If you are considering purchasing life insurance, you may have heard of Ethos Life Insurance, but is Ethos worth your time and money? Ethos is known for providing an easy online process. We will explore the various offerings from the company, including term and whole life insurance.
Ethos Life Insurance makes bold statements in its advertisements, claiming to offer “the best online life insurance.” Does Ethos back this claim up? Ethos’ online application is easy to fill out, but it is difficult to determine the rates you will receive from an Ethos policy before applying, highlighting a lack of transparency.
Final Expense Benefits works with over 20 of the top life insurance providers. If you were interested in Ethos Life Insurance, we can help you find an alternative. When it comes to protecting you and your loved ones, Final Expense Benefits has you covered. Continue reading to learn more about Ethos Life Insurance, or call Final Expense Benefits at (866) 786 0725, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET. Our free online quoting tool is available 24/7 for you to receive a free estimate.
If you’re interested in getting a real rate and real help, call us at (866) 786-0725 Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET, and check our free online quoting tool for a personalized pricing estimate.
What Is Ethos Life Insurance?
Ethos Life Insurance was founded in 2016 and is an independent life insurance brokerage located in Austin, Texas, partnering with five providers. The online application for Ethos Life Insurance is easy to fill out; however, the rates are not among the lowest.
Their partners range from trusted options such as Mutual of Omaha and Legal & General America, to less reliable life insurance options like John Hancock. While Ethos Life Insurance shares its partner insurers, it is difficult to find insurance rates.
The only rate Ethos Life Insurance advertises is $60 per month for $2 million of term life coverage, though it is unclear which provider this comes from and what the coverage entails. Without complete transparency, how can you be sure you are getting a good deal? Additionally, you are unable to choose the carrier you prefer until you are assigned one.
While the company boasts an easy online life insurance application, there are other areas where Ethos Life Insurance falters. We’ll detail everything you need to know to help you make your decision.
Ethos Life Insurance: The Best Online Life Insurance?
Ethos Life Insurance emphasizes that its online application will only take about 10 minutes. The application offers a simplified process, but you have little control over which plan you get.
Without being able to provide input, how can you be confident that your policy offers the rates and coverage you need? Final Expense Benefits considers your needs throughout the entire process. Unlike Ethos, our agents prefer to help you determine the plan that works best rather than telling you what you need.
Ethos Life Insurance Coverage Options
Ethos offers several term life, whole life, indexed universal life, and burial insurance options from a small selection of carriers. Ethos Life Insurance options include:
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Ethos Term Life Insurance
Ethos’ specialty, term life insurance, covers specified periods and only provides payouts if the policyholder dies during that time. Terms usually range from 10 to 30 years, and these policies offer large death benefits and are typically used by young adults and other workers to cover loss of income in case of death.
Term policies claim to offer low rates, like Ethos’ $60 per month offer for a $2 million death benefit, but this offer requires near-perfect health.
Ethos states that this offer is for a 37-year-old female applicant for a 10-year term; this sample applicant is likely in great health.
Term life doesn’t work great for seniors. Health requirements set by underwriting are restrictive, and most applicants risk outliving their coverage. Once terms end, they must be renewed, usually at a higher cost. If you don’t renew, your policy lapses with no payout, a common outcome for term policies.
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Ethos Whole Life Insurance
Whole life insurance provides coverage for your lifetime, if premiums are paid. Seniors trust whole life insurance because coverage and rates are locked in from the policy’s inception, benefits accumulate in cash value, and payouts are tailored to their specific needs.
Traditional whole life insurance provides great coverage, but high-value plans can have restrictive health requirements that could exclude seniors with pre-existing health conditions.
3
Ethos Indexed Universal Life
Related to whole life insurance, indexed universal life insurance offers lifetime coverage with investment upside. As premiums are paid, they are invested in an account managed by your insurer, allowing the death benefit to grow in value.
