Policygenius is a leading online life insurance comparison company that helps you get the best life insurance policy that most appropriately suits your needs. This Policygenius review will go over the company’s current services, pros and cons, the competition, and more.
Policygenius has the technology and the know how to help you sort through the dozens of different carriers and thousands of different policies so you don’t have to, for free. The alternative is to apply to each carrier one by one and waste a ton of time and money.
Policygenius Review By Financial Samurai
Policygenius is a startup company that was founded in July 2014 by Francois de Lame and his partner Jennifer Fitzgerald, an ex-Mckinsey Consulting professional who went to Harvard Business School. I’ve met them both to discuss their business and expansion, and they are great people.
The company has raised $161 million in funding to date, most recently securing $100 million from KKR in January 2020. In 2022, I wouldn’t be surprised if Policygenius goes public through a SPAC or an IPO. Policygenius has expanded far beyond life insurance to also offer homeowner’s insurance, rental insurance, and more.
What Does Policygenius Do?
At its core, Policygenius is an insurance marketplace. What does that mean? Think of Policygenius like an online store that has different types of products (insurance) for sale from all the best brands (insurance companies).
As a consumer, you can look around comparing various insurance offerings and their prices. Best of all, you can do so for free from anywhere in the world with an internet connection.
Policygenius started out focusing on its life insurance marketplace. For example, they feature term life insurance policies that range from 5 years to 30 year durations. Coverage amounts range between $25,000 and $10,000,000. So there’s something for everyone.
Compared to permanent life insurance, term life insurance policies are suitable for most people due to their simplicity and lower cost.
In addition to life insurance, Policygenius also provides consumers with access to many other insurance types, including:
- Renters insurance
- Homeowners insurance
- Disability Insurance
- Long-Term Care Insurance
- Auto Insurance
- Wills and Trusts
- Health Insurance
- Prescription Discount Cards
- Vision Insurance
- Travel Insurance
- Jewelry Insurance
- Identify Theft Insurance
Related: Check out this Policygenius Company Update
Review Of Policygenius’ Customer Service
Policygenius does all the legwork involved with making tough insurance decisions on behalf of its customers. But that’s not all. Policygenius also helps with the application and purchasing process. The company has licensed experts in all 50 US states. And, they can explain policies forwards and backwards. Plus, they can answer any questions you have and walk you through the entire process step-by-step in plain English.
What’s great is you can get help from Policygenius any time you are shopping for insurance. They have customer support 24/7. Both my wife and I have used their services and had great experiences over the phone, email, and through their online chat feature.
Over 30 million people have shopped for insurance with Policygenius. And the company has helped consumers purchase over $90 billion in coverage so far.
Policygenius has an average 4.7 out of a 5-star rating scale through Trustpilot based on over 2,000 reviews. So you can believe they take customer service seriously.
Our Review: Pros And Cons Of Policygenius
Although we are huge fans of Policygenius, a thorough review should always look at both the pros and cons. Here’s a quick snapshot of what we find to be the best about the company, and a few negatives to consider.
Pros
- Free to use
- Provides unbiased quotes and support
- Has a solid team of licensed experts covering all 50 US states
- Helps consumers save ~50% on life insurance
- Partnered with the nation’s best insurers
- Tech-savvy company and platform
- Reliable and fast customer service 24/7
- Wide array of insurance policies to compare and shop
- The company is growing and could IPO soon
- High customer ratings
- Diverse employees
- Rated a best place to work for 3 years in a row by Inc. Magazine
Cons
- Down the road, if they do start offering their own insurance policies, they may lose their unbiased approach
- Relatively young company (2014 launch) compared to competitors like SelectQuote (1985 launch)
- No longer offers pet insurance
A Quick Review Of Policygenius’ Competitors
Any review wouldn’t be complete without a look at the competition. Although Policygenius is clearly the winner in our book, it’s worth knowing who else is in the landscape of insurance marketplaces.
SelectQuote is the most notable, founded way back in 1985. They went public in May 2020 and trade on the NYSE under the ticker SLQT. However, they just don’t come close to Policygenius in terms of technology, offerings, growth potential, and service.
Other competitor to note are Lemonade, which is also public (NYSE: LMND), and Hippo which is soon to be public. One thing Lemonade offers that Policygenius does not is pet insurance. So, if you’re in the market to insure your pet, you may want to check out Lemonade.
