Fabric Life Insurance Review

Fabric sells 10-, 15-, and 20-year term life insurance policies as well as accidental death policies under the names “Fabric Premium” and “Fabric Instant,” respectively.

Applying for life insurance can be a real pain—sitting through face-to-face meetings, filling out paperwork, wondering how long the process will take. Then factor in what your young, rambunctious kids are supposed to do that whole time, and you’ve got a recipe for high blood pressure (which, by the way, doesn’t look good on your application). Perhaps that’s why Fabric targets parents, claiming that applying takes only 10 minutes online. 

Fabric Premium, Fabric’s term life insurance product, comes in just three term lengths: 10, 15, and 20 years. Currently, Fabric doesn’t offer any riders, such as a children’s rider or spouse rider. In other words, if you wanted to extend coverage to your spouse or kids, you’d need to get separate policies for them; you cannot add them to your policy.

Death benefits for Fabric’s term life insurance range from $100K to $5M in varying increments. Depending on the coverage amount you choose and how you answer the health questions, you may be able to qualify for a policy without a medical exam (also known as no exam life insurance).

Fabric accidental death insurance provides coverage for deaths in situations like auto accidents, fire, homicide, and other unexpected circumstances.

Unlike Fabric’s term life insurance, its accidental death coverage doesn’t account for your health, age, or gender with pricing. Practically speaking, that means a 50-year-old man in Delaware would get the same rate as a 25-year-old woman in Delaware for accidental death coverage. These rates remain level, so as long as you continue paying the premiums, they won’t change. There’s no contract, but you can renew the accidental death policy until you turn 60.

One significant exclusion to keep in mind is death from illness. Cancer, heart disease, or other illnesses aren’t considered accidental and therefore aren't covered in most accidental death policies. Also, keep in mind that Fabric's accidental death policy doesn't include the "& dismemberment" part, a common feature in accidental death policies that pay if you lose an arm or a leg.

Finally, Fabric’s term insurance and accidental death insurance is mutually exclusive. So if you have Fabric’s accidental death policy and decide to upgrade to Fabric’s term life policy, you can’t keep both so your accidental death policy will automatically expire. Typically, you’d find accidental death and dismemberment as a rider on term life policies which would pay two death benefits if you died in a covered accident. Not so with Fabric, so this could be a negative if you’d prefer that extra coverage.

Fabric’s rates for younger individuals are competitive with other companies that offer online applications and accelerated underwriting, such as Bestow, Haven Life, and Ladder Life. Fabric may be pricier than the competition for older individuals, so it could pay to price shop if you’re in that category.

Fabric doesn’t have many bells and whistles, but it does offer quick coverage for busy individuals, and the free will creation is a unique component compared to other companies.

While many insurers are struggling to integrate life insurance applications into the 21st century, Fabric's application is entirely online. You can potentially receive your policy the same day you applied, depending on your answers to health questions and the coverage amount you want.

Although it’s hard to be specific, if you answer the health questions with no major red flags and only get up to $1M in coverage, you may not need to take a health exam.

Fabric's term policies are convertible to permanent coverage. This fact isn't something that's explained in detail on the site, but if you decide at some point during your policy that you want lifelong coverage, you can convert it to a whole life policy through Fabric’s issuer, Vantis. 

The coverage amount for the whole life policy cannot be greater than your term life policy, but you won’t have to answer health questions or take a medical exam to qualify. People in the insurance biz call this "guaranteed convertible."

Fabric’s longest term policy lasts for 20 years. If you want a term length of 25, 30, or even 40 years, Fabric may not be the best insurance company for term.

While buying life or accidental death policies, Fabric makes it easy to create a will for you and your spouse with its free app. Will creation can be a fairly long process, but Fabric’s app creates a will and even a mirror will for your spouse in about five minutes.

• Fabric doesn’t sell policies in Montana (although Montanans can take advantage of the free will creation).
• Fabric doesn’t offer any riders, such as waiver of premium, spouse, or child rider, to its term policies.

Fabric doesn’t receive financial ratings. However, the company that issues Fabric’s policies, Vantis Life Insurance Company, receives consistently strong financial ratings.

Note: We’ve seen this same trend with similar internet-based insurance companies. It’s common that the issuing company receives financial ratings and the consumer-facing agency does not.

Vantis is rated A+ by AM Best, which is considered “Superior.” Practically speaking, this rating speaks volumes about a company’s ability to pay claims down the line. So with an A+ rating from AM Best (second to only A++), you can be confident Vantis—Fabric—will be able to cover your family’s claim.

Vantis isn’t rated by S&P, Fitch, or Moody’s. However, Penn Mutual, Vantis’s parent company, is rated by S&P and Moody’s and they both give Penn Mutual high marks. So no matter how high you go on this ladder, you’ll find financial stability.

Fabric has only been around since 2017, but that doesn’t mean people don’t have opinions about it.

Trustpilot, an online review platform, gives Fabric a rating of 4.8 out of 5 stars.¹ This rating is based on reviews from customers, of which the overwhelming majority claim a positive experience with Fabric. Many reviews mention how quick and easy Fabric is, which is a plus for their target market of busy parents.

Fabric’s issuing company, Vantis, is rated by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC). This government organization rates insurance companies and indicates whether their complaints are above or below average. A rating of 1 indicates an expected amount of complaints compared to the industry. Less than 1 is better than expected, and over 1 is worse than expected.

Vantis received a rating of 0.00 from the NAIC in 2018, which means they received zero complaints.²

If you want to make final arrangement planning as easy as checking out with Amazon, Fabric may be a good fit. Its term policies might be no exam depending on your answers to health questions, and if that’s the case, you may receive your policy the same day you apply for it.

Pair the online application with its will creation tool, and Fabric becomes a compelling option for parents who are too busy—or, let’s face it, too stressed—to sit down with an agent.

When you consider you can complete the whole process in the time it takes your toddler to watch "Baby Shark" ten times, it may be worth it—even though you'll have that song stuck in your head for the rest of the day.

See how much term life insurance from Fabric may cost you, and while you’re there, create a will for free.

Need help understanding how life insurance works? Read up here: 

• Best No Medical Exam Life Insurance Companies
• Types of Life Insurance
• Everything You Need to Know About a Medical Exam
• Best Life Insurance Companies
• Best Term Life Insurance Companies