Guardian offers three types of life insurance: term, whole, and universal life. While you can apply for a quote for term insurance online, note that policies are sold through the company's network of licensed insurance agents.
Business Insider compared Guardian Life Insurance against the best life insurance companies and found it to be an above-average option. It offers up to $3 million in no-medical-exam term life insurance and options for applicants with HIV. However, be wary of its high prices.
Guardian Life Insurance Overview
As one of the oldest companies in life insurance, Guardian Life has a long history of selling products to meet people's insurance needs. It was founded back in 1860 under the name Germania Life Insurance Company of America and changed to Guardian Life Insurance in 1918.
Guardian offers term, whole, and universal life insurance. It's particularly good at insuring people who usually struggle to find coverage, offering up to $3 million in term life coverage without a medical exam and up to $2 million for people with preexisting conditions and HIV.
Guardian's biggest downside is its price. Quotes for its term life insurance are above the industry average regardless of age group.
Guardian Life Insurance Pros and Cons
Guardian Life Insurance Pros
- Coverage for applicants with HIV
- Up to $3 million in term life with no medical exam required
- Convertible term life insurance
Guardian Life Insurance Cons
- Term life quotes are higher than industry average
- Little information about policies available online
Guardian Life Insurance Plans Available
Guardian Life Insurance offers three types of life insurance: term, whole, and universal life products. Its online quote engine provides price estimates for a 20-year term policy, but Guardian sells all its plans through a network of licensed insurance agents.
As you might expect, many Guardian policies require a medical exam, though individual cases may vary. Products offered through Guardian Life include:
Term Life | Whole Life | Universal Life | |
Duration | 10, 15, 20, or 30 years | Lifetime protection | Lifetime protection |
Guaranteed Premiums | Yes | Yes | Varies |
Flexible Premiums | No | No | Yes |
Builds Cash Value | No | Yes | Yes |
Potential to Earn Dividends | No | Yes | Yes |
Term Life Insurance
Guardian offers term life insurance with terms of 10, 15, 20, or 30 years and a miminum death benefit of $100,000. If a policyholder dies while the policy is active, the provider will pay out death benefits to beneficiaries. However, your beneficiaries will not receive a death benefit if you die after your term policy has ended.
Policies are available for applicants between 18 and 75, though policy term options are limited for older applicants. For example, a 70-year-old can only choose a 10- or 15-year term.
Some Guardian term policies can be converted to permanent coverage later, but you'll have to speak with an agent to determine conversion requirements. Additionally, Guardian offers up to $3 million in coverage without a medical exam for qualifying applicants.
Whole Life Insurance
Whole life insurance from Guardian is a permanent product that builds cash value over time. These policies never expire and offer guaranteed premiums. Eventually, a buyer may reach a "paid up" status, meaning you've made all payments due, and the death benefit will be active without further fees for you. Funds also build on a tax-advantaged basis, and policyholders can earn dividends each year coverage is in force.
That said, dividends are not guaranteed, although this is also true of other whole life insurance providers. Guardian says its dividends are declared annually by the company's Board of Directors. Guardian estimates that it will pay $1.398 billion in dividends to policyholders in 2024 with a 5.90% dividend interest rate.
Universal Life Insurance
Universal life insurance is another type of permanent coverage offered through Guardian. Universal life is more flexible, allowing you to change your premium and death benefits throughout your policy's lifetime.
Universal life insurance, like whole life, includes a cash value component, which accrues value throughout your policy's life. Guardian's minimum interest rate building cash value is 2%, but some policies earn more.
Unique Coverage for Preexisting Conditions
Life insurance can seem like a mysterious and scary prospect. You apply and undergo a medical exam. Then, insurance companies may deny applications based on a host of preexisting conditions. Guardian's underwriting process still requires medical exams and documentation. However, the company has pioneered coverage for people with HIV and other preexisting conditions that have prevented people from getting insurance.
To qualify for Guardian's HIV policy, applicants must be between 20 and 65 with no AIDS-defining conditions and at least two years of highly active antiretroviral therapy. The essential requirements are listed on its HIV product page. Applicants who meet the requirements can qualify for as much as $2 million in coverage.
