Ethos Life Insurance Review | Insurance without an Exam

Editor’s Note: The information presented here is accurate as of July 2022. Quite often, life insurance represents a financial product not many wish to think about.  Understandably so, this requires coming to terms with one’s own mortality and also how his or her departure affects those who depend on the financial support provided. Despite this, carrying adequate life insurance makes sense for most people, particularly if you have dependents as a young family and serve as the main breadwinner in the household. As a result, ensuring you have the best life insurance can make all the difference if something should happen to you. Instead of the undesirable alternative of leaving your family without any means of financial support, adequate life insurance proceeds can provide your surviving dependents with a cushion which will help them maintain their current lifestyle. This allows them to stay in your family home or otherwise abandon a life they grew accustomed to as a result of losing someone they love. This Ethos Life Insurance review will look at what this company offers and what it means for you.​   Related:

• What is the Cash Surrender Value of a Life Insurance Policy?
• What is Imputed Income for Life Insurance?

Ethos Insurance Overview

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Ethos represents another new player in the online term life insurance market. The company has received major financial backing from notable names in the financing field like Sequoia Capital and Stanford University. Additionally, numerous funding sources for the company have come from entertainment and celebrity investors like:

• Arrive, a subsidiary of entertainment company Roc Nation (affiliated with Jay Z)
• Basketball superstar Kevin Durant and his Durant Company
• Actors Will Smith and Robert Downey Jr.’s Smith Family Circle and Downey Ventures, respectively

This diversified and well-backed insurance startup offers just as wide of a variety of term life insurance policies, ranging from 10 years to 30 years. Like Bestow, Ethos also offers policies without a medical exam up to $1,000,000.  Additionally, for those in need of a larger insurance policy to meet their needs, Ethos also offers higher coverage policies for those who wish to submit to a medical exam. As a special note, Ethos requires submission of a credit card number in order to process the application.  This detail goes unmentioned upfront in the disclosures via prompts.

Ethos Coverage Terms

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As for their coverage terms, Ethos offers term life insurance to people ages 18 to 75. Further, they provide term life insurance policies in increments of 10, 15, 20 and 30 years. For those looking for a longer-term view, younger buyers can explore longer coverage periods. For now, the maximum term lengths by age are as follows:

• Ages 18 to 55 (nonsmoker), 18 to 50 (smoker): ≤ 30 years.
• Ages 56 to 65 (nonsmoker), 51 to 65 (smoker):  ≤ 20 years.
• Ages 66 to 70: ≤ 15 years.
• Ages 71 to 75: ≤ 10 years.

At this time, Ethos does not sell permanent life insurance, such as whole life. It only offers term life insurance coverage to interested customers. The streamlined application process occurs online, eliminating the need for paperwork or an in-person visit (except in cases where a medical exam is necessary on larger policies). Should you require further assistance, the company offers access to a life insurance agent from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Pacific time to answer questions by phone, text or email. However, the agent will not earn a commission on sales.

Ethos’ Financial Picture

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Assurity Life Insurance Co., a Nebraska-headquartered company founded in 1890, issues Ethos’ life insurance policies.

This strong financial underwriting offers peace of mind to those in search of a company underpinned by solid financials. Further, Ethos earned A.M. Best’s “A- (Excellent)” Financial Strength Rating.

As a reminder, financial strength should serve as an important determinant when choosing an insurer because it indicates how well an insurer can manage to pay claims made by policyholders.

Because these life insurance claims might not occur until decades in the future, this rating serves as an absolute differentiator if all else appears equal for term life insurance policies.

Related: 8 Best Ways to Invest a Lump Sum Life Insurance Payout

Who Should Consider Ethos Insurance?

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Ethos serves as an excellent option for individuals aged 18-75 looking for term life insurance up to 30 years in length with shorter durations available to older applicants (and nearer an insured event, i.e., death).

In other words anyone with an age of the majority and seeking to provide coverage for themselves and their dependents easily and quickly.

Finally, Ethos Technologies boasts an “A+” Better Business Bureau rating with no negative reviews shown online at the time of this review.

Below represents the major need-to-know facts about Ethos:

• 100% online application and policy origination process
• No medical exams (except policies larger than $1,000,000)
• A+ rated financial strength
• No commissioned sales agents
• Only sells term life insurance policies
• Coverage from $50,000 to $1,000,000 (without medical exam), more available with exam
• 10, 15, 20 and 30 year terms available
• Covers all insurable age groups

NOTE:

Ethos does not provide term life insurance coverage in the state of New York as of the time of this writing.  It offers coverage in all other U.S. states.

How Ethos Compares

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See how Ethos compares against the other agencies in the online life insurance market.  Have a look at each review performed by this site by clicking on the links below to learn which might lead to you finding your best policy.