Haven Life insurance review 2024
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At a glance
Bankrate's take
As of January 12, 2024, Haven Life is no longer accepting new life insurance applications. Going forward, Haven Life insurance policies will be serviced by its parent company, MassMutual.
- Established in 2014 and shuttered in early 2024
- Exclusively wrote term policies
- No-exam coverage was available in certain states
- Active policies and applications with Haven Life will now be handled by MassMutual
New
In November 2023, MassMutual (Haven Life’s parent company) announced it would ‘wind down’ Haven Life, citing “lack of customer adoption” and “high costs associated with customer acquisition” as the primary motivators behind the decision.
Haven Life life insurance review
Haven Life may have been a good life insurance option for those who want to handle their policies digitally or need a no-exam life insurance policy. Launched in 2014, Haven Life was an entirely digital life insurance company. Coverage was available nationwide, although not all policy types were available in each state. Haven Life operated under its parent company, MassMutual. Although Haven Life is closing its doors (it stopped accepting new policies in January 2024), active policies are still in force. If a Haven Life customer needs to change beneficiaries, update an address or file a claim, they may still do so by contacting customer service or visiting Haven Life’s website. Those with a pending Haven Life application will have until March 31, 2024, to finalize the process.
Haven Life only offered term life coverage. Depending on the product and your state, policies were underwritten either by MassMutual or C.M. Life Insurance Company, a wholly-owned subsidiary of MassMutual. Haven Life did not offer permanent life insurance options such as whole or universal life insurance, but if you were looking for the best term life insurance available, Haven Life may have been a competitive option.
Our Haven Life insurance review analyzes both types of term life insurance the company offers. If you’re unsure how much life insurance you need or what type of life insurance you’re looking for, you may want to consult our life insurance guide, speak with a licensed insurance agent or speak with a financial expert to help you in the shopping process. A life insurance calculator may also be a helpful tool.
- Term: Term life insurance is a type of coverage that lasts for a set period of time. It may be a good fit for families with children or those who only need coverage for a certain window of time, like while paying off a mortgage. Term coverage generally gets more expensive as you get older, so it may not be the best life insurance for seniors. Haven Life offered two types of term life insurance:
- Haven Term: This particular term insurance policy generally required applicants to get a medical exam before coverage is approved. It offered up to $3 million in life insurance coverage for U.S. citizens ages 64 and younger. Term lengths were 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30 years, depending on age. Haven Term was available in all states.
- Haven Simple: This term life insurance policy did not require a medical exam and offered a death benefit between $25,000 and $1,000,000 (depending on the applicant’s age). Applicants were eligible between the ages of 20 and 55 and could choose between 5-, 10-, 15- and 20-year terms, depending on age. Haven Simple was not available in Delaware, New York, North Dakota or South Dakota.
Haven Life life insurance riders
Life insurance riders are add-ons that could broaden your coverage. Keep in mind that there are different riders for different types of life insurance, and riders will typically increase the cost of your life insurance policy. If you’re shopping for cheap life insurance, adding riders may not be at the top of your to-do list, but weighing the benefits and costs of riders may help you decide if one or multiple could be right for you. Haven Life advertised two life insurance endorsements, but more may have been available depending on your state, policy type and eligibility. If you purchased a Haven Life policy before it shut down with one or more riders, those riders are still active.
- Accelerated death benefit: If you have this rider and are diagnosed with a terminal illness, you may be able to access some of your life insurance death benefit while you are still alive. This option is available for Haven Term and Haven Simple policies, but eligibility could vary based on your rating profile.
- Haven Life Plus: The Haven Life Plus endorsement is only available for Haven Term policies and isn’t an option for Haven Simple policies. Haven Life Plus offers a host of perks and services, including access to the Aaptiv fitness app, Lantern to document end-of-life wishes and Trust and Will for online estate planning services. Haven Life Plus isn’t available in Florida, New York, North Dakota, South Dakota or Washington.
Haven Life customer satisfaction
If you’re comparing life insurance companies, you may want to look at customer satisfaction. Good life insurance service may help you adjust your policy while living and could make the claim process easier for your beneficiaries after you pass. J.D. Power is a consumer data analytics company that ranks life insurers for overall customer satisfaction. While Haven Life wasn’t directly rated in the 2023 U.S. Individual Life Insurance Study, MassMutual — Haven Life’s parent company — scored above the industry average with an 809/1,000. While the score isn’t the highest on the list, it could indicate that policyholders are generally satisfied with the company’s service. C.M. Life Insurance, which underwrites some of the Haven Simple policies, was not rated by J.D. Power.
Haven Life customer complaints
Reviewing customer complaints is another way to see what kind of service a company provides its customers. The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) produces an annual complaint index report to track the amount of complaints an insurance company receives. It uses a baseline score of 1.0, with numbers below the baseline indicating fewer complaints and a score above the baseline indicating higher-than-average complaints.
While Haven Life is not scored by the NAIC, both MassMutual and C.M. Life Insurance have complaint index scores well below the baseline, meaning that the NAIC received fewer complaints than expected for these companies.
