We wanted a better life insurance company.  So we built one.  We’ve made buying life insurance easy, simple, and actually kind of fun.   

What is Zest?

Zest is a life (insurance) company built by people who think financial security should be more fun than it is frustrating.  We were tired of hard sales tactics by life insurance agents that wanted to maximize their commission instead of helping us find the right insurance at the right price.  We didn’t understand why this product took an hour long application, plus medical exams, plus phone interviews, and waiting.  Lots of waiting.  So we rewrote the life insurance playbook, partnered with A-rated reinsurance companies and one of the largest actuarial firms in the world, and created an amazing life insurance buying process for our customers.

Then, we decided to go one step further by introducing our “I’m alive, return my premiums” guarantee.  Life is better when we’re all on the same side.  The truth is, if you die during the term of your life insurance policy, we have to pay your beneficiaries.  But, you don’t want to die.  And we don’t want you to die.  So we’re giving you yet another incentive to live.  If you make all your payments and live through the term of your policy, we’ll refund you 100% of your premiums at the end of your policy.  Or, we’ll roll it over into a new policy at your option.  (Please see Policy for additional information).  

What is Term Life Insurance?

First things first, we want you to live forever.  But, term life insurance covers your family in case you don’t.  Our 10, 20, and 30 year term life insurance policies provide financial security to your family in case you pass away during the term of the policy.  Because we are pretty confident this won’t happen, we charge you exceptionally low rates to insure against that possibility.  The rates you pay depend on your age, gender, whether or not you smoke, and many other health factors.  The more information you give us, the lower your rates are–guaranteed.  Sharing is caring.  

How do you guys make money? And how can you do it while offering the “I’m alive, return my premiums” option?  

We want to be completely transparent with you, and that includes explaining how we make money.  All life insurance companies make money by doing two things: (1) charging premiums for insuring against a terrible outcome, in this case death during the term of the policy; and (2) conservatively investing those premiums in accordance with state laws governing insurance and widely accepted actuarial principles.  The money we make from investing those premiums allows us to earn enough to:  (a) provide actuarially and legally sound insurance policies, (b) return your premiums to you, and (c) have enough left at the end to make a profit.  Our regulators, our actuaries, and our reinsurance providers ensure that we’re doing this the right way.  If that’s not enough, we know that all we have is our reputation–and we won’t compromise it, or our commitment to you, our customers.  

The worst case scenario for any life insurance company is that an insured dies during the term.  Most life insurance companies offset this by charging sufficiently high rates, doing lots of medical exams, and otherwise being a pain in your butt.  We make you partners by easily collecting information from you, and by giving you an extra incentive to take care of your health for as long as we’re insuring you.  If we all work together, this allows us to return your money after your policy with us has ended.  It’s a nice surprise at the end of the 10, 20, or 30 year tunnel of great life experiences that you’ll no doubt have.  

What is the Meaning of Life?

This is the one question that we don’t have a complete answer to.  But, here’s the best we have so far.  It is to live a life of purpose, service, and adventure, all while being true to your responsibilities as a husband, wife, father, mother, daughter, son, brother, sister, etc.