New York Life Reviews

New York Life conned me into believing that my daughter would have 100s of thousands of dollars when my daughter turned 18. Instead she is earning 100s of thousands of dollars in life insurance that amounts to nothing she will benefit off of when she is 18. Paying 400 dollars a month for over 3 years only amounts to $3800 of cash value. Instead of earning cash I am actually losing money. There is &120 in fees every month. Then get this if you want to close the losing money account there is another termination fee. I feel like a fool and was robbed by the agents that sold this faulty deal. Luckily I’m able to cut my loses now and not be in shock when my daughter is 18. Don’t trust the agents of New York Life, they just want the monthly fees and could care less about you!

I have had nothing but problems from this company. First of all my case manager never ever calls me back, her name is Stephanie. Second of all they received all the paperwork but now they're saying they can't read a portion of it so they need to have it sent again. Is this to make me go insane. I'm already in pain. I have no income coming in. Why did I pay this company why I don't understand. They have no urgency because it's not them sitting at home after they have a surgery in pain with no income. I will never go through this company again and I will not recommend it to no one.

This company is horrible and even reported them to my employer for violating my physician ethical code and policy when feeling for out STD forms. No communication ever from the case manager even the supervisor. Because my claim was denied in error and the representative name Susan stated in order to get paid will need to get a lawyer involved but it's this company negligence including their staff. I am reporting them to anyone who will listen by discriminating people with disabilities and not pay them. Stay tuned. Not finish with my complaint and even going to the news since this is unfair.

I had to have a very serious sad conversation with one of your insurance broker or telephone answer. That’s what she sounded like my husband has discovered through a very serious surgery and injury. I’m having to take off work now for good to take care of him. The person that was helping me on the phone was rude. No empathy. I was just taking a loan off life insurance. Felt like I was speaking with a bot. It was AWFUL. Considering with what we are having to go through. We’ve had a policy for 30 years have never had to deal with anyone until today. Maybe the people that are taking your phone calls should have to go through a class of some kind on realizing that they don’t know what we’re going through when someone is terminally sick.

One of their employees sold me an annuity called Qlac by NY Life. I was under impression that at 59 I would be able to withdraw money with some growth in it. The agent never explained that in Qlac annuity the client can't withdraw money until one is really old. I was told that age 85 I will be able to withdraw about $3,000 a month. I called NY life and Menard Financial both that I may not live until 85. NY life said, earliest I can get any income from this annuity will be at 73 and that will be $700 a month for rest of my life. Life expectancy in USA is about 76. I think, I have been robbed of my $130,000 annuity.

Very very poor communication! Slow claim processing for sure! You have to get ahold of them daily to get updates then the updates are wrong after a week and half they tell me they are missing information from doctor. I send what they asked for then was told all is good. They got what they need..2 weeks later they say they need something else! And I had to reach out to them to find this out.. I am off for health reasons and pay for this for 9 years. First time needed to use it… when you're off work and no income coming in they should be a little more sympathetic to their customers! Just horrible horrible rudeness and misinformation given! Just email or send text to your customers, that’s why they opt into that!

Have been with NY Life more than 20 years. Have a term policy that I keep up and reduce the face amount to keep the premiums from going out of sight. Works OK and cheaper than any other life insurance option at my age. But something has happened in the last year or thereabouts. Called their 800 number last July after exploring options and concluded that reducing face amount is best option. Spoke with very professional person that even gave me a fairly close estimate and reminded me about the timing necessary to do this and that I needed to call about April 1st.

The worst of my life, it was a nightmare. After they had me going back and forth with doctors' signatures paperwork and me sending everything their excuses were they never got my paperwork and I send them multiple times. So doctors did the same thing. After they said my documents were blurry they couldn’t seen them. Not only that, but I spoke with like 10 employees, none couldn’t help, ask for a supervisor, but he never call back. He was in a meeting and I think he still is cause I’m still waiting for him to call back. To the end, I spoke to someone, and she told me I wasn’t approved because my daughter was old enough to take care of herself and the baby that by the way is coming with heart problems, didn’t need me with them. This people have no type of compassion for nobody.

While my local rep has been kind and timely in their response to my questions, the issues pertaining to the term life insurance application have been nothing short of a nightmare. First, their texting system failed to generate a code for me to initiate my online application. They claimed the system wasn't down, but we tried for three days and never received a text code. Tried on three different devices and multiple desktop and mobile browsers, restarting devices, trying again. Nothing. Ultimately, I needed to do a phone interview with a non-native English speaker I could barely understand and was skeptical my information was being entered correctly. This phone interview took 47 minutes after promising it would take 20!

