Last Updated: March 2020
As of 2016, Genworth no longer sells life insurance policies. If you’re a Genworth Financial policyholder, your coverage is still in force.
Genworth continues to sell quality long-term care plans, though, only halting their life insurance products.
In this post, we’ll discuss Genworth’s history with life insurance, changes to the company, what long-term products they will continue to sell, and what happens to your life insurance now that the company is no longer selling policies.
- About Genworth Financial & Their Life Insurance Business
- Genworth’s Financial Ratings
- How Genworth’s Sale Affects Your Life Insurance Policy
- A Review of Genworth’s Life Insurance Policies
- Compare Your Genworth Policy to Other Life Insurance Companies
Life Insurance is Boring. Let’s Get To The Root Of It! Here are the key takeaways…
Genworth Financial no longer sells life insurance policies, but if you currently have a policy, your coverage is safe. If you do not currently have a policy, make sure to read our reviews of other life insurance companies to see if another company and policy can fit your needs.
About Genworth Financial & Their Life Insurance Business
Genworth Life Insurance is not new to the marketplace, having offered policies to customers for over 100 years.
The company was established in 1871 under the name the Life Insurance Company of Virginia, when a group of investors decided to pool their resources and offer life insurance to Virginians, quickly widening their reach to all of the South and beyond.
At the beginning of the twentieth century, the Life Insurance Company of Virginia started to offer customers annuities, term life policies, endowment policies, mortgage insurance, and other long-term care plans.
Throughout the next several decades, the company changed hands several times and was eventually incorporated into General Electric as Genworth Financial in the early 2000s.
The life insurance company stayed close to its roots, as Genworth is headquartered in Richmond, VA. Genworth by itself currently holds more than $100 billion in assets.
Up until 2016, Genworth Financial offered term life policies, indexed universal life insurance, whole life insurance, and universal life insurance policies to customers, along with annuities.
In 2016, the company decided to focus its sights primarily on its long-term care options, halting any new offers of life insurance policies.
That restructuring of the company played a part in a financial hit to the company, leading them to a company sale.
In October of that year, it was announced that China Oceanwide Holdings Group would be purchasing Genworth Financial Inc. Let’s talk about what that means for you.
Genworth’s Financial Ratings
Here are the ratings for Genworth Financial:
- A.M. Best: “B” (fair) rating
- Affordability Index: 7.5
- Ease of Applying: N/A – not selling new policies
- Customer Service: 7.2
- COMDEX Ranking: N/A
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 Genworth 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.
How Genworth’s Sale Affects Your Life Insurance Policy
As you can see from their history, Genworth is a credible and well-established life insurance provider.
While the company doesn’t sell new life insurance, your policy is still safe. You can file your life insurance claim through their website.
Genworth has recently been assigned “fair” ratings from the major agencies across the board, with its improvement contingent on the company’s sale to China Oceanwide Holdings Group.
China Oceanwide Holdings Group has vowed to help pay down Genworth’s debt and make the transition of ownership a smooth one so Genworth can continue to thrive at what it does best, offering competitive policies and committed service to customers.
In a 2017 update, both China Oceanwide Holdings Group and Genworth stated their continued pursuit of an agreement. Though the company will be under new ownership, it will still be operated out of Richmond, Virginia, by Genworth’s leadership team.
Before you make your final life insurance purchase decision though, we recommend looking into some other company reviews as well, such as our reviews on Assurity Life Insurance, Zander Insurance, Primerica Life Insurance, and United Home Life.
We have also reviewed over 50 life insurance carriers and agencies to help you compare rates and find the right company for your specific needs.
A Review of Genworth’s Life Insurance Policies
As we mentioned above, Genworth’s life insurance offerings have included term life, whole life, and universal life insurance. The company has issued life insurance from ages 0-85 with a minimum death benefit of $50,000.
Genworth is known for its liberal underwriting in various niches. They have some of the most aggressive build charts in the industry, especially in the areas below, which may cost you dearly with some of Genworth’s competitors.
PREFERRED PLUS rates (the best health class) are available for these risks:
- Total Cholesterol: treated or untreated total cholesterol between 150-300.
- Depression: ages 30-60, mild cases with documented stability of symptoms and work/family lifestyle
- Anxiety: mild cases
- Sleep Apnea: mildly treated that has resolved or stabilized
- Ulcerative Colitis: mild local disease stable for at least 3 years
- Asthma: Mild, stable asthma controlled with inhaled medications for at least 5 years
- Arthritis: Osteoarthritis or mild inflammatory arthritis controlled for at least 5 years
- Gestational Diabetes: remote history in only one pregnancy with normal ongoing blood glucose levels and no family history of diabetes
If you have a policy in place with Genworth and suffer from one of the ailments above, you may indeed have the cheapest policy you’ll be able to acquire anywhere.
But as always, we recommend reviewing all of your options as you decide whether or not to stay with your current policy or look elsewhere.
Compare Your Genworth Policy to Other Life Insurance Companies
While Genworth’s ratings are fair, you might want to consider a comparable policy with an A+ rated life insurance company.
Genworth is one of many life insurance companies we have reviewed. If you want to look beyond the rates offered by the best life insurance companies on the market, take a look at the reviews below.
