One of the most important things to consider when shopping for whole life insurance is the financial strength or viability of the whole life insurance companies. Since it takes 20 to 30 years for a whole life plan to mature and bear out the cost of premiums over that period of time, it is vital to have contracted with an insurer that will be there to pay out on the policy.
Many major credit agencies and ratings services, such as Standard & Poor's, AM Best and Duff & Phelps, rate the claims-paying ability of every insurance company. Happily, this kind of information is easily obtained and reports are either inexpensive or free over the Internet. Although you can ask the whole life company itself for their ratings it is probably best to receive this information independently. Ratings of A or better are your best bet, with the most financially sound insurers meriting an AAA rating. Each service might use a slightly different letter rating system so be sure to note that when doing comparison-shopping.
We have listed a premier insurance information Web site, given that designation due to its ease of use, detail orientation and cost-free! Insure.com offers lots of information that can be valuable in your search for just the right whole life insurance company. You can access a larger database through AM Best but you will have to pay for it. You can access the ratings of a whole life insurer for free but in order to get a detailed company report you will have to spend about $35. Make sure the ratings are 'fresh', culled in the last 6 months, especially if you are getting the ratings from a Web site that might not have been updated recently.
If you don't know the names of any whole life companies you can start with the insurance agent who handles your auto, home or business liability insurance. That can be a good starting point as can the Internet, which is filled with thousands of Web sites that can direct you to a good insurance company, this Web site included!