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Guardian Life Disability Insurance Review


ConsumersAdvocate.org Rating: 4.6 / 5 (Excellent)
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Founded in New York in 1860, Guardian Life Insurance Company of America is one of the largest mutual insurers in the United States. The company and its subsidiaries sell insurance products and related services including whole, universal, and variable universal life insurance, individual disability, small business protection, supplemental individual disability income insurance, annuities, and investment products.

How is Guardian Life rated?

Breakdown

4.5/5
Policies & Coverage
4.5/5
Flexibility
5.0/5
Financial Strength
4.8/5
Reputation & Customer Experience

Overall Rating: 4.6 / 5 (Excellent)

Guardian Life offers a broad range of insurance products, including disability insurance for individuals, groups, and business owners. Their policies are comprehensive, flexible, and backed by Guardian's outstanding financial strength ratings from all major credit rating agencies. Although no company is without its controversies, this 155-year-old mutual insurer appears to have a pretty clean record and affirms its commitment to its policyholders by maintaining and upholding high customer service standards, making sound investments, and giving back to the community through strategic philanthropy. Those looking for a reliable, easy-to-understand, customizable disability insurance coverage, or merely a supplement to their existing policy, should take a look at what Guardian Life has to offer.

Guardian Life Policies & Coverage

Policies & Coverage - 4.5 / 5

Guardian Life offers non-cancellable, guaranteed-renewable disability insurance for groups, individuals, and business owners as well as supplemental disability insurance for those looking for added income protection. Their plans are customizable to meet the needs of most consumers and cover both a portion of the policyholder's salary and any regular bonuses or incentive income. By contributing after-tax dollars their plans, individuals enrolled in these coverages can receive from 40% to 60% of their base salary tax-free. Those who purchase the individual disability insurance policy get to keep their coverage even if their job or employer changes.

For businesses, the policy covers personal income replacement and a business overhead expense benefit during partial disability, offers an option that covers the salary of the policyholder's temporary replacement, provides accelerated benefits to address business cash flow needs, and even offers coverage to fund the buy-out of a disabled business partner. The supplemental disability insurance option, on the other hand, serves as an additional safety net to protect a policyholder's income, requires no medical examination, and cost and coverages remain fixed for as long as the policy is paid on time.
Policy Types
Long-Term
Short-Term
Individual
Group
Policy Features
Non-Cancelable
Rehabilitation Benefit
Guaranteed Renewable
Elimination Period
30, 60, 90, 180, 360, 720 days
Long-Term Benefit Period
2, 5, and 10 years, to age 65, and to age 67
Online Quote

Guardian Life Flexibility

Flexibility - 4.5 / 5

Guardian Life offers flexible disability insurance options that are fully customizable through several elimination and benefit period options as well as additional riders. Their riders include basic or enhanced partial disability, student loan and retirement protection, an unemployment waiver of premium, several benefit adjustment and increase options, and extended benefits. Prospective customers should also be aware the company's disability insurance already comes with several built-in benefits like unemployment premium suspension, occupational rehabilitation, and a worksite modification benefit, among others.

Available Policy Riders

Future Increase
Cost of Living Adjustment
Waiver of Premium
Residual Benefits
Own Occupation
Automatic Benefit Increase
Guaranteed Insurability
Return of Premium
Critical Illness
Hospital Confinement Indemnity
Supplemental Disability Income
Retroactive Injury
Accidental Medical Expense
Catastrophic Disability

Other Riders

• Loan Payment Protection Rider: provides additional income to cover mortgage expenses, and car and student loan payments.

• Specified Injury Benefit: Provides a lump sum claims payment for a guaranteed minimum number of weeks.

• Retirement Income Protection benefit: Makes monthly contributions to an employee's pension plan or annuity during long-term disability.

• Overhead Expense Disability Insurance: Protects the policyholder's ability to meet everyday business expenses and operational costs in the event of a disability.