Additional Coverage Options (Riders)
Riders help policyholders customize a generic policy to meet their unique needs. For example, a young person buying a term policy may want a guarantee that they can convert to a permanent policy if they develop a chronic illness later. Some people like taking advantage of their coverage if they develop a terminal illness. Insurance riders address these and many other issues.
Guardian offers the following riders. But remember, some riders are only available with select Guardian policies.
- Accelerated terminal illness rider: Adding this rider to a plan gives the policyholder the right to access a portion of their death benefit while they're still alive if they're diagnosed with a terminal illness.
- Accidental death rider: This rider provides a more considerable death benefit if the death results from a covered accident.
- Charitable benefit rider: It adds another 1% to your death benefit (up to $100,000) to be donated to the charity of your choice upon your death.
- Guaranteed renewability rider: This rider ensures the policyholder can renew their term coverage when it ends if they choose to do so. However, it does not guarantee a set death benefit or monthly payment. Those may still vary once you convert your policy.
- Guardian index participation feature (IPF): This rider lets policyholders link the performance of a whole life insurance policy's cash value to a popular index, thus paving the way for more robust cash value growth when underlying investments perform well.
- Long-term care rider: This rider lets policyholders combine whole life coverage with an alternative to traditional long-term care insurance. This rider extends an additional payment to policyholders who utilize long-term care facilities during their lifetime.
- Paid-up additions (PUA) rider: Whole life policyholders can increase the policy's cash value and death benefit by paying additional premiums.
- Renewable term rider: This rider gives families the security of a permanent policy with the option to increase the death benefit should something happen with a 10-year renewable term. If the term rider expires, your death benefit will default to the base policy limits.
- Term conversion rider: This rider ensures the policyholder can convert a term life insurance policy to permanent coverage later on without going through a medical exam. Your monthly premiums and death benefit will change. This rider only guarantees the option to convert.
- Waiver of premium: This rider lets the policyholder maintain their coverage without paying premiums if they become disabled due to an injury or an illness.
Guardian Life Insurance Cost
According to Guardian Life Insurance, the main factors that impact the life premiums include coverage limits, length of coverage, the age of the applicant, health status, lifestyle, and optional riders added. Ultimately, this means how much you'll pay for coverage can vary depending on the type of plan you want and these other factors combined.
To get a better idea of how much Guardian costs, we obtained quotes for a 20-year term policy with a $500,000 death benefit for a non-smoking applicant in excellent health and compared it to the average cost of the same policy, according to Policygenius.
| Age | Sex | Guardian Quotes | Average Cost |
| 20 | Female | $27 | $23 |
| 20 | Male | $33 | $30 |
| 30 | Female | $27 | $23 |
| 30 | Male | $35 | $29 |
| 40 | Female | $40 | $35 |
| 40 | Male | $51 | $43 |
| 50 | Female | $86 | $78 |
| 50 | Male | $124 | $102 |
| 60 | Female | $224 | $194 |
| 60 | Male | $333 | $269 |
How to File A Claim with Guardian Life Insurance
Guardian has a claims portal on its website. Beneficiaries can access a range of forms to file a claim, update their policy payment method, change beneficiaries, and more. To file a claim, ensure you have the following information.
- The policy number
- The insured's death certificate
- Full name, correctly spelled, including any middle names
- Any maiden or former names
- Date of birth
- Social Security number
- If not a US citizen, the policyholder's nationality and passport number
However, to start the claims process, you'll need to call 1-866-452-4542 and select option 2. User reviews indicate filing a claim may be a bumpy process. Lack of support and getting the runaround are mentioned in some recent reviews. Regardless of which life insurer you're working with, we recommend being prepared with all documentation.
Due to experiences and reviews like this, many insurers are working to automate the claims process. Guardian has historically focused on product innovation to offer a broader range of policies. As of 2023, it created a partnership with grief support company Empathy, suggesting the process will be more automated going forward, ideally leading to better claims experiences.
