Gerber Life life insurance review: Fast but expensive
Gerber Life’s adult policies let many people skip the medical exam, but coverage amounts are low and rates are high.
By
Logan SachonLogan SachonSenior Managing Editor, Life Insurance & ResearchLogan Sachon is a former senior managing editor of life insurance and research at Policygenius. As a journalist, her work has appeared in The Guardian, Business Insider, CNN Money, BuzzFeed, Money Under 30, VICE, New York Magazine, and elsewhere.
Edited by
Adam MorganAdam MorganEditorial DirectorAdam Morgan is a former editorial director at Policygenius who led the editorial team. Previously, he led editorial teams matrixed across multiple financial publications at Red Ventures — including Bankrate, NextAdvisor, Million Mile Secrets, and others. As a journalist, his work has appeared in Esquire, Scientific American, The Guardian, Los Angeles Times, and elsewhere.
Our proprietary ratings methodology takes multiple factors into account, including customer satisfaction, cost, financial strength, and policy offerings. See the “Ratings methodology” section for more details.
4.0
AM Best rating
AM Best is a global credit rating agency that scores the financial strength of insurance companies on a scale from A++ (Superior) to D (Poor).
A
Cost
Using a mix of internal and external rate data, we grade the cost of each insurance company's premiums on a scale from least expensive ($) to most expensive ($$$$$).
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The bottom line
Gerber Life is best known for its children’s policies (even though most people don't need children's life insurance), but it also sells term life, whole life, and final expense policies for adults. People age 18 to 50 can get up to $300,000 of term life or whole life coverage without a medical exam, but rates are high.
Note: Gerber Life products are not available through the Policygenius marketplace.
Pros
No-med-exam policies for term life and whole life
Two term life options: Gerber Life and Fabric by Gerber Life
Cons
Expensive rates
Low coverage amounts for no-medical-exam term life policies
Company leans hard on children’s life insurance, a product that very few people need
Basic coverages offered
Term life insurance: Gerber Life’s term life insurance product is available without a medical exam to people up to 50 years old for amounts from $100,000 to $300,000. For people over age 50 and for coverage amounts from $300,000 to $1 million, a medical exam is required. Available terms are 10, 20, and 30 years. Fabric by Gerber Life’s term product is available in coverage amounts from $100,000 to $5 million, in terms of 10 to 30 years.
Whole life insurance: Gerber Life’s adult whole life insurance product is available in amounts from $50,000 to $300,000.
Final expense insurance: Gerber Life’s guaranteed issue life insurance plan is available for people age 50 to 80 for coverage from $5,000 to $25,000.
Children’s life insurance: Gerber Life has two children’s life insurance policies: the Grow-Up® Plan and the Young Adult Plan. For both plans, coverage is available from $5,000 to $50,000.
Additional coverages offered
Accelerated death benefit rider: Included for no additional cost on Gerber Life’s adult term and whole policies, the ADB rider provides up to 50% of the death benefit if you’re diagnosed with a terminal illness.
Guaranteed insurability rider: Included for no additional cost on Gerber Life’s children’s whole life policies, the guaranteed insurability rider allows the insured to purchase additional coverage without additional underwriting on set dates or milestones as an adult.
Ratings methodology
Price
3.3/5
Our price rating scale looks at the average cost of life insurance for a sample 20-year term policy with a $1 million coverage for a 35-year-old female non-smoker with a Standard Plus health classification (if an insurer doesn't have a Standard Plus classification, we use Standard). Gerber Life's average rate for this policy puts it in the third most expensive category for our rating system.
Customer experience
4.5/5
Our customer experience scale uses data from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) complaint index. Gerber Life has a score of 0.7 which means it receives fewer complaints than expected for a company of its size. (The expected score would be 1.0.)
Transparency
4.1/5
Our transparency rating scale measures how easily shoppers and policyholders can find information about an insurer on its website. Gerber Life gets points for having clear contact information and a support hub, but loses points for not having its rates clearly posted outside of its quoting tool.
Financial strength
3.8/5
Our financial strength rating is a weighted combination of three industry-leading metrics to measure a company’s financial health: A.M. Best, Standard & Poor’s, and Moody’s. Gerber Life has an A rating from A.M. Best, but is not rated by Standard & Poor’s or Moody’s.
A closer look at Gerber Life
Who is Gerber Life best for?
Many people who need a small amount of coverage and don’t want to take a medical exam can do so through Gerber Life or Fabric by Gerber Life, though they’ll likely find better rates elsewhere.
What makes Gerber Life unique?
Gerber Life is unique in the industry for its focus on children’s life insurance, but that’s not necessarily a good thing. Except in specific situations, children don’t need life insurance. Gerber Life markets life insurance for children as a savings vehicle, but there are more cost-effective ways to save for your child’s future.
Who should consider a different life insurance company?
Nearly everyone applying for life insurance will find better rates elsewhere. And for parents who do want life insurance coverage for their children, it will be more affordable to find their best rates for their own term policy, and then add a child rider.
Gerber Life life insurance rates
Gerber Life does not publish its average life insurance rates.
Gerber Life’s history, reputation, and social responsibility
Gerber Life Insurance Company, or Gerber Life, was founded in 1967 as an extension of the baby food brand Gerber Products Company. [1]
In 2007, Nestlé S.A. acquired the Gerber Products Company, and the Gerber Life Insurance Company became a wholly owned subsidiary. In 2018, Western & Southern Financial Group purchased the Gerber Life Insurance Company from Nestlé. [2]
Gerber Life’s life insurance policies are underwritten by the Gerber Life Insurance Company. Fabric by Gerber Life policies are underwritten by Western-Southern Life Assurance Company.
The Gerber Life Insurance Company is based in White Plains, New York, with its operations center based in Fremont, Michigan. It has about 500 employees.
Gerber Life in the news
In June 2022, Ann Turner Cook — who as a baby became the face of the Gerber brand, including Gerber Life — died at age 78. (CNN)
In January 2022, Gerber Life’s parent company, Western & Southern Financial Group, purchased Fabric and rebranded it Fabric by Gerber Life. (Think Advisor)
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Gerber Life vs. other life insurance companies
Compare Gerber Life to similar life insurance companies using the table below.
Policygenius uses external sources, including government data, industry studies, and reputable news organizations to supplement proprietary marketplace data and internal expertise. Learn more about how we use and vet external sources as part of oureditorial standards.
Logan Sachon is a former senior managing editor of life insurance and research at Policygenius. As a journalist, her work has appeared in The Guardian, Business Insider, CNN Money, BuzzFeed, Money Under 30, VICE, New York Magazine, and elsewhere.
Adam Morgan is a former editorial director at Policygenius who led the editorial team. Previously, he led editorial teams matrixed across multiple financial publications at Red Ventures — including Bankrate, NextAdvisor, Million Mile Secrets, and others. As a journalist, his work has appeared in Esquire, Scientific American, The Guardian, Los Angeles Times, and elsewhere.
