John Hancock Life Insurance Review

John Hancock Life Insurance receives high scores for financial stability, a good selection of life insurance coverage types and a wide range of riders to customize policies. To purchase life insurance from John Hancock, you must contact the company or a licensed agent. You can complete an online form to connect with a representative or agent.

Although you cannot purchase policies online, John Hancock does offer electronic document management for most documents related to its life insurance policies, including common forms, electronic copies and online document storage.

Life insurance is a contract between a policyholder who agrees to make premium payments and an insurer that agrees to pay a death benefit to designated beneficiaries when the policyholder dies. The premium costs and policy amounts vary depending on several factors, such as age, gender, health and lifestyle.

You can learn about the basics of life insurance here.

When shopping for a life insurance policy:

• Choose the type: Term or whole life.
• Identify potential riders to customize the policy.
• Determine the amount of coverage and time you need it.
• Ensure competitive quotes are for the same coverage.
• Check each company’s financial health and customer ratings.

John Hancock offers the following types of policies.

Term Life Insurance

Term life insurance is a policy that lets a policyholder have coverage options for a specific period, generally between 10 and 30 years. If the insured person passes away during that period, the insurance company will pay a predetermined amount to the beneficiaries named in the policy. When the policy period ends, the policy is no longer in force.

Many companies offer term insurance policies, and you can see our top term life insurance providers here.

John Hancock’s term life insurance is available to people aged 18 to 80 for 10, 15, 20 and 30 years. Coverage amounts start at $250,000. People ages 18 to 60 applying for $3 million or less may be eligible to skip the medical exam with ExpressTrack, which accesses current health data from other resources.

Policy features and benefits may vary by state. For example, the 30-year term policy isn’t offered in New York.

Whole Life Insurance

Whole Life Insurance is a permanent life insurance policy that covers the policyholder for their entire life as long as they pay premiums on time. Whole life policies also have a cash value component that term policies do not. Cash value accumulates interest over time and is accessible for the policyholder to borrow against in most cases.

While John Hancock does not offer a traditional whole life policy, it does offer a few variations of universal life insurance.

John Hancock offers two universal life policies: Protection UL and Protection Survivorship UL, which is a survivorship policy that covers two people.

The company also offers three variable universal policies with flexible premiums and a cash value with investment options: Accumulation VUL, Accumulation Survivorship VUL and Protection VUL.

John Hancock offers indexed universal life insurance policies: Protection IUL and Protection Survivorship IUL. Policies accumulate value based on the performance of various indexes, such as the S&P 500.

John Hancock Life Insurance Available Riders

You can add riders to customize John Hancock’s policies, although availability depends on which policy type you purchase and where you live.

John Hancock has a wide selection of riders to choose from:

• Accelerated Death Benefit
• Cash Value Enhancement
• Critical Illness
• Disability Payment of Specified Premium
• Estate Preservation
• Long-term Care
• Healthy Engagement (Vitality Plus)
• Overloan Protection
• Policy Split Option
• Return of premium
• Total Disability Waiver
• Unemployment Protection

You should speak with an insurance agent to get more details.

John Hancock Life Insurance Wellness Programs

One of the noteworthy perks for all policyholders is two wellness-focused programs offered by the company.

When you buy a policy, you can enroll in Vitality Go for free, which tracks your data from a wearable device like a Fitbit. As you reach specific health goals, like walking a certain number of steps daily, the insurer will reward you with discounts on sites like REI and grocery stores.

You can also sign up for Vitality Plus for a fee. Along with offering discounts and gift cards, this program allows you to save up to 25% on your annual premium as you progress with your wellness goals.

The Aspire program is designed for people with Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes. You have access to a diabetes management app, health coaching and rewards for exercising regularly and eating healthily, including a premium discount of up to 25%.

Each person’s financial needs and life insurance cost will be unique. John Hancock can help you determine the best term length and coverage amount with its online life insurance calculator. Below is a snapshot of the cost of a typical term life insurance policy with John Hancock.

Quotes are based on a 25-year-old male, face amount of $250,000 and preferred, non-tobacco health ratings.

Life insurance rates are competitively priced throughout the industry, and while each insurer has its methodology to arrive at policy costs, several factors are standard across the board. The premium you pay will normally depend on the following:

• Age
• Health and medical history
• Occupation
• Gender
• Lifestyle
• Policy type
• Coverage amount

Some states also let insurers factor in a FICO/credit-based insurance score when determining premiums.

We read over 100 consumer reviews of John Hancock life insurance on trusted aggregators like Trustpilot and the Better Business Bureau (BBB). This provides insight into the overall consumer sentiment toward the provider.

The company receives generally good reviews that praise its wellness programs and easy application process. Some negative reviews commented on communication issues. Here are some of the top comments:

“I started looking for life insurance a month ago after letting my former 20-year term policy lapse in January. I contacted a couple of generic online insurance aggregators, called my car and home insurance broker, etc. Everything was a huge hassle: forms that needed to be downloaded, printed, signed, scanned, appointments, etc. Then, I got a call from a John Hancock agent. After just an hour and quick digital permission to reach out to my primary care physician to get the results of a recent physical, it was DONE. Same day. No hassle, no forms. Simply amazing. And at a better price than any other plans I was looking at.” —happy customer via TrustPilot

“I’ve owned a few life insurance policies, but I’ve never had one with benefits like the Vitality program. It’s been a great deal and lots more fun to get rewards rather than only getting bills in the mail from my life insurance. It also gives me an incentive to take walks, exercise occasionally, and wear my Apple watch to record activity. Life insurance with rewards.” —Firsty Lasty on TrustPilot

John Hancock has also received negative reviews.

“Honestly, their app picks and chooses what counts toward rewards. You get “vitality points” for what seems like no reason, But they’re fairly useless. I have the Apple Watch reward through them, and I spent months paying because their app didn’t register my workouts half the time. They say, “Get x number of workouts to spin the vitality wheel.” I’ve been stuck on 8 out of 10 for over a week. Even though I hit their ever-changing requirements every time. I’ve brought these issues to their attention, and they only offered excuses and blame. It’s all a bit of a sham really.” —Robert Quinn via TrustPilot

“I am 56, and this is only the second negative review I have written for any business ever. We have had two life insurance policies with John Hancock (my husband and I) for probably 5 – 10 years now. We have just experienced a second episode where John Hancock has said right before their policy canceling deadline that they didn’t receive our annual premium checks.” —Jennifer from Seattle on Consumer Affairs

Here’s how John Hancock Life Insurance compares to a few other life insurance providers.

John Hancock is one of America’s oldest and most financially stable life insurance providers. It offers high coverage limits and has few age restrictions that provide options for a wider range of applicants.

The wellness program offerings for policyholders are another attractive benefit. However, if you’re looking for the cheapest or traditional whole life policy, you may want to explore options with other providers.

Drew Gurley is a licensed life insurance expert with nearly 15 years of experience. During his career as both a licensed life insurance agent and industry executive, he has helped thousands of clients with their life insurance needs through his work at Redbird Advisors and Senior Market Advisors. When Drew isn’t working, he spends time with his family, supporting breast cancer and epilepsy awareness.

Mike Miller is a writer with a decade of experience producing product and service content to help consumers make informed purchasing decisions. Mike has a bachelor’s degree in creative advertising. In his spare time, Mike enjoys riding and fixing motorcycles, reading a good book and spending time with his wife and two cats.