Prudential Life Insurance

Life insurance is a good way to provide for family members after death while avoiding income taxes levied on survivors. Prudential provides both term and universal life insurance, with a variety of other financial products, including SimplyTerm, Prudential’s easy-to-apply-online life insurance. The company can also assist with financial planning, annuities, investments, and workplace benefits like retirement savings and health insurance.

Many Prudential life insurance policies are customizable with riders for flexible coverage to meet the consumer’s financial planning needs. Prudential offers 15 plans across four term and universal life insurance categories. Term policies are affordable and valid as long as you pay premiums for a term of five to 30 years. Universal policies build cash value and do not expire based on a term.

Pros

• Large variety of life insurance policies
• Well-known company with a long track record
• Streamlined underwriting

Cons

• Must purchase through agents, except for SimplyTerm
• No whole life insurance policies

Prudential Life Insurance Accelerated Underwriting

Life insurance underwriting involves researching statistics and biometrics like body mass index and lifestyle choices to determine rates and whether to sell a policy to the applicant. Prudential uses a system called PruFastTrack to expedite the underwriting process while avoiding the need for medical exams. Consumers complete a survey and provide Prudential with permission to access pharmacy and medical records and the company returns a decision in days instead of the customary weeks.

Prudential Term Life Insurance Plans

Prudential offers six term life insurance plans, each designed to meet different financial needs. Riders are available for most policies to add various coverage options, explained in the chart below. All Prudential term life insurance includes:

• Guaranteed Premiums with no increases over the term of your plan. If you keep the coverage after the term expires premiums can increase yearly through age 95.
• Living Needs Benefit to give you access to your policy’s death benefit to pay for your care if you become terminally ill.
• Income-tax Free Death Benefit per IRS rules, section 101.

SimplyTerm: This basic term life insurance is available for purchase directly from Prudential online. Applying is straightforward and quick: answer nine simple questions about your health and location. SimplyTerm offers a limited choice of term lengths and coverage with no riders and is a sound choice for single individuals.

Term Essential: Prudential offers Term Essential as an alternative to SimplyTerm when you need riders to customize your life insurance.

Term Elite: This life insurance plan builds on Term Essential benefits with the ability to convert the policy to permanent universal life insurance. Take advantage of the conversion feature within the first five years of the plan to get credit for the universal insurance first-year premium.

WorkLife 65: Prudential designed WorkLife 65 for people in their working years. The premiums remain fixed until you reach 65, and then you can keep your policy with a premium increase until you turn 85. Prudential WorkLife 65 waves premiums if you become disabled, or for one year if you become unemployed after holding the policy for 12 months.

PruLife Return of Premium Term: If you live beyond the term set on a PruLife Return of Premium Term policy, Prudential refunds premiums tax-free. You can add life insurance for your minor children to this plan.

– PruTerm One: PruTerm One life insurance is for those who need short-term coverage with a one-year term renewed annually. Ideal policyholders are small business owners who are paying off a small loan, those who are between jobs or just started new employment with limited benefits.

Rider	Term Elite	Term Essential	WorkLife 65	PruLife Return of Premium Term	PruTerm One
Conversion to Universal Insurance	X	X	X	X	X
Disability Premium Waiver	X	X	N/A	N/A	N/A
Accidental Death Rider	X	X	X	N/A	N/A
Minor Children Protection	X	X	X	N/A	N/A

Prudential Universal Life Insurance

Prudential offers four universal life insurance policies with many riders to enhance the plans. Each universal life policy comes with monthly, quarterly, annual, or biannual payments.