Guardian Life Financial Strength

Financial Strength - 5 / 5

Guardian life is among the largest companies in the United States and is the fourth largest mutual insurer in the country with over $7 billion in capital and over $1.5 billion in operating income. It holds high financial strength ratings across the board with an AA+ from Standard & Poors, a Moody's rating of Aa2, and an A.M. Best rating of A++. High financial strength ratings evidence an insurers' long-term financial stability and its ability to meet its future policyholder obligations.
Company Type
Underwriter
Underwriter
Guardian Life Insurance Company of America
Year Founded
1860
Market Share 2017
0.19%
Total Premiums 2017
$181,948,040.00
Standard & Poor's Financial Rating
AA+
Moody's Financial Rating
Aa2
AM Best Financial Rating
A++

Guardian Life Reputation & Customer Experience

Reputation & Customer Experience - 4.8 / 5

There appears to be little online customer feedback for Guardian Life from reputable, unbiased sources. The company doesn't seem to be registered with Trustpilot.com, yet is accredited by the Better Business Bureau with an A+ rating. Despite having received mostly negative client feedback on the above-mentioned site, complaints and unfavorable feedback are minimal when considering the size of the enterprise and the scope of its services. The NAIC also reports there were merely 14 complaints against Guardian Life's individual accident and health insurance products in 2017, making their overall complaint ratio for that business segment much lower than the national median. Overall, Guardian Life seems a reputable company following a just business model and upholding high customer service standards.
BBB Rating
A+
Date Collected
2018-03-16
NAIC Complaint Ratio 2017
0.7
NAIC Total Complaints 2017
14

Company Profile

Full Name
Guardian Life Disability Insurance
Company Website
Headquarters
7 Hanover Square, H-6-D, New York, NY, 10004

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Customer Comments & Reviews

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Jim R
6/5/2023
Well, here’s my experience with them I have disability insurance my doctor wrote me out for 12 weeks. Guardian only allowed me to have nine weeks of disability then they wanted more paperwork which I had filled out and medical record sent over at my cost of $30 . Physicians statement of disability wasn’t filled out,. but they had the records stating I’d be out 12 weeks and they continue to not pay me. Their customer service is horrible. A supervisor will not call you to try to rectify the situation. I even told them that the doctor filled out the paperwork for 12 weeks and Work will not let me come back until the doctor releases me fully meanwhile I have 100% of bills and zero money... Read More


M
MELISSA
1/3/2023
DO NOT BUY A POLICY FROM THIS COMPANY. THEY WILL HARRASS YOU AND DEMAND MORE AND MORE DOCUMENTS FOR A PERMENANT INJURY. THEY WILL USE THEIR BIG ARM TO TRY AND BULLY THEIR WAY OUT OF PAYMENT.


S
Susan C
7/21/2022
From the start of my Short term disability coverage to their 2nd and final denial of my claim, I have dealt with inept, incompetent, inconsiderate, unapologetic imbeciles. They don't answer calls, they claim you can't speak with your claims manager and then they deny you. I was repeatedly made to jump through hoops gathering every possible speck of information over and over again from every MD, specialist, PT/OT therapists, surgeons, neurologists, Rheumatologist. They twist my Drs. words, my words and their own policies to fit the moment. The final straw was during COVID hiring a driver from Scranton to come pick me up an hour away where I live in Pleasant Mount to drive me 2 hours away... Read More


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Guardian S
8/11/2021
Guardian is truly a terrible company. There is a lack of communication about the status of benefit, when they have requested documentation from my physicians, and what documentation they have not received. The only way that I know there is a problem is when the benefit payment is not paid. On a monthly basis, they are trying to find a way to cancel benefits, and they often provide multiple reasons, which are absolutely untrue, which they know since they have reviewed my medical documentation so often. This is despite being approved for short and long term disability and conducting several additional reviews, all in the last year. All evidence to the contrary they attempted to blame... Read More


jsteinpsy
1/26/2020
This company will do anything to deny paying out claims so that it is not even worth having them insure you. All you get is a false sense of being protecting when you will not likely succeed in getting them to honor your claim. In my case, and many others just like mine, the company will send you to a neuropsychologist or other such mental health mental professional on their payroll who is essentially paid to come up with some sort of diagnosable mental disorder so that they can invoke their mental health exclusionary criterion. Its all a game and it leaves policy holders without a dime.



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