Voya Life Insurance Review (2024) (2024)

Voya scored a 3.0 out of 5 due to its limited availability only through employers and limited policy offerings. That is counterbalanced by offering no-medical exam insurance plans and a low consumer complaint index.

Voya also received average scores for the number and type of policy riders and communication options, which can be challenging for some policyholders

Pros

• Employees can make payments through payroll deductions
• Low number of customer complaints for both Voya and Reliastar
• Educational materials available online
• Offers policies in all 50 states

Cons

• Policies offered only through employers
• Voya primarily targets mid- and large-sized companies
• Limited number of policy types are available
• Website has good information but can be hard to navigate

When someone takes out life insurance, they are entering into an agreement with an insurance company. Essentially, the policyholder agrees to pay premiums, while the insurer agrees to pay out a death benefit to beneficiaries when the policyholder passes away. The amount of the premium and the size of the policy can vary based on a variety of factors, including age, gender, health and lifestyle. Additionally, some types of life insurance policies can even accrue cash value over time, which can be used for savings or investments and can be borrowed against in some cases.

You may want to learn more about how life insurance works as the first step in your research. Then, when shopping for a life insurance policy:

• Choose whether you want a term or whole life policy.
• Identify how you can customize the policy you want with riders.
• Determine how much coverage you need and when you need it.
• Get multiple quotes to make sure you get a competitive rate.
• Review each company’s financial health and customer ratings.

Voya Financial previously offered individual term, whole and universal life insurance policies. The company now only offers group insurance products to mid and large-size businesses with policies underwritten by Reliastar. Employees can enroll in or purchase life insurance through participating employers.

Consider consulting with a financial advisor or licensed insurance agent to ensure you are purchasing the right type and amount of life insurance through your employer.

There are two plan types available.

Term Life Insurance

When you purchase term life insurance, you are buying coverage for a fixed period, usually ranging from 10 to 30 years. In the event that the policyholder passes away during this time, the insurer will pay out a predetermined amount to the beneficiaries listed in the policy. Once the policy period comes to an end, the coverage will no longer be valid.

Many companies offer term insurance policies, and the top term life insurance providers offer affordable policies with customizable coverage options.

Voya offers term policies with the option to convert to a whole life policy if you leave your job or lose your eligibility for term life coverage. Many applicants consider this a form of supplemental group life insurance. Typically, term coverage for Voya policies is 10 to 30 years.

Employees can qualify without answering health questions or undergoing a medical exam.

Coverage maximums depend on your state and specific employer plan but are typically limited to $500,000 or less.

Whole Life Insurance

When you purchase whole life insurance, you are getting a permanent life insurance policy that provides coverage for your entire life, as long as you keep up with your premium payments. Unlike term life policies, whole life policies have a cash value component, which means that in most cases, you can borrow against the premiums you’ve paid into the policy.

Voya offers whole life insurance policies as an employee benefit, which you can take with you if you leave your job.

Employees can borrow against their Voya policy for emergencies or to supplement a retirement fund. Premiums for Voya’s whole life policies are fixed. They never change regardless of age or health.

Whole life policies can often be purchased in addition to term life policies, but the exact offering will vary by employer.

Voya Life Insurance Riders

Riders are add-on provisions to an insurance policy that let the policyholder customize and extend protection. Riders may require an additional payment on top of any regular policy premium, but this will depend on your unique circ*mstances through your employer.

Voya’s term and whole life policies feature optional accelerated death benefits for terminal illnesses. These enable policyholders to access a portion of the face value of their policy while they are still alive if a physician determines they have a terminal illness and have less than 12 or 24 months to live.

Voya also has a children’s term life benefit rider, which adds term life insurance to the policyholder’s base policy to cover existing and future children.

Some of Voya’s policies offer a waiver of premium for disability rider that allows the plan to stay in force if the insured becomes unexpectedly disabled because of illness or injury and cannot pay the policy’s premium.

