The short answer
Yes. Fidelity Life is a real, state licensed life insurance company, and it has been writing coverage in the United States since 1896. The insurer named on the contract is Fidelity Life Association, A Legal Reserve Life Insurance Company, and its office sits just outside Chicago in Des Plaines, Illinois. It is a separate business from Fidelity Investments, which is the source of most of the confusion behind this question. If a policy, a bill or an offer carries the Fidelity Life name, you are looking at a licensed insurer that your own state can confirm in about a minute.
Fidelity Life Association is an Illinois domiciled life insurance company chartered in 1896, and it is licensed to transact business in 48 states and the District of Columbia, which is standing that any state insurance department can confirm for you from the outside.
Two companies, one very familiar word
Almost everyone who asks this has the same thing in mind: Fidelity Investments. That is the name most people know, it is where a lot of Americans hold a retirement account, and so a letter or a quote from Fidelity Life reads as either a division of the company they already deal with or as somebody borrowing the name. Neither is right. Fidelity Life Association is its own insurance company, chartered in Illinois in 1896 and based in Des Plaines just outside Chicago, and it has no corporate connection to Fidelity Investments. The word fidelity has been turning up in insurance company names for well over a century, so more than one unrelated insurer carries it. Sorting out which Fidelity you are actually dealing with is the single most useful thing you can do here, and it takes one lookup. The second reason people ask is the way the company reaches customers. Fidelity Life sells largely through a call center agency and through other independent agents rather than through someone local who sits at your kitchen table, so quotes, offers and follow up calls can arrive with no familiar face attached to them. That is a normal distribution channel, but it does leave someone holding an unfamiliar name and nothing familiar to check it against.
How to check it yourself in about a minute
You should never have to take our word for it, or the company's. Every one of these is free, public, and works for any insurer you ever want to look up.
- Look up the exact legal name, not the brand. The issuing company is written out in full as Fidelity Life Association, A Legal Reserve Life Insurance Company. Search that name in your state department of insurance licence lookup, which naic.org will point you to, rather than searching the word Fidelity on its own.
- Check the state of domicile as well. Fidelity Life Association is domiciled in Illinois. A licence lookup shows the domicile alongside the name, so if a Fidelity company comes back based somewhere else, you are looking at a different insurer and the name similarity is a coincidence.
- Match the policy number to your own records. Compare the policy number on any letter, email or billing notice against a document you already hold. Branding is easy to imitate. A policy number that matches your own file is the confirmation that matters.
- Work out whether you spoke to the agency or the insurer. Fidelity Life sells through Efinancial, LLC, a call center based insurance agency in the same corporate group that also markets products for other, unaffiliated insurers. If Efinancial appears in your emails, that is the agency that handled the sale, and the insurer named on the contract is who you look up.
- Check financial strength independently. Insurer financial strength ratings are published by rating agencies and can be looked up free at ambest.com. Search Fidelity Life Association specifically, since a search for Fidelity alone will return several unrelated companies.
- Reach the company through details you found yourself. Use the service contact route on your own policy documents, or the support pages of the company website you navigated to directly, rather than a link or number in an unexpected message. That habit is worth keeping with any sender.
What is actually going on
- Fidelity Life and Fidelity Investments are different companies. They share a word, not an owner. Fidelity Life Association is an insurance company near Chicago, owned by Vericity, Inc., which became part of the iA Financial group in June 2024. If you were expecting a connection to a brokerage account you hold elsewhere, there is not one, and that is worth knowing before you call anyone.
- A second company name on your paperwork is normal. Efinancial, LLC is a call center based insurance agency in the same group, acquired back in 2009, domiciled in Washington and licensed in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. It sells for Fidelity Life and for other insurers it is not affiliated with, so seeing both names across a quote, a call and a policy is the ordinary structure.
- Coverage has been offered alongside a partner brand. In October 2021 the company announced a one year, short term life insurance product launched with Progressive. An offer can therefore reach you wearing a name other than Fidelity Life while the insurance behind it is still issued by the same licensed company.
- It does not write everywhere. Fidelity Life is licensed in the District of Columbia and every state except New York and Wyoming. If you live in one of those two, being unable to buy is a licensing boundary and nothing to read into.
- There is a review window on a new policy. Fidelity Life offers a free look period, a designated stretch of time after a new policy is issued during which you can review it properly and return it if it is not what you wanted. Free look terms vary by state and by policy, so read the wording in your own contract while the window is still open.
Common questions
Is Fidelity Life part of Fidelity Investments?
No. They are unrelated companies that share a common word in their names. Fidelity Life Association is a life insurance company chartered in 1896, based near Chicago in Des Plaines, Illinois, and owned by Vericity, Inc. Nothing about a Fidelity Life policy touches an account you hold at Fidelity Investments, and the two are looked up separately.
Who is Efinancial, and why is that name on my paperwork?
Efinancial, LLC is a call center based insurance agency in the same corporate group as Fidelity Life, acquired in 2009. It sells and services coverage, and it also markets products for insurers it is not affiliated with, so it is common to speak to Efinancial and then receive a contract issued by Fidelity Life Association. The insurer named on the contract is the company that pays the claim.
Is Fidelity Life a scam?
No. It is a licensed United States life insurer that has been writing coverage since 1896, it is domiciled in Illinois, and its licence can be confirmed through your own state department of insurance in about a minute. The question comes up mostly because the name looks like a much larger financial firm that it has no connection to.
I keep getting quotes and offers from Fidelity Life. How do I stop them?
Marketing offers usually come from the agency side of the business rather than from a policy you hold. Use the unsubscribe link on the email itself, and use the privacy request and Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information links in the footer of the company website to make the request formally. Keeping a note of the date you asked is useful if anything continues.
Why can I not buy a Fidelity Life policy in New York?
Because the company is not licensed there, and the same is true in Wyoming. Insurers are licensed state by state, and New York in particular regulates life insurance under its own rules, so many national insurers write there through a separately licensed New York company or not at all. Coverage is still available to you from insurers that do hold a licence in your state.
There is a premium payment on my statement and I want to confirm it is mine
Match the amount and the date against your own policy documents and any billing notice you were sent, and check that the policy number lines up with the file you already hold. If everything matches, the charge is your premium. If nothing matches, contact the insurer through details you looked up yourself rather than any number on an unexpected message.
Should I keep a Fidelity Life policy I already have?
Often yes, and that is a perfectly good outcome for a review. A policy issued when you were younger or healthier was priced on the health you had then, and replacing it later can cost more or may not be available on the same terms. Confirm the death benefit, the premium and, on a term policy, the year the term ends, and then decide from there.
How can I check that an insurance company is licensed in my state?
Every state runs a free public lookup through its department of insurance, and the National Association of Insurance Commissioners keeps a consumer portal at naic.org that points you to the right one. Search the insurer by name and you will see whether it is authorised to write business in your state. It takes about a minute and it works for any company, not just this one.
I got mail about a policy I do not remember buying. What should I do?
Do not ignore it, and do not act on the letter alone. Match the policy number on the letter against your own records first. If it matches something you hold, the mail is almost certainly a servicing notice or a rebrand notice. If nothing matches, contact the insurer using the details on your own statement or on the company website you looked up yourself, rather than a number printed on an unexpected letter. That habit protects you generally, whoever the sender is.
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This guide is general information, not legal, tax, or financial advice. Licensing and company details change, so confirm anything important with your state department of insurance. Policy Review Center is a free comparison and referral service, not an insurance agency, insurer, or producer, and it connects you with independent licensed agents. Carrier names are used for reference only and do not imply any endorsement or affiliation.