• PruLife Universal Protector: The core policy in Prudential’s universal life insurance plans is PruLife Universal Protector with an adjustable death benefit and no lapse guaranteed premiums. This plan offers a choice of a death benefit with no age limit, or pay a lower premium to have coverage for fewer years.
• PruLife Essential UL: Prudential’s PruLife Essential UL offers many of the same features of the PruLife Universal Protector policy with additional flexibility for accessing cash if you become chronically ill. Prudential offers a no-lapse rider, so your life insurance coverage continues if you take out a loan against the policy and it causes the portfolio to fall into a negative value. This policy has a wide choice of riders.
• PruLife SUL Protector: Known as survivorship universal life insurance, Prudential’s PruLife SUL Protector provides a death benefit to allow couples to distribute inheritance to heirs or give a financial gift to a charity. This policy pays the death benefit after the second covered individual dies. Add a guaranteed policy split or estate protection rider for estate planning.
• PruLife Universal Plus: Consider Prudential’s PruLife Universal Plus if you are looking for life insurance with cash value growth potential. The rate of return is variable, but Prudential guarantees a minimum interest rate. The accumulated cash value is accessible throughout the policyholder’s life via loans or cash draws against the policy, although an unpaid loan balance can affect the death benefit amount or tax status.

Rider	PruLife Universal Protector	PruLife Essential UL	PruLife SUL Protector	PruLife Universal Plus
Living Needs Benefit Rider	X	X	N/A	X
Enhanced Disability Premium Waiver	X	X	N/A	X
Accidental Death	X	X	N/A	X
Children Level Term Rider	X	X	N/A	X

Prudential Indexed Universal Life Insurance

An indexed universal life policy has the benefit of cash value that grows at a fixed rate or follows financial indexes like the S&P 500 or Nasdaq. Prudential guarantees a minimum interest rate on indexed universal life insurance with three plans and a variety of riders.

1. PruLife Founders Plus UL is the core policy of Prudential’s indexed universal life insurance. These policies include the option of an indexed variable rate or a fixed interest rate and an adjustable no-lapse guarantee.
2. PruLife Index Advantage UL life insurance has the most significant potential for cash value growth of any of Prudential’s indexed universal life insurance. The death benefit can be protected for 20 years using the no-lapse rider, and plans offer four interest crediting options.
3. PruLife Survivorship Index UL life insurance from Prudential covers two people, allows for indexed cash growth and pays a death benefit after the second policyholder dies. These plans have an adjustable no-lapse rider and are a useful estate planning tool for providing a cash benefit to surviving family members or charity.

Prudential Variable Universal Life

Prudential Life Insurance offers three variable universal life plans. These policies attempt to grow the invested cash value portion with investments the insured selects.

1. VUL Protector life insurance is for consumers with a moderate investment risk profile. A no-lapse guarantee keeps the plan in place should investments fall to a negative value. Over 60 investment choices include bonds, stocks, fixed-rate instruments, and more.
2. PruLife Custom Premier II is a higher-risk variable universal life policy from Prudential. This plan includes two no-lapse guarantee periods to guard against losing insurance in the early years of the policy while working toward long term growth. PruLife Custom Premier II takes advantage of over 60 investment options.
3. PruLife SVUL Protector is a survivorship plan from Prudential with cash value growth options for couples who want to provide a more substantial death benefit to heirs, a charitable organization, or to provide for a family business. PruLife SVUL Protector pays a second-to-die benefit.

Source: Prudential

Prudential Life Insurance Complaints

The majority of Prudential Financial consumer reviews we found online are positive. Google surveys and reviews show average customer satisfaction with Prudential at 4.8 out of 5 stars. BestCompany gives the company 4.5 out of 5 stars, and Prudential Insurance has a “B” rating from the Better Business Bureau, with 45 complaints closed in the last three years. ConsumerAffairs readers weren’t happy with Prudential’s lack of communication or receiving inaccurate information about life insurance policies and gave the company only 1 out of 5 stars.

Prudential Life Insurance FAQ

Conclusion

Some form of life insurance covers over 60 percent of Americans. Options such as universal life allow consumers to provide a death benefit to pay final expenses and potentially grow a cash value to diffuse retirement expenses or increase inheritances. Prudential life insurance offers a diverse selection of plans from a well-established company to help nearly all consumers find the right life insurance to meet their goals.