Prudential Financial specializes in life insurance for individuals with a wide range of sophisticated and flexible options. Find out if it’s right for you.
Prudential Life is one of the largest life insurance providers in the world, offering a wide selection of term life, whole life and other permanent life insurance policies. The company was founded in 1875 and, since then, has amassed 50 million customers and prestigious ratings from third-party agencies for financial stability and customer service.
We at the MarketWatch Guides team rated and reviewed Prudential and other top life insurers according to our objective ranking methodology for life insurance providers. This review covers its policy options, costs, customer service and financial stability to help you make an informed choice when shopping for the policy that best fits your needs.
Prudential Life Insurance Overview
Prudential scored highly in several key areas of our review standards. It offers one of the most robust policy portfolios among insurers and offers many riders to help you customize your life insurance coverage to meet your unique situation. It receives an A+ financial strength rating from AM Best.
Prudential also ranks high for its easy online application process but is about average regarding ways to communicate with the company. However, according to the J.D. Power 2022 U.S. Individual Life Insurance StudySM and the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) complaint index, it excels in customer satisfaction.
Prudential Pros and Cons
Types of Life Insurance Offered
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.
Some whole life insurance policies have a cash value in addition to the death benefit value, functioning as a savings or investment account that earns interest and can be borrowed against in certain situations.
Learn more: What is life insurance and how does it work?
When shopping for a life insurance policy:
- Choose the type: term or whole life
- Identify potential riders to customize the policy for you
- Determine the amount and time you need coverage
- Ensure competitive quotes are for the same coverage
- Check each company’s financial health and customer ratings
Age restrictions vary by policy, with coverage available on select policies up to 90 years old. Some are more limited, such as SimplyTerm, which only issues a 30-year term option to individuals who are non-smokers between 18 and 55 and smokers between 18 and 45.
Prudential offers the following types of policies.
Term Life Insurance
Term life insurance allows a policyholder to buy coverage 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, and the death benefit is forfeit.
Many companies offer term insurance policies, and you can see our top term life insurance providers here.
Prudential offers the following term life insurance policies:
- SimplyTerm. Applicants aged 18 to 55 can purchase SimplyTerm through a fully online process. Coverage ranges from $100,000 to $1 million for 10-, 15-, 20- or 30-year level premium periods.
- Term Essential. This policy offers term lengths of 10, 15, 20 or 30 years, a conversion option and Prudential’s Living Needs Benefit, which accelerates your death benefit if you become terminally ill. If you keep the policy after the level-premium term ends and choose not to convert to a whole life policy, your premiums will increase each year as outlined in your contract and stop at age 95, when the policy ends.
- PruTerm One. This product offers death benefit protection that is renewable annually for maximum flexibility. If your needs change or become longer-term in scope, you may also convert your coverage to a permanent policy within the first five years.
Whole Life Insurance
Whole Life Insurance is a permanent life insurance policy that provides coverage for the policyholder’s entire life as long as they pay premiums on time. Whole life policies also have a cash value component that term policies do not, meaning you can borrow against the premiums you’ve paid into the policy in most cases.
Prudential Life Insurance offers the following whole life policy:
Prudential Final Expense Life Insurance. This policy helps loved ones cover final expenses such as funeral and burial costs, end-of-life medical expenses, or other immediate expenses after you die. Choose from coverage amounts of $5,000 to $30,000. This product is available to those aged 50 to 85. Final Expense Life Insurance offers riders that include a temporary accidental death benefit, a terminal illness benefit and an accidental death benefit rider.
Universal Life Insurance
A universal life policy can provide long-term or even permanent coverage instead of coverage for a set period. It also offers several additional benefits, including tax advantages, cash value growth and flexibility to change the policy as your life changes. You can pay the minimum to keep the policy in force or pay more for faster cash value accumulation and a longer no-lapse guarantee.
Life Insurance Riders
Prudential Life Insurance offers the following universal life policies:
- PruLife Essential UL. Prudential’s universal life insurance product offers coverage starting at $25,000 with a maximum limit of $65 million.
- PruLife SUL Protector. This policy protects two people and pays a death benefit when both policyholders die. There is a no-lapse coverage guarantee if you pay sufficient premiums and meet other requirements. Coverage starts at $250,000.
Prudential also offers several indexed universal life, survivorship universal life, indexed variable universal life and variable universal life insurance policies.
