Replacing Employer-Sponsored Life Insurance with Prudential
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By Jim Tobin, CFP®
Critical Takeaways
Workers Bequest Rating
Prudential Term Life Insurance Review of Carrier Specifics
Policy Options | Term, Universal Life, IndexUL |
Term Lengths | 10,15,20,30 |
Riders | Available |
Ratings | A+ - A.M. Best |
States | All States |
Pricing | Risk Adjusted |
Customer Service | |
Issue Age | 18-75 |
Min. Coverage | $100K |
No Exam Option | Yes- but not Guaranteed |
Expert Review Of Prudential Term Life Insurance
Reviewed by
Jim Tobin, CFP®
Why you can Have confidence in this review
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.
Below, please see the primary points of comparison between life insurance carriers. Note that Prudential is widely known as the most lenient of the top term carriers when it comes to underwriting.
Prudential Company History
Prudential, one of the most recognized names in America, was founded in Newark, New Jersey in 1875 where it was known as the Prudential Friendly Society.
Prudential operated as a mutual life insurance company, owned by its policyholders, for more than a century. However, it has since restructured to become a publicly traded company. PRU began trading on the NYSE in 2001.
Prudential was named the number one life/health insurer by Fortune magazine's "Most Admired" list.
Prudential Financial Ratings
Prudential Financial has consistently demonstrated the strength to meet it's ongoing obligations and conduct new business. Prudential Financial's A.M. Best rating of A+ is significant , as A.m. Best is considered to be the most important rating agency in the life insurance market.
Additionally, it is worth noting that COMDEX is an insurance industry specific rating.
A+ | |
AA- | |
AA- | |
COMDEX | 92 |
Prudential Life Insurance Products
Term Essential®-Prudential's best priced option
Term Elite®- This policy comes with enhanced conversion privileges.
PruLife®- Return of Premium
PruLife®- Universal Protector- Basic UL policy
PruLife® SUL Protector: Survivorship GUL policy
PruLife® Essential UL: Cash value UL
PruLife® Founder’s Plus UL: Indexed UL
PruLife® Index Advantage UL: Indexed UL with no lapse guarantee
PruLife® Survivorship Index UL: Indexed UL designed for 2 lives.
Prudential Life Insurance Riders
Available Prudential term policy riders include:.
Waiver of Premium |
Accelerated Death Benefit |
Children's Rider |
Accidental Death & Dismemberment Additionally there is a privilege to convert to permanent coverage without proof of insurability. Conversion privileges vary with product. Prudential Term Life Insurance Rates & Quotes |
Prudential Life Insurance tends to be priced higher, sometimes significantly, than other carriers. However, this pricing is not "apples to apples". Rather, Prudential's pricing reflects a business model that welcomes more health risks. This can be a important to you if you are in less than perfect health.
For instance if Prudential rates a moderately overweight 53 year old woman with sleep apnea as "standard Plus" while other "better priced" companies rate her as Table 2, the more expensive company becomes the cheapest. Take a look:
Company | Coverage | Product | Mo. Pymnt. |
---|---|---|---|
250K | Essential 20 | $71.44 | |
Banner | 250K | OPTerm 20 | 82.29 |
SBLI | 250K | Level -20 | 84.56 |
AIG | 250K | Term-20 | 94.83 |
Lincoln | 250K | Your Term | 104.31 |
So as you can see in this example , the final price has just as much to do with the underwriting decision as it does with the rates you see on quote tools.
Prudential will always be viewed as "more expensive", but sometimes there is more to the story than meets the eye.
Prudential Underwriting Highlights
Prudential has an extensive list of underwriting "sweet spots" Let's take a look:
Medical Marijuana - At Prudential Financial medical marijuana use is rated solely on the reason why they were prescribed.
DUI's- Prudential Applicants with a arrest and conviction for DUI are eligible for standard rates after 3 years
Sleep Apnea- Underwriting at Prudential for sleep apnea allows preferred rates possible with CPAP use.
Build (Age 60 and Over)- Expect to see a more lenient build chart for age 60 and older at Pru.
Elevated Liver Function - Prudential will look into an ELF lab rather than just rate or decline the policy.
Anxiety/Depression- Mood disorder are eligible for preferred plus with Prudential underwriting.
No Exam Life Insurance Options at Prudential Financial
Pru FastTrack
FastTrack is the accelerated underwriting platform in use by Prudential. It uses the application questions and publicly available information to make a decision.
This platform speeds the underwriting process considerably. However, it is only available for people Prudential will classify as Standard Plus or better.
This may defeat the purpose of using Prudential in the first place. After all, if you are in good health, you can use a better priced carrier.
Prudential Customer Service
Prudential customer service has very mixed reviews. The result is that it's difficult to draw any conclusions.
The NAIC complaint report shows a spotless record for Prudential. However, "total Complaints" include only complaints that the respective state agreed with the complainant.
J.D. Power & Assoc. rank Prudential 3/5. The Better Business Bureau grades B- for Prudential.
Prudential Contact Information
Prudential Financial : Final Thoughts
Prudential is a fantastic carrier. However, they have different strong points than other carriers and this needs to be considered when choosing a company for your application. If you are high risk or health impaired, prudential is worth a look. However, price conscious consumers in excellent health can often find better deals in the marketplace.
While Prudential may not be the best choice for a young healthy woman, it may be more understanding of anxiety/depression medication or a previous DUI. In any case where you have a question about your health class, the best advice is to speak with an experienced independent agent with access to a multitude of carriers.
Finally, we are glad about the efforts you've made on checking out for a better upgrade for your Employer Sponsored Life Insurance Plan and finally decided on Workers Bequest. We are committed to a totally transparent process (we'll even share our computer screen with you if you'd like), and making the application process as painless as possible.
Simply give us a call or send us an email so we can get you started. If you have any questions, We'd also like to hear them.