The benefits explained
- Very few complaints: Thrivent receives far fewer complaints than expected for a company of its size.
- Affordable price: When we compared the average cost of life insurance from companies nationwide, Thrivent’s quotes were among the most affordable.
- Superior financial strength ratings: The company earned an A++ rating from AM Best for its financial strength. This is the agency’s highest rating and indicates superior ability to pay insurance claims.
- Pays dividends on eligible life insurance products: Thrivent distributes dividends to customers who own qualifying insurance products. Although not guaranteed, the company has paid dividends every year since 1913.
Disadvantages Explained
- No online application available: You cannot purchase Thrivent life insurance policies online. Instead, you’ll have to fill out a form and wait for a call, which can slow down the process.
- Faith-Based Membership Requirements: To become a member of Thrivent, the company requires you to be a “Christian Seeking to Live Your Faith” or the spouse of one.
Index of complaints
Thrivent tends to receive far fewer complaints than expected for an insurance company of its size, according to the Complaints Index created by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC).
The NAIC Complaints Index shows how companies fare compared to other companies when it comes to life insurance complaints. An index of 1.00 means the insurer is on par with the number of complaints that are expected for a company of its size. A score below 1.00 means the insurer has fewer complaints than expected, while a score above this number means it has more complaints than expected.
Based on Complaints Index data over a three-year period, Thrivent’s average index was 0.04, meaning it has far fewer complaints than is typical for a service provider. her size. Comparing Thrivent to other insurance companies, it has one of the lowest complaint ratings in the industry.
If you are a Christian looking for one of best life insurance companies which receives few customer complaints, Thrivent is worth considering.
Third-party reviews
Thrivent Financial also scores well on the ratings provided by AM Best. The rating agency gave Thrivent an A++ rating, its highest possible rating, for its financial strength. AM Best rates companies on a scale of D to A++, based on the strength of their balance sheets and operational performance. Thrivent’s A++ rating indicates that it has a superior ability to pay claims and other financial obligations. Almost all of the 91 companies we reviewed received an A- (Excellent) or better rating, but Thrivent is one of only nine insurers we reviewed to earn the highest rating possible.
These ratings are important because they tell potential policyholders how stable an insurer is and how likely it is to meet its ongoing insurance obligations.
Policies available
Thrivent offers the following life insurance policy options.
Term life insurance
Term life insurance obliges policyholders to pay a fixed monthly premium amount over a fixed period, for example 20 years. In return, if the insured dies during this period, his beneficiary will receive a death benefit. Unlike permanent policies, these plans have no cash value component.
Policyholders can choose from several terms ranging from 10 to 30 years, depending on their age and coverage needs. Coverage amounts range from $100,000 to $2 million. Basic term conversion is included in all fixed-term contracts, which are also renewable at the end of the term period.
Whole life insurance
Whole life insurance is a permanent life insurance product that guarantees the payment of a specific death benefit to the beneficiary of an insured person, regardless of when that person dies. Unlike term life insurance policies that only cover a limited number of years, whole life insurance covers you as long as you make the fixed monthly premium payments. These policies also accumulate cash value that policyholders can access during their lifetime.
Thrivent whole life policyholders can choose to pay premiums to age 95 and are eligible to earn dividends. They can also enhance their policies with riders, including an accelerated death benefit rider for terminal illnesses; amendment to the increases released; premium rider disability waiver; and the guaranteed purchase option.
Universal life insurance
Universal life insurance is another type of permanent life insurance that accumulates a cash value component. However, unlike your typical term life insurance policy or whole life policy, it allows you to adjust your premiums and death benefit throughout the policy period.
Variable universal life insurance
Variable life insurance policies are a type of universal life insurance where policyholders can choose to invest their cash value in the stock market. Money can be divided into various investment funds, such as stocks, bonds and money market funds. Premiums can vary depending on how you invest and returns can potentially exceed or be lower than other insurance policies, depending on the return on investments.
Variable life insurance is considered the riskiest type of life insurance because if your investments perform poorly, you may need to increase the premium or the policy could expire.
Runners available
Sometimes you need or want your life insurance policy to pay more than just a death benefit to your beneficiaries. Here is an overview of the additional riders available with Thrivent.
Guaranteed insurability rider
A guaranteed insurability rider or the guaranteed increase option allows policyholders to increase the amount of their death benefit in the future without undergoing a medical examination. With Thrivent, this option is only available for juvenile contracts, ie life insurance for children.
Premium Rider Waiver
A waiver of premium rider waives your monthly insurance payments if you become totally disabled, seriously ill or seriously injured. With Thrivent, this is an option you can add to your policy for an additional fee. You can request a waiver of premium after four or six consecutive months of disability, depending on your contract.
Accidental Death Benefit
A accidental death benefit the rider pays an additional death benefit to the beneficiaries if the insured dies as a result of an accident such as a car accident. Thrivent offers policyholders the option of adding this endorsement to their life insurance policies at an additional cost.
Accelerated Death Benefit (ADB): Terminal Illness Rider
If a life insurance policyholder is diagnosed with a terminal illness, the accelerated death benefit (ADB) rider will allow the policyholder to receive the death benefit during their lifetime. This endorsement is standard on all Thrivent life insurance policies. Insureds receive the accelerated benefit if they have a life expectancy of 24 months or less.
Paid-up Insurance Enhancement (PUA) Rider (on participating whole life policies)
Although a whole life insurance policy does not allow policyholders to increase their death benefit by making additional payments, a endorsement of the increases released offers the option by allowing you to purchase small portions of paid-up life insurance. Thrivent charges an additional fee to add this endorsement to your policy.
Guaranteed purchase option (on participating whole life policies)
Available at an additional cost, this endorsement guarantees the option to purchase Thrivent insurance contracts or endorsements on a fixed or alternate purchase option date. This option is available on universal life, variable universal life and whole life policies (except single premium whole life).
Customer service
Thrivent offers a general customer support phone line at 800-847-4836, which is available Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. CST. You can also fill out a online form and a Thrivent Financial Advisor will contact you.
If you prefer one-on-one assistance, you can search for the Prosperous Directory for a financial advisor near you. Plus, if someone needs to report the death of a loved one, Thrivent offers a dedicated phone line (920-628-6312) and a online form for this specific purpose.
Although there is no live chat option, most life insurance providers do not currently offer this support channel.
Price
As part of our review of dozens of companies, we collected quotes for men and women in excellent health, ages 25, 40, and 55, looking for $250,000 30-year term policies. Thrivent’s policies were among the most affordable. In fact, its quotes were cheaper than almost 80% of the companies we collected data for.
Is Thrivent Life right for me?
If you are of the Christian faith and are looking for an affordable term policy or permanent life insurance, Thrivent is a very suitable option. The company’s strong claims-paying ability and remarkably low complaint rate are good indications that it takes its role as a fraternal benefit society seriously. Of course, the company doesn’t provide a final expense policy, which means you’ll have to look elsewhere if you want a little coverage with no exam and minimal or no health questions.
Our Methodology: How We Life Insurance Companies
We have designed a comprehensive ranking methodology based on consumer priorities and life insurance company fundamentals to rank over 90 insurers in five general categories: financial stability, customer satisfaction, variety of products and features, experience of overall purchase and cost.
To do this, we collected over 5,000 data points and scored each company based on 55 metrics. We’ve grouped the metrics by category to see insurers’ performance in each; we then weighted the category scores to determine overall company performance.
For more, read our full Life insurance methodology.