Metlife Life Insurance Review 2023

MetLife Life Insurance Company is one of the oldest and most popular insurance companies in the United States. Founded in 1868, the company is the third-largest insurance company, after Prudential Financial and Berkshire Hathaway. 

Although MetLife previously offered a comprehensive range of individual and corporate life products, they have now separated their life and annuity business. Ever since 2017 their life and annuity business is available through Brighthouse Financial.

MetLife offers limited life insurance policies through employers. Additionally, they offer other insurance products, such as auto and home insurance, Medicare plans, long-term care, and investment options.

MetLife Insurance reviews found online are both positive and negative; however, in this guide, we will see for ourselves what kind of services MetLife offers and how they stand against the competition.

How We Reviewed

To come to the right conclusion for MetLife Life Insurance, we have taken a number of factors and assessed them in a fair manner to determine whether or not the insurance company’s services are worth it. These include:

• The coverage types and insurance policies offered by MetLife
• What things MetLife does not cover
• MetLife availability in the US
• MetLife pricing plans
• MetLife’s claim processing
• MetLife Life Insurance rating and customer reviews
• Financial stability of the company
• Customer support
• How MetLife stands against competitors

Where Is It Available?

MetLife operates in all 50 states of America. The company’s main offices are located at 200 Park Avenue, New York City.

Additionally, its services are available in more than 25 countries, including the UK, UAE, Turkey, Russia, Poland, Egypt, and Romania.

MetLife Life Insurance Review

MetLife Life Insurance Coverage Types

As of 2017, MetLife life insurance plans are only offered through employer group benefit programs. The company currently offers three types of term life insurance options and two types of universal life insurance options. They do not offer a whole life insurance policy.

MetLife Term Life Insurance

MetLife states that it offers its term life insurance policies at low and sometimes no cost at all. It offers three different types of policies:

Basic: This policy covers an individual for a specific period. The term duration can be discussed with a group benefits advisor of the company since every employer has a different kind of agreement with MetLife.

Supplemental: As the name suggests, this is an add-on that may be offered to people who want additional coverage, in addition to their regular MetLife group term life insurance plan. The supplement term life plan is not available throughout the year but maybe provided during specific periods or open enrollments decided by employers if your needs change over time.

You can use supplemental term life insurance plans to add a limited amount of increments with different benefit options.

Dependent: This insurance plan provides coverage for your spouse, children, civil union, or domestic partner. Typically, this MetLife term insurance plan allows $10,000 in increments up to $100,000 or 50% of the optional life insurance coverage, whichever is less. If you do not have optional life insurance, you can have increments of a maximum of $20,000. 

A full application is required for spouses that are not on the plan. A $15,000 coverage is also available for dependent children.

MetLife Universal Life Insurance

MetLife Life Insurance offers two universal life insurance policies. These policies are riskier than a traditional whole life insurance plan since some of them may involve an investment aspect.

Group Variable Universal Life Insurance: This policy offers death benefits as well as the chance to build cash value. You can finance this plan by paying the premium for the life insurance portion and paying another portion into an investment account that will build cash value for you. For the latter, you may pay premiums in regular installments or in a lump sum and this will provide you with a minimum of a guaranteed interest rate.

It will take a while for the cash value to build up in the account. Hence, you will only be able to access “premiums paid” in the first 15 years without any penalties. However, MetLife may charge you an administration fee of 2% of the amount you withdraw or $25, whichever amount is less. 

This account may also be subject to taxes depending on your age, how long you hold it, and other factors.

Group Universal Life Insurance: This plan offers all the same features as the Variable Group Universal Life plan except the amount you pay to build cash value does not go into an investment account. Instead, it is saved in a tax-deferred cash value section that yields a guaranteed minimum interest rate.

Keep in mind though that this guaranteed interest depends on the company’s performance and you cannot ensure whether the money that is saved into this account will come out more when the policy is paid out.

If you want to get MetLife Life Insurance policies on your own, you can get them through Brighthouse Financial. Here are some of the policies it carries:

MetLife Guaranteed Level Term: This policy provides the same amount of coverage till it ends. It is available for people aged between 18 and 75, in a range of terms, including 10, 15, 20, and 30. If you need temporary coverage, this is an economic policy. Additionally, it offers a conversion option until the age of 70 or the end of the term. It also provides a disability waiver of premium riders and acceleration of death benefits.

Premiere Accumulator Universal Life: This plan offers protection to your death benefits. What differentiates it from a traditional whole life policy is that it gives you more control over how you can invest your cash value accumulation. You also get three life insurance rider packages, including accelerated death benefit rider, chronic and terminal care riders, and waiver of specified premium riders.

MetLife Hybrid Life Insurance: A mix of indexed universal life insurance and long-term care policies, Metlife Hybrid offers death benefits. It also offers long-term care coverage if you ever need it. You can use this policy to grow your long-term care benefits and protect them against the fluctuations in the market.

MetLife Insurance Riders

For people seeking more coverage, MetLife and Brighthouse Financial also offer rider packages. These include:

Accidental Death Rider: This package pays an additional death benefit, aside from your main policy if the policyholder dies in an accident.