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Answer a few questions to check availability with Haven Life
Whole life insurance combines life insurance with an investment component.
- Coverage for life
- Tax-deferred savings benefit if premiums are paid
- 3 variations of permanent insurance: whole life, universal life and variable life include investment component
Term life insurance is precisely what the name implies: an insurance policy that is good for a specific term of time.
- Fixed premium over term
- No savings benefits
- Outliving policy or policy cancellation results in no money back
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Compare Haven Life with other insurers
Haven Life life insurance may not be the right fit for every shopper. If, after reading this Haven Life insurance review, you decide to research other companies, you may want to start with some of the comparable companies below.
Haven Life vs. State Farm
State Farm might appeal to you if you prefer to work with a local agent since Haven Life is completely digital. State Farm is our 2024 Bankrate Award winner for Best Term Life Insurer and Best Universal Life Insurer. It offers permanent life insurance options, while Haven Life only offered term coverage. Haven Life’s online quoting and purchase process was more robust than State Farm’s, though, so if you prefer to handle your policies digitally, Haven Life may have been the better option.
Learn more: State Farm Insurance review
Haven Life vs. Ladder
Like Haven Life, Ladder exclusively offers term policies through an online interface. Coverage is available for applicants aged 20 to 60, and no-exam policy limits are capped at $3 million. With a medical exam, applicants can get up to $8 million in coverage. Ladder may be a good alternative to Haven Life for those seeking term coverage online. However, Ladder partners with three different companies to underwrite its policies, which affect policy quality.
Learn more: Ladder Insurance review
Haven Life vs. Nationwide
If you’re underwhelmed by Haven Life’s sparse policy offerings, you may want to look at Nationwide. Nationwide offers a variety of policy types, multiple riders, several accessibility options and a high J.D. Power score for customer satisfaction. The company also offers numerous banking and insurance products, which might be appealing if you want to keep all your products with one company. On the other hand, the Haven Life Plus endorsement offered a lot of services that Nationwide doesn’t, which may appeal to some shoppers.
Learn more: Nationwide Insurance review
Our insurance editorial team includes licensed agents with decades of combined experience, and we used our intimate knowledge of the industry to conduct this in-depth Haven Life insurance review.
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Was Haven Life a good insurance company?
Haven Life could have been a good choice if you are looking for a term life insurance policy. While the company didn’t advertise many riders, its Haven Plus option stood out among competitors for a variety of subscription benefits. MassMutual, which owns Haven Life, also tends to get high third-party scores. However, Haven Life fell short when it came to policy offerings and didn’t offer permanent life insurance.
If you are impressed by the company's customer satisfaction scores and corporate sustainability but want a permanent policy, you could check out MassMutual. MassMutual’s excellent financial strength rating, option of 13 different riders and high J.D. Power scores also helped it win our 2024 Bankrate award for Best Whole Life Insurer.
Active Haven Life policies are still in force and are managed by MassMutual, which boasts the highest financial strength rating possible from AM Best.
What are real-life customers saying about Haven Life?
Because Haven Life is no longer accepting new applications, we instead looked at first-hand reviews for MassMutual on discussion forums like Reddit, Quora and TrustPilot. The general consensus we found was online that MassMutual is a trusted name in the life insurance industry, but that it may not offer the cheapest term policies.
Users on Bogleheads, an online discussion forum for general financial advice, stated that while MassMutual is a well-established industry name, it may not be the most competitive option for term coverage:
However, Reddit users had different thoughts about its whole life insurance options, stating that while MassMutual policies were slightly more expensive, they felt the assurance behind its brand name made it worthwhile:
Haven Life company details
- Haven Life
- Customer service: 1-855-744-2836 Monday–Thursday, 9am–5pm ET or help@havenlife.com
- Request form and live chat available on Haven Life’s website
- Mailing address:
- 60 Madison Ave, 7th Floor, New York, NY 10010
- MassMutual
- Customer service: 1-800-272-2216
- Claims: 1-800-272-2216
- Website: massmutual.com
- Mailing address:
- 1295 State Street, Springfield, MA 01111
State availability
Haven Life was available in all 50 states and Washington D.C. Haven Simplified Term was available in all states except New York, California, Florida, Delaware and South Dakota.
Haven Life tools and benefits
When it was still writing new policies, Haven Life offered these two products in addition to its term life insurance:
- Annuities: If you’re looking for financial products beyond traditional life insurance, you may be interested in Haven Life annuities, sold by AgeUp.
- Disability insurance: Haven Disability could help you replace lost income if you are sick or injured and can't work.
MassMutual offers a broader range of extras and policy options than Haven Life:
- Financial advisors: A MassMutual financial advisor can help you manage your life insurance policy and other financial products.
- Mobile app: With MassMutual’s mobile app, policyholders can manage their policies, their premiums, access policy information and more. The app has a 4.8 rating out of 5.0 on the App Store and a 4.4 out of 5.0 on Google Play.
- Investment and retirement products: MassMutual may work as a one-stop-shop for a policyholder’s financial needs; it offers annuities, individual retirement accounts, mutual funds and more.