Company Overview

CUNA Mutual Group launched the TruStage brand in 2012 as part of a direct-to-consumer campaign to reach credit union members. The has announced it would unify its businesses under the TruStage in 2023. Its headquarters is in Madison, Wisconsin.

Pros Explained

• No medical exam required for any policy: There’s no need for a physical exam or invasive medical tests with any TruStage policy. You may be asked some simple health questions, but you won’t have the hassle of medical tests or exams.
• Fully online application for all policies: TruStage is one of the few insurance providers to offer online quotes for whole life coverage. What’s more, you can complete your application for any policy online.
• Instant decision and same-day coverage possible: You can get a decision right away about whether your application has been accepted, and coverage can begin as soon as you make your first payment. This ease is the reason TruStage made our list of best burial insurance companies.

Cons Explained

• Expensive term coverage: Term coverage from TruStage Life increases in price as you enter hit five-year age milestones (for example, when you turn age 25, 30, 35, and so on), and premiums can be up to four times more expensive than other similar providers. 
• Limited riders available: While many insurance providers offer endorsements to customize your policy, TruStage doesn’t offer accelerated death benefits, waiver of premium option, or many other common riders. 
• Low coverage limits: Term coverage face amounts only go up to $300,000, and you can only get up to $100,000 in whole life coverage and $20,000 from a guaranteed-issue policy. Many families will need more coverage than that and can find it at numerous competitors.

Complaint Index

TruStage had fewer complaints than average for a company its size, according to data from National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC). That bodes well for customer satisfaction with the company. Each year, the NAIC scores insurance companies based on the number of consumer complaints each receives and creates a complaint index that takes into account each company’s size. You’d expect a larger company to get more complaints, and the index provides a way to compare companies of different sizes.

An index of 1.00 means the company received the expected number of complaints relative to its size. If a company gets more complaints than expected for its size, its complaint index will be higher than 1.00 and if it gets fewer complaints than expected, its index will be below 1.00. The lower the index, the better. Most of the carriers we named as the best life insurance companies don’t score above 1.00 in any given year. 

In 2022, CMFG, the company that underwrites TruStage insurance, had a complaint index of 0.41. Though this is a definite positive, keep in mind that some other insurers score closer to zero. 

Third-Party Ratings

You can also feel good about CMFG's ability to pay the claim on your TruStage policy. CMFG is well rated for its financial stability, though some other companies fare better. The insurer received an A rating for financial strength from AM Best, an independent rating agency that evaluates insurance companies. An A means AM Best thinks the company has an excellent ability to meet its ongoing financial obligations. 

AM Best ratings are important because they indicate a company’s financial capability to pay claims. That’s why we typically don’t recommend any insurance company that scores below an A-. Though CMFG has a strong rating, keep in mind that many of the top life insurance companies we review have an A+ grade or above. 

Competition

	TruStage	SBLI	Everlake
Types of Coverage	Term, whole, guaranteed issue	Term, whole, final expense	Term, whole, universal, variable universal
Online Application	Yes	Yes	No
AM Best Rating	A	A-	A+
Price for Term Policies	Poor	Excellent	Information not available
NAIC Complaint Index (2022)	0.41	0.65	1.57

Policies Available

Term Life Insurance

Term life insurance provides coverage during a period when your family will still rely on your income to meet their financial obligations. Terms are typically between 10 and 30 years, and buying a term policy that will end when the mortgage is paid and the kids are out of the house is common. If you die outside of the covered term, your family won’t receive a death benefit. But term life insurance is much more affordable than permanent life insurance, which lasts your whole life (as long as you pay the premiums).

TruStage Individual Term Life Insurance

With TruStage, you can only apply for between $5,000 and $300,000 in coverage. That’s a much lower maximum level of coverage than many competitors offer. All coverage amounts may not be available for all ages. There are no medical exam requirements, you can get a decision the same day, and coverage begins immediately with your first premium payment. Premiums only stay level until you reach the subsequent five-year age band when they increase. This term policy is renewable until age 80. You can also convert the policy to a whole life policy. 

Whole Life Insurance

A whole life insurance policy provides permanent protection. As long as you pay your premiums, your beneficiaries will receive a payout no matter when you die. The policy also builds cash value, against which you can borrow. However, whole life insurance costs much more than term coverage.

