Disclaimer: We are not Ladder Life Insurance Company. This Ladder Life Insurance Review is designed to help provide unbiased information to help consumers decide if Ladder Life is a top life insurance company to work with.
This Ladder Life Insurance Review is roughly a 5-minute read.
During our review, we will cover essential aspects of Ladder Life Insurance Company that include coverage options, how to purchase coverage and consumer complaints.
For the sake of time, we have created easy to navigate links directly below that will allow you to skip to any specific section of this post that you desire to read or learn more about.
Here is what we intend on covering:
- Our Ladder Life Insurance Review
- Ladder Life Insurance History
- Financial Strength Ratings
- BBB Ratings and Consumer Complaints
- Life Insurance Products Offered by Ladder Life
- Available Riders with Ladder Life
- Rates for Ladder Life Insurance Coverage
- Why is Ladder Life Insurance Unique?
- Who Should Consider Ladder Life?
- No Exam Life Insurance Coverage with Ladder Life
- How to Apply for Life Insurance with Ladder Life
- What if I’m Declined Life Insurance with Ladder Life
- Pros of Choosing Ladder Life
- Cons of Choosing Ladder Life
- Final Thoughts on Ladder Life
Additionally, we know consumers are typically rushed in today’s world.
With that being the case, we wanted to provide you a quick 30-second overview of Ladder Life and have you on your way.
Here are those details.
Ladder Life Insurance Company is a newer Direct to Consumer Life Insurance Company.
Ladder Life does not use any agents to market products.
Instead, they offer products through a full-online and over the phone platform.
Ladder Life offers unique and competitive term life insurance for individuals ages 20-60 but does not provide great options for individuals with pre-existing medical conditions.
Overall, if you are a healthy individual that qualifies based on the ages mentioned previously, Ladder Life is an excellent company to run a quote with.
On the flip side, if you are an individual who has a list of pre-existing medical conditions, you will be much better served to compare rates with several life insurance companies or to rely on an independent life insurance agent to assist you.
That’s the quick 30-second snapshot of Ladder Life Insurance Company.
If, however, you have a few minutes to spare, we recommend you read our full review of the company directly below.
Here is what you need to know.
Our Ladder Life Insurance Review
Ladder Life Insurance Company is one of the newest startup Life Insurance Companies in the market.
They aren’t alone, however.
As an Independent Life Insurance Agent, I have seen several of these “startups” launched over the last decade.
Some successful and some not.
Currently, Ladder Life Insurance markets life insurance products to consumers between the ages of 20 and 60.
Ladder was initially launched in California in January of 2017.
Since 2017, Ladder Life has continued to expand into 49 states excluding New York.
We see this often in the life insurance industry.
Companies will sometimes expand into New York last due to strict laws and regulations on life insurance products and the marketing tactics used to entice consumers to purchase.
Ladder Life Insurance History
Like stated previously, Ladder Life Insurance Began back in 2017.
Being only two years old, certainly makes Ladder Life one of the newest companies in an extremely competitive market with other well-known giants such as MetLife, Protective Life, among others.
Ladder Life chose a creative and catchy name to describe how they offer and market products to consumers.
The idea is simple.
Picture your life insurance as a ladder.
As your needs decrease, Ladder will allow you to step down your coverage and adjust your premiums on the fly making your needs met and your cost consistently lower.
This is, of course, assuming your needs don’t increase in which case you would be “climbing back up” the ladder in coverage and increasing your monthly premiums.
Ladder doesn’t depend on physical locations to market products and allows consumers to go online or call the company directly to purchase and learn about life insurance options.
Typically, companies like Ladder, will run this model and dump a heavy portion of the budget into marketing dollars.
Ladder Life was founded by Jamie Hale, Laura Hale, Jeff Merkel, and Jack Dubie and originally was founded to help fill a void where consumers can purchase life insurance quickly online and without much hassle.
We will discuss the pros and cons of this business model later in this review.
For now, let’s cover what you need to know about Ladder’s current financial strength ratings.
Financial Strength Ratings
Financial strength ratings help consumers to get a good idea as to how financially stable a life insurance company is and how likely they are to pay claims to loyal policyholders.
As of 2019, Ladder Life Insurance is currently being provided an “A- “Rating from A.M. Best which is a global rating company assigned the task of judging an insurance company’s financial liquidity and strength.
Boasting an A- rating is certainly not the best rating you can achieve, but it’s also a rating not to look too much into.
It should also be noted that all of Ladder Life’s term life policies are reinsured by Hannover Life Reassurance which currently holds an A+ financial strength rating (second-best rating possible).
In addition to Hannover Re, you also have Fidelity who also underwrites policies for Ladder Life who is also backed by an A- rating which is considered stable.
Overall, financial strength is not something I would be concerned with when reviewing Ladder Life.
BBB Ratings and Consumer Complaints
Ladder Life currently has nothing to be ashamed of when it comes to BBB ratings.
In 2019, Ladder Life is being afforded an A+ rating with the BBB, and according to Trust Pilot, Ladder Life is recognized with a 9/10 for overall customer satisfaction.
This is based on consumer reports that the process is easy and a great experience.
Overall, it may be a bit too early to tell what complaints may surface in the future, but for now, it appears Ladder Life is offering excellent service and an easy to use platform for consumers.
Life Insurance Products Offered by Ladder Life
Now it’s time to take a dive into the products offered by Ladder Life Insurance Co.
It’s a very quick and easy summary.
The only policies available to purchase with Ladder Life is currently term life insurance.
