Pros Explained

• Whole life insurance with dividends: Boston Mutual’s whole life insurance policies are eligible to receive annual dividends based on company performance. In 2022, the company expects to pay more than $1.9 million in dividends to its whole life customers.
• Few complaints for its size: Boston Mutual gets few complaints from its policyholders. It’s a good indication that the provider does well in the areas of customer experience and claims handling.
• Offers no-medical-exam policies: You can purchase a permanent life insurance policy from Boston Mutual without taking a medical exam. However, the amount of coverage you can get without a medical exam is limited.

Cons Explained

• Few online capabilities: Boston Mutual doesn’t have the best online features. You can’t get a quote, submit an application, or file a claim through its website. You will need to work with an agent throughout the entire process. 
• No individual term life insurance: You can only get term life insurance if your employer offers group life insurance benefits through Boston Mutual. The company doesn’t sell individual term life policies.
• Few policy types available: The only type of individual life insurance that Boston Mutual sells is whole life insurance. However, you can choose from  a handful of whole life plans with varying coverage limits and added benefits.

Complaint Index

Boston Mutual Life Insurance has fewer complaints than expected for a company of its size, based on data from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) Complaint Index. The complaint index measures the number of complaints an insurer receives in relation to its size.

Here’s how the index works. Companies with a number of complaints expected for their size have an index of 1.00. Companies with more complaints than expected have an index above 1.00, and companies with fewer complaints than expected have an index below 1.00. The lower a company’s index, the better.

To better understand Boston Mutual’s customer experience, we calculated its three-year average complaint index, which is 0.58. That score shows that Boston Mutual has fewer complaints than expected for a company of its size. For comparison, most of the best life insurance companies we reviewed also have complaint indexes below 1.00. 

Third-Party Ratings

Boston Mutual has excellent financial strength. The company received an A (Excellent) rating from AM Best, a rating agency that evaluates the credit and financial strength of insurance companies. 

AM Best’s ratings are determined based on factors such as balance sheet strength, operating performance, and total debt. The highest letter grade available is A++ (Superior); Boston Mutual received the agency’s third-highest grade.

While Boston Mutual does not have the highest letter grade, the A rating still means it has an excellent ability to meet contractual obligations.

Policies Available 

Boston Mutual sells two types of life insurance: term and whole life. The company sells group term and group whole life, but the only individual policy available is whole life. However, you may be eligible to apply for the company’s whole life policies without completing a medical exam. 

Term Life Insurance

Term life insurance is a temporary life insurance policy that offers protection over a fixed period, often between 10 and 30 years, in 5- or 10-year increments. The premiums are level over the duration of the term and your beneficiary receives a death benefit if you pass away before the policy expires. Unlike permanent life insurance, most term life insurance policies do not accumulate cash value.

Whole Life Insurance

Whole life insurance is a form of permanent life insurance that provides lifetime protection. It has level premiums, a guaranteed death benefit, and a cash value component. With each premium payment, a portion of the money goes into the cash value account and grows at a fixed interest rate. You may have the option to take a policy loan from your cash value.

Available Riders

Life insurance riders are endorsements that can be added to your policy for extra coverage. Some life insurance riders are built into your policy at no extra cost, while others can be added for a monthly or one-time fee. Below are the riders available from Boston Mutual.

Child Term Rider

A child term rider will provide a limited amount of life insurance for your eligible children, including stepchildren and legally adopted children. You can add this rider to cover kids as young as 15 days old, with coverage lasting until age 25. After age 25, the child can convert the rider to an individual life insurance policy with a maximum coverage limit of $40,000, or five times the rider benefit, without taking a medical exam.

Waiver of Premium Rider

A waiver of premium rider will temporarily pause your life insurance premiums if you become totally disabled and are unable to work. If you need to use this rider, it will not impact your life insurance coverage. It’s available for policyholders between the ages of 16 and 55.  

Accidental Death Benefit Rider 

An accidental death benefit rider will pay out a second death benefit (in addition to your base policy’s death benefit) if you pass away and your death is caused by a qualifying accident. This rider is available for individuals between the ages of 15 days and 60 years old.

Terminal Illness Rider

With a terminal illness rider, you are allowed to collect up to $50,000 of your death benefit while you are still living if you're diagnosed with a terminal illness and have a life expectancy of one year or less.

Long-term Care Rider 

Boston Mutual’s long-term care rider is called the catastrophic loss rider (CATLOSS) and is available on group life policies for applicants between the ages of 18 and 70. This rider allows you to withdraw money from your death benefit if a physician determines you cannot complete two or more activities of daily living (ADLs).

Chronic Illness Rider

The chronic illness rider allows you to accelerate a portion of the death benefit while you are still living if you get diagnosed with a qualifying chronic illness.

Customer Service

Boston Mutual Life Insurance has standard customer service. You can contact the company by calling (877) 624-2249 during business hours, which are Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET. You can also email the company if you log into your account or register your email address.

Our Methodology: How We Review Life Insurance Carriers

We designed a comprehensive ranking methodology based on consumer priorities and life insurance company fundamentals to rank more than 90 insurers across five general categories: financial stability, customer satisfaction, product and feature variety, the overall buying experience, and cost. In order to do this, we collected over 5,000 data points and scored each company based on 55 metrics. We grouped metrics by category to see how insurers performed in each; we then weighted category scores to determine how companies performed overall.

To learn more, read our full Life Insurance Methodology.