Prudential Riders
- Accidental death benefit
- Accidental death benefit for chronic and terminal illness (BenefitAccess)
- Accelerated death benefit for terminal illness (Living Needs Benefit)
- Children’s level term rider
- Children’s protection rider
- Enhanced cash value rider
- Enhanced disability benefit rider
- Estate protection rider
- Overloan protection rider
- Survivorship accidental death benefit for chronic and terminal illness (Survivorship BenefitAccess)
- Living needs benefit
- Waiver of monthly deductions
- Waiver of premium
Cost of Prudential Life Insurance
Life insurance is competitively priced throughout the industry. While each insurer has its underwriting methods to determine policy costs, several factors remain constant. The premium you pay will normally depend on the following:
- Age
- Health and medical history
- Gender
- Lifestyle
- Policy type
- Coverage amount
- Credit standing
Below is a snapshot of Prudential’s term life insurance rates for a 25-year-old male.
Policy Type | Gender | Age Range | Term Length | Monthly Estimate |
---|---|---|---|---|
Term | Male | 25 | 10 Years | $11.12 |
Term | Male | 25 | 20 Years | $13.48 |
Term | Male | 25 | 30 Years | $16.28 |
*quotes are for $100,000 in coverage based on preferred, non-tobacco health ratings.
Prudential Customer Reviews
Prudential falls in the middle of the pack compared to other insurers regarding customer service in J.D. Power’s 2022 U.S. Individual Life Insurance StudySM but receives far less than the average number of complaints for a company of its size, according to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC).
To understand how real consumers feel about Prudential’s service, we read more than 100 actual policyholder reviews on aggregator sites like the Better Business Bureau (BBB) and TrustPilot.
Prudential Financial gets mixed reviews from the Better Business Bureau BBB. Some of the negative reviews we read focused on lackluster communication and mishandling of funds. Here are some examples:
“I tried to reach the financial professional who sold me the policy ten years ago, but his phone has been disconnected for a year or so. Talking to their customer reps about anything other than [my phone] number and the last four of my social is just like talking to a wall. They’re aggressively indifferent. Unbelievable.” —Judith S via BBB
“I received my check, cashed my check and they say they don’t have it. I got a notice of policy lapse if not received by 6/29/2022. Check was cashed in April. They have acknowledged receiving a copy of the cashed check and my April [bank] statement showing the check was cashed. Made three calls since the original notice, and it’s STILL under review.” —Paul D via BBB
“Sarah was patient and clear about the process I was entering into. She was reassuring and kind. She followed up to see if I had any questions or issues. She stayed with me until everything was settled and signed. A lovely person to deal with when having a tough go of things.” —customersandradee via TrustPilot
“I’ve recently had to apply for short-term disability a couple of days ago through these guys. The application process was pretty easy. The problem is every time I try to log into the site it says I have the wrong password. It won’t let me change my password, either. I’m not going to keep bugging the customer service reps because you have a broken site.” – Andrew via TrustPilot
Comparing Prudential Life Insurance with Others
Here’s how Prudential Life compares to a few other life insurance providers.
Company | Policies Offered | Good to know |
---|---|---|
Prudential Life | Term life, whole life, final expense and universal life policy options. | Prudential allows consumers to quote online for some policies and over the phone. Its agents are available seven days a week. Prudential also offers a variety of other financial products like annuities, investments and workplace benefits, making it an all-in-one financial solution for some. |
Fidelity Life | Term life, whole life, final expense and guaranteed issue policies | Fidelity offers no-exam coverage and a 30-day free look period. However, its standard term life policy is only issuable up to age 65. It also offers fewer insurance riders than some competitors. |
Lemonade Life | Term life policies only | Lemonade uses AI technology to simplify the application process. It offers term coverage with a 30-day “free look” period but no permanent policy options or insurance riders. |
Bestow Life | Term life policies only | Bestow features quick online applications with no medical exam requirement and same-day coverage for qualifying applicants. It doesn’t offer any permanent life insurance options or customizable riders. Coverage is not available in New York. |
The Bottom Line on Prudential Insurance
Prudential is exceptionally stable, according to credit rating agencies like AM Best, and offers a variety of life insurance products that you can customize with a wide range of riders. It’s also a solid choice for term life insurance with generous conversion options and living benefits.
Although some policies are quotable online, you will likely need to work directly with a Prudential agent or company to help you decide which policy and riders are best for your unique situation. We recommend securing life insurance quotes from at least three providers to ensure you find the right coverage for your budget and needs.
Frequently Asked Questions About Prudential Life Insurance
Frequently Asked Questions
State laws bind life insurance companies regarding how long you have to claim insurance benefits. Contact Prudential or an insurance agent directly for more information.
Life insurance companies are also bound by state laws regarding payment for suicide. If the covered individual dies by suicide after being insured for two years or more, policyholders are generally eligible for a claim. Policies may vary by policy type and state, so it’s best to contact the company or an insurance agent for details.
Policyholders who have held policies for over two years are generally eligible for a drug overdose claim. Contact Prudential or an insurance agent directly for more information.
Certain cancers can be insurable, but insurability depends on factors such as age, type of cancer and treatment history.