To qualify for the term policies, you must be between the ages of 20 and 60.
Additionally, Ladder sets a minimum life insurance coverage amount at 100,000 and a maximum life insurance coverage amount at 8,000,000.
You have the following options you can select for coverage durations with Ladder Life.
- 10 year
- 15 Year
- 20 Year
- 25 Year
- 30 Year
Rates for Ladder Life Insurance Coverage
Unfortunately, rates are challenging to display when reviewing a life insurance company.
This is purely because all life insurance rates are going to be based on age and overall health.
However, Ladder is known for their unique term policies and one of the only companies that allow you to renew a life insurance policy for either one year or five years, depending on your preference.
For the duration of the term you choose to renew for, your policy premiums will be locked in at one price, so you never have to worry about your rates changing.
However, failure to renew will either result in increased premiums after 1 or 5 years or the life insurance policy being canceled/lapsed.
Why is Ladder Life Insurance Unique?
Three things make Ladder Life unique and give them an edge over the competition.
First, they have a top-tier online platform for purchasing life insurance.
The downfall to this platform is that life insurance isn’t necessarily easy to understand for all consumers.
Many people, even in the digital age we live, still prefer to work with a knowledgeable expert when deciding about their protection and purchasing life insurance.
Secondly, we love that you can drop down coverage or increase coverage as your needs increase or decrease.
This is rare and not something you see all other life insurance companies currently offering to consumers.
Lastly, we like and believe the ability to renew your policy for 2 different durations is unique.
The ability to renew for one year isn’t necessarily unique and is often referred to as Annual Renewable Term life insurance with other reputable companies but the ability to choose 1 or five years is something you don’t see very often in the marketplace.
Optional Life Insurance Riders Availability with Ladder
This is a downfall of Ladder Life.
Currently, they don’t offer any unique riders you can add to your policy for an additional premium per month.
While riders aren’t always necessary to add to your coverage, they can certainly be beneficial.
Who Should Consider Ladder Life?
Ladder Life, although excellent, does have some downfalls.
First and most importantly, Ladder Life is not going to be a good pick for individuals with any health background.
Expedited and fully online purchasing platform for life insurance often comes with stringent underwriting guidelines.
This makes it very difficult for anyone to get life insurance that may be taking medications, have prior hospitalization, or that have other health blemished on their background.
On the flip side, if you are a healthy individual that knows any electronic database check for medications, hospitalizations, or significant health concerns will return quickly, Ladder Life may be an excellent option for you.
Of course, this comes back to if you prefer to work purely online or with a life insurance agent.
Also, always remember that the ages only accept individuals ages 20-60.
If you fall out of this age group, you will have to consider working with another life insurance company instead.
No Exam Coverage Offered by Ladder Life Insurance
Direct to consumer models such as Ladder Life is based around the no-medical exam life insurance products.
This simply means that if you can be approved for coverage, you won’t need to undergo a medical exam.
Other life insurance companies use this same model except they still require a licensed life insurance agent to sell you the product physically.
Examples include other powerhouse life insurance companies such as the following:
The problem you run into with companies like Ladder Life Insurance is that they often state that you are going to go through a quick and easy process.
However, as stated above, pre-existing health conditions are going to come back to bite you in these situations.
Ladder Life still reserves the right to request a medical exam based on your health background.
If that’s the case, you would have to have a registered medical professional pay you an office visit or home visit to complete an exam that includes test such as the following:
- Blood Pressure Readings
- Height
- Weight
- Pulse
- Medical Questionnaire
- Medication History
How to Apply for Life Insurance with Ladder Life Insurance
Applying for coverage with Ladder Life is about as easy as it gets.
To begin, you can use the handy calculator on Ladder Life’s website that you can see here.
This will help you determine how much coverage you need since you are skipping the step of working with an independent and knowledgeable agent.
After you determine your desired coverage amount, you can simply begin applying which is going to ask you a series of personal demographic information followed by a series of lifestyle and health questions.
Based on the answers you provide during this phase will determine if you are approved, require an exam or if you are entirely declined for coverage altogether.
What If I’m Declined Life Insurance Coverage with Ladder Life?
This is a common topic discussed amongst life insurance agents and agencies.
This is perhaps the biggest flaw of working with a company such as Ladder Life.
If you are declined for coverage, you don’t have many alternative options.
Well, no options that Ladder will necessarily assist you with.
This is one of the reasons we always recommend working with an independent life insurance agent instead.
The likelihood of being declined for life insurance for some individuals is higher than many believe.
When this happens, having a life insurance agent who can continue to shop your case with other high-risk life insurance companies is a great benefit.
Pros of Choosing Ladder Life
Anytime we review a life insurance company, we like to compile a list of the most significant pros and cons of choosing them as your provider.
Here’s what we believe to be the most significant advantages of choosing Ladder Life.
- Fast and Easy Application Process
- Competitive Rates for Healthy Individuals
- Unique Term Life Insurance Products Available
Cons of Choosing Ladder Life
On the flip side, all life insurance companies have flaws.
Here’s what we believe to be the biggest downfalls of choosing Ladder Life
- Bad for High Risk or Unhealthy Individuals
- Only Serves or Offer Coverage for Ages 20-60
- No Help from a Licensed Life Insurance Agent
Final Thoughts on Ladder Life
Regardless of what company you choose for your life insurance, you should always do your homework.
Compare rates and options with several life insurance companies before ultimately making your decision.
It’s your best chance at getting approved for coverage and your best chance at being approved at affordable and competitive rates.
Best of luck in your search.
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