Fidelity Life Insurance Review | 2024

Fidelity Life Association, founded in 1896, offers term and permanent life insurance policies with several options for no-exam coverage and a smooth online interface for quoting rates. While the company has fewer riders and lower term coverage limits than some competitors, it stands out for its insurance options for seniors — including senior term, senior whole life and final expense policies.

Fidelity Life’s guaranteed issue policy and standalone accidental death coverage make it a contender if you’ve been turned down for term life insurance or you need quick, affordable coverage due to health conditions or terminal illness. 

But if customer service is a top priority for you, you may want to look at other life insurance providers. Fidelity Life isn’t ranked on the J.D. Power 2022 U.S. Individual Life Insurance StudySM, and it receives more than the average number of life insurance complaints in the U.S. market. It earned an A- financial strength rating from AM Best.

Life insurance is a contract between you, the policyholder, and an insurance carrier. Under that contract, the carrier agrees to pay a death benefit or sum of money to your designated beneficiaries if you die while your policy is active. Fidelity Life offers a mix of life insurance coverage options, including term and permanent policies.

Term Life Insurance

Term life insurance provides a death benefit for a limited amount of time, known as the term. A term typically lasts between 10 and 30 years and is designed to cover the period of your life when your financial obligations are the greatest. Because the death benefit is lost if you outlive your policy, term life insurance is more affordable than permanent life insurance.

Fidelity Life offers two term policies, which are not convertible to its permanent life insurance products.

• RAPIDecision Life Insurance: This policy offers $50,000 to $2 million in coverage to applicants aged 18 to 65. It features 10-, 15-, 20- and 30-year terms. It also offers day-one blended protection, including a mix of accident and all-cause coverage. You have six months to undergo the full underwriting process, including a medical exam, to receive full all-cause coverage.
• RAPIDecision Senior Life Term Insurance: This policy offers $10,000 to $150,000 in coverage to applicants aged 50 to 70. It features 10-, 20- and 30-year terms. Applicants must answer questions about their health but do not have to take a medical exam in most cases. The policy provides partial coverage for three years, with the full death benefit unlocking in year four. 

Whole Life Insurance

Whole or permanent life insurance offers a death benefit that does not expire as long as you pay your premiums. In addition, a portion of your premiums subsidizes a savings component, known as cash value, that accumulates money you can withdraw, borrow against or use to pay future premiums.

Fidelity Life offers various simplified issue permanent life policies, which we explain in more detail below. 

• RAPIDecision Senior Whole Life Insurance: This is ideal for people aged 50 to 85 who want enough permanent coverage to take care of lingering financial obligations like paying off a mortgage or a kid’s college education. The death benefit ranges from $10,000 to $150,000, depending on your age, and fully kicks in after year three. A medical exam is not required, but you must answer simple questions about your health.
• RAPIDecison Final Expense Insurance: This policy’s small death benefit of $5,000 to $35,000 is meant for paying burial costs, medical bills or credit card debt. It’s available to anyone 50 to 85 years old, and applications are often approved within days. It doesn’t require an exam, but you’ll be asked about your health and medical history. Your answers may impact insurance rates and eligibility.
• RAPIDecision Guaranteed Issue Life Insurance: If you’re worried that serious health issues or lifestyle choices may impact your insurance eligibility or rates, this policy may be ideal. It covers anyone between the ages of 50 and 85 with no underwriting, exam or health questions. It offers the smallest death benefit payout, up to $25,000, which fully kicks in after year three.
• Accidental Death Benefit: Similar to a life insurance policy, this standalone benefit only pays its face value if you die due to a covered accident, such as a traffic accident, firearm accident or homicide. It does not cover death from natural causes. The policy covers individuals ages 20 to 59 for $50,000 to $300,000. There is no medical exam and approval is guaranteed within the covered age range.

Fidelity Life Insurance Riders

To supplement your life insurance policy, Fidelity Life offers several optional add-ons, called riders. These can help you further protect your loved ones financially and include several death benefit riders and other coverages:

• Accidental death benefit 
• Family accidental death benefit
• Child insurance policy
• Return of premium
• Terminal illness rider and accelerated death benefit
• Inflation rider

Note that some of these riders are automatically included in certain policies.

The cost of a Fidelity Life insurance policy depends on your policy type and coverage amount, as well as personal attributes like your age and health. Whole life policies cost more than their term life counterparts, and the more coverage you need, the more you’ll pay. Term length also determines premiums for term policies, with shorter terms being more affordable options.

Besides policy details, insurers consider information about the applicant during the underwriting process. Depending on the Fidelity Life insurance policy you apply for, this can include taking a medical exam or answering questions about your:

• Age
• Gender
• Health
• Pre-existing or chronic conditions
• Lifestyle
• Dangerous hobbies
• Driving record
• Location

To help clarify how different factors affect policy rates, we received an online quote for RAPIDecision term life insurance as a 30-year-old man in good health with no smoking history. The quote was $34.80 per month for a 20-year term and $500,000 in coverage.

As part of our life insurance provider review process, we read more than 100 customer reviews on aggregator sites like Trustpilot and the Better Business Bureau (BBB). This provides insight into the experiences of real policyholders.

Fidelity Life features a mix of positive and negative reviews on both sites. We’ve included a few examples of satisfied reviews below, which commonly mention quick claims and affordable prices.

“Thank you, Fidelity, for getting me through my most difficult time. The loss of my husband was devastating, but your claim process made all the financial things so simple. I did receive my check and everything was handled in a courteous manner. Within two weeks, the process was done. Again, thank you! I am grateful.” 

— Dowsing L., via the BBB

“My parents passed away and Fidelity Life handled everything that needed taking care of immediately. It took a lot of the pressure off us knowing that they were covered and taken care of, even in death. I do recommend them, truly!” 

— Farlena J., via the BBB

Other customer reviews, such as those below, complain about the company’s communication tactics, from difficulty reaching representatives to repeatedly receiving unwanted marketing emails. When we reached out to Fidelity Life about the negative reviews, the company did not provide a comment.

“Continuous email spamming without the ability to unsubscribe or contact anyone is a pretty clear indicator that this is a less-than-reputable company. It is ridiculous, and the one star is [merely] a nod to the fact that, somehow, they must be an actual company of some sort.” 

— Bob J., via the BBB

“Been in the insurance business [for] 48 years, worked with over 40 companies, [and] this company is the worst! It took 1 hour and 31 minutes [and] 12 different ‘reps’ to get one piece of paper… [I] got disconnected eight times! Unbelievable!”

— Dennis B., via the BBB

Because of its relatively high issue age ranges and low face amounts, Fidelity Life is a solid choice for older applicants who want a small amount of coverage quickly. The company’s smooth online experience and availability of agents on standby make the purchasing experience easy to navigate. 

Coverage often starts within days of application, and the provider allows applicants up to six months to take a medical exam on policies that require it. However, customer service may be lacking after you purchase your policy. 

No life insurance company will tick every box for every consumer. That’s why it’s important to do your research to ensure you will be satisfied with a policy and its provider. We recommend gathering insurance quotes from at least three carriers before selecting the policy that best fits your needs.