A lot of shoppers prefer buying life insurance through agents or brokers because they can see a variety of quotes at one time, making it easier to find lower premiums.
FastLife Insurance specializes in helping you compare quotes and get covered at “lightning speed.”
In 2020, FastLife founder and CEO Phillip Wasserman was accused of defrauding investors, but the FastLife site is still up and running and connecting shoppers with insurance policies.
So in this FastLife Insurance review, we focus on this online brokerage, the products it offers, and whether you should consider this option if you’re shopping for coverage.
In This Review:
About FastLife Insurance
FastLife Insurance is a brokerage firm founded in 2004 by Phillip Wasserman. It is based in Sarasota, Florida.
Along with life insurance, FastLife Insurance provides long-term care insurance policies and annuities.
FastLife does not underwrite policies itself. Instead, it partners with large life insurance companies that provide the actual coverage.
Some of the life insurance companies FastLife partners with include:
National Western Life
National Western Life’s coverage options through FastLife range from $25,000 to $250,000.
They are an excellent choice for shoppers who need smaller death benefits.
These policies are especially good for final expenses, which usually cost between $10,000 and $15,000.
National Western Life has a complaint ratio of 0.75, which is the highest ratio among most of the FastLife insurance affiliates we studied.
However, the ratio is still lower than the NAIC (National Association of Insurance Commissioners) median of 1.0.
A.M. Best, the independent agency that rates the financial health of insurance companies, gives National Western Life an A rating.
Prudential
Prudential is among the most reputable insurance companies in the country, having a positive reputation for dealing with its customers.
It only has a complaint ratio of 0.14, much lower than that of National Western Life, and only a fraction of the national median ratio of 1.0. Prudential also has an A+ rating from A.M. Best.
Prudential offers term life insurance policies via its Term Essential product.
The product has options with varying coverage lengths, ranging from as little as 10 years up to 30 years.
Lincoln National
Lincoln National Life Insurance offers term life insurance through its Lincoln TermAccel Level Term product.
The Lincoln TermAccel Level Term offers policy lengths ranging from 10 to 30 years.
A standout feature is the plan’s death benefit flexibility. The death benefit has a minimum coverage of $100,000 and goes all the way up to a maximum of one million dollars.
This insurance provider also has some of the industry’s cheapest quotes available for term life insurance for both standard and senior groups.
On the complaint ratio index, Lincoln National comes in at 0.09, also a fraction of the national median number of complaints for a company its size. Like Prudential, Lincoln has earned A.M. Best’s A+ rating — the second highest of 15 rating classes.
FastLife Insurance Company Ratings
FastLife isn’t accredited or rated by the Better Business Bureau (BBB). There are no active complaints against this broker, though the BBB does show a complaint from an investor in the company.
Since FastLife itself does not provide the actual insurance policies — it only connects shoppers with other insurers — A.M. Best does not rate FastLife’s financial strength.
Anytime you work with an online broker, be sure you’re paying more attention to the actual product you’re buying. You’ll have a long-term relationship with your provider but not necessarily your broker.
FastLife Insurance Products Offered
While some life insurance agents work only for one company, giving you quotes from that particular company’s policy options, FastLife represents multiple life insurance providers.
Through the insurance providers it represents, FastLife can offer various types of permanent life insurance and term life insurance coverage.
Getting multiple quotes at one time offers a quicker route to lower premiums in many cases.
And some of the policies this insurance brokerage firm offers do not require a medical exam, which leads to the “lightning-fast” boast.
When you can skip the medical exam, you could have coverage in place within a couple of hours rather than a few weeks.
No-exam policies won’t offer more than $500,000 in coverage.
Since life insurance is so personalized and dependent on the applicant’s age and health, many shoppers won’t be approved for more than $100,000 in no-exam coverage.
The least healthy shoppers will be directed to guaranteed issue life insurance, which costs a lot and typically offers no more than $25,000 in no-exam coverage.
These policies often require waiting periods of two years before the full coverage takes effect.
Life Insurance Riders Offered
Being an insurance broker, the life insurance riders they offer depend on the insurer you choose. Some of them include:
- Serious Illness Riders: allow you to unlock your policy’s value when you become terminally ill and include benefit access rider and living needs benefit
- Children’s Insurance Rider: makes it possible for you to insure your children under your policy
FastLife Insurance Eligibility and Application Process
You’ll see a form on the company’s website. Filling out and submitting this form starts the quoting process.
Your answers on the form — which includes questions about your age and health — will determine whether you can get no-exam coverage, how much coverage you can get, and how much you’d pay.
After you provide this necessary information, you’ll see some coverage options.
People in relatively good health have the best shot at a no-exam policy, though this depends on the coverage amount they request. However, healthy shoppers should be aware getting a medical exam will typically lower their premiums and increase available death benefits.
FastLife makes the most sense for healthy shoppers who need coverage in a hurry to satisfy a lender’s collateral requirements or to fill a coverage gap between policies.
Shoppers who have pre-existing conditions may not see a big price difference between no-exam and traditional life insurance. They’re better candidates for this kind of “instant life insurance” shopping process.
On the other hand, shoppers with a couple different underwriting challenges — tobacco plus obesity or diabetes, for example — should work directly with an actual independent life insurance agency like ours. We can help you find the best companies for your specific needs.
FastLife Insurance Pros and Cons
There are several advantages that FastLife Insurance brings.
Pros
- Fast and easy application process
- You could get approved in less than 30 minutes
- Depending on your age and health, some of the policies the company offers do not need a medical exam
- FastLife offers remote customer assistance over the phone and through its website
- As it’s a brokerage firm, you are better placed to get life insurance quotes from more than one company
- Though FastLife’s founder is in legal trouble, the actual insurance providers you can access through this site are not.
Cons
FastLife also has some disadvantages shoppers should know about:
- Unless you happen to live in or near Sarasota, Florida, your customer service will take place remotely. (Some shoppers are used to shopping online and won’t mind this; others prefer human interactions when they shop.)
- You will have to pay a broker fee when you purchase a life insurance policy through FastLife. (Some similar sites don’t charge broker fees.)
- With its founder facing an indictment in Florida, this broker’s future could be in danger; however, the life insurance policies you’d buy wouldn’t be affected by this. Your relationship with FastLife ends when you buy a policy.
Is FastLife Insurance Best for You?
FastLife Insurance isn’t unique. Bigger and more successful websites can connect you with fast life insurance quotes.
But this online broker does fill a niche: Instant life insurance coverage from high quality providers.
You should consider FastLife if you need coverage today to satisfy a lending or legal requirement or if you are shopping specifically for a no-exam policy because you’re not in the best health.
But if you have more specific needs, or if you prefer working with actual humans, shop elsewhere.
