Are you looking for a quality life insurance company with competitive underwriting, great rates, and benefits?
Protective Life Insurance Company may be a great fit to meet your needs.
Protective Life Review
As part of our review of the best life insurance companies, we cover the following:
Protective Overview
Founded in 1907, headquartered Birmingham, Alabama, Protective Life Insurance policies are issued in all states except for New York.
In New York, policies are issued by Protective Life & Annuity Insurance Company.
Since its inception, Protective Life has acquired more than 45 life insurance companies, including companies such as Empire General Life Insurance Company and West Coast Life Insurance Company.
Protective Ratings
Independent rating organizations reported the following on 11/1/2018
AM Best = A+ (2nd highest of 16)
Moody’s = A1 (5th highest of 21)
S&P = AA- (4th highest of 21)
Fitch = A+ (5th highest of 19)
Protective Life Insurance Company is available in all states except New York. Protective Life & Annuity Insurance Company handles all business in New York.
Protective Underwriting Review
Protective is competitive for most insureds without health issues. You will typically see that their rates are among the most competitive in the industry.
The cost of any riders selected needs to be compared with other companies as the cost of riders varies by company.
Protective is one of the best companies to work with for insureds age 70 or older. We have found over the years that they are tough to beat in this market.
Underwriting niches such as:
We have had success with prostate cancer histories, some cardiac issues, as well as some adult-onset diabetes cases.
Most companies including Protective look at the following as part of their underwriting – build medications, family history, driving history, medical history, nicotine usage, occupation, and adventurous hobbies.
Protective is in line with most companies underwriting and may be slightly more aggressive with insureds age 50 or older.
We’ll let you know how Protective’s life insurance underwriting works and will share the underwriting criteria with you.
Protective Product Information
Protective has a number of different types of life insurance products available including their most popular product, the Custom Choice Universal Life Insurance policy.
Instead of a traditional term life policy, the Custom Choice UL offers guarantees similar to a term life policy, but also includes other features not found with traditional term life insurance policies.
The focus is to provide a guaranteed death benefit, and this policy does not build up cash value.
Custom Choice Universal Life Insurance
Keep in mind when reviewing that the availability of all features depends on the state of issue, your age at the time of issue, the underwriting approval rate class, etc.
We’ll let you know exactly what is available to you.
Protective Life – Custom Choice Universal Life Consumer Approved
Protective Life – Available Riders – Consumer Approved
Advantage Choice Universal Life Insurance product
In addition to the Custom Choice, Protective offers the Advantage Choice UL.
Compared to the Custom Choice UL, the Advantage Choice product offers the possibility for cash value accumulation over time.
The minimum face amount of the Advantage product starts at $50,000 vs $100,000 for Custom Choice.
Protective Classic Choice Term
Protective Life recently added new term life insurance products called the Classic Choice Term.
Available in term lengths of 10, 15, 20, 25, 35 and 40-year term.
Riders Available – Accidental death benefit, children’s term life insurance rider, terminal illness accelerated death benefit rider and waiver of premium rider.
The availability of these riders depends on a number of factors including the state of issue, the age of the insured and other factors.
Pricing for the Classic Choice Term product appears to be less than the Custom Choice product, but there are other important differences between the 2 products.
Protective Riders
In addition to its products, Protective offers a number of riders that may be added to your Protective policy.
The availability of riders depends on a number of factors including the state of issue, age, underwriting rating received, occupations, etc.
Some examples of the riders available with Protective Life include:
Accidental Death Benefit Rider – provides an additional benefit in the event you died in an accident.
Children’s Term Rider – This is a low-cost way to add $1,000 – $20,000 of coverage for your children.
Extend Care Rider and Chronic Illness Accelerated Death Benefit Rider – The rider available varies by the type of product.
Advances a portion of the death benefit when the insured is unable to perform at least 2 of the Activities of Daily Living.
Disability Benefit Rider – May provide a monthly benefit in the event of total disability.
IPO – Income Provider Option – This is a rider that allows you to have the death benefit paid to your beneficiaries over a period of time rather than as a lump sum.
The potential benefit of selecting this rider when you buy insurance is that it may lower your premium costs, or allow you to select a greater death benefit for the same premium you would pay for a lump sum payout.
Protected Insurability Rider – Primarily designed for younger insureds, this rider allows you to increase the amount of coverage you have without having to provide further evidence of insurability.
Please let us know if any of these riders are of interest to you, and we will provide quotes to you with and without these riders.
Keep in mind that riders may or may not be available in your state, based on your age and rate class received, and the life insurance product chosen.
If I Die, Will Protective Life Pay My Beneficiaries?
Yes, Protective has a great claim paying history dating back to its first claim in 1909.
Protective is committed to paying your life insurance claim as quickly as possible.
Generally, claims take 3-4 weeks to pay, although there are instances where it may take longer.
Protective Conclusion
We’re here to help you with your life insurance needs and look forward to working with you.
As part of our process, we show you rates from a number of companies and its always your choice as to which company is best for your situation.
Are you a West Coast Life Insurance or Empire General Life Insurance Customer looking at conversion options or end of term options available?
We can help you. Please take a few minutes to submit your request for quotes. Thank you.
Michael J Horbal
I’m the owner of RiskQuoter. We specialize in life insurance underwriting, helping you get the best rates whether you have perfect health or a history of medical problems.
Last Updated – January 26, 2021