Guardian Life Insurance Customer Service Reviews and Ratings
Guardian has overwhelmingly negative customer service reviews, receiving an average of 1.05 stars on its BBB page. Reviews mention difficulty reaching an agent and claims issues. However, it's worth noting that the majority of Guardian's reviews pertain to the entire company, not just its life insurance.
It's also worth noting that insurance companies often receive poor reviews on third-party review sites, often because reviews are generally left by people who have something to say, which is usually negative.
In JD Power's 2024 life insurance survey for customer satisfaction, Guardian placed 12th among 22 companies. It received a 784/1,000, whereas the average score among the surveyed companies was 790/1,000.
The National Association of Insurance Commissioners' complaint index rates a company based on how many complaints it receives against its share of the market. The average NAIC complaint index score is 1.00, meaning if a company scores below 1.00, it has fewer complaints than expected for a company of its size. If the company scores above 1.00, it has more complaints than the industry average. Guardian scored 0.67, indicating that it has far fewer complaints than expected.
Guardian Life Insurance Company has an A++ rating from AM Best.
Guardian Life Insurance Alternatives
Guardian Life Insurance vs. MassMutual Life Insurance
MassMutual Life Insurance is another top-rated life company that offers its policies through a network of insurance agents instead of online. However, MassMutual has a broader selection of policy types than Guardian. It offers term life, whole life, universal life, and variable universal life coverage, appealing to traditional buyers and those looking for aggressive investment options.
Like Guardian, MassMutual offers many other financial products, including insurance products, long-term care insurance, annuities, 529 plans, and other investment accounts. However, Guardian has policy options for people who may not qualify for a MassMutual policy.
Read our MassMutual life insurance review.
Guardian Life Insurance vs. Ladder Life Insurance
Ladder Life is an online insurance company offering up to $3 million term life policies with no medical exam required and up to $8 million with a medical exam. As a term-only life insurance company, Ladder is light on customization options compared to Guardian, lacking any conversion options, additional riders, or accelerated death benefits. Additionally, Ladder doesn't offer the same preexisting condition-friendly policies that Guardian offers. However, it includes a unique Laddering feature, which allows policyholders to adjust their death benefits and premiums unlimited times.
Ultimately, Ladder is the better option for healthy individuals looking for term life insurance. However, people looking for permanent policies or applicants with preexisting conditions should consider Guardian.
Read our Ladder life insurance review.
Guardian Life Insurance FAQ
Guardian offers three life insurance products: term, whole, and universal life. Within that net, it provides coverage for stay-at-home parents, HIV patients who meet specific criteria, and other traditionally difficult-to-insure groups.
Guardian's whole life insurance may pay dividends, though they're not guaranteed. However, Guardian estimates that it will pay $1.398 billion to policyholders in 2024.
You can obtain Guardian term life insurance quotes online. However, permanent life insurance quotes need to be obtained directly from a Guardian insurance agent.
Why You Should Trust Us: What Went into Our Guardian Life Insurance Review
The four primary criteria we use to review life insurance providers are affordability, customer service, reliability, and company offerings.
Companies receive five stars for cost when premiums are close to the industry average cost of life insurance. According to our article on the average cost of life insurance, a life insurance policy may run you about $40 to $55 a month. However, cheap life insurance doesn't mean you're getting quality coverage. So, we weigh affordability against the company's offerings, customer service, and other factors.
We used the latest JD Power life insurance study to determine which company offers quality customer service. Approximately 3,000 life insurance customers score insurance companies yearly based on communication, interaction, price, product offerings, and statement satisfaction. Companies ranking above the industry average of 774 points have strong customer service.
We also used AM Best, a renowned credit rating agency, and the NAIC's complaint index to evaluate a company's financial stability and trustworthiness. AM Best tells us a company's financial health, and the NAIC's complaint index scores a company based on the aggregate total of complaints it receives.
Finally, we looked at what each company has to offer, including policy options, riders, and features like medical exam waivers. We also determined which demographic would most benefit from the company based on its products and prices.
Read more about how Business Insider rates life insurance.
