Voya Financial Group Review 2024

Ann Herro, Insurance Expert Written by Ann Herro
Ann Herro, Insurance Expert
Written by Ann Herro

Ann Herro has been writing about insurance and employee benefits for over 15 years. She has covered topics as easy as insuring a car, and as difficult as transparency in healthcare costs.

Updated

Voya Financial Group at a Glance

  • Voya Financial was founded in 1975 and was once a part of ING Group
  • After selling its individual life insurance business in 2019, VOYA only offers group life insurance through mid-size and large corporations
  • Headquartered in New York
  • Also offers retirement planning, investment services, and other employee benefits plans
  • Group life insurance is offered in all 50 states, but coverage limits and eligibility vary by location and employer
  • Rates A (excellent) by AM Best
  • Rated A+ by the BBB

VOYA Pros: Individual customers can make payments through payroll deductionNo health or medical tests are required for employer-provided term coverage. That makes VOYA group life insurance a great option for individual participants who may not be able to get affordable coverage on their own. Employees can add coverage for a spouse, domestic partner, or child. High ratings from AM Best and the BBB.

VOYA Cons: No longer offers individual life insurance policies, where the company previously offered individual term, whole, and universal life insurance policies. The company sold its individual life insurance segment in 2019 to Resolution Life Group Holdings. Individual participants may lose their coverage if they leave their employer. Coverage maximums depend on your state and specific employer plan, but are typically limited to $500,000 or less.

What Type of Insurance Does Voya Offer?

Voya Financial offers group insurance products to mid- and large-size businesses. Employees can enroll in or purchase life insurance through these employers. There are two plan types available.

Term life insurance

  • A form of supplemental group life insurance 
  • Employee gets coverage for a set period, usually 10 to 30 years
  • Employees can qualify without answering health questions or undergoing a medical exam

Whole life insurance

  • A form of permanent life insurance
  • Policies can build a cash value that can grow tax-deferred
  • Employees can borrow against their policy for emergencies or to supplement a retirement fund
  • Fixed premiums that never change, regardless of age or health
  • A benefit that can be purchased in addition to an existing term life policy

Employees are typically only eligible for coverage if they work 20 or more hours per week. An independent insurance agent can help you find a life insurance carrier that offers individual life insurance policies that stay with you no matter where you work.

Using our insurance company directory can help you find the best insurance companies that specialize in your specific coverage needs. The company directory can also help you get connected to an agent near you.

What to Know about Voya

Voya Financial is provider of group life insurance policies with over $2.1 billion employee benefit premiums in force as of 2019. The carrier has over 6,000 employees and serves more than 13.8 million customers nationwide.

Voya Financial evolved from ING Group’s US retirement, investment management, and insurance operations. After decades of acquisitions, name changes, and rebranding initiatives, Voya Financial, Inc. debuted in April, 2014 and completed its rebranding in September. Voya is an abstract name coined from the word ‘voyage.’

In 2019, the company sold off its in-force individual life insurance business, leaving its retirement, employee benefits, and investment management services in tact. Today, the company’s main focus include the following.

  • Retirement: Voya is a leading provider of retirement products and services in the US serving more than 50,000 institutional clients and nearly 5.7 million individual retirement plan investors.
  • Employee benefits: Voya is a leading provider of stop-loss and supplemental health insurance in the US. Voya provides a comprehensive and highly flexible portfolio of life, disability, voluntary insurance products, and health savings and spending accounts to businesses covering 6.2 million individuals through the workplace.
  • Investment management: Voya is a leading, active asset management firm serving both affiliated and external institutions as well as individual investors.

Voya Financial is a financially strong and stable company that has been rewarded an A (excellent) rating from AM Best.  The “A” rating assures customers that Voya is an insurance company capable of offering guaranteed, secure coverage.

What Discounts Does Voya Offer?

Voya does not sell individual life insurance products and does not publicize any discounts that it makes available to employers or individual participants.

An independent insurance agent can help you find a life insurance carrier that offers individual life insurance policies that stay with you no matter where you work.

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Voya Customer Service

The carrier’s life insurance policies are no longer available for direct purchase by individuals. Voya only offers group life policies through employers, so you can only get a Voya life insurance policy if your employer has purchased its group benefits from Voya.

  • If you purchased an individual insurance policy before Voya sold its individual life insurance segment, you can obtain service by contacting Resolution Life Group Holdings 
  • Voya’s website also provides a Policy Owner Customer Service phone line that has the following hours restrictions


Hours (EST)


Monday-Friday 9:00 am - 7:00 pm

Group life and employee benefits participants can contact Voya financial by phone or email, as well.

Voya FAQ

What is Voya's average claim response time frame?

Voya’s official website states that once the company receives a completed claim, the review process takes about 10–12 days.

What is Voya's customer service availability?

If you purchased an individual insurance policy before Voya sold its individual life insurance segment, you can obtain service by contacting Resolution Life Group Holdings. Voya’s website also provides a Policy Owner Customer Service phone line that is available Monday–Friday, 9:00 am to 7:00 pm EST.