Disability Waiver-of-Premium-Rider: This rider package gives you premium relief if you are unable to pay them because of a serious injury that results in disability.

Chronic and Terminal Care Rider: If you become chronically or terminally ill after getting this package, you will be able to access a portion of the death benefit to take care of your medical needs.

MetLife Life Insurance Rates

MetLife Life Insurance website does not display the pricing of its policies since the pricing is negotiated by the employers on behalf of their employees. The company states that it offers MetLife term life insurance quotes that are low and are sometimes available at no cost.

Your MetLife Life Insurance quote may be affected by a variety of factors, including the age, gender, height, weight of employees, their health and smoking status, whether they worked/work in a high-risk environment and other factors. 

As you age, life insurance plans get even more expensive. Your MetLife Life Insurance payment also depends on how much coverage you have. Permanent policies are more expensive than term policies with the same benefit levels.

How Do I Get A Low Rate?

Here are some of the main factors that can help you get a low rate:

Age: Even though death can come at any time, the younger you are, there is a lower risk of you dying and hence your premium will be lower.

Drinking or Smoking: People who drink or smoke excessively are high-risk policyholders and their MetLife Life Insurance rates are generally higher.

Medical History: If you do not have a medical history of chronic disease, cancer, or other qualifiable illnesses, your premium will be lower.

Driving Record: If you have a history of driving under the influence, this usually means higher premiums.

Occupation/Lifestyle: People who have high-risk occupations like miners and pilots or adventure seekers who like to practice in extreme sports may have to provide a higher premium to their insurer.

MetLife Life Insurance quotes for certain people are quite competitive like:

• People with Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes
• Seniors with high blood pressure
• Active military personnel

Multi-policy Discount: If you buy different types of insurance policies from MetLife, like car and auto insurance with a life policy, you will get a 10% discount.

Customer Satisfaction and Financial Strength Review

MetLife AM Best rating is A+, which is the second-highest rating of its 16 rating categories. This means that the company is exceptionally financially stable. In the 2019 JD Power Life Insurance Study, the company ranked 15th out of 25 companies rated for customer satisfaction.

Additionally, the S&P Global rate it at AA- and its Moody’s financial strength rating stands at Aa3.

These ratings mean that the company has enough liquid assets to pay out its insurance claims without having any cash flow issues.

MetLife BBB rating is A-, although this does not accurately reflect customer reviews on the site. As of September 9, the company has customer reviews below 1.1 out of 5 stars and 284 MetLife complaints closed in the last 12 months.

MetLife Insurance Customer Service

MetLife Life Insurance offers several convenient options to contact its customer support team. Here are some of the channels:

MetLife Life Insurance Contact Us Form: You can find the form and fill it out here: https://www.metlife.com/support-and-manage/contact-metropolitan-tower/

MetLife Life Insurance Customer Service Number: You can call MetLife at 800-858-6506 Monday through Friday from 9 am to 6 pm ET.

MetLife Life Insurance Social: You can contact the company through its Facebook and Twitter channels.

MetLife Life Insurance Claims Handling 

If you buy a life insurance policy from MetLife, your beneficiaries will need the following documents to make a claim:

• Original MetLife Life Insurance policy
• A death certificate; needs to be certified if the payout is over $100,000
• If you have an accidental death rider, you will need to provide proof of the accident
• MetLife Life Insurance claim form

Claims for both MetLife and Brighthouse Financial are handled by the MetLife brand so you can visit the website to download the claim form.

• Go to www.metlife.com and click on the MetLife Life Insurance login button in the top-right corner.
• Click on the Menu in the top-left corner and go to “File a Claim” under the Support & Manage category.
• Click on “Start a Life Insurance Claim” under the Life Insurance Claim category.
• Click on “Claim Form” under the Need to File a Claim category.
• Fill out the form, attach the relevant documents, and mail it to the address listed in the original policy.

MetLife Life Insurance claims payout time is about 5 to 7 days. You have a choice of getting the death benefit as a check or as a deposit in the Total Control Account. This is a type of checking account managed by MetLife and it earns a low-interest rate but it comes with a few fees and limitations. If you want to use the money as you see fit, it is best to take the check.

For further information regarding the claims process, you can contact the support team at MetLife Life Insurance claims phone number at 800-858-6506.

Comparison with Competitors

MetLife Life Insurance Vs. Mutual Of Omaha

One of the most important competitors of MetLife Life Insurance is Mutual of Omaha. This company offers a universal life policy that has a “bottom” on its investment portion of the policy. This means even if the market suffers a drop, you will not lose any money.

Compared to MetLife, Mutual of Omaha offers a more secure universal life policy. It also has few customer complaints and offers several riders and perks that provide policyholders a lot of benefits in the long term.

AIG Vs. MetLife Life Insurance

Unlike MetLife Life Insurance, AIG offers more transparent premiums and its term life insurance pricing starts from $14 a month. Similar to MetLife, it has 10 to 30-year term life insurance policies available and also offers a 70% savings opportunity on its term life plan.

AIG also offers a more comprehensive range of policies including living benefits with the chance to customize your payment of premiums, death benefits, and cash values.