Protective Life Insurance Company Review
Quick Summary: Protective Life is a strong company that offers both term and permanent life insurance coverage. Their policies are affordable, and are a great fit for people who are in the preferred health class.
They also offer superior life insurance rates to people with pre-existing health conditions such as high blood pressure and heart rates, and are best known for their ability to help clients in lower health classes find affordable coverage.
What You Will Learn (click section link to jump ahead)
Protective life insurance is a company based out of Birmingham Alabama. This company has been featured in Fortune 1000 and they have made their way onto the Forbes Global 2000 list for the past 6 years.
Protective operates in all 50 states and they have done so since they were founded in 1907. Since that time this company has remained competitive and are one of the least expensive options for any applicant over the age of 50.
Protective Life Insurance Company has very affordable term life insurance policies and they have a unique permanent life insurance policy that allows children and grandparents to receive coverage under the original parental policy.
Protective Financial Ratings
S&P
A.M. Best
Fitch
Moody’s
ComDex
JD Power
As you can see, Protective Life is rated very highly when it comes to financial strength, and they also have a very good history of customer satisfaction and claims payout.
JD Power is pretty disciplined when it comes to their rankings, with no life insurance company on the market obtaining a rating higher than 4/5.
Protective Term Life Insurance Policies
Protective Custom Choice Term
Protective life insurance has term policies that provide you with temporary coverage spanning between a policy length of 10 years up to 30 years. Term life insurance can be used to provide financial security for income replacement, business preservation, or children’s education.
Protective Life insurance offers term policies starting at $100,000. These policies are less expensive than permanent policies, but they do not build cash value.
The protective Classic Choice term life insurance product can be converted to a permanent policy once it expires without undergoing a medical exam. It provides income tax-free death benefits for your beneficiaries in coverage amount up to 50 million dollars.
This policy comes with the terminal illness benefit so you can take advantage of accelerated death benefits in your state if you are diagnosed with a terminal illness.
This term life policy is best for people who:
Need coverage for a certain period of time only Are looking for affordable term coverage May be looking to switch to ART after their term is through
Pros
When your coverage expires, it becomes Annual Renewable Term coverage (ART), however, rather than rates increasing, your death benefit decreases, with a minimum value of $10,000. Affordable coverage options with the availability to convert into a permanent Universal Life policy Very high coverage amounts for those who qualify, up to $50,000,000
Protective Permanent Life Insurance Policies
Protective Advantage Choice UL
Product Name
Advantage Choice Universal
Coverage Length
Permanent through age 121
Protective’s Advantage Choice Universal is a universal life insurance policy, meaning that it offers permanent life protection similar to that of a whole life policy, with the additional benefit of flexible premiums which can be adjusted by the insured throughout the life of the policy.
This policy also gives the insured the choice to lock in level premiums through the age of 90, at which point, your premiums will be paid in full and you will no longer have to pay for your policy.
If you anticipate changing financial needs throughout your lifetime this would be a much better option.
You will have the flexibility to increase your coverage when you are paying off a mortgage and then increase your premiums when you have more disposable income, and maybe reduce your coverage when you no longer need to provide your loved ones with money for final expenses.
This is a tax-deferred cash value account, so you can increase the premiums you pay so that you can increase the potential cash value you earn at whatever point you have more disposable income.
This type of universal life insurance policy is best for someone who:
Wants permanent life coverage with guaranteed cash value growth Wants level premiums
Pros
Level premiums through age 90Permanent life coverage through age 121Cash value accumulation
Protective Indexed Choice ul
Coverage Length
Permanent through age 121
This is Protective’s indexed universal life insurance policy, meaning that the growth of your cash value is tied to the performance of an index fund in the stock market.
This type of permanent life insurance policy is recommended for someone who:
Has investment experience Wants a bit more control over their cash value growth Is willing to take a bit more risk when it comes to their cash value
Much of this policy is similar to the various Universal policies offered by Protective, with the main difference being the minimum face amount of $100,000.
Pros
Guaranteed minimum gains of 0% to protect in bad market years Can have more cash value gains in good market years Can switch your premiums as time goes on
Protective Variable Universal
Coverage Length
Permanent through age 121
Variable Universal life insurance is designed to allow you to gain cash value through various sub-accounts that are invested in the stock market. These sub-accounts are similar to mutual funds in terms of their performance and their makeup.
As far as the technicals like age, maximum policy amount, and riders go, this policy is nearly identical to Protective’s other Universal Life product offerings.
Variable universal life insurance offered by Protective is also good through age 121, and premiums can be adjusted as needed throughout the life of the policy.