Other employee benefits participants can call dedicated customer service phone lines depending on which product they have through their employer. Most customer service lines are open Monday–Friday, 9:00 am to 9:00 pm EST, but hours vary by product.

What is Voya's claims process?

Voya Financial publishes a three-step claims process on its official website.

  1. Start a claim: Answer a few simple questions in order to create a custom claim form package. You may need insurance and banking information to begin.
  2. Submit your forms: Submit completed forms and supporting documentation electronically by secure upload.
  3. Voya review: Voya’s review process takes about 10–12 days once the forms have been reviewed.

You can also contact Voya’s Claims Center to start a claim or check on the status of a claim.

Does Voya create a user-friendly experience for customers?

Voya’s official website is pleasing to the eye but is somewhat difficult to navigate. Finding service and policy information takes a few tries and using the search function. Once you find your way to the right spot, the website does offer detailed explanations and videos about how to file a claim and other important topics.

Certain useful forms are available online as well. Voya has a social media presence on Facebook and Twitter.

Does Voya have good life insurance?

The carrier offers two plan types for its employer-provided life insurance programs.

Term life insurance

  • A form of supplemental group life insurance 
  • Employee gets coverage for a set period, usually 10 to 30 years
  • Employees can qualify without answering health questions or undergoing a medical exam

Whole life insurance

  • A form of permanent life insurance
  • Policies can build a cash value that can grow tax-deferred
  • Employees can borrow against their policy for emergencies or to supplement a retirement fund
  • Fixed premiums that never change, regardless of age or health

Like most other life insurance companies, Voya Financial has several optional insurance riders to choose from. Riders allow individual participants to customize or enhance their life insurance policies. By adding a rider to your policy, you can get coverage for family members or even access your benefits early. 

  • Accelerated benefit rider: This rider for whole life insurance policies lets you access up to 50% of your death benefit while you’re still living if you’re diagnosed with a terminal health condition. 
  • Child coverage rider: Depending on your state and the life insurance plan offered by your employer, you may be able to purchase life insurance coverage for dependent children under the age of 24.
  • Spouse coverage rider: If your spouse meets your employer’s eligibility requirements, you can get coverage for your spouse.

An independent insurance agent can help you find a life insurance carrier that offers individual life insurance policies that stay with you no matter where you work.

Is Voya Financial a good insurance company?

Voya has received high ratings from AM Best and the BBB. It is a financially strong company with years of experience.

While the insurance company used to offer individual life insurance policies, today it only offers group life insurance and other employee benefits. Most individual participants, therefore, will not be choosing Voya as their insurance carrier, but rather will be choosing whether or not to enroll in the benefits offered by Voya. For employees who have pre-existing health conditions or want to purchase additional affordable life insurance coverage beyond what they have purchased on their own, Voya life insurance is a good option. Several term life and whole life options and rides are available to create a more customized plan for employees who are eligible.

Voya Customer Reviews

Consumer Affairs
“Working with Voya as a small business is an absolute nightmare. It feels like we are being held hostage by incredibly outdated systems that take extremely specialized knowledge to use. It takes hours every other week just to accomplish simple, repeatable tasks that could easily be automated.”


Consumer Affairs
“I started out buying a life insurance policy from ING 8 years ago. After receiving my policy I had almost no contact with them. It was like pulling teeth trying to get information from them. Then Voya bought the policy from them and everything got even worse.”


Consumer Affairs
“I put in my claim on March 16, 2020, and received a direct deposit TODAY! My experience with Voya was excellent!”


Consumer Affairs
“I spent hours trying to talk to someone. I got transferred to multiple people and got no response to the calls. Three transfers and endless voicemail options in order to try to find out if a renewal, extension, change in policy, or other options would keep my life insurance premiums at a reasonable rate.”


Yelp
“Called them after I didn't get a response from their online email function for over 2 weeks. Customer service was friendly and informative, but the customer portal is overly basic.”


TrustedChoice.com's Final Review

We award Voya Financial a final rating of 2.5 out of 5 stars. Voya offers both term and whole life insurance policies for those whose employers have contracted with the carrier for providing group life insurance and other employee benefits. Purchasing life insurance from Voya is a great option for those who are eligible through their employees. Employees can get cost-effective life insurance coverage, which is particularly important for those with pre-existing health conditions that may not be able to find coverage elsewhere. What’s more, the carrier offers coverage for spouses, domestic partners, and children (depending on the employer’s plan).

Voya is highly rated by AM Best and the BBB, lending credence to its financial strength and stability. Unfortunately, the carrier’s customer service reputation is less than stellar, and good customer reviews are difficult to come by online. If, however, Voya is your only choice for life insurance coverage through your employer, the carrier is still a perfectly sensible option.

Use our insurance company directory to find the best insurance companies to fit your needs. Locate companies that specialize in your specific coverage needs and get connected to an agent near you.

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