Replacing Employer-Based Life Insurance plan with Lincoln Financial Group
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By James Tobin, CFP.
Policy Options | Term, Universal Life |
---|---|
Term Lengths | 10,15,20,30 |
Riders | Available |
Ratings | A+ A.M. Best |
States | Unavailable in NY |
Pricing | Competitive |
Customer Service | (877) 275-5462 |
Issue Age | 18-60 |
Min. Coverage | 100K |
No Exam Option | Yes |
Disclosure
Workers Bequest is not in any way affiliated with Lincoln Financial. This article is our review of the term life insurance products offered through Lincoln Financial as well as alternatives. If you are need to contact Lincoln Financial directly, call 1-877-275-5462
Lincoln Financial Life Insurance is a life insurance company that was founded in 1866 and has been around for over 150 years. The company is based in Columbus, Ohio, and offers term life insurance and whole life policies.
Reviewed by
Jim Tobin,CFP®
As seen in
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At Workers Bequest, we value our editorial independence. We keep our reviews strictly factual so you can use them to make informed decisions. Life insurance carriers referred to on this site do not approve reviews. The views expressed are solely those of Workers Bequest.
If you're looking to upgrade from an Employer-Based Life Insurance plan to Lincoln Financial, you've come to the right place. This life insurance review will cover the main points of comparison between different types of life insurance policies. We also cover the company's history and financial rating, products offered, underwriting niches, and pricing.
Lincoln Financial Company History
The focus of this article is life insurance offered by Lincoln National Life Insurance Company.
Lincoln National Insurance was founded in 1905, using its namesake. Lincoln Financials' insurance unit has been growing steadily for years now, with a solid financial rating.
Lincoln Financial Ratings
LFG has consistently demonstrated the strength to meet its ongoing obligations and conduct new business.
Agency | Rating |
---|---|
A.M. Best | A+ |
Fitch Ratings | A+ |
standard & Poors | A- |
COMDEX | 94 |
Lincoln Financial Life Insurance Products
TermAccel
Lincoln TermAccel, the flagship term insurance product, is sold by Lincoln. With a min-max benefit of 100000-500000, the product is sold for 15, 20 &or 30 years. This product, which allows telephone applications, is part of an accelerated underwriting platform in which no blood/urinalysis is required in most cases, with policy decisions made within 48 hours.
TermAccel is an affordable way to get term life insurance, and it comes with a waiver of premium rider, children's rider, and accelerated benefits for terminal illness.
Life Elements
Lincoln's Life Elements is similar to TermAccel, but with a higher minimum (250000) and without a stated maximum. Applications that provide high benefits will be considered individually. The terms are 10, 15 & 30 years, and life Elements provides the same rider options as TermAccel.
Universal Life
Lincoln offers several variations on universal life insurance, including a traditional UL, an indexed UL, and a variable UL. The conventional model is tied to interest rates; the variable UL is tied directly to the equities markets. The indexed product is a hybrid that credits interest based on stock index performance but is not an equity instrument like the Variable Univeral Life options. While better regarded now, universal life has a tumultuous history, which you can read about here.
Lincoln Financial Life Insurance Riders
Available term policy riders include:
Waiver of Premium
Spouse Term Rider
Accelerated Death Benefit
Children's Rider
Accidental Death & Dismemberment
The privilege to convert to permanent coverage without proof of insurability. Conversion privileges vary with product.
Lincoln Financial Life Insurance Rates
Lincoln Financial Life Insurance is priced competitively, but sometimes rates are significantly higher than its competitors. However, this price comparison is not just "apples to apples." Instead, Lincoln's pricing reflects an approach that accepts more significant health risks. If you're not in good health, this can be important to you.
For example, if Lincoln rates a 47-year-old woman with a history of minor anxiety as "preferred," while other "slightly less expensive" companies rate her as just "standard," then the more expensive company becomes cheaper. Take a look:
Company | Coverage | Product | Rate |
---|---|---|---|
Prudential | 500K | Essential 30 | 127.31 |
Banner | 500K | OP TERM 30 | 126.15 |
SBLI | 500K | Level-30 | 127.31 |
AIG | 500K | Term- 30 | 126.90 |
Lincoln | $500K | Term Accel 30 | 94.50 |
So as you can tell from this example, the final cost has just as much to with the underwriting class as it does with the rate that you see on a quote tool.
Even though the ratings for Lincoln are "apples to apples" in both the preferred and the standard classes, Lincoln is still highly competitive in both classes.
Lincoln Financial Underwriting Highlights
There are several niches for which Lincoln Financial underwriting is known. Among them is speed. The accelerated underwriting program is among the fastest of major carriers. Lincoln Financial offers competitive pricing on large face amount policies.
Lincoln is thought to be very aggressive in health-specific underwriting, particularly when underwriting permanent policies.
Some of the specific cases where Lincoln has shown more lenient underwriting are:
breast cancer
prostate cancer
occasional cigar smokers
high cholesterol
heavier folks over 70.
Lincoln Financial No Exam Options
Term Accel
TermAccel is the accelerated underwriter used by Lincoln. It uses an application question and publicly available information to decide whether or not to approve a loan.
This platform speeds up underwriting considerably, but it is only available for people under the age of 60, whom Lincoln classifies as preferred or preferred plus. Also, this policy can only be issued for up to one million dollars, and applications requiring more coverage will need to go through full underwriting.
Lincoln Financial Customer Service
Lincoln National Life Insurance Company, the life insurance subsidiary for Lincoln Financial Group, has an excellent customer service reputation. The (NAIC)National Association of Insurance Commissioners reports that the complaint index for Lincoln is 0.012, well below their national average of 1%.
J.D. Power & Assoc. scores Lincoln at 750, and the Better Business Bureau does not cover Lincoln Financial at this time.
Lincoln Financial: Conclusion
Lincoln Financial is an outstanding insurance company. You can get a competitive rate with Prudential, AIG, and Pacific Life while aggressively writing some specific niches.
If you're looking to upgrade from an Employer-Based Life Insurance plan, Lincoln Financial is worth a look regardless of your health condition. In any case, where there's a question about your health insurance plan, the best advice is always to speak with an experienced agent who has access to many insurers.
We're happy to help you with your Lincoln Financial life insurance needs. We hope it helps, and we hope you contact us if you have any questions.