Update: As of Sept 1, 2014, ING Reliastar Life Insurance is now known as Voya Financial.
There are thousands of different insurance companies, which can make finding the right provider difficult.
As an independent life insurance agent, it’s my duty to help customers find policies through reputable life insurance companies.
Serving more than 13 million customers, ING Reliastar is the fourth largest term life insurance provider in the U.S. If you’re looking for a company that you can trust, then ING could be one of the best choices.
Find out why I recommend ING Life Insurance in this company review.
In this review:
ING Life Insurance Products
The company offers several types of life insurance policies.
ING Term Smart
The term life insurance plan they offer is known as ING Term Smart.
These term insurance policies are available for periods of 10, 15, and 20 years. Additionally, Term Smart allows those insured to convert their plans to permanent policies without either changing their health ratings or undergoing physical examinations.
If you’re looking for the most affordable insurance coverage, term policies are the better option, but as you continue to age, you may find that you want the security of a permanent plan.
This is where the Term Smart tool is can be extremely valuable.
Return of Premium Insurance
This means that customers will be able to get back the cost of the premiums into which they have paid should they live beyond the term period.
Although these policies are more expensive, some people like to know that should they outlive their term life policy, they aren’t left empty-handed when the policy expires.
When it comes to ROP (return of premium policies) ING often has the best rates.
This is a great additional tool for a lot of consumers that think life insurance is a waste of money if you outlive the policy
High-Risk Insurance from ING
Aside from excellent rates on their ROP policies, they also have great policy premiums for certain high-risk applicants as well.
In addition, smokers will often see the best rates with ING as well, and lastly, if you have high cholesterol, ING has very flexible guidelines that will often result in getting better rates with high cholesterol, as opposed to other insurance carriers.
ING Insurance Rates
Here is an example of pricing with ING.
Let’s compare rates for a 50 year old male applying for $250,000 of 20-year term life coverage:
| Provider | Monthly rates |
|---|---|
| ING | $47 |
| Nationwide | $65 |
| Prudential | $49 |
| Protective | $43 |
| Banner Life | $44 |
| American General | $44 |
| Transamerica | $47 |
| Mutual of Omaha | $56 |
As you can see ING isn’t the cheapest carrier in this example, but they are only $4 per month off from the best-priced company.
This is why it makes sense to compare rates.
Sometimes ING will have the best rate, sometimes they don’t, and comparing quotes is the best way to find the best price for life insurance.
ING Life Insurance Customer Reviews
The review page of the Better Business Bureau shows not a single complaint against ING in the last three years, which is hard to find among life insurance companies.
ING Reliastar also has an “A” rating from A.M. Best (considered Excellent), which means that ING is very strong financially.
Of course if you “google” long enough you’re bound to find negative reviews of almost every single life insurance company, including ING.
However, when you have millions of customers, some will always go online and vent their frustration for one reason or another.
You’ll find negative comments towards EVERY life insurance company on the market, but finding a company that doesn’t have any formal complaints through the BBB is a rare occurrence.
How Much Coverage Do You Need?
Aside from choosing the right company, it’s important that you purchase a large enough plan for your family.
If you didn’t have a large enough plan, your family would be left with additional bills and expenses that they wouldn’t have the money to cover.
Debts and Final Expenses
The first number to gather is your debts and your other final expenses.
The primary purpose of your life insurance policy is to give them the money that they need to pay off the mountain of debt that they would be responsible for if something tragic were to happen to you.
Add up your mortgage, student loans, car payments, and anything else you think your family might be held liable for.
Annual Income
The next number that you should look at is your annual income.
The more people that you have relying on your income, the more life insurance that you will need to buy.
If you’re spouse and kids don’t need your paycheck for basic expenses, then you can consider buying a smaller insurance plan.
These smaller plans are going to save you money every month.
Burial Expenses
The last factor that you should consider is your final expenses, like any burial fees or funeral costs.
The average funeral costs around $10,000; this can be quite difficult for families to cover when unprepared.
Look at some of the funeral costs in your city to decide how much your family will need.
Save Money on Your Life Insurance
If you’re like most applicants, your main goal is to find the cheapest term life insurance policy available.
There are several changes that you can make to help you save money on your life insurance coverage.
After you decide which company to purchase your insurance plan through, they will schedule an appointment to have a paramedic come to your house and complete a simple medical exam.
The results from the medical exam are going to be used to calculate your monthly rates.
Additionally, one of the best ways to save money a cessation in smoking cigarettes. A smoker is going to pay two or three times more for their insurance coverage than a nonsmoker is going to.
It’s time that you put down cigarettes once and for all. While you might enjoy those cigarettes, are they worth paying additional hundreds or even thousands of dollars on your insurance coverage?
If you’re worried about paying too much for insurance, make sure that you know exactly how much coverage you need to purchase.
The larger the policy, the more you’re going to pay every month. Having more coverage than you need is going to mean you pay more every month than you need to.
Sit down and talk with your family to discuss your life insurance needs.
