Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:08/27/2024

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  ************** and after I wanted to cancel and asked for a refund they said NO

  

  Business Response

  Date: 08/29/2024

  Hi, 

  Policy holder activated a policy with a policy number ending in 2577159 on January 9th, 2024.  This policy comes with a 30 day cancellation window where a refund would be provided, which passed on February 8th, 2024.  Ethos received a call from the policy holder on August 26th, 2024, requesting to cancel the policy, for which paperwork has been sent to the customer.  Unfortunately, no refund is granted for premiums paid while the policy was in force if outside of the initial 30-day money back guarantee.

  Please feel free to contact support with any additional questions about cancellation of your policy.

  Thanks,

  Ethos Customer Service

  Customer Answer

  Date: 08/30/2024

  Complaint: 22197751
  
  I am rejecting this response because: I would like a full refund no one explained anything about the policy it was all online I would like my $530 I paid back to me 
  
  Regards,
  
  *************************

  

  Business Response

  Date: 09/04/2024

  Hi,

  Unfortunately, we're not able to upload signed agreements to third party websites due to the *** contained in the agreements.  Policy holder has access to all contracts and agreements through the policy holder portal, which also includes all e-signatures obtained through the application process.  This can be accessed at ethoslife.com.  Policy holder may also call ************** and speak to one of our managers about the policy and when refunds are available.  Unfortunately, this can't be discussed in detail on a third party website such as BBB.

  Thanks,

  Ethos Support

• Initial Complaint

  Date:06/11/2024

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I bought a life insurance policy for 350k thru Ethos. Ethos cancelled my police May 15 and told me my $3900 refund was in the mail. After numerous calls. Ethos says ******** made the check. ******** said they didn't service a policy that's starts with (JT) which my policy does. After calling both parties today. Ethos is definitely not being truthful about the money paid on the policy.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 06/12/2024

  Dear *****,

  We confirmed with Ameritas that they mailed a refund check *************************************** on May 29, 2024.  We've also reached out to you through our normal support process to coordinate with you to ensure you receive the check, and potentially have another one reissued by Ameritas, if need be.  Please reach out to ************************************* if there are any other issues or concerns not being addressed in current conversations.

  Thanks,

  *******************

  Customer Answer

  Date: 06/14/2024

  Complaint: 21834970
  
  I am rejecting this response because: Ethos is a underwriter for Amertius. ******** has confirmed they will not and do not issue refunds on policies that start with (JT) My policy number is JT01967353. ******** said Ethos would be issuing the refund. Ethos has not provided a tracking number a copy of the check and as of today the check hasn't came. 
  
  Regards,
  
  ***************************

  

  Business Response

  Date: 06/24/2024

  Hi,

  A new check was issued and tracking number provided.  We consider this issue resolved at this point and apologize for the inconvenience.  Please reach out to our support team at ************************************* for further questions.

  Best Regards,

  *******************

  Customer Answer

  Date: 06/24/2024

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
  
  Regards,
  
  ***************************

• Initial Complaint

  Date:01/26/2024

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Set up a life insurance policy for my husband and I through ethos. I received an email last week that my account was lapsed due to nonpayment. They have my checking account on file and it has plenty of money in it. Upon contacting ethos they let me know that they had a glitch in the system, but they would get the payment taken care of and fix my account. I tried to speak with them about my husbands account and they would not. When my husband finally was able to contact them two days later, they let him know that his account had lapsed and was no longer active and they could not do anything about it. I checked online and all of his payments have come out of our account, even one two weeks ago. I have tried contacting them multiple times to discuss this and no one will contact me back or discuss it with me over the phone at the time. They tell me that the people in the back office need to handle it. I would like the account reinstated and an apology, as well as a confirmation that this will not happen again or I would like a refund for all money that has gone into both of our ************** accounts and I will look for another provider.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 02/01/2024

  Hi ********,

  Thank you for bringing your issue to our attention and I am sorry for the unfavorable experience and the confusion.  I want to make sure you get what you need and clarification on this situation. 

  To protect your privacy, we'll make sure to handle this directly with you rather than posting information and discussion non a third part platform.  I'll prioritize having a manager from the team give you a call on 2/5/24 to sort through any questions and requests you have.
  

  Thank you again for bringing this to our attention.

  *******************

   

• Initial Complaint

  Date:12/13/2023

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Im not liable for this company with ************** card. I donot have contract with the collection agency trying to collect and reporting this to my credit report they never sent me the original paperwork as requested I demand this account be removed from my credit report.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 12/18/2023

  Hi ******, 

  I'm sorry to hear about your situation!  I assure you that here at Ethos, we don't refer any customers to collection agencies.  ************** policies, if premiums aren't paid, the policy is cancelled and no further collections or attempt to collect ever occur.

  With that being said, if you still have concerns, please reach out to us at ************************************* so we can look into your specific situation.  For the sake of customer privacy and safety, we're not able to discuss specific customer situations on third party platforms.  However, we are more than happy to help you through our established support channels.