TruStage Individual Whole Life Insurance

TruStage is one of the few companies to offer an online quote and application for whole life insurance—and the policy doesn’t require a medical exam. However, you can only get between $5,000 and $100,000 in coverage—again, this is a much lower maximum than competitors offer, most of whom have multimillion-dollar maximums, according to our research. The TruStage whole life policy comes with level premiums and is available for issue ages 18 to 85. 

Guaranteed-Issue Life Insurance

A guaranteed-issue policy (also called guaranteed acceptance insurance) is a small whole life policy designed to cover your funeral costs and other final expenses. Coverage is rarely more than $50,000, but no medical exam is required. As long as you meet the age requirements for the policy, TruStage won't turn you down. If you’re healthy, you may be better off applying for a traditional whole life policy because the premiums for guaranteed-issue policies are for people who aren’t in good health, which means they’re more expensive. 

TruStage Guaranteed Acceptance Whole Life Insurance

With this guaranteed-issue product, there are no medical exams or health questions to answer. You can apply online, and coverage starts with your first premium payment. The policy is available to applicants aged 45 to 80, and you can get between $2,000 and $20,000 in coverage. 

Available Riders

Life insurance riders help you customize your policy by adding coverage, providing living benefits, allowing you to purchase more coverage without taking a medical exam or waiving premiums in certain circumstances. Many insurance companies offer a variety of riders, some of which are included at no cost. However, TruStage has limited life insurance riders available. It offers Accidental Death & Dismemberment (AD&D) Insurance as a policy add-on but few other common riders. If you want the option to customize your policy with a child rider, terminal illness rider, waiver of premium, or other endorsement, you’ll need to look elsewhere for life insurance. 

Customer Service

TruStage has an online portal you can use to manage your policy, and beneficiaries can also file a claim online. The TruStage website notes that call center wait times are especially long and recommends using its to contact customer service. However, you can also call 1-844-337-5830. Like many other life insurance companies, TruStage does not offer a live chat or a direct email address. 

Price

TruStage term coverage is very expensive, and premiums only stay level for up to five years. We pulled quotes for males and females of different ages seeking a 30-year term policy with a $250,000 face amount for 32 companies. Keep in mind that the TruStage quotes below are for individuals in excellent health, and your individual quote may vary. However, it’s safe to say you can find much more affordable coverage elsewhere. 

	Male	Female
Age 25	$77.50	$47.50
Age 40	$120	$80
Age 55	$315	$222.50

For comparison, a 40-year-old male could get the same coverage from SBLI for just $29.10. That’s less than one-quarter of the cost. 

Because many companies do not offer online quotes for whole life insurance, it’s difficult to compare TruStage’s pricing for those policies to other insurance providers. However, pricing for the TruStage Guaranteed Acceptance policy is more comparable to other companies' policies in the industry.

Final Verdict

If you’re looking for a quick and easy online application for whole life or guaranteed acceptance coverage and you only need a small policy, this company is worth considering. Just be aware that you can't customize your policy with many common riders, so if you’re looking for an accelerated death benefit or other features, you should look elsewhere for coverage.  Those in the market for affordable term coverage should also avoid getting a policy from TruStage. Not only is pricing exorbitant relative to other companies in the industry, but premiums do not stay level for the duration of the term. 

Frequently Asked Questions

Does TruStage Pay Out?

According to the TruStage website, TruStage paid out 89.1% of its claims in 2021. Given that the company hasn't seemed to undergo a dramatic change of any kind since then, the ratio of claims it pays out probably hasn't changed much. Therefore, it is safe to assume that generally speaking, TruStage pays out.

What Is the Rating of TruStage?

TruStage has received an A rating from AM Best, a widely respected credit rating agency.

Is TruStage the Same as Liberty Mutual?

TruStage and Liberty Mutual are entirely separate entities, though Liberty Mutual does underwrite TruStage's home insurance offerings, specifically.

Does TruStage Have Cash Value?

TruStage's website notes that its whole life policies allow policyholders to "build some cash value" against which they can borrow in the future.

Methodology

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.