Fidelity Life Insurance Company Review

Last Updated: February 2020

There’s a lot to consider when buying life insurance. You have to decide between term and whole life, choose a coverage amount and determine whether to add riders for special circumstances.

One of the biggest decisions, though, will be choosing a life insurance company. You want a quality company with excellent customer service and great rates. After helping hundreds of people purchase Fidelity life insurance policies, here is our review.

This article will review Fidelity Life Insurance Company, the company’s ratings, and pros and cons in choosing this company.

History of Fidelity Life Insurance Company
Fidelity Life Insurance Company Ratings
Pros & Cons of Fidelity Life Insurance
No Exam Life Insurance Policies with Fidelity Life
Compare Fidelity Life to Other Companies

Life Insurance is Boring. Let’s Get To The Root Of It! Here are the key takeaways…

Fidelity Life has an “A-“ (excellent) rating with A.M. Best. Fidelity is one of the most popular companies for no-exam coverage, and they offer a wide variety of policies to meet your needs. They excel in the use of technology to provide a quick application process.

History of Fidelity Life Insurance Company

Fidelity Life Insurance has been around since 1896. They were one of the first companies to sell life insurance to men and women.

They have been at the forefront of innovation and technological advances, going paperless, and using automated processes to streamline the application process. It was also one of the earliest companies to use automated underwriting engines and use e-signatures.

Today, Fidelity has over $407 million in total assets and $32 billion in-force life insurance policies.

Fidelity Life Insurance Company Ratings

When searching for a life insurance company, you should always review their financial ratings. Here are the financial ratings for Fidelity, along with several other metrics that we use to review carriers.

A.M. Best: “A-” (excellent) rating
Affordability Index: 4.2
Ease of Applying: 9.7
Customer Service: 9.1
COMDEX Ranking: 91

A.M. Best is the industry benchmark for financial strength in the life insurance industry. The other three metrics are based on a number of factors including our industry knowledge of Fidelity compared with other companies. The COMDEX ranking is a composite score that considers A.M. Best and other top ratings agencies.

Learn more about our process for reviewing life insurance companies here.

Based on these factors, Fidelity Life looks like a good choice. Let’s take a closer look at some of their pros and cons, to help you determine if the company would be a good fit for you.

Pros & Cons of Fidelity Life Insurance

With $31 billion worth of life insurance coverage in force, Fidelity Life has a solid reputation and a commitment to customer service. Here are some other reasons to consider the Chicago-based company for your life insurance coverage.

Pro: Excellent No Exam Life Insurance

Applicants seeking no-exam life insurance coverage should put Fidelity Life on their shortlist right away.

The company has become one of the most popular options for no-exam coverage because you can apply quickly, and the company’s underwriters make quick decisions.

Fidelity Life helped pioneer the use of technology to create an exclusive online application process with quick responses from underwriters.

Other companies have caught up, but Fidelity Life still excels in the industry, especially when you consider the quality of the coverage you are getting.

If you are looking for no-medical exam life insurance, compare Fidelity alongside other top life insurance carriers like Sagicor Life Insurance.

Pro: Get Life Insurance Coverage Fast with Fidelity

You can get the application submitted in less than 30 minutes. In most cases, you’ll have a decision about your coverage within two days.

How can Fidelity Life Insurance underwrite an application in 48 hours? Obviously, no-exam life insurance has the built-in advantage of not requiring a medical exam. This means you could potentially save several weeks of waiting.

Rather than getting the exam, you will answer a series of health-related questions on Fidelity Life’s application.

The underwriting process will combine your answers from the application with information pulled from three other sources:

MIB (Medical Information Bureau): This database gives Fidelity Life access to information you may have submitted to insurance companies previously. If you had a medical exam for a policy a decade ago, for example, those results may be stored in the MIB database.
Pharmacy Check: Fidelity Life can find out what medications you’re currently taking or have taken in the past.
MVR: Underwriters can see your motor vehicle record for infractions such as driving under the influence, reckless driving, speeding, and other behaviors that could indicate a tendency to take risks. (Note: If you don’t have a driver’s license, Fidelity Life Insurance will not approve you.)

These databases, along with your application, can be assessed quickly and easily, making it possible to render a decision about your coverage without long waits.

Pro: Competitive Rates

With no-exam life insurance, you’re going to pay a higher premium than you would for a medically underwritten policy, assuming you’re in pretty good health.

Why? Because having less specific information about your health, underwriters have to assume you’re a higher risk for life insurance.

Compared to many other no-exam carriers out there, Fidelity Life has very competitive rates. To get a better idea, get a free quote which will be based on the information you provide.

No matter how much you like a carrier, you shouldn’t commit to a policy without looking into at least two or three other companies offering similar coverage.