This type of variable universal life insurance policy is best for someone who:
Is more experienced with investment vehicles Is open to more risk with their cash value vehicles Has a need for permanent life coverage
Pros
Can have higher cash value gains Minimum cash value gains of 0% to protect you in bad markets Ability to adjust your premiums Permanent life coverage through age 121
Protective Survivorship Universal Life
Product Name
Survivorship Universal Life
Coverage Length
Permanent through age 100 or 121
Survivorship life insurance offers life coverage for spouses.
Protective offers a type of joint life insurance called second-to-die life insurance (which is also known as survivorship life). This provides a death benefit for the beneficiary upon the death of the remaining spouse once the first one has already passed.
With this you can add your spouse to your existing policy instead of purchasing a separate policy for your spouse. If you are looking for a way to protect yourself and someone else this is going to be a cheaper option compared to taking out two separate plans.
For couples who are both healthy, this type of life insurance policy is typically cheaper than purchasing two separate life policies.
This type of life insurance policy is best for couples who:
Have a child with permanent care needs Are trying to protect their assets in a trust or estate after their deaths ââ
Pros
Great way for spouses to establish trusts and estates Cheaper than two life insurance policies for individuals
Protective Life Insurance Rates
Let’s take a look at some Protective life insurance rates for whole life and term life insurance policies.
Keep in mind that these rates are for people who are in the preferred health class and who are non-smokers. Those in lower health classes or who are tobacco users will experience higher rates.
Gender / Age
Face Value / Policy
Monthly Cost
What is Protective Life Insurance Best For?
People with health conditions
Protective Life insurance is perfect for people with health conditions, particularly people with a history of heart disease. They are one of the most lenient companies for these categories. If you have ever had any type of bypass surgery, heart attack, or heart disease the premiums you are offered are going to be between 25 and 40% lower than the competitors on average.
Protective life insurance is very lenient with cholesterol levels so anyone who has high cholesterol can still apply and get reasonable rates. This company focuses more heavily on having a good cholesterol to bad cholesterol ratio even if your total number is up to 275.
This company will give you extra consideration to improve the premium you are charged if you are disqualified from a premium health class rating because of cholesterol, BMI, or blood pressure. If you were diagnosed with diabetes or you have high blood sugar you can still receive competitive rates from this company.
Tobacco Users
This company is also great for those who use tobacco on an occasional basis. People who used cigars from time to time will still be placed into the non-smoker category and will not be penalized for occasional tobacco use.
People Over 50 Years old
Regardless of health, anyone who was over the age of 50 will find the most favorable rates from this company most of the time. For that reason, anyone who is older and applying for new coverage would do well to consider this company.
Pros and Cons of Protective Life Insurance Company
Pros
Affordable life insurance for people with health conditions such as heart disease and high blood pressure Great selection of permanent life insurance policies such as universal life and indexed universal life Good coverage options for spouse life insurance Quick and easy underwriting process Great discount rates for people with preferred health ratings Very high coverage amounts up to $50,000,000Affordable life insurance coverage for people over 50
Cons
Not a lot of good term life insurance options Not a lot of no exam or simplified issue life insurance options
Extras, Add-ons, and Riders
Protective Life has some solid add-ons and additional benefits which allow them to remain very competitive in terms of rates and what they offer in their policies.
Income Option Rider
This option allows the policyholder to provide the death benefit of their beneficiary in installments on a yearly basis rather than as one lump sum. This allows for Protective to keep their premiums very low because they pay out less in benefits in a given year than some other companies, giving them longer to use that money to re-invest.
Accelerated Death Benefit
âAccess a percentage of the death benefit while the insured is still living in the case of serious illness. No additional premium is required but there is a small administrative fee to activate.
The future death benefit will be reduced by the amount of accelerated benefits taken. Qualification requires the diagnosis of a certified medical professional and will apply towards:
Critical IllnessChronic IllnessTerminal Illness
Waiver of Premium Rider
This rider allows you to waive the premium of your life insurance if you are diagnosed with a terminal or critical illness as described above.
Term Conversion Rider
This allows you to convert your term life insurance policy into a permanent policy as described in the term life insurance policy section. This converted policy is a Universal Life policy with level premiums and guaranteed cash value growth.
How Does Protective Life Insurance Compare to the Competition?
Below is a sample for a male, 50 years old, 5â 7â, 160 pounds.
Said applicant has no tobacco use, no familial health issues but has been treated for high blood pressure with a systolic/diastolic rate of 140/90. The term policy is for 20 years with $500,000 in coverage.
This is an example of the same male, but with a 15 year term policy:
By comparison turning to this company can save you quite a bit of money especially if you smoke from time to time or have any of the health issues mentioned above.
How to Find the Best Life Insurance Policy for You
The best advice I can give is to always work with an independent agent. If you call a company direct, they’ll only push their products on you, and you save nothing. Rates are fixed by your state laws.
Life insurance is the ONLY thing we do. We know the ins and out of 60+ companies and can find you the lowest rates. Every. Single. Time.
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