Indexed universal life insurance is a great choice for young adults, but it doesn’t work as well for seniors for several reasons. Seniors typically want guaranteed returns, so tying benefits to investment performance can be risky. Plus, universal life insurance plans generally require near-pristine health, excluding most seniors.
4
Ethos Burial Insurance
Also called final expense insurance, burial insurance is the most trusted whole life option for seniors. Offering all the upside of whole life policies like cash value growth, locked rates, and coverage, burial insurance is cheaper.
Burial insurance death benefits are lower, but these policies have simplified health requirements. However, rates are also low, ranging from around $30 to $120 per month, depending on health status and death benefit size.
Seniors frequently use life insurance to cover funeral costs and end-of-life expenses ahead of time, so the lower death benefits don’t hurt.
For seniors with major pre-existing health concerns like cancer, dementia, or terminal illnesses, Ethos’ partners offer policies with guaranteed approval. These policies’ death benefits and rider options are more limited and cost extra.
Benefits typically range from $5,000 to $50,000, easily enough to cover funerals, which average around $10,000. Ethos burial insurance is their best option for seniors.
Not sure how much coverage you need? Try our free Funeral Cost Calculator, or check our online quoting tool.
Best $10,000 Burial Insurance Companies
If you’re looking for a burial insurance policy with $10,000 in coverage that remains in force throughout the remainder of your life at the premium you locked in at, we would like to recommend a few providers that may be of interest to you and your wallet.
Below is a chart with sample rates for $10,000 policies from our top-rated providers for non-smoking applicants with no preexisting health conditions:
| Company |
Male 50y/o |
Female 50y/o |
Male 60y/o |
Female 60y/o |
Male 70y/o |
Female 70y/o |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
$34 |
$27 |
$50 |
$40 |
$70 |
$56 |
|
|
$31 |
$26 |
$43 |
$35 |
$71 |
$53 |
|
|
$31 |
$24 |
$44 |
$33 |
$75 |
$53 |
|
|
$34 |
$29 |
$45 |
$35 |
$79 |
$59 |
|
|
$33 |
$26 |
$48 |
$36 |
$82 |
$58 |
These figures are estimates only, based on a $10,000 final expense insurance policy with no applicant pre-existing conditions.
If you’re interested in these or any of our other life insurance options, call us at (866) 786-0725 to learn more and check our free online quoting tool for personalized pricing estimates.
Ethos Life Insurance Pros & Cons
Pros
- Simplified application process
Ethos’ online application is great for saving time, simplifying the complicated parts of life insurance applications. - No medical exams
Not needing to take a medical exam as part of the application is convenient. - Free will consultation
Ethos offers free will consultation services with qualified life insurance purchases.
Cons
- Mixed customer reviews
Ethos Life Insurance reviews on Trustpilot are overall positive, but Better Business Bureau complaints are plentiful. Many customer reviews mention frustration at being unable to select rates or plans. Some customers complain that payouts are unexpectedly withheld, a serious issue.
- Little control
Ethos focuses on term life insurance, but their overall simplified process takes a lot of control out of the applicants’ hands. You should be able to collaborate with an agent to find the coverage that you want, rather than what Ethos thinks you need.
- Rates may not be ideal
Although Ethos usually doesn’t require medical exams for applications, many term and indexed universal life policies require a medical exam to get the best rates. If you apply for an Ethos term or universal policy without a medical exam, chances are high that you won’t get ideal rates. - Poor transparency
While Ethos shares their partner insurers, they don’t provide many real rate estimates. Transparency is a key service of a life insurance brokerage, and obscuring a part of the process is suspicious. We stand by our providers, proudly displaying our partners and rates that you can really expect.
Ethos Life Insurance Reviews: Third-Party Rating Services
Ethos Life Insurance AM Best Rating
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AM Best is an agency that assesses insurance companies’ credit and financial ability. Because Ethos Life Insurance is a brokerage and not an insurer, they aren’t rated by AM Best.
However, Ethos’ life insurance partners each have high financial trustworthiness ratings from AM Best.