Consult with a life insurance agent to make sure the life insurance quotes you receive from your employer are competitively priced.

Life insurance rates are competitively priced throughout the industry. While each insurer has its own methodology to determine policy costs and payout processes, several factors are standard across the board. The premium you pay will normally depend on the following:

• Age
• Health and medical history
• Occupation
• Gender
• Lifestyle
• Policy type
• Coverage amount

Some states also let insurers factor in a FICO/credit-based insurance score when determining premiums.

One way life insurance companies are compared is through consumer ratings. One is the widely used J.D. Power’s 2022 U.S. Individual Life Insurance Study. However, Voya and Reliastar were not reviewed, so no comparison is possible using this metric.

Similarly, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) tracks the number of complaints insurance companies receive compared to their size and market share. The index is used to compare a company’s performance to other companies. Reliastar Life Insurance, the company that issues Voya life insurance policies, had a very low three-year average, which indicates the vast majority of customers were pleased with Voya and Reliastar’s service.

Here is a sample of customer reviews to get an idea of what people are saying about Voya:

“I had a heart attack back on June 23rd 2022. I have been paying for a critical illness policy through my employer since February 2016. I carefully submitted my claim with all of the supporting documentation and VOYA came through and promptly paid out my claim in full with no hassles at all. […] ” —Lance via Consumer Affairs

“I put in my claim on March 16, 2020, and received a direct deposit TODAY! Maybe the issue comes to people requesting paper checks? My experience with Voya was excellent! Just in time to get my medical bills paid before they can go to collections. Although, I did have to follow up on my review decision as it had exceeded 10 business days. […] My advice, read the fine print, understand what is and isn’t covered. This was truly a smooth process from uploading the claim online to getting payment.” —Tia via ConsumerAffairs

“I started out buying a life insurance policy from ING 8 years ago. After receiving my policy I had almost no contact with them. It was like pulling teeth trying to get information from them. Then Voya bought the policy from them and everything got even worse. […]” —Dennis via Consumer Affairs

“Voya claims they’ve mailed documentation, yet I don’t receive it. Or I mail documentation to them, and they supposedly never receive it. Pages of faxed documents are supposedly “cut off”. They need to update their entire process and incorporate the option to upload documentation via their website. I truly wish my employer would partner with another organization for our retirement accounts. ” —DeAnna B. via BBB

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Methodology: Our System for Ranking the Best Life Insurance Companies

Our team researches and ranks life insurance companies using an in-depth scoring system that considers the factors most important to consumers like you. Our analysis includes a comprehensive review of each provider we feature based on available coverage, customizability, availability, customer service and company reputation. Here are the factors we take into consideration when rating life insurance providers:

• Brand trust (40%): Life insurance payouts can exceed $100,000 or more, which makes choosing a reputable and trustworthy installer important. To assess brand trust, we use J.D. Power and Associates customer satisfaction surveys, AM Best credit rating scores and the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) complaint index. The higher a company scores in each area, the more points it receives.
• Coverage (33%): The more policy options a life insurance company offers, the more opportunities you have to obtain the right coverage for your specific needs. For this reason, we give companies the most points for offering multiple types of life insurance, including various term, permanent and no-exam options.
• Availability and ease of use (19%): Since life insurance coverage options can be complex, we consider the ways a customer can reach a company — and how easy communication is. For this category, we research how many communication channels a company offers for general customer support, claims processing and the application process. Companies earn the most points for offering various ways to interact with an agent, both in-person and online.
• Riders (8%): Companies offering various life insurance riders or endorsem*nts allow policyholders to better customize their coverage. In this category, we determine how many riders a company offers and award the most points to providers with more than 10 options.

We use our rating system to compare and contrast each company against key factors to help us determine the best life insurance companies in the industry. To learn more, read ourfull life insurance methodologyfor reviewing and scoring providers.AM Best Disclaimer