Prudential Life Insurance Review: If you’re like most people, you’ve heard of the Prudential Insurance Company. You’re probably wondering if they’re one of the best life insurance companies to buy a policy from.
Prudential Insurance is a top insurance company that holds and A+ rating with both A.M. Best and Fitch, as well as an AA- from Standard & Poor’s and an A2 from Moody’s. These are all excellent ratings, which Prudential deserves since they are a financially strong company with a good reputation among their clients.
Prudential Life Insurance Review
Now, it is worth mentioning that although Prudential is just one of the 60 life insurance companies we represent, we have not been paid to give them a review.
As an independent life insurance agent, our reviews are unbiased and are only meant to help you make the best decision regarding your future life insurance coverage. You can start comparing quotes at any time using our online quote form, but in the meantime, keep reading to find out what we think of Prudential.
Prudential Life Insurance Company
Review Summary
Prudential Life provides shoppers with several life insurance product options. Prudential is one of the best life insurance companies that you can find. Depending on your health and age, they should be looked at closely by people looking for term and permanent life insurance.
What Are Prudential’s Rates Like?
The good news is that Prudential actually has some of the best rates around.
Prudential is very competitive life insurance company in several situations. You need to be aware that your exact rates are going to depend on factors like your age, gender, health condition, and certain activities you engage in.
Rate Comparisons
We calculated quotes for: A 20-year term life insurance policy with a death benefit of $500,000. These monthly rates are for a healthy, nonsmoking person in Florida. Rates were rounded down to the nearest dollar. Actual rates are subjected to underwriting.
| COMPANY | POLICY | AGE 30 MALE | AGE 40 MALE | AGE 50 MALE | AGE 30 FEMALE | AGE 40 FEMALE | AGE 50 FEMALE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prudential | Term Essential | $34 | $43 | $88 | $27 | $38 | $76 |
| AIG | Select-a-Term | $21 | $30 | $79 | $18 | $28 | $59 |
| Banner Life | OPTerm | $21 | $32 | $94 | $18 | $26 | $58 |
| John Hancock | Term | $26 | $34 | $81 | $24 | $34 | $78 |
| Foresters | Your Term | $21 | $31 | $79 | $18 | $27 | $57 |
| Lincoln Financial | LifeElements | $28 | $38 | $78 | $23 | $30 | $58 |
| Lincoln Financial | TermAccel | $21 | $29 | $78 | $17 | $25 | $57 |
| Mutual of Omaha | Term Life Answers | $21 | $33 | $85 | $23 | $28 | $64 |
| Pacific Life | Pacific Promise Term | $20 | $29 | $77 | $19 | $26 | $61 |
| Principal | Term | $22 | $31 | $79 | $20 | $27 | $59 |
| Protective | Custom Choice UL | $20 | $28 | $76 | $17 | $25 | $55 |
| Protective | Classic Choice Term | $20 | $28 | $75 | $17 | $25 | $55 |
| Prudential | Return of Premium Term | $101 | $143 | $291 | $88 | $130 | $253 |
| Sagicor | Term | $23 | $29 | $82 | $19 | $25 | $71 |
| SBLI | Level Premium Term | $21 | $40 | $96 | $24 | $34 | $65 |
| Transamerica | Trendsetter Super | $22 | $37 | $79 | $18 | $30 | $62 |
| Transamerica | Trendsetter LB | $24 | $38 | $92 | $20 | $34 | $73 |
Case Study: Prudential Life Vs The Competition
Competiton
Too Much!-
Male
-
Age 40
-
$500,000 Face Amount*
-
Approved Table 2 Rates
Prudential
BETTER DEAL!-
Male
-
Age 40
-
$500,000 Face Amount*
-
Approved at Standard Rates!
The example above is a great reminder that the best deal will depend your specific health & lifestyle. The 40-year old in the example above had a health risk that most companies would rate at a more expensive and higher health class.
Prudential was the cheapest for his specific situation. If he was in perfect health, Prudential may or may not be the best choice.
Prudential Life Insurance Products
Prudential provides a vast variety of life insurance types, such as:
The following is a short summary of some primary products Prudential offers:
Term Life Insurance
Prudential Term Essentials & Term Elite
Prudential Life offers 2 strong term life insurance products called:
- Term Essentials
- Term Elite
These are Prudential Life Insurance’s two most popular term products. These options are almost identical. The biggest differences are their cost and conversion options. With Prudential Term Essentials is more affordable and Term Elite has better conversion features.
Policy Features
Here are some of the main features of Prudential’s term policy:
- Term life insurance with a Guaranteed Level Death Benefit
- Term Lengths of 10, 15, 20, & 30 years
- Guaranteed Level Premiums
- Issue ages up to 75
- Face Amounts from $100,000 to $10,000,000+
Term Essential (Guaranteed Conversion Feature)
Prudential will allow to convert your Term Essential policy to a guarantee universal life policy with having to go through another exam or prove insurability. Conversion eligibility requires you to convert before you turn 65 years old. You also can’t convert in the policy’s first 5 years. The only exception to this is if you bought your Term Essential policy at age 60.
