Banner Life Insurance Review

About Banner Life Insurance

Banner Life Insurance Co. is a subsidiary of Legal & General Group and is based in Frederick, Maryland. In New York, Legal & General sells life insurance through William Penn Life Insurance Co.

Banner Life sells term and universal life insurance for individuals, and group annuities to retirement plan participants. Its life insurance policies are available through independent life insurance agents.

Banner Life term life insurance

Banner’s term life insurance options are unique because the company offers especially long lengths of term life policies that others don’t -- 35-year and 40-year terms (except in New York). You can apply for the 40-year term life policy up to age 45 if you don’t use tobacco and up to age 40 if you do.

Other term length choices from Banner are 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30 years.

Banner’s term life policies are also competitively priced.

Here are features available with a term life policy from Banner Life:

Accelerated death benefit rider automatically included: Lets you access the death benefit before death if you develop certain illnesses, such as a terminal illness.
Disability waiver of premium rider: Waives the premium payments if the policy owner gets a long-term disability. This is available on term life policies of 10, 15 and 20 years.
Children’s rider: Covers eligible children up to age 25, or until the insured person’s 65th birthday.
Convertible: You can convert your Banner term life policy to a Banner universal life insurance policy.
Renewable: You can continue to renew your Banner term life policy after the initial level term period. For example, if you bought a 20-year policy, your premiums remain the same for 20 years. After that you can continue to renew the policy every year at an increased premium, up to age 95.

Banner Life’s financial strength is rated A+ (Superior) by A.M. Best.

Complaints against Banner Life

Complaints against Banner Life about individual life insurance in 2018 were well below the industry median.

Banner Life insurance pricing

Life insurance quotes are based primarily on your health. Life insurance companies often calculate pricing for health conditions and lifestyle issues very differently. Here’s a quick look at some of Banner Life’s pricing:

Smokers: If you’ve quit for three years, you can be considered for the best non-smoking rates (called “preferred plus”).

Cigar smokers: You can get the best non-tobacco rates if you don’t smoke more than one cigar a month and have not used other tobacco use for at least three years.

Marijuana users: You can get average (“standard”) tobacco rates, or possibly higher rates depending on how often you use marijuana.

Scuba divers: You can be considered for the best rates if dives are not more than 100 feet and other criteria are met.

In addition to the premiums for a policy, Banner charges a $60 annual policy fee.

Banner Life Insurance contact information

Headquarters:
3275 Bennett Creek Avenue
Frederick, MD 21704
Website (Legal & General)
Banner Life customer service: 800-638-8428

Posted June 3, 2019