Our Experience Using Policygenius
Before I even wrote this Policygenius review, it was important that my wife and I try out their offerings firsthand. Not only that, I got to know the co-founders personally over dinner. Anytime I do a review, I want to make sure I’m well versed on the products and services I’m writing about.
When we had our second child, my wife wanted to increase her life insurance coverage. So she shopped around on Policygenius. She was shocked to find out that she had been vastly overpaying for her existing policy. Thanks to Policygenius, she was able to double her life insurance coverage for less money than she was paying before.
My experience with Policygenius was also positive. I had a lot of questions about pricing and qualifying due to some issues with my health. And the team at Policygenius was very attentive and fast with helping me. As a consumer, customer service is so important, especially with products like insurance.
Further, I was finally able to get an affordable term life insurance policy at the end of 2021. I had been searching to renew my expiring $1 million, 10-year term policy. But my existing life insurance carrier with USAA was quoting me $450/month! I was able to get a $750,000, 20-year term policy with Policygenius for a reasonable $105 a month.
Getting a new policy was super important to me because I have tow kids under five. I feel so much more peace of mind now that I have a term life insurance policy that covers us until my kids graduate college.
Getting Life Insurance With Policygenius Is Quick And Easy
Here’s the gist of how the process works with Policygenius. Answer a few simple questions on Policygenius’ website and instantly receive free, personalized and comprehensive life insurance quotes on your own time. It literally only takes a few minutes. Here’s the homepage screenshot.
There is a built in algorithm that takes into account any health issues you may have. This helps get you the most accurate quotes possible. As a result, you don’t have to worry about juggling quotes from various sites and answering lengthy surveys via phone. And, you can rest assured that your information is confidential and won’t be resold as you’ll see in the company’s strict security policy.
Policygenius is designed to take the hard work out of finding both an affordable and comprehensive policy for your individual needs.
Since Policygenius is an independent insurance broker, they are focused on providing unbiased advice. They are not an insurance company, so they aren’t going to pressure you to buy from any particular carrier. In addition, Policygenius features more than two-dozen A-rated top life insurance companies that they have personally researched and vetted.
When you buy insurance, it’s important to stick with the largest, most well-capitalized, and most reputable insurance companies. After all, you don’t want your insurance to go bankrupt and not pay out the death benefit and cash value, if you have a permanent life insurance policy.
As an independent insurance broker, this also means PolicyGenius will never sell your information to a third party vendor, so you don’t have to worry about a flurry of calls from brokers eager to make a sale.
Policygenius Review: Reliable, Unbiased Support
What’s great for consumers is any commissions and marketing fees are already baked into the cost of insurance. This means that whether you buy a particular policy through Policygenius or directly from the insurer, you’ll always pay the same price.
A lot of people don’t realize that working with an insurance broker doesn’t cost extra money.
Policygenius’s customer service team – who is there to answer any questions you have over the phone or online – aren’t commission based. So you’ll never have to worry about them pushing one insurer over another. They’re just interested in finding customers the right policy for their needs.
After you find a policy you like and submit your application, you may need to schedule a convenient time for a medical technician to complete a free paramedical exam at your home or office. Although there are policies available that do not require a medical exam.
A medical exam is usually for life insurance policies $1 million or greater. If your desired death benefit is less than $1 million, there’s a good chance you won’t need to take a medical exam. Rarely have I heard of a medical exam necessary for $500,000 and under policies.
If you do get a medical exam, you just have to wait for the underwriting process to complete and the final rate for your policy to arrive within a couple weeks. If your rate ends up changing due to a medical finding, Policygenius can help you make sure it’s the best offer out there.
Lastly, the final policy arrives for your review. You’re under no obligation to purchase it if you changed your mind. If you don’t get a medical exam, then after you’ve filled out the basic questionnaire, you will receive an offer from the approved life insurance carrier.
Related: No Medical Exam Life Insurance: Bloodwork Not Required!
Surprising Life Insurance Statistics
As a personal finance writer and father, I love talking about life insurance. There are so many benefits of life insurance. Plus, the more you know about life insurance, the better decision you can make about a life insurance policy. Here are some interesting statistics.
- Nearly 7 out of 10 employees (>90 million Americans) have life insurance benefits through an employer, of which 80% participate.
