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Ladder Life Insurance Review 2024
Lead Writer | Finance, technology, science
Georgia Rose is a lead writer on the international team at NerdWallet. Her work has been featured in The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Independent and The Associated Press. Throughout her career, Georgia has written on a variety of subjects, including personal finance, government policy, science and technology. She enjoys researching complex topics and distilling the information for her readers. Before joining the international team, she wrote for the insurance vertical, specializing in life insurance.
Assigning Editor | Insurance, data journalism
Lisa Green leads the life insurance team and oversees insurance-focused data journalism at NerdWallet. A professional journalist since high school, she was an insurance writer at NerdWallet before becoming an assigning editor. Previously, Lisa spent more than 20 years as an editor at The Tennessean in Nashville, where she led business and consumer coverage for several years. At The Tennessean, she was part of a 2011 Pulitzer Prize finalist team for coverage of devastating floods in Middle Tennessee. Her work has also won awards from the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing, Investigative Reporters and Editors, and the Society of Professional Journalists. Lisa is an alumna of the Wharton Seminars for Business Journalists at the University of Pennsylvania. She has also studied data journalism with the National Institute for Computer-Assisted Reporting, business editing with the American Press Institute and writing, editing and news research with the Poynter Institute. In addition to her work at NerdWallet, Lisa is a real estate investor and has taught a seminar on how to earn college scholarships. She is based in Nashville.
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Ladder
3.0
Financial strength ratingThese ratings indicate an insurer’s ability to pay future claims.
Online purchaseThis indicates whether the company offers a way to apply for and purchase policies entirely online.
NAIC complaintsRatings 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. NerdWallet conducts its data analysis and reaches conclusions independently and without the endorsement of the NAIC.
Policies offeredTerm policies last a set number of years, while permanent policies typically last a lifetime. No-exam policies don’t require a medical exam.
Pros
- Quick online application.
- Most applicants won't need a medical exam.
- Coverage limits up to $8 million.
Cons
- No riders available, though this is common among insurtechs.
Ladder
3.0
Financial strength ratingThese ratings indicate an insurer’s ability to pay future claims.
Online purchaseThis indicates whether the company offers a way to apply for and purchase policies entirely online.
NAIC complaintsRatings 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. NerdWallet conducts its data analysis and reaches conclusions independently and without the endorsement of the NAIC.
Policies offeredTerm policies last a set number of years, while permanent policies typically last a lifetime. No-exam policies don’t require a medical exam.
Pros
- Quick online application.
- Most applicants won't need a medical exam.
- Coverage limits up to $8 million.
Cons
- No riders available, though this is common among insurtechs.
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.
Dive deeper: Ratings methodology for life insurance
Founded in 2015, Ladder sells term life insurance online, with a fully digital application process. The company operates in all states and the District of Columbia, and offers a generous amount of coverage without a medical exam.
Ladder’s policies are either issued by Ladder Life Insurance Company or one of its partners, Allianz Life Insurance Company of New York, Amica Life Insurance Company, S.USA Life Insurance Company or Fidelity Security Life Insurance Company. The insurer your policy is ultimately issued by depends on factors like the state you live in.
» MORE: Compare life insurance quotes
Ladder life insurance rating
3.0
NerdWallet ratingLadder earned 3 stars out of 5 for overall performance. NerdWallet’s ratings are determined by our editorial team. The scoring formula takes into account consumer experience, complaint data from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners and financial strength ratings. Ladder's star rating reflects complaints and financial strength data for all its issuers, which include Ladder Life Insurance Company as well as third-party partners. It considers the consumer experience on Ladder's site only, since that is how the company's potential customers get quotes.
Learn more about NerdWallet's life insurance ratings methodology and how each factor is weighted.
» MORE: Best life insurance companies
Ladder life insurance policies
Term life insurance. People ages 20 to 60 can apply for Ladder’s term life insurance online, with most policies issued within minutes. You can buy $100,000 to $3 million in coverage without a life insurance medical exam — you'll just need to answer a series of health questions — or up to $8 million with an exam. The instant life insurance policy is offered in term lengths of 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30 years.
Ladder stands out for its flexibility. You can adjust your coverage amount at any time, and the insurer will adjust your premium to match. For example, if you decrease your coverage from $1 million to $750,000, your next premium will be 25% cheaper.
» MORE: Average life insurance rates
Ladder customer complaints and satisfaction
Over three years, Ladder's policy issuers combined have drawn far more than the expected number of complaints to state regulators for companies of their size, according to a NerdWallet analysis of data from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners.
How Ladder compares to other insurers
Ladder | Lemonade | Ethos | |
|---|---|---|---|
Star rating | 3.0 NerdWallet ratingNerdWallet's ratings are determined by our editorial team. The scoring formula incorporates consumer experience, financial strength ratings and complaint data. | 4.5 NerdWallet ratingNerdWallet's ratings are determined by our editorial team. The scoring formula incorporates consumer experience, financial strength ratings and complaint data. | 3.5 NerdWallet ratingNerdWallet's ratings are determined by our editorial team. The scoring formula incorporates consumer experience, financial strength ratings and complaint data. |
Financial strength | Exceptional. | Exceptional. | Strong. |
NAIC complaints | Far more than expected. | Fewer than expected. | Fewer than expected. |
Policy types offered | Term, no-exam. | Term, no-exam. | Term, permanent, no-exam. |
Read full reviews |
More about Ladder
Ladder’s site is sleek and mobile-friendly, and the online quotes system offers a quick cost estimate. (For a final quote, you’ll need to provide more in-depth information.) The site also features helpful guides and a calculator to figure out how much life insurance you need.
The Ladder mobile app is free to download, though it’s only compatible with Apple devices. You can apply for coverage directly through the app and decrease or apply to increase coverage at any time.
Ladder has a partnership with personal finance company SoFi and legal document platform NetLaw, which allows SoFi members to create wills for free.
How to contact Ladder Life
Ladder Life can be reached by:
Phone: Call 844-533-7206 on weekdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. PT.
Email: Send a message to [email protected] or fill out the form on Ladder's contact page.
Live chat: Not available.
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.
Methodology
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.