4 Best Children’s Life Insurance Companies for December 2024
Based on Investopedia’s research, Nationwide is the best life insurance company for children because of its quality coverage, favorable customer complaint record, and options for transferring policies once children grow up. Children’s life insurance provides coverage for minors, helping families with funeral costs and allowing kids to lock in affordable coverage they can keep into adulthood. Investopedia’s ranking is based on a detailed review of 45 companies, each scored on 70 criteria including financial stability, coverage limits, and customer satisfaction.
4 Best Children’s Life Insurance Companies for December 2024
- Best Overall: Nationwide
- Best for Customer Satisfaction: Penn Mutual
- Best Child Term Rider: Protective Life
- Best for Financial Stability: USAA
4 Best Children’s Life Insurance Companies for December 2024
Best OverallNationwide
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- Financial Strength Rating: A+
- Customer complaints: Much fewer than expected for company size
- Child Term Rider: Yes
- Child Whole Life: Yes
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Why We Chose It
Nationwide is the best overall provider for children’s life insurance. It offers great coverage options through riders and standalone whole life policies, giving families flexible and reliable coverage.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- No coverage limit for children’s whole life
- Child term rider coverage can be converted to permanent coverage at adulthood
- High-quality life insurance for parents too
Cons
- No dividends for whole life
- Child term rider ends at age 22 or marriage
- No online claims process
Overview
Nationwide is the top choice for children’s life insurance because of its flexible coverage options, either through standalone whole life policies or riders on a parent’s policy. With no coverage limits on children’s whole life insurance, families can choose the amount they need.
The children’s term rider allows kids to extend coverage into adulthood or convert it to a permanent policy without a medical exam.
Nationwide’s policies don’t earn dividends and the term rider coverage ends at age 22 or upon marriage. Competitors Protective Life, USAA, Banner, and State Farm allow you to keep child term coverage until 25. But these drawbacks are minor compared to Nationwide’s strengths.
Nationwide was founded in 1926 and is based in Columbus, Ohio.
Best for Customer SatisfactionPenn Mutual
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- Financial Strength Rating: A+
- Customer complaints: Much fewer than expected for company size
- Child Term Rider: Yes
- Child Whole Life: Yes
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Why We Chose It
Penn Mutual has the lowest NAIC complaint index among the insurers on this list, indicating that it received very few customer complaints relative to its market share.1
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Few customer complaints
- No limit on child whole life coverage
- Whole life policies earn dividends
Cons
- No online quotes
- No online applications
Overview
Penn Mutual has the lowest NAIC complaint index among the top children’s life insurance companies, meaning it receives far fewer complaints than expected for its size. Its children’s whole life policies stand out for having no maximum coverage limits and earning annual dividends, providing a steady source of cash value growth.
The Penn Mutual child term rider covers kids and allows them to convert to their own permanent policy when they turn 23. It’s available on all of Penn Mutual’s policies except for its survivorship policies.
You must use an agent to get quotes or applications.
Penn Mutual was founded in 1847 and is headquartered in Horsham, Pennsylvania.
Best Child Term RiderProtective Life
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- Financial Strength Rating: A+
- Customer Complaints: Fewer than expected for company size
- Child Term Rider: Yes
- Child Whole Life: No
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Why We Chose It
Protective Life’s child term rider stands out because it covers kids until age 25 and lets them easily continue coverage as adults, ensuring long-term protection.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Child term rider can be transferred at adulthood into permanent coverage
- Coverage lasts until age 25
- Online quotes and applications
Cons
- No children’s whole life
Overview
Protective Life has the best child term rider, according to Investopedia’s research, because it covers kids until age 25. That’s one of the longest terms in our study. This gives children time to decide whether they want to keep the coverage and convert it into a permanent policy for lifelong protection.
However, Protective doesn’t offer standalone whole life policies for kids, so you need to look elsewhere for that option. Protective Life gives you the convenience of applying for certain policies online.
Protective Life launched in 1907 and its headquarters are in Birmingham, Alabama.
Best for Financial StabilityUSAA
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- Financial Strength Rating: A++
- Customer complaints: Much fewer than expected for company size
- Child Term Rider: Yes
- Child Whole Life: Yes
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Why We Chose It
USAA has a top-tier AM Best financial strength rating. It’s well-equipped to pay claims for your children now and in the future. That makes it a dependable choice for long-term coverage.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- A++ financial stability rating
- Offers children’s whole life and child term rider
- Children’s whole life coverage up to $10 million
Cons
- No dividends on whole life insurance
- Only works with military members, veterans, and their families
Overview
USAA is a strong choice for children’s life insurance thanks to its A++ AM Best rating. This is the highest grade possible and a sign of long-term financial stability.2 This should give parents confidence the company will be around to pay claims far into the future.
USAA offers both standalone children’s whole life policies and child term riders for existing policies. The coverage limit for children’s whole life insurance is $10 million.
Only military members, veterans, and their families can become USAA members. USAA was founded in 1922 and is based in San Antonio.
Why You Should Trust Us
Investopedia analyzed 45 life insurance companies using key criteria like financial stability, customer satisfaction, coverage options, and cost. Investopedia was founded in 1999. We’ve provided unbiased life insurance reviews since 2020. Our team of editors and researchers independently reviews all products and services. While we may earn compensation from links in our articles, this doesn’t affect how we evaluate products, though it may influence their order in listings. We’re dedicated to helping you find the best life insurance company for your needs.
How We Review the Best Life Insurance Companies for Children
Investopedia’s list of the best life insurance companies for children is based on in-depth research into 45 insurers. We evaluated financial strength, customer complaints, policy options, digital tools, and more.
To create our rankings, we combined the analysis of our editors and researchers, outreach to companies, and industry research. In March 2024, we surveyed 500 people who bought life insurance in the prior two years. Their responses helped shape our scoring system for our life insurance reviews.
We reviewed companies meeting our minimum standards for financial strength, customer satisfaction, and transparency, scoring them on 70 criteria. To score each company, we sorted these criteria into the most important categories for life insurance companies for children, and weighted them as follows:
- Policy Features and Riders: 80%
- Financial Stability: 10%
- Customer Satisfaction: 10%