- 60% of all Americans own life insurance but less than half of middle market consumers (ages 25-64) have coverage.
- 30% of people in the U.S. (70 million people) say they need more life insurance.
- Over 50% of people say the loss of a primary wage earner would become a financial burden within one year and 47% said within six months, including 40% of >$100,000 income households.
- 65% of Americans don’t buy life insurance because they think it’s too expensive. But 80% assume it’s more expensive than reality. Millennials overestimate the cost by 213% and Gen X by 119%.
- 3 major reasons workers own group life insurance policies include burial expenses (49%), lost income (41%) and mortgage payments (30%).
- Age and health are not the only inputs that can affect cost. Your driving record, credit history, activities (think adventure sports) and lifestyle can too.
- 38% of workers with a basic life insurance plan have a flat dollar amount benefit with a median amount of $20,000.
- 57% of workers have a fixed multiple of annual earnings with 1x salary being the most common multiple.
And in case you are wondering, Francois, the CEO of Policygenius absolutely believes term life insurance is the way to go over whole life insurance due to excessive fees. I agree.
Sample Life Insurance Quote From PolicyGenius
After you input your basic information and answer a couple minutes of questions, Policygenius will highlight the best options for you to review and compare along with about 10-15 other quotes.
The top three options they selected for my search were a good fit, but it was nice to have an idea of what all the other companies were offering as well.
Being able to compare official life insurance quotes is one of the key value proposition because the prices are regulated. You don’t know whether the quote you are getting directly from one insurer is any good without comparing the prices to others.
Within the quotes window you can also adjust your coverage and term, to see the variations in pricing, kind of like how you’d shift your dates and times when searching for a flight.
From there, you can select your preferred quote and Policygenius will help you through the rest of the application process, which takes between 1-3 months depending on your health and availability for the medical exam.
Here’s a look at sample 30-year term life insurance policy quotes for an average male living in San Francisco.
- Male, 5’10” height, 165 weight
- Age 35
- Salary $150,000
- No pre-existing health conditions
- Clean driving record
Policygenius keeps customers updated throughout the application process so you’re never left wondering where you stand.
Sample Quote For A Universal Life Insurance Policy
To give you an idea of how much more permanent life insurance costs versus the term life insurance policy quote above, take a look below.
Here is a universal life insurance policy quote (a type of permanent life insurance) for a 42 year old male when I checked with USAA.
The applicant has the highest health rate class of Preferred Plus and has chosen to receive a $1 million death benefit.
Finally, he has chosen an Option B policy, where the death beneficiaries receive both the cash value and death benefit amount. In an Option A policy, the beneficiaries only receive the death benefit, and not the built up cash value.
Notice how the monthly premium is a massive $1,660 vs. the $70.03 quote from PolicyGenius for a $1 million term life insurance policy.
The difference in the much higher universal life insurance premium is due to two main things:
- 42 year old versus 35 year old – the older you are, the higher your life insurance premium
- Term life versus universal life – the main difference is the policyholder not only pays a monthly premium for the death benefit, but also to build the cash value that tends to grow over time
The cash value is a way to build tax-deferred wealth, much like contributing to a 401(k) plan for retirement. The cash value can be used to pay the premiums of the universal life plan and be borrowed against as well.
However, due to the tremendous difference in premiums, most people are better of getting a term life insurance policy and more efficiently investing the difference in their 401(k)s, IRAs, Roth IRAs, SEP-IRAs, Solo-401(k)s, and brokerage accounts.
Policygenius Review Summary
Policygenius makes life insurance policy comparisons easy. Given life insurance policy prices are regulated, you can be assured that Policygenius will provide the best prices for you all in one place.
Not only that, you can easily compare many other types of insurance for free all in one place.
I hope you enjoyed reading through our detailed Policygenius Review. We are huge fans of the company and their platform. They’re the best insurance marketplace we’ve come across and their customer service is superb. Check out Policygenius for yourself today.
About the Author: Sam worked in investment banking for 13 years at GS and CS. He received his undergraduate degree in Economics from The College of William & Mary and got his MBA from UC Berkeley. In 2012, Sam was able to retire at the age of 34 largely due to his investments that now generate roughly $250,000 a year in passive income. He spends most of his time playing tennis and taking care of his family.
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