Term Elite (Guaranteed Conversion Feature)
Prudential’s Term Elite is almost identical to Term Essentials. The biggest difference is Term Elite allows you to convert within the policy’s first 5 years. If this occurs, you’ll get back a premium credit that is applied to your converted policy.
Term Essentials & Term Elite Policy Riders
Life insurance riders are a way to customize your policy. Prudential offers the following riders:
- Accidental Death Benefit Rider: With an accidental death benefit rider, the insurer will pay an extra death benefit if you were to die from an accident.
- Waiver of Premium Rider: The waiver of premium rider allows you to stop paying your premium payments if you become disabled.
- Child Rider: The child rider will give short term life insurance coverage for your children.
Permanent Life Insurance
PruLife Universal Protector
Need lifetime coverage? Prudential’s PruLife Universal Protector can provide coverage for your entire life. With Prudential’s PruLife, you’ll get pretty much everything you could want with a guaranteed universal life insurance policy.
Policy Features
PruLife Universal Protector has many features that shoppers are wanting such as:
- Fixed premium that’s guaranteed
- Guaranteed Level Death Benefit
- Coverage to Age 121
- No Lapse Coverage Guarantee
- Premium Flexibility
- Can be purchased up to age 85
- Coverage amounts from $100,000 to $10,000,000+
PruLife Universal Life Available Policy Riders
Prudential offers riders for their permanent products too:
- Waiver of Premium Rider: The waiver of premium rider allows you to stop paying your premium payments if you become disabled.
- Child Rider: The child rider will give short term life insurance coverage for your children.
- Accelerated Death Benefit Rider: With an accelerated death benefit rider, you can get early access your death benefit if you’re diagnosed with a terminal illness. The ADB rider is complimentary and there is no additional charge.
Pros & Cons
Every company has their advantages. Let’s look into the Pros and Cons of Prudential Life.
PROS
Prudential is a Top 10 company for a variety of situations.
CONS
Prudential can sometimes be more expensive vs the competition
Prudential’s strengths
Prudential is very competitive when it comes to the following situations and risks:
Tobacco Use
You will get the smokers rates if you use cigarettes. However, unlike many other insurance companies, With Prudential, you may qualify for nonsmoker rates if you just use chewing tobacco or other smokeless options like Nicorette,the nicotine patch, or e-cigarettes.
High Face Amounts
If you’re looking for a policy with a high face amount, Prudential is a good choice. We’ve seen excellent approvals for $1 million, $2 million and $5 million life insurance policies.
DUI
If you have one or more DUIs on your record, most life insurance companies will slap you with a “flat extra” fee on top of your regular rates. While your rates with Prudential may be higher with a DUI, the pricing is still more competitive than any other company. Furthermore, if you’ve has two DUIs in the past decade, Prudential will still insure you whereas most life insurance companies will not.
History of Illness
Individuals with histories of certain illnesses and medical conditions often end up paying the most expensive rates for life insurance coverage. Prudential nevertheless remains a very competitive company, offering some of the best possible rates for people who have had breast cancer, bladder cancer, HIV, thyroid cancer, prostate cancer, diabetes, coronary artery disease, asthma, hepatitis C, elevated liver function, and mood disorders.
If you have a history of another illness not listed here, be sure to contact us as your nearest convenience to learn more about your options.
Active Military Status
If you are currently active in the U.S. military, Prudential has got you covered. With them, your policy will not contain exclusions for dying in war, which is extremely important when it comes to ensuring your loved ones will be financially supported if this should happen. Furthermore, Prudential will still cover you if you have deployment orders. As long as your application is signed while you’re still in the U.S., you are eligible for coverage.
Private Pilots
If you are a private pilot with 600 hours of flying time and fly between 30 and 300 hours annually, you are eligible for Prudential’s Standard rates.
Foreign Residence/Citizenship
Many life insurance companies won’t even think about offering you coverage if you are a non-U.S. resident alien. Prudential, however, will still consider your application.
Certified Public Accountants
Prudencial provides AICPA life insurance for thousands of certified public accountants. PRUCO Life offers a group life insurance policy and an AICPA insurance trust. If you’d like to learn more about this topic, be sure to read up on the AICPA Pros and Cons.
The Bottom Line
Prudential is a great company that covers people from a wide variety of backgrounds. However, they may not be the right company specifically in your situation. We strongly recommend that you compare quotes between a variety of companies before making a decision, and we’re here to help.
For example, check out our review of North American, one of their strongest term life competitors and see if they are a better fit. Or perhaps you’re looking for Whole Life and want to read up on AARP Permanent Life Insurance.
To learn more about Prudential life insurance, make sure to visit our page Life Insurance 101 and find out all the shopping and insider tips to buying life insurance.
Prudential Company Details
Name(s): The Prudential Insurance Company of America; Prudential Financial, Inc. Prudential Retirement Insurance and Annuity Company; PRUCO Life Insurance Company; Prudential Annuities Life Assurance Company
Address:
751 Broad Street
Newark, NJ 07102
Phone: (973) 802-6000
Website: www.prudential.com
Ratings: A.M. Best (A+), Standard & Poor’s (A+), Comdex (90), Moody’s (A1)
