Corebridge Financial life insurance review 2024
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BLUEPRINT
Updated 5:40 a.m. UTC Feb. 23, 2024
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Pros
- Offers convertible term life and renewable term life insurance.
- You can apply for up to $2 million in term life insurance online.
- Website has a robust offering of detailed articles and educational resources.
Cons
- Due to rebranding efforts, navigating its website can be confusing, as some of the pages are older and out-of-date.
- Must submit your personal information and speak with an agent to get quotes for most of Corebridge’s policies.
- Higher than average level of consumer complaints.
Why trust our life insurance experts
Our team of life insurance experts evaluates hundreds of insurance products and analyzes thousands of data points to help you find the best product for your situation. We use a data-driven methodology to determine each rating. Advertisers do not influence our editorial content. You can read more about our methodology below.
- 9,000+ life insurance policies evaluated.
- 38 million data points analyzed.
- 5 levels of fact-checking.
Types of life insurance sold by Corebridge
Corebridge offers multiple types of term life insurance, as well as whole, universal and final expense coverage.
Corebridge term life insurance
Corebridge offers flexible term life insurance from 10 to 35 years in five-year increments and with coverage amounts as high as $65 million.
Corebridge’s term life insurance has a renewable feature available at the end of the policy term. Insured individuals can decide to renew their term policy for a year and do so thereafter at the end of each policy period.
If you renew your term policy through Corebridge, you won’t have to get a new medical exam or additional underwriting. This is ideal if you’ve developed any health issues that may make obtaining a new term policy more challenging. However, when you renew your Corebridge policy, your rate will increase, as is customary with term life insurance renewals.
Corebridge also gives you the option to convert your term life insurance to a permanent policy — before the term policy ends.
Corebridge permanent life insurance
You can get whole, universal and guaranteed issue whole life insurance (often used as final expense coverage) through Corebridge Financial.
- Whole life insurance: Whole life insurance is a form of permanent life insurance with a cash value benefit. The lifetime policy pays out a death benefit but also allows you to borrow against that cash value while you’re alive, or use it to cover premium payments. Payments are fixed for the duration of the policy.
- Universal life insurance: This type of policy also lasts a lifetime and builds cash value over time. Corebridge offers guaranteed universal life insurance, indexed universal life insurance and variable universal life insurance.
- Final expense insurance: This senior life insurance policy is available exclusively to 50- to 80-year-olds. Buyers typically want such plans to help with medical and burial costs. It is available as a simplified issue or guaranteed issue product.
The simplified issue final expense insurance offers up to $35,000 in coverage with minimal underwriting — you’ll need to complete a questionnaire to determine eligibility.
The guaranteed issue final expense insurance provides up to $25,000 in coverage and does not require a medical exam or health questionnaire. Acceptance is guaranteed, though rates are generally higher than policies that require more comprehensive underwriting.
Alternatives to Corebridge life insurance
Corebridge Financial makes our ratings of the best term life insurance and the best life insurance. Among the life insurance companies our team of experts reviewed, Corebridge tends to have low to average rates. But if the cost of life insurance is a major factor for you, consider MassMutual, which consistently has lower rates than the other insurers in our analysis.
If you’re considering life insurance, get quotes from multiple insurance companies and compare key features, like coverage amounts, policy features, customer reviews and financial strength before you make your decision.
Here are other insurers you may want to consider.
Compare the best life insurance companies
| Life Insurance Company | Our Rating | AM Best Financial Strength Rating | Learn More | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Protective | A+ (Superior) | Compare Quotes Compare quotes offered by participating partners | ||||||
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 Pacific Life | A+ (Superior) | Compare Quotes Compare quotes offered by participating partners | ||||||
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 Corebridge Financial | A (Excellent) | Compare Quotes Compare quotes offered by participating partners | ||||||
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 Transamerica | A (Excellent) | Compare Quotes Compare quotes offered by participating partners | ||||||
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 Symetra | A (Excellent) | Compare Quotes Compare quotes offered by participating partners | ||||||
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 Penn Mutual | A+ (Superior) | Compare Quotes Compare quotes offered by participating partners | ||||||
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Methodology
To determine the best life insurance companies, our life insurance experts evaluated term life and permanent life insurance from each company. For term life insurance rate analysis, we used our research and data provided by AccuQuote, a national online life insurance agency. For cash value life insurance analysis, we used data provided by Veralytic, an independent publisher of life insurance research and analytics.
Each life insurance company included in our evaluation had the opportunity to earn up to 100 points, based on the following factors:
Term life insurance rates: 35 points. Since term life insurance is often the most affordable coverage option, we evaluated rates for both 30- and 40-year-old males and females for term lengths of 10, 20 and 30 years and coverage amounts of $250,000, $500,000, $1 million and $2 million.
Cost competitiveness of cash value policies: 15 points. Most permanent life insurance policies have a cash value component, but not all are created equal. We looked at internal policy costs, such as administrative fees and policy charges, to determine the competitiveness of permanent life policies offered by insurance companies in our review.
Historical performance: 10 points. The growth of cash value policies depends on several factors, including the historic performance of an insurance company’s investments. Our analysis took into account this metric to determine how an insurance company’s performance and therefore cash growth potential compared to others.
Complaints: 5 points. The customer experience is an important factor when identifying the best life insurance companies. To determine which life insurance companies offer the best service, we analyzed complaints submitted to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners.