Ethos Life Insurance NAIC Rating
2
The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) records insurance company complaint trends yearly. They only review insurance providers, so Ethos Insurance isn’t rated on NAIC’s scale.
Ethos’ partners have mixed customer complaint ratings; in particular, Ameritas and John Hancock are poorly rated by the NAIC.
Ethos Life Insurance BBB Rating
3
The Better Business Bureau evaluates how trustworthy businesses are by tracking customer complaints and resolutions. They also provide complaint resolution services for customers and businesses. Based on those complaints, they rate companies A+ to F.
Ethos is rated A- and is BBB accredited, indicating a strong ability to handle customer complaints. However, Ethos Insurance’s current BBB customer rating is 1.8/5.
Ethos Life Insurance Reviews: Customer Ratings
Lisa V
1/5
I realized there was a few hundred dollar price difference between what I applied for and what I actually needed. I can’t not afford the higher price currently, so I cancelled. I’m now being told that I hit a “wrong button” and they can’t cancel. Do not recall doing this. Also I was told that since then there has been an update to their “policy” to provide full disclosure. HA! I feel more like trying to cover their back side. I also asked if someone could at least tell me about future charges – this site seems to have a mind of it’s own – didn’t hurt to ask…. NO ANSWER! They got my money and they’re done. Use at your own risk – one wrong button can cost BIG! (I would give zero stars is that was possible.)
Angeline P
1/5
It’s false advertisement with this company. Not understanding how they have an A+ rating when so many people have had very similar bad experiences. Bottom line, they say one thing and do another. Put your money into a company with integrity.
William T
1/5
I am strongly considering reporting your company to the Federal Insurance Office because my experience has bordered between possibly illegal and at best, complete apathy.
I initially signed up for a 1.1 million life insurance policy. I was aware that I could modify the policy, which I had intended to do because I was waiting for confirmation from my employer on how much they would cover. However, I did not receive any access to the policy until the actual start date of the policy 3 weeks later, so I was charged the full monthly amount.
Then, I called multiple times (twice no callback) and the third time I finally got a rep who said I would get a call from an agent to reduce my plan.
That didn’t happen, so I called again this time to cancel. Another promise I would get a call and a cancel contract within a couple days. It has now been a week, with no resolution.
Now I am back on the phone (on hold for 15 min now) with your abysmal company.
Final Thoughts
Ethos Life Insurance is not only more expensive than other trusted providers, but the customer reviews are extremely mixed. Ethos Life Insurance currently has a score of 1.8/5 on BBB, with many customers detailing difficulties they faced in trying to get their payout from Ethos.
On the other hand, Ethos Life Insurance offers a straightforward online application process, and most applicants are exempt from a medical exam. This is a great option if you have been denied life insurance coverage or have a preexisting medical condition. You are unable to choose the insurance company Ethos assigns to you, and you cannot customize coverage with riders.
However, we argue that you have plenty of other options that are more affordable and have better customer reviews. Final Expense Benefits partners with the following:
Final Expense Benefits only partners with the best carriers to provide you and your loved ones with the coverage you need. For help finding a plan that fits your needs, call Final Expense Benefits at (866) 786-0725 Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET, or check our free online quoting tool for a personalized pricing estimate.
FAQ
Is Ethos a legit life insurance company?
Ethos is a legitimate life insurance brokerage, and they will assign a life insurance company to you. Ethos Life Insurance does not provide full details as to the plan you will get or the pricing.
How does Ethos Life Insurance pay out?
Because Ethos is not a life insurance provider, they don’t pay policy benefits, which are instead paid by their partnered providers.
Who owns Ethos Life Insurance?
Ethos is an independent company, owned by a group of investors.
What is final expense insurance?
Final expense insurance is whole life insurance designed to help seniors cover end-of-life expenses like funerals and burial plot costs.
How much does a funeral cost?
The average funeral cost in the United States is about $10,000, which is why most burial insurance quotes are for $10,000 policies. Our free funeral cost calculator can estimate the coverage amount you may need.