ons to help you customize your policy.

• Children’s rider. This is for policyholders who want to provide life insurance coverage for their children. It covers all eligible children until their 25th birthday in the event of a child’s death or until the policyholder turns 65. This rider is not available in New York or Maryland.
• Waiver of Premium rider. This option allows you to continue coverage without having to pay premiums if you experience a total disability that lasts for at least six months. It expires when you turn 65 years old.
• Terminal Illness rider is included in policies at no cost. It makes it easier for you to care for loved ones by advancing the lesser of up to 75% of your policy value or $500,000 of the death benefit if you are diagnosed with a terminal illness.

Life insurance rates are competitively priced throughout the industry. While each insurer has its own underwriting methods to determine policy costs, several factors are standard across the board. The premium you pay will normally depend on the following:

• Age
• Health conditions and medical history
• Gender
• Lifestyle
• Policy type
• Coverage amount
• Credit standing

You can get a Banner Life term life insurance quote online. However, you must contact an agent to purchase a universal life policy. You can find a local agent on the website’s agent locator tool.

*Quotes are run based on $100,000 in coverage for a 25-year-old male with preferred, non-tobacco health ratings.

We read more than 100 customer reviews for Banner life insurance on trusted review sites like TrustPilot and the Better Business Bureau. This allows us to compare real experiences and gain insight into the brand’s customer satisfaction.

Legal & General is ranked highly by many reviewers. Customers frequently called attention to the helpful and friendly staff, an easy application process and affordable pricing. Here are a few recent reviews:

“Really friendly and professional staff, not pushy at all, really knowledgeable and helpful. The online system is easy to use and clear. New policy taken out easily.”  —Jacqueline Sumner via TrustPilot

“Very easy to get a quote and buy the product. The only thing I was unsure about was the lack of confirmation after purchasing the product. It took a few days to go through the system and show up on the portal.” —AMH via TrustPilot

Some customers, however, had negative feedback to share.

“I was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer in March and given 10 to 12 months to live. I applied for my critical illness coverage in May and am still waiting for a decision on whether I am entitled to it. That’s four months it’s taken so far, and they have all the information they need. Hopefully, I get a response before my time is up! I have given the stars for the polite employees who seem embarrassed by how long the company is taking to sort this out.” —S. Pelling via TrustPilot

“Three weeks, three conversations about the same thing, I cannot register/access my pension due to incorrect DOB. I was promised it would be done ASAP on the last conversation, and still nothing. Complaint submitted but no response, and I still cannot access my pension!” —Helen via TrustPilot

Here’s how Banner Life compares to a few other life insurance providers.

Banner Life Insurance is one of America’s largest and most stable providers. It is a good option for many people with affordable term life policies, generous conversion options and an adjustable death benefit. It is one of the few insurers to offer a 40-year term period. Banner also scores well with a low NAIC Complaint Index, indicating that most customers are satisfied with how Banner has treated them.

Although Banner has few downsides, it’s not a great option if you want permanent life insurance, and its selection of riders is lacking, so policy customization is somewhat limited. You’ll need to find another company if you’re looking for anything other than term or universal life insurance.

We recommend gathering quotes from at least three life insurers to be sure of your decision before purchasing a policy from Banner or any other life insurer.

Bret Colson is a public relations professional and journalist with more than 30 years of diverse experience.Bret’s background includes senior management roles in public administration and publishing and as the head of his successful consulting practice. Bret currently serves as Senior Editor for Redbird Advisors which serves numerous insurance and financial services companies focusing on advanced life insurance such as bank owned life insurance, key man and buy-sell agreements as well as other ways businesses deploy life insurance.

Mike Miller is a writer with a decade of experience producing product and service content to help consumers make informed purchasing decisions. Mike has a bachelor’s degree in creative advertising. In his spare time, Mike enjoys riding and fixing motorcycles, reading a good book and spending time with his wife and two cats.