Prudential (aka PRUCO Life Insurance Company or Pru) is a life insurance company that offers competitive term life insurance and universal life insurance.
This Prudential Life Insurance Review Covers:
Prudential is known for its expertise in life insurance underwriting, and for offering affordable life insurance to consumers with health issues, risky occupations or adventure sports activity.
As part of our review of the best life insurance companies, we cover the following.
Prudential Overview
Prudential is the largest life insurer in the United States, with over $3.7 trillion of life insurance in force worldwide.
In addition to its individual life insurance business, Prudential offers retirement planning, investment management, group life insurance, and international life insurance.
Prudential Ratings
Independent rating organizations reported the following on 11/7/2018
AM Best = A+
Moody’s = A1
S&P = AA-
Fitch = AA-
Prudential has been a solid and consistent life insurer for many years.
Prudential Underwriting Review
Prudential is one of the best life insurers when it comes to life insurance underwriting, non-tobacco life insurance rates for tobacco/nicotine users, and having the capacity to handle large face life insurance cases.
When life insurance table ratings are involved, you’ll find that while Prudential’s life insurance rate tables are more than the industry average, their underwriting offers make up for this in many cases.
When it comes to life insurance for high-risk health conditions like cancer, Prudential will almost always be one of the most competitive life insurers available.
Other medical conditions where Pru excels include:
- HIV Life Insurance Coverage
- Heart Disease Life Insurance
- Diabetes Life Insurance
- Sleep Apnea Life Insurance
- GI Problems Life Insurance
- Elevated Liver Enzymes Life Insurance
- Life Insurance Build Charts
Non-medical Underwriting Expertise includes:
- Non-Tobacco Life Insurance
- Private Pilots
- Jumbo Life Insurance to $100 million
Until recently, Prudential was the only company that would treat e-cigarette and vape users as non-tobacco clients. That is changing in October 2019 as they will now be considered tobacco users.
We pretty much shop every case we work on to Pru as they are going to be one of the better companies for most health issues.
Prudential Product Information
Prudential offers a number of different types of life insurance, including term life insurance products and universal life insurance products.
Term Essential
Term Essential is Prudential’s most affordable and popular term life insurance product.
Term Essential features include:
Level Premiums – During the 10, 15, 20 or 30 year term life period, premiums remain level.
At the end of the term period, premiums increase annually until coverage ends at age 95. During this time, the premiums are not guaranteed.
Conversion to permanent life insurance is available to the lesser of the level term period or to the first policy anniversary on or after you turn age 65, but at least 5 years.
Term Elite
Term Elite is Pru’s more expensive term life insurance product, for a number of reasons as mentioned below.
Term Elite offers an extended conversion privilege, fully guaranteed premiums after the level term period, and a conversion credit if you exchange your term policy for permanent life insurance during the first 5 years.
Like the Term Essential, the premiums for Term Elite remain the same during the level term period.
When the level term period ends, Term Elite’s premiums increase each year thereafter but you know exactly what the premium will be. Coverage ends at age 65.
Conversion to Pru’s permanent life insurance is available until the first anniversary after your 65th birthday, but at least 5 years regardless of the issue age.
Conversion Credit – If you convert the policy after 12 months but during the first 5 years, the Term Elite product will credit your past 12 months premium to the new policy.
We see the Term Elite product mainly being used when the insured knows that they will be converting their policy to permanent life insurance soon after buying, or our client likes the idea of having the extended conversion privilege available.
Universal Life Insurance Products
Prudential offers universal life insurance products with no lapse guaranteed universal life insurance, universal life products that build cash value, and index universal life products.
Prudential offers a survivorship product for estate planning purposes.
PruLife Universal Protector
This is PRUCO’s universal life insurance policy with a no-lapse guaranteed death benefit.
With this product, you have the ability to lock in a lifetime death benefit guaranteed policy that does not depend on cash value performance.
PruLife Index Advantage UL
This index universal life insurance policy offers you the potential to build cash value over time, based on the performance of the S&P 500.
PruLife Founders Plus UL
This is an index universal life insurance policy with the potential to build cash value based on the performance of the S&P 500.
Prudential Life Insurance Riders
Prudential offers many life insurance riders for their policies.
Please note that rider availability depends on the product type you choose, the state of policy ownership, and other factors.
Accidental Death Benefit Rider
Accidental death benefits provide an additional benefit if the insured dies as a result of an accident as defined by the rider.
There is an additional cost for this rider, and the availability of the rider depends on factors such as state of residence, issue ages, product selected, underwriting rate class received, etc.
Coverage amounts of $25,000 – $500,000 is available. The maximum amount is limited to the lesser of $500,000 or the amount of life insurance you purchased.
Children Protection Rider
Child riders provide inexpensive life insurance in the event something happens to your child.
The premium for the child rider is the same no matter how many children you have.
The child rider is available for issue to all children aged 14 days to 18 years of age.
Coverage amounts from $10,000 – $100,000 is available.
The rider may not be available if the primary insured receives a substandard underwriting offer of Table “B” or greater.
Underwriting may consist of obtaining medical records, and child coverage may not be available if the child would receive a medical rating of “Table “A” or greater.
A child may be excluded from a child rider due to health issues.
After policy issue, children who are born, adopted, and stepchildren are automatically added to the policy without underwriting.
The children protection rider ends on the earlier of the following events:
- The first anniversary on or after the child’s 25th birthday
- The primary insured’s 75th birthday
- 90 days after the primary insured dies
The above is just a general overview as there are specific details that we will provide you with if the children’s protection rider is something you would like.
The child rider may be converted to an individual policy for your child following the child’s 18th, 22nd or 25th birthday.
Living Needs Benefit
The living needs benefit rider accelerates all or a portion of your death benefit in the event you are defined as terminally ill or confined to a nursing home permanently.
The availability of this rider varies by state, and the product selected
Check back often as we continue to update the riders available.
Prudential Review
When we discuss your life insurance with you, we’ll let you know what companies have to say in terms of underwriting and price, and we’ll help you with determining the amount of life insurance to consider.
Please take a few minutes to submit your quote request today.
Keep in mind that there is never any pressure or obligation with our life insurance service. We’ll provide you with the information you need in order to make an informed decision about your life insurance.
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