Stay far away from this company. I've had a claim pending for 2 months, and now the claim manager is mysteriously away from her desk or out of the office and will not call you back when they say they will.

Save your $!!!! This insurance is a joke! They send you the exact same forms over and over. They drag out a decision for months. Until you're about to lose everything you have. When short term is over, long term puts you thru the same hoop jumping crap you already went thru. It's horrible! The stress is unimaginable! Customer service barely speak English. Rude. Absolutely no compassion for what a person is going thru. Perfect example of "I'm here to get a check."

Do not get life insurance through them. They immediately disable your online acct so you can’t get any information unless you call. That itself is a nightmare. Excessive hold times and get hung up on constantly. Pay out on an incontestable life insurance policy is minimum two months. That’s with calling everyday only to find there’s another issue. Horrible company to work with while grieving. Don’t plan on having that money to live on because they drag their feet paying out. Going on 6 weeks now. Today they told me another 4 weeks. Why? They said they don’t need anything more. They don’t hesitate to take their money though. No communication. No letters. No phone calls. Avoid.

The WORST. Plan on having to call them every day and having to retain an attorney. They will act like they have not received information that they've literally received 3x and are visible within their own system. Plan to be infuriated if choosing this provider of "services."

Horrible company. They lie and tell you that they can’t get through to your doctor and that they didn’t receive any faxes from my doctor’s office. Just so they can deny your claim. They do not want to pay you! I can’t believe this company is still in business. Just an awful experience.

When I was in N.Y.C I never had a problem until I came down south. They're all kind of problems. People give me the wrong number. Lying. They are so different down here. I said everything I had to say. When I was in New York I didn't have no problems. Now that I'm down south all kinds of issues and all I'm trying to do is take my mom's name off the beneficiary. That was it.

My experience with New York Life was terrible. The initial approval was ok, just very slow. Trying to do and deal with extensions was a nightmare. I dealt with some very rude representatives and some obviously incompetent folks. I honestly feel like they withheld approval for extensions purposely. Never will I deal with them again. I gave them every bit of info they needed, had to consistently keep followup because they didn't get things right. Having rude reps is not what one needs when being off for health reasons. Talk about making things worse through an unexpected medical issue. Withholding payments was terrible. I spoke to case worker once in 12 weeks. Representative would try and patch me through but never available. Was told once I would get a call back from upper management. That never happened. Less than 1 for a review if I could.

Agent was nice. Approved my FMLA immediately. Never heard anything regarding my STD. When inquiring about it, the once pleasant agent was no longer. Accuse my dr. about not receiving my paperwork. Since my Dr was new, it took me a lot of back & forth to figure what was what. My agent finally emphasized that she was going to close my case even tho we were currently working on it. She threaten me with this 4 times on the same phone call. 2 days later I got a letter saying it was closed. Letter stated that my illness didn't prevent me from working even though you all approved me for FMLA. I am going to file an appeal and search for attys.

I have had to take a leave from work due to health issues. I applied for Short Term Disability with NY Life 20 October. I will make this as short as possible. Here are my check-ins on status in summary.

Run. This company is a nightmare to deal with. I opened a short term disability claim, sent them all the medical forms from my doctor, and after 4 weeks of waiting they canceled my claim. Why? I called and they had most of my demographic information wrong, the company I worked for wrong, and they said I was terminated by the company I never worked for. I had to refile the claim based on these errors. Every step I attempt is met with a problem. They wouldn't email a form, told me I had to download it from their online portal. My information was inputted wrong by them so I couldn't assess the online portal. Had to request a "demographic change" for the portal which can take up to 48hrs.

Obviously NYL doesn't take these review serious. They claim, if not looking further, that they have the fewest complaints - not true --- 1 1/2 stars! Policy turned down 9/25/25 - got letter re: refund that day. It is 11/7 and no refund and worse, I've called and spoken to 5 people and keep getting transferred until the last transfer results in a disconnect - terrible terrible company. If one has this problem for a deposit imagine if they actually have to pay a claim! NOT HAPPENNING - BEWARE!!!