  Thanks,

  *******************

  Director Customer Experience

• Initial Complaint

  Date:10/23/2023

  Type:Sales and Advertising Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  An individual identifying himself as **** continues to contact me in an attempt to sell lif insurance after being advised to discontinue calling. These calls have occurred after 9 p.m. weekdays and after 5 on weekends. The party continues to use technology to show different numbers when calling.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 10/30/2023

  Hi ****,

  We are sorry for the inconvenience and annoyance of someone calling you multiple times to sell life insurance.  We checked our systems and don't have any outbound calls to you and don't have anyone named "****" that works for the Ethos sales team.  We would be happy to look into this further if you could provide some of the phone numbers used or copies of any voicemails left.

  Thanks,

  Ethos CX

• Initial Complaint

  Date:10/18/2023

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  My Ethos policy was open and approved in Sept 2021. After nearly 2 years of on time payments Ethos-Ameritas ************** contact me by email in Aug 2023 and advise the policy was being rescind/cancelled. In addition, I was advised all monthly payments were going to be refunded to me. I was unable to speak with anyone for an explanation I therefore signed the Doc for the refund. Ethos confirmed and email 23 receipts of payments back to the original payment method and accounts. Because the first 4 original payments were issued from a card-account which was subsequently CLOSED, Ethos only processed 19 payments successfully and 4 payments were rejected by my bank. I advised Ethos's customer service support team 4 payments were missing and I submitted my bank/documents verifying payment was not transmitted because the original account was Closed ********************** refuse to refund me the additional 4 payments. It has been 3 months and Ethos customer service reps continues to instruct me to contact my bank even after, I have provided them with the attached document from my bank verifying the payments were DENIED because the designated account number was closed. The last rep I spoke with today, advised me to check the electronic bank transfer system/or contact "Mastercard" if I want to find out what happen to my money. He said he checked and his office said the payment was issued to my bank and there is nothing else they can do.Is this a scam Ethos is perpetrating on customers. If the funds were REJECTED by my bank-DENIED due to the fact the account was closed. Therefore the money never left Ethos system and YET, Ethos refuse to give me my money back. As a consumer, I have gotten the run-around from Ethos for over the past 3 months. Ethos is attempting to defraud me out of my money at this point. I have provided all the information I've been able to obtain to verify that the funds were not submitted as they claim and yet they refuse to refund my money..

  

  Business Response

  Date: 10/30/2023

  Hi ******,
  
  I would like to sincerely apologize for the inconvenience you have encountered regarding your recent experience in getting your refunds.
  
  We have investigated this matter thoroughly and found that all refunds were processed through our payment provider and have not been returned to our account.  Screenshots of the portal showing your refunds and their status are attached for verification.  Because of how tightly the insurance industry is regulated, we don't have the option to refund payments to any other account aside from the account used to pay the premium.  We have processed all refunds associated with your policy and all show that the refunds were successfully accepted by the banking institution managing the account used to pay the premiums.
  
  We know it can be hard to track down a refund when they are processed for a closed account.  In an effort to assist you further, we are providing you an *** (Acquirer Reference Number) that you can use to track the refund with your bank or credit card provider.  Banking institutions come across this fairly often and have processes to help consumers sort through the details and the *** numbers will help you achieve this.
  
  Here are the *** numbers: 
  
  Sept 2021: 82711163227000006920186
  Oct 2021: 82711163227000006920855
  Nov 2021: 82711163227000006921861
  Dec 2021: 82711163227000006921309
  
  We appreciate your patience and understanding as we work towards a solution to this matter. If you have any further questions please reply back and we'll continue to check on our end to see if any refunds are reversed (although it is not typical this far after a refund has been processed).
  
  Sincerely,

  ****

  Director of CX

• Initial Complaint

  Date:08/28/2023

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  In December 2021, I began exploring life insurance options and took out a policy with Ethos. However, I quickly realized the policy didnt suit my needs. On the same day, I promptly emailed them to request a cancellation, as instructed. I assumed the policy was terminated when I received no confirmation from them.To my surprise, I discovered continuous monthly charges of $56.25 on my account from December 2021 to July 2023. Upon reaching out, Ethos claimed they had emailed me some documents to sign, which I never received. After some back and forth, they agreed to a refund contingent upon my signing the papers. I complied, but then received another email, indicating that they would only refund the pro-rated amount for the remaining days of the month after cancellation, not the full amount from December 2021.My credit card company initially reversed all the charges. However, they are now reapplying them, effectively charging me again.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 09/12/2023

  Dear ****,

  We are sorry for the confusion in canceling your policy with Ethos.  That is never our intention.  To ensure we protect all our customers and as required by insurance regulations, we require all customers who wish to cancel to sign a cancellation form electronically via DocuSign.  While I understand your frustration in the charges continuing monthly, we tried repeatedly by phone and email to remind you of the requirements to sign the DocuSign form, and had no response.  Our processes dictate that cancellation forms automatically close after 30 days and we emailed once more to notify you this was the case.  Screenshots of the correspondence mentioned are attached.  Again, we apologize for any inconvenience.

