A Look at Metlife

Metropolitan Life Insurance Inc., was officially founded in 1868 but has documented history as far back as 1863 as an organization in some capacity. Metlife is one of the most successful insurance companies in the United States with assets in excess of $3 trillion and not to mention a very popular Peanuts character as a mascot.

Financial Outlook

After a long stretch with a credit rating of AAA, in 2008 the premier business rating agency Standard & Poor reduced MetLife's rating to AA+. Despite this reduction, an AA+ rating is still considered exceptional. Nonetheless, the reason given by the rating firm was a reduction in sales of life insurance by the giant insurer. Also cited were investigations into MetLife's sales practices.

Claims Service

In an effort to improve claims service, MetLife embarked on a controversial outsourcing of its telephone claims reporting process in 2001. There's little doubt that it improved the bottom line for the company, but did it actually increase their claims service? Well, according to revered customer satisfaction rating firm JD Powers & Associates, MetLife is among the worst receiving two stars out of five. They placed in the bottom five out of 25 leading insurers for their claims service.

Customer Service

While the company does receive favorable ratings from JD Powers for customer service and satisfaction, we have come across a fairly significant amount of customer reviews that suggest otherwise. The reliance on call centers overseas to handle claims may be a contributing factor in these complaints. Moody's recently changed their outlook to negative citing unpredictable economic changes that were affecting Metlife's profitability and financial flexibility. We recommend you compare plan options using our free service to determine with provider will fit you best. Our approach allows you to view offerings side-by-side to give you the ability to compare and contrast features, pricing and additional options.