Prudential Life Insurance Review
Prudential is one of the largest life insurance companies in the U.S. Read our Prudential life insurance review to learn more about the company and the types of life insurance policies they offer.
You can call to chat with a licensed insurance agent to learn more about life insurance policies that are available where you live.
About Prudential Life Insurance
Prudential was founded in 1875 and is comprised of several subsidiary companies that sell a wide range of financial products, including life and health insurance, annuities and investment options.
The arm of the company that sells individual life insurance, Prudential Individual Life Insurance, is based today in Newark, NJ.
What Kind of Life Insurance Does Prudential Sell?
Prudential is licensed in all 50 states. While product selection may vary somewhat by location, the company’s life insurance options include a diverse mix of both term and whole life policies.
Prudential Term Life Insurance
Prudential offers three types of term, or temporary, life insurance.
- Term Essential is available in term lengths of 10, 15, 20 or 30 years with premiums that remain the same for the length of the policy. This policy may be converted to permanent coverage after a certain length of time.
- PruTerm One offers coverage for one year at a time, allowing you to renew or end your coverage on an annual basis.
- SimplyTerm allows up to $1 million of death benefits purchased entirely online and includes a terminal illness rider that grants access to benefits if you are diagnosed with a terminal condition.
Prudential Whole Life Insurance
Whole life insurance provides permanent coverage, and Prudential’s policy options include universal, indexed universal, survivorship and variable universal life insurance.
Each policy provides permanent coverage, guaranteed death benefits, the ability to build a cash value and early access to death benefits.
Universal life insurance, including variable and indexed universal, combines life insurance with a savings and investment vertical. Survivorship universal policies cover two people and pay out death benefits after the second person has passed.
Prudential offers a few different plans of each type of whole life insurance to address various consumer needs.
Does Prudential Life Insurance Have Any Riders?
Riders can be added to a life insurance policy to personalize the benefits for each individual. Prudential offers more riders than what is typical for the industry and include options for:
- Terminal illness: Early access to death benefits if you are diagnosed with a terminal illness or confined to a nursing home
- Accidental death: Additional benefits if your death is the result of an accident
- Children’s term life: Covers your children under your policy and pays a death benefit if they were to pass away during the covered term
- Premium waiver: Your premiums are waived if you become disabled and unable to work
- Enhanced cash value: High surrender values that are often utilized by business owners for buy-sell agreements
- Disability benefits: Keeps your life insurance policy in force if you become disabled and unable to work
- Estate protection: Increases the death benefit by up to 100% if both insured persons die before the fourth anniversary of the policy’s effective date
- Guaranteed policy split: Divides survivorship policies into two separate plans after a divorce or if estate laws change
- Overloan protection: Prevents your policy from lapsing as a result of outstanding policy loans
- Survivorship benefit access: Grants early access to death benefits if one or both insured persons on a survivorship plan become chronically or terminally ill.
- Waiver of premiums: Have your premiums waived if you become disabled for at least six continuous months.
How Much Does Prudential Life Insurance Cost?
Prudential provides online quotes for term life insurance. Using the online tool, a healthy and non-smoking 40-year-old male can get:
- $500,000 of coverage with a 30-year term for $75 per month
- $300,000 of coverage with a 20-year term for $28 per month
- $1 million of coverage with a 15-year term for $71 per month
- $750,000 of coverage with a 10-year term for $47 per month
Does Prudential Insurance Have Good Customer Service?
Prudential fields roughly an average number of customer complaints for a company its size according to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC). However, Prudential scored slightly below average in J.D. Power’s 2021 Individual Life Insurance Study measuring overall customer satisfaction.
Prudential’s life insurance business is rated 3.7 stars out of five by Consumer Affairs.
Prudential has dedicated phone numbers for each of its many verticals, but does not have live online chat, email support or a mobile app for policyholders.
Prudential Life Insurance Phone Number
Existing Prudential life insurance members may contact the Prudential customer service phone number by calling:
- 1-800-944-8786(policy numbers beginning with the letter "V") Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. ET
- 1-800-778-2255(all other policy numbers) Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. ET
- 1-833-626-1865 (policy numbers beginning with the letter “FE”) Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. ET
- 1-800-575-7780 (Select option 2) (Policy numbers beginning with the letter "M" or contain 9 digits) Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. ET
How Long Does Prudential Take to Pay Out Claims?
Most life insurance claims are paid out to beneficiaries within 30 to 60 days. Prudential provides more information about its life insurance payouts.
What Is the Financial Rating of Prudential?
The Prudential Insurance Company of America has some of the strongest financial ratings in the industry:1
- S&P Global: AA-
- Fitch Ratings AA-
- AM Best: A+
- Moody’s: Aa3
Prudential vs. State Farm
Prudential life insurance policy offerings are slightly more robust than State Farm’s, with fewer age and location restrictions and more available riders. State Farm customer service does outperform that of Prudential, however.
Is Prudential a Good Insurance Company?
Prudential offers a wide selection of life insurance policies with several optional riders. While customer satisfaction has room for improvement, the company has strong financial ratings and affordable rates.
Contact a licensed insurance agent for help deciding what life insurance company may be the right choice for your life insurance needs.
1 Prudential. Investor Relations. Retrieved March 25, 2022 from https://www.investor.prudential.com/ratings/default.aspx.