  Thank you,

  *******************

  Director Customer Experience

• Initial Complaint

  Date:07/20/2023

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I filled out an application for life insurance and then emailed them a notice I wanted to cancel, well within their 30 day period they state during their application process. They then sent me a Docusign document to sign that I was unable to access from my phone. I reached out to their customer service several times about the issue, but they are stating they wont refund my premium paid because the document wasnt signed within the ********************************************************* speak to a supervisor, also. This is fraudulent and poor business practice. The email to cancel came from my verified personal email account and should have been sufficient. They are making this difficult on purpose to avoid refunding me.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 08/07/2023

  Per internal policies with our partner carriers, cancellations must be accompanied by a signed cancellation form.  Due to the nature of the customer's issues accessing the cancellation form, we requested a refund exception from the carrier and one was granted.  As of 7/25/23, Ethos processed a refund for all premiums paid for the customer.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 08/07/2023

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
  
  Regards,
  
  *********************************

• Initial Complaint

  Date:05/26/2023

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I filled an online form with Ethos Life and was denied coverage immediately with absolutely no explanation. I didnt even ************* questions before being denied. Im 79 years old. Is this company discriminating based on age? I would like to know.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 09/13/2023

  Hi ****, 

  I'm very sorry for the belated response to your question.  Our company went through an internal reorganization and responding to customers on the BBB website fell through the cracks.  Nevertheless, I wanted to address your question and ensure we do get a response to you.

  Because life insurance policies are priced due to mortality rates, or how likely someone is to live past a certain amount of time, age is for sure taken into account when a company is determining whether a customer is eligible to purchase a policy.  With that being said, Ethos has life insurance products that are eligible for individuals up to the age of 85.  So you, for sure, fall into the eligibility requirements for some of our products.

  Why were you declined?  I pulled the underwriting team and some product engineers to look at your case and there's nothing that sticks out as a reason why you should have been declined.  My assumption is that you got caught in the middle of a technology issue we had a few months ago where our system wasn't able to verify applicant's identify correctly and automatically declined them.  This has since been fixed, so my recommendation is, if you're still interested in a policy, to go through the application process again **using a new email address**.  If you have an issue again, you can reach out to ************************************** and we will be able to assist you with the application.

  Again, I apologize for the late response and for the unsatisfactory experience you had with your initial experience.  Please let us know at ************************************* if you have any additional questions.

  Thanks,

  *******************

  Director of CX

  Customer Answer

  Date: 09/13/2023

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
  
  Regards,
  
  ***********************

• Initial Complaint

  Date:05/26/2023

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I have a life insurance policy ********** and my wife's policy ********** that has lapsed with Ethos and as of March 14, 2023 and March 29, 2023 I submitted a reinstatement application to the underwriting department through the email that was sent. I have confirmation that it was completed. My agent has been getting the runaround every time she asks for status updates where the application is. No one has any answers. I was told I can't contact underwriting and that I have to just wait. The longer they take the more I will have to pay at one time to reinstate the application. I feel like they are taking advantage of me to get a bigger payment. As of today I just received another email to fill out the reinstatement application again! This is ridiculous. The customer and agent support is awful. No one knows anything and online chat support is horrible!

  

  Business Response

  Date: 09/13/2023

  Hi *****,

  I want to first apologize for the poor customer service you received in your dealings with Ethos as well as the delayed response here on the BBB platform.  Similar to other companies in the tech, financial services, and insurance industries, Ethos unfortunately had some reorganizations within the company that ultimately left some gaps in our processes.  I fully acknowledge that you were caught up in some of these processes and am sorry for the poor experience you've had.  We have been working hard to improve the processes so customers are getting more timely information and responses going forward.

  With regards to policy number 4001552456, we notified the policy holder, of the approval related to her reinstatement application on July 11th and subsequently responded to a follow up request from her to waive insurance premiums while the reinstatement was being reviewed by our underwriting team.  ************** insurance regulations prohibit any insurance company from waiving any premiums on a policy.  It's against the law and were unable to help in that regard.  Because the premiums were not paid, the reinstatement approval expired and there's no longer an opportunity to re-activate this policy.

  With regards to policy number 4001517010, the reinstatement application was declined by the underwriting team.  A follow up email was sent on August 23rd notifying of the reinstatement decision and alerting that a letter was sent in the mail.  That letter was dated August 11th and is attached, along with other email correspondence mentioned above.  While the time it took to process the reinstatement application was much longer than expected, the end result wouldn't have changed had it been process quicker.

  With regards to your comment about having to make a bigger payment upon reinstatement, I understand this is frustrating, but ultimately there's no benefit to Ethos or the insurance carrier in someone making a bigger payment.  The same amount would have ultimately been paid for the policy in the end.  I acknowledge the experience for you personally is poor when the reinstatement applications take months to process, and again, I am sorry about that.

  Please let us know if you have additional questions by emailing ************************************* and feel free to refer to me personally.

  Regards,

  *******************

  Director Customer Experience