A nightmare!! Wish I could give less than a 1 rating. We have been trying for 20+ days to simply change our banking account information from which NYLife automatically draws our monthly premiums; payments they've been drawing since Oct of 2020 (5 years). Our personal accounts were 'hacked' & we had to close our accounts and open new accounts. Every business we contacted the very day our accounts were changed (credit cards, mortgage, even Social Security) were so helpful and they changed our banking information in their systems immediately. NOT NYLIFE. We have talked with 'customer service' reps more than 8 times over 3 weeks...each one giving different information on what can/cannot be done or what has/has not been done.

The customer service (nationally) team consisted of polite staff but it was so confusing. I was transferred to four departments. My poor mama has cancer in her brain and had to verify her identity every time. It was such a hard time getting her care and every step had been made harder by their inane and seemingly purposefully complicated policies. It’s like they make it so hard to use so you never get to use the benefits and they don’t have to pay anything. I would only recommend to an enemy.

All I was trying to do was to get somebody to send me a postage paid envelope, because I needed the cash value to pay for the premiums. I asked for a postage paid envelope which I was not sent. You gotta jump through hoops through the machine. Then you get somebody to talk to, then they tell you. That well, you need a licensed agent for that, but you get twenty questions pulled on you before you can get one then, when I asked to speak to a supervisor I sit on, hold, hold, hold, hold.

I joined a hospital in February 2025. I was fully transparent that I had initiated cancer treatment in November 2024. I did buy into all of NY Life insurance products, including short term disability. On July 23rd, I had my final surgery which lasted 8 hours and I am now in bed recovering and learning to walk. Long story short, they have refused to pay my short term disability, which should be 6-8 weeks and should have been only 60% of my pay. Their reason being that it is because I had a pre- existing condition. Had I known that, I would have saved my premiums, so as to help my pay my bills during this difficult time and also have more money in my pocket. Instead of focusing on my healing, I am now focusing re-instating my GoFundMe and staying afloat. I am so disappointed and I just want the public to be informed.

Very upset with the misinformation that I received from from the insurance representative. Just seems to be a bit unethical. After a number phone calls, in attempting to cancel my policy I was told by the representative to send into a letter to do so. Six weeks later, I’m still being charged for my policy! When I called to speak to the representative as well as the supervisor, I was then given the option that I could’ve canceled it over the phone!

If I can give zero stars I would. They are the worst insurance company to deal with. I had filed a claim through my employer for STD. Fought with them for months after sending in all forms, MRI, notes from my doctor and they denied disability payments after 4 weeks because their so called experts said I can return to work. They not only denied benefits but dragged their feet in the process. Horrible company. The nerve of them telling me I am not injured enough to receive payments. They take my money with no problem. Awful company and even worse customer service and service staff. Stay away at all costs.

New York Life group insurance denied my short-term disability. I applied for benefits June 3. I was supposed to start getting paid June 21, 2025 and you guys wait until today for me to go back to work to deny me. Claim manager very unprofessional.

I have been a NY Life customer for 35+ years. I have policies for me, my wife and two sons. Aside from the policies having been sold as investments, which they were not, I maintained these accounts and opted out of the class action lawsuit that resulted from deceptive sales practices. As my sons are now older I began the process of transferring their policies' ownership to them. After two months I am still being billed for these policies. One son has been able to confirm the transfer and submitted the request for check o matic payments from his account. He still has not received any correspondence as to appointing his beneficiaries as has my other son. NY Life moves with geologic speed. Gone are the days of good old New York Urgency. NY Life has appointed Helen ** as their customer service rep. If you need service in a timely manner make sure you go to Helen **.

NYL is racist company. My wife is ** and her co workers are ** with the same health policy. My wife was told she didn't have short term disability and on her pay stubs it says we are paying for short term disability. They denied my wife because of the dates the first time and then they denied her appeal after fixing the dates and said she had to wait until her pto was up and apply on June 14th. We applied after June 14th and they denied my wife again. Said that she didn't have short term disability. Which is a lie, we pay for it. This is nothing but a racist act by a ** company. Denying people with color.

This is the absolute worst Insurance company ever to exist! You get hung up on and transferred to voicemails. You will never get a manager! They delay processing and will force you to lose everything you own. They make the process so difficult that you want to give up and let them keep your money you’ve been paying. I will never work for a company that uses NEW YORK LIFE!!!