Reliability of policy illustrations: 10 points. Permanent life insurance companies should provide an illustration to show how the cash value is projected to grow over time. We evaluated the accuracy of each insurer’s policy illustration to determine which companies provided the most reliable outlooks.
Financial strength: 10 points. There are four major rating agencies — AM Best, Fitch, Moody’s and Standard and Poor’s — that evaluate an insurer’s financial strength, a factor that indicates an insurer’s ability to pay out a claim years from now. We considered these life insurance company ratings to account for the likelihood an insurance company is able to fulfill claim obligations.
Access to cash value: 10 points. Cash value policies grow at different rates, and we factored the liquidity of a cash value policy into our analysis. Some policies have a cash value that grows faster in the early years. Others have slower cash value growth in the early years, and policyholders must wait a significant period of time before having access to a sizable cash value.
Term life conversion availability: 5 points. Some life insurance organizations allow policyholders to convert their term coverage to a permanent life insurance policy. We factored this in to help those considering term life insurance policies identify companies that provide this option.
Ethos
What you should know
If you’re looking for quick coverage and a large death benefit, consider Ethos Term Life. Eligible applicants can get instant approval and coverage for up to $2 million.
Pros and cons
Pros
- Policies up to $2 million available.
- Instant application approval.
Cons
- Can’t convert to permanent life insurance policy.
More details
Ethos example premiums for a 20-year term policy
Corebridge life insurance reviews
Corebridge Financial’s flexible term policies, coverage options and low rates make it a company worth considering, but it has some shortcomings on the customer satisfaction front.
As AIG, it ranked 19th out of 22 for customer satisfaction in J.D. Power’s 2022 U.S. Individual Life Insurance Study, scoring 30 points below the industry average and nearly 100 points below the industry leader, State Farm. If customer satisfaction is important to you, consider State Farm — as well as Globe Life and Mutual of Omaha, which round out last year’s top three life insurance companies.
Another metric to consider is the number of consumer complaints. According to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) database, AIG/Corebridge has an “above average” complaint level, with the primary reason for complaints being delays. Of the 264 complaints filed in 2022, just under 40% (104) were for claim handling delays or policyholder service delays/no response.
How can I get Corebridge life insurance?
Since AIG started rebranding as Corebridge, purchasing a policy can be a bit confusing, as you often need to navigate between the current Corebridge site as well as the original AIG site. A prompt typically pops up to let you know that whether you’re seeing Corebridge or AIG, you’re in the right place.
You can start your application process online by providing some personal information, including:
- Name.
- Date of birth.
- Gender.
- Height and weight.
- ZIP code.
- Phone number and email address.
- Desired coverage amount.
- Nicotine usage.
Once you submit your information, an agent will call you to discuss your quote.
Corebridge does offer a DIY insurance option to get a quote online, but it’s more challenging to find this option when browsing the website, as you have to make the jump from Corebridge to AIG Direct and then find the “Self-Fulfilling” menu item.
About Corebridge Financial life insurance
American International General (AIG) has been around for more than a century but started rebranding its retirement and life insurance business as Corebridge Financial in 2022. As the rebrand is not yet complete, customers can start the purchasing process from the AIG website.
Today, Corebridge Financial is one of the largest providers of life insurance and retirement solutions in the U.S., with a full suite of life insurance products, including term life, whole life and final expense coverage, as well as universal, variable and fixed annuities.
With customizable term lengths and the option to convert a term policy to permanent life insurance, Corebridge Financial makes our rating of the best life insurance companies.
Corebridge life insurance FAQs
Corebridge is a reliable life insurance company — it’s a rebranding of AIG Life and Retirement, a long-standing life insurance entity that offers both permanent and term life insurance solutions.
Its AIG member insurance companies (American General Life Insurance Company, The United States Life Insurance Company in the City of New York and The Variable Annuity Life Insurance Company) all maintain an A rating (Excellent) from AM Best, an A2 rating from Moody’s and an A+ rating from Standard & Poor’s. These represent Corebridge’s ability to pay out claims.
According to its website, if policies are $15,000 or less, Corebridge expedites the claim process, contacting the beneficiary within 24 hours to process the claim. It then takes three to five business days for the check to arrive in the mail.
Claims payouts from larger policies will take longer. After a life insurance beneficiary notifies Corebridge of the insured’s death, Corebridge will mail out a claims packet to all beneficiaries. Once the claim is filed, it should take five business days to review and process and another three to five business days to mail the check.
In 2022, American International Group (AIG) took its life insurance and retirement business public. In doing so, the company rebranded the business as Corebridge Financial. Though it has a new name, Corebridge continues to service life insurance products formerly offered through AIG and is frequently named among the best life insurance companies.
You may be able to borrow from your Corebridge life insurance policy if it is a cash value life insurance policy, such as whole life or universal life insurance. Term life insurance policies do not build cash value.
Blueprint is an independent publisher and comparison service, not an investment advisor. The information provided is for educational purposes only and we encourage you to seek personalized advice from qualified professionals regarding specific financial decisions. Past performance is not indicative of future results.
Blueprint has an advertiser disclosure policy. The opinions, analyses, reviews or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the Blueprint editorial staff alone. Blueprint adheres to strict editorial integrity standards. The information is accurate as of the publish date, but always check the provider’s website for the most current information.
