Bestow Life Insurance Review 2024

Katia Iervasi
By Katia Iervasi 
Updated
Edited by Erica Corbin

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Bestow

Bottom line: Bestow is a straightforward option for fast life insurance, but its policy options are limited.

on Nerdwallet

Online purchase

Yes

Policies offered

Term & no-exam
insurance-product-card-logo

on Nerdwallet

Bestow

Bottom line: Bestow is a straightforward option for fast life insurance, but its policy options are limited.

Online purchase

Yes

Policies offered

Term & no-exam

In our life insurance reviews, our editorial team considers the customer and the insurer. These are some of the factors we take into account:

Policies offered. There are many types of life insurance on the market, and they fall into three key categories:

  • Term life insurance offers temporary coverage and a guaranteed payout if the policyholder dies during the term.

  • Permanent life insurance typically lasts a lifetime and builds cash value that can be borrowed against in the future.

  • No-exam life insurance issues coverage without the need for a medical exam.

Financial strength. We use AM Best ratings to confirm an insurer’s long-term financial stability and ability to pay claims. For life insurance, NerdWallet typically recommends considering insurers with ratings of A- or higher. Here’s the breakdown:

  • Exceptional: A+, A++.

  • Strong: A-, A.

  • Moderate: B, B+.

Complaints. These ratings are based on complaints to state regulators relative to a company’s size, according to three years’ worth of data from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. The best life insurance companies have fewer than the expected number of complaints.

Buy online. This indicates whether an insurer allows you to apply for and buy a policy completely online.

Launched in 2017, Bestow is an insurtech company that sells term life insurance online. To apply, you’ll answer a series of questions about your health and lifestyle, with no need for a medical exam. Then, Bestow pulls data and uses algorithms to determine whether you qualify for coverage.

Bestow is based in Dallas and sells policies in all states except New York. Unlike most insurtechs, Bestow issues its own policies.

Why you can trust NerdWallet: Our writers and editors follow strict editorial guidelines to ensure the content on our site is accurate and fair so you can make financial decisions with confidence and choose the products that work best for you. Here is a list of our partners, and here’s how we make money.

Bestow life insurance policies

Term life insurance. Bestow offers term life insurance to people 18 to 60 years old. You can choose a policy lasting 10, 15, 20, 25 or 30 years, with coverage ranging from $100,000 to $1.5 million.

The company specializes in instant life insurance, which means eligible applicants can get covered right away without having to take a medical exam. But you can’t customize your policy with life insurance riders.

Bestow life insurance rates

Below are monthly rates for a 20-year, $500,000 term life insurance policy from Bestow. These are sample rates for a nonsmoking man and woman in excellent health — the final quote you’re offered will depend on factors like your age, health, lifestyle, occupation and driving record.

Age

Monthly rate - man

Monthly rate - woman

20

$35.94

$18.89

30

$37.64

$22.16

40

$63.06

$45.52

50

$150.58

$106.28

Source: Insurer's site. Rates reflect the super preferred class and were generated on 1/22/24.

More about Bestow

Bestow’s site is clean and easy to navigate. You can get an initial quote by entering your birth date, height, weight, self-identifying gender, ZIP code and nicotine use, then apply for a policy after that.

If you have questions about your policy, you can contact the team via live chat, email or phone (there is no mobile app available). If you’re a beneficiary, you can start the claims process on Bestow’s site.

Also of note for beneficiaries, Bestow offers access to Empathy’s services in 20 states at no cost. The platform guides you through end-of-life administrative tasks, such as filing a life insurance claim, planning a funeral and submitting an obituary.

How to contact Bestow

Bestow can be reached by:

  • Phone: Call: 800-835-8803

  • Email: Send a message to [email protected].

  • Live chat: Chat with a live Bestow representative by clicking the chat bubble at either the top or bottom of the site's page, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. CST.

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Life insurance buying guide

Before you start comparing companies, choose the type of life insurance you want, such as term or whole life. Decide which life insurance riders, if any, you want the policy to include. Calculate how much life insurance you need and how long you want the coverage to last. Check that the insurers you’re considering offer the coverage you’re looking for.

When comparing rates, be sure the quotes are for the same amount of coverage over the same period of time. It’s also important to make sure the policy’s medical requirements match your needs. For example, if you want to skip the life insurance medical exam but don’t mind answering health questions, confirm that the application process for each policy you're comparing aligns with that.

Price may not be the biggest driver behind your decision to buy. Look at the number of consumer complaints each company receives, as high numbers can be a red flag about the quality of service.

For more guidance, see our life insurance buying guide.

Life insurance ratings methodology

NerdWallet’s life insurance ratings are based on consumer experience, complaint index scores from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners for individual life insurance, and weighted averages of financial strength ratings, which indicate a company’s ability to pay future claims. Within the consumer experience category, we consider ease of communication and website transparency, which looks at the depth of policy details available online. To calculate each insurer’s rating, we adjusted the scores to a curved 5-point scale.

These ratings are a guide, but we encourage you to shop around and compare several insurance quotes to find the best rate for you. NerdWallet does not receive compensation for any reviews. Read our editorial guidelines.

Insurer complaints methodology

NerdWallet examined complaints received by state insurance regulators and reported to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners in 2020-2022. To assess how insurers compare with one another, the NAIC calculates a complaint index each year for each subsidiary, measuring its share of total complaints relative to its size, or share of total premiums in the industry. To evaluate a company’s complaint history, NerdWallet calculated a similar index for each insurer, weighted by market shares of each subsidiary, over the three-year period. NerdWallet conducts its data analysis and reaches conclusions independently and without the endorsement of the NAIC. Ratios are determined separately for auto, home (including renters and condo) and life insurance.

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