Pro: A Variety of Policies

Fidelity Life Insurance may be known for no-exam coverage, but they offer a variety of products.

Some policies require a medical exam within six months of acceptance, so be sure you’re applying for the kind of coverage you want.

RAPIDecision (also known as LifeStory) Term: Applicants from age 18 to 65 can get up to $1 million in term life coverage for 10, 15, 20, or 30-year terms. This is Fidelity Life’s basic term life policy which will require a medical exam.
RAPIDecision Express: This is the no-exam policy we’ve been talking about in this post. Coverage remains available until you reach 95. You can get a 10-, 15-, 20-, or 30-year term. Coverage will be lower than the basic term coverage; it will be based on your application questions and database results. Policies typically don’t exceed $250,000 in coverage.
RAPIDecision Senior Life Term: This product is designed specifically for ages 50 to 70 offers up to $150,000 in coverage for 10, 20, or 30 years. It does not require a medical exam, but it’s not designed for people with serious health problems. You’ll have to wait until the fourth year of coverage to be eligible for the full death benefit. Prior to the beginning of the fourth year, the benefit increases each year. This feature is known as a graded death benefit.
RAPIDecision Senior Life Whole: People age 50 to 85 are eligible for this whole life policy which accrues cash value. Its face value can range from $10,000 to $150,000 depending on your age and health conditions. This policy does not require a medical exam and its payout is graded like the company’s Senior Life Term.
RAPIDecision Final Expense: These policies can reach as high as $35,000. They’re designed to provide coverage for burial or other final expenses, and they’re open to people age 50 to 85. While they do not require a medical exam, the application health questionnaire will eliminate people with serious health issues. The death benefit will be available immediately.
RAPIDecision Guaranteed Issue: Fidelity Life’s guaranteed issue policy offers up to $25,000 in coverage without a medical exam or a medical questionnaire. Anyone 50 to 85 can be automatically approved, but you’ll wait three years before the payout reaches 100 percent.

Many of these programs allow the addition of an Accidental Death Benefit up to age 80 that will pay an additional $100,000 to $150,000 if the policyholder dies because of accident.

This feature will add up to $13 to your premiums and will pay 100 percent until age 70 when it will steadily decrease until you’re 80 and it no longer is available.

Cons of Fidelity Life

We’ve talked up some good points, so let’s discuss some of the negatives. No-exam life insurance can be expensive. Even with Fidelity’s competitive rates, you’re going to pay more than you would for a traditional, medically underwritten policy.

No-exam policies also pay out less coverage. Most companies cap no-exam coverage in the neighborhood of $250,000. For most families, especially young families with children’s college and a mortgage in the future, $250,000 is not enough coverage.

There are a few companies that offer more life insurance for no-exam plans, as much as $400,000. Those plans are rare, and they are going to be much more expensive.

This weakness isn’t specific to Fidelity Life, it’s just the way no-exam policies work. Without a medical exam, underwriters have to compensate for the possible risk your policy creates for the company. If they didn’t calculate this risk they’d risk being unable to pay claims.

Another negative, specific to Fidelity Life is that we have found that some applicants who apply for a no-exam policy may still be asked to get a medical exam. This is to clarify some conflicting data underwriters discovered in the databases.

Chances are you’d know right away if Fidelity Life wanted you to get an exam, and you wouldn’t have to continue the application. It’s just something to keep in mind as you shop around.

No Exam Life Insurance Policies with Fidelity Life

If you want to buy life insurance with no medical exam, Fidelity Life Insurance has some of the best rates on the market. But as a consumer, you have hundreds of options of no medical exam life insurance or an application with limited health questions.

No exam life insurance is an excellent option for a lot of people, but it is a specialized type of coverage that doesn’t work well for everyone.

Pros include easy applications and quick decisions from underwriters. A traditional policy application could take a month or two to process completely.

Cons include cost and low coverage amounts. An applicant in good health who is young and a non-smoker can get significantly more coverage for a lower premium.

Young families hoping to achieve peace of mind in case of the unexpected will do best to avoid no-exam coverage, even though it is more convenient and easier to get in most cases.

Compare Fidelity Life to Other Companies

Fidelity Life is an excellent option for life insurance, but it’s not always the best life insurance option for everyone. If Fidelity Life doesn’t work for you, don’t worry, there are hundreds of other possible options.

Be sure to compare Fidelity Life to our 10 best life insurance companies or find reviews on over 50 companies and agencies here, before making your decision.

When you’re shopping for life insurance, you should put your specific needs first. By knowing what you need and considering your own unique challenges, you can find the right coverage at the best price.

Here are some other companies to review that offer no medical exam life insurance policies.

Read more about the 10 Best Life Insurance Companies here.