Absolutely the WORST experience I’ve had with any company ever, by far. First off, the communication from their “customer service reps” is HORRIBLE. I called 3 times in one day at one point to see if my suspicions were correct, and each employee told me something different each time. Mind you this was all in ONE DAY, so my suspicion was indeed confirmed. No one knows what’s going on at any point in time and that’s very obvious, there is no communication whatsoever. I requested a call from my case manager for WEEKS just to see what was happening with my case, surprise surprise I never once got a follow up call. Never. They are extremely unprofessional, anytime I tried to chat about my case progress since the website has not updated whatsoever over the course of the last 2/12 months, I had several representatives just abruptly end the chat.

This place is a NIGHTMARE! My employer uses them for disability claims and I have been out on short term disability for postpartum depression and this company alone has made my condition WORSE! Every week it’s time for payment or “review” there is no communication whatsoever, the website is misleading, inaccurate and pointless, claim managers barely speak English or act like you’re bothering them when you call about YOUR money and claims. This place is a joke! Would have given zero stars if I could!

My father purchased insurance from New York Life Insurance Company before he began to get dementia. Upon him showing signs of dementia, the family decided to place him in a nursing home. While in the nursing home he died. New York Life allowed him to change his beneficiary without notifying the family. So as we were preparing for the funeral and paying for service out of pocket not knowing that he has changed the beneficiary. The person that was signed as beneficiary did not pay for the funeral cost and New York Life issued the check to this person and the family members that paid for the funeral was never made whole for the money they spent paying for the funeral.

If I could give a zero I would! My husband has been working with the disability claims department since November and it has been an absolute nightmare!!! It's impossible to reach your claims manager and every time you call the customer service rep says the claims manager will call you back in 48 hours and never does! He asked for a supervisor to call back and that never happened either. They never review the documents sent to them without me calling and prompting them 2-4 times. They closed his claim even though we sent in the requested documents. It’s a horrible place to deal with when you are in such a bad spot in life.

I have had multiple times I have had to use short term disability in the past for a surgery of some sort. First time having to use this company. Worst company I have ever had to deal with. They do not care about you or you trying to recover. All they care about is paperwork every four days that forces me to pay Dr office to send it in. You call personnel is very nice. But get used to calling cause you'll be harassing them over everything while they hold out on payments knowing you had surgery. They aren't worth the headache. Go somewhere else that actually looks out for their consumers.

Literally followed everything to the T and I had to call after hearing nothing for two weeks just to be asked questions and provide paperwork I already provided for STD. I literally will NEVER use them again. They don’t respond to anything. They don’t follow up. They don’t pay you the money you give them. They never pick up the phone and they lie about timelines. I’m about to have to pull my daughter from daycare and her other services because they don’t want to get back to me while I am out of work. I am dissatisfied with this company and they are truly disgusting.

This company has become a total rip-off!!! For 30 years I allowed them to take $30 from my account for my life insurance and that does NOT include the $2900 I front loaded at the beginning from a cancelled life insurance policy the beginning of 1992. Then less than 2 years ago they tell me they have to raise my monthly premium to $68.34 per month. NOW they tell me that they have to increase my premium to $136.50 or they will let my policy expire!!! What the hell have they been doing with all my premiums over the last 33 years??? Stock market has gone through the roof over this time. Cut their ridiculously high salaries and get rid of the extra staff.

I applied for life insurance and thought it sounded too good to be true but couldn't figure out why. Well they have a so-called contest ability period of two years. If you die they can deny the money by connecting the death to a question you answered on initial application. Stay away from this company and go with a company that has a two year graded death wait. At least at the end of that time there's no question. They complain about fraudsters and they found a way to be one themselves. Thank goodness I found out before I wasted valuable time.

This has been the worst experience I’ve ever had. My employer uses NYL for Short Term Disability claims, and I began dealing with them in February 2025. Since then, no one has proactively communicated with me about the status of my claim. I’ve had to do all the legwork myself just to ensure representatives were working on my case in time for payment. For the past three months, I’ve called this company twice a week to follow up. My claim has been passed around to four different representatives since February, and not one of them has reached out to me. Every time I call, I’m told a callback request will be submitted—but not once have I received a return call. This company is, without a doubt, the most unprofessional, unsympathetic, and disorganized organization I’ve ever dealt with.

Raise a concern regarding the lack of communication from the analyst assigned to my case. Throughout this process, I have not received a single phone call or direct outreach from her regarding important updates. Instead, I am left to discover the status of my case a day or two later—after receiving a letter in the mail that she considers her form of communication. I find this lack of timely and direct communication both frustrating and unacceptable, especially considering the importance of the matter at hand. Clear and prompt communication should be a standard part of the support provided.