Best-Of Awards 2026 Methodologies

Best Same-Day Term Life Insurance

How we picked the companies to evaluate:

NerdWallet started with a list of the nation’s 40 largest life insurance companies (by premiums written) for individual life insurance, compiled by S&P Global Market Intelligence using 2024 market share data. These companies collectively account for 85% of the market for individual life insurance in the United States, according to S&P Global. We also considered life insurance companies with significant online search volume. Some of the providers are NerdWallet partners, but this did not influence our selection of the winner.

We then narrowed the list to include only companies that offer the ability to buy term life policies online within 24 hours. To qualify, an insurer must enable a consumer to get a quote, apply for coverage, be approved and pay for the policy to go into effect on the same day.

We eliminated companies that received an above-average rate of complaints to state regulators for 2022-2024. Complaints received by state insurance regulators are reported to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, which 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.

How we chose the winner:

NerdWallet evaluated each company's instant-approval term life insurance products across the following criteria:

• Range of coverage amounts.
• Range of term lengths.
• Selection of riders.
• State availability.
• Pre-purchase accessibility of policy details.
• Financial strength of the insurer.
• NAIC complaint data for the insurer.

In the event of a tie, insurers are compared by category in the following order until one institution remains:

• Range of coverage amounts. The company offering the highest amount of same-day coverage is chosen.
• Range of term lengths. The company offering the widest range of term lengths for same-day coverage is chosen.

How we verified our data:

NerdWallet writers and editors confirmed policy details and other key features on each company's website. They also sent detailed questions to reviewed companies for clarification.


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