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Prudential Life Insurance Review
By Kristin Cobos MONEY RESEARCH COLLECTIVE
Founded in 1875, Prudential Financial is an international company with over $1.3 trillion in assets under management. It offers a variety of insurance products including term, universal, indexed universal and variable universal life insurance. A wide selection of riders allows policyholders to further customize their insurance to best fit their needs.
Prudential asserts that its policies have a high potential for growth and a strong focus on estate planning. So while the company didn’t make it onto our list of the best life insurance companies, it may still be worth considering.
Read on to learn more about Prudential’s life insurance products, availability, reputation and more.
Table of contents
- Prudential’s overview
- Prudential’s services
- Prudential’s credentials
- Prudential’s accessibility
- Prudential’s customer satisfaction
- Prudential vs. the competition
- Prudential’s FAQs
- How we evaluated Prudential
Prudential Life Insurance overview
Prudential serves 23 locations in the Americas, Asia and the Pacific, Europe, Africa and the Middle East. In addition to insurance products, it also offers retirement planning, annuities and other investment services. In the U.S., Prudential sells insurance products through a network of licensed agents in all 50 states.
Prudential’s services
Prudential offers term, universal, indexed universal and variable universal life insurance. It also offers riders that you can add to your policy.
What Prudential offers
The details of each life insurance type and riders available are below.
Term life insurance
Term life insurance policies have fixed rates for a defined time period and a choice of a monthly, quarterly, bi-annual, or annual payment schedule. Prudential offers three term options: SimplyTerm, Term Essential and PruTerm One.
SimplyTerm comes in 10-, 15-, 20- and 30-year level premium periods. Minimum coverage starts at $100,000 and has a cap of $1 million. This policy offers fixed-rate premiums for the duration of the policy term. The issue ages for SimplyTerm are as follows:
- 10 years: Ages 18 to 75 for nonsmokers and smokers
- 15 years: Ages 18 to 70 for nonsmokers and smokers
- 20 years: Ages 18 to 65 for nonsmokers, and 18 to 60 for smokers
- 30 years: Ages 18 to 55 for a nonsmokers, and 18 to 45 for smokers
Term Essential includes the Living Needs Benefit rider, an accelerated death benefit which can be used in the event of a terminal illness. The Term Essential policy is also convertible; that means you can switch to a permanent policy later without an additional medical exam. You can learn more about this option in our article about no-exam life insurance.
Finally, PruTerm One is a policy for people aged 18 to 85 who only need short-term coverage. It’s convertible if you switch to a permanent policy within the first five years. Premiums for PruTerm One are only guaranteed for the first year and will increase annually after that time. You can only make annual payments with this policy. Coverage starts at $50,000 for people aged 18 to 75 and $250,000 for people aged 76 to 85.
Universal life insurance
Universal life insurance offers flexible payment schedules with the option to accumulate cash value. There are two universal policies to choose from: PruLife Essential UL and PruLife SUL Protector.
PruLife Essential UL is an affordable policy with cash value accumulation and an adjustable No-Lapse Guarantee. This policy comes with the Living Needs Benefit rider at no cost. You can get coverage starting at a $100,000 benefit if you are 80 or younger. If you’re aged between 81 and 85, coverage begins at $250,000.
PruLife SUL Protector is a survivorship policy that covers two people. It comes with a limited No-Lapse Guarantee for the first ten years of the policy. Coverage starts at $200,000, or $250,000 if you are aged 81 or older.
Indexed universal life insurance
Indexed universal life insurance offers cash value accumulation, flexible premiums and the option to earn interest on a fixed rate or indexed account. Prudential offers three policies: PruLife Founders Plus UL, PruLife Index Advantage UL and PruLife Survivorship Index UL.
PruLife Founders Plus UL is a policy that has a permanent death benefit with an extended No-Lapse Guarantee. You can choose Prudential’s Fixed Account Option, which has a guaranteed minimum interest rate of 2.5%, or the Plus Account Option, which has the potential to earn a return on indexed account investments and comes with market downturn protection.
PruLife Index Advantage UL is a policy that offers interest crediting through a fixed account or one of three available indexed accounts. This policy also comes with market downturn protection.
Lastly, PruLife Survivorship Index UL is a survivorship policy that covers two people. It offers flexible premium payments and cash value accumulation. The fixed-account interest crediting option has a guaranteed minimum interest rate of 2%. For the indexed account option, you can choose one of three available indexed accounts. This policy also comes with a no-lapse guarantee.
All universal life insurance products start at $100,000 worth of coverage if you are 80 years old or younger, and $250,000 between ages 81 and 85.
Variable universal life
Variable universal life offers greater potential for cash value accumulation at a higher risk. The three options from Prudential are PruLife Custom Premier II, VUL Protector and PruLife SVUL Protector.
PruLife Custom Premier II is a policy that lets you invest a part of your premiums in a fixed-rate option or 50 underlying investment accounts. You can also choose from various investment styles, including equity, fixed income or asset allocation. It includes free fund transfers up to 12 times a year with no additional charge. This policy allows you to choose your premium payments.
VUL Protector also lets you invest a part of your premiums in a fixed-rate option or a choice of 50 underlying investment accounts. The policy also includes a No-Lapse Guarantee of up to lifetime and premium flexibility for the first year.
PruLife SVUL Protector is a survivorship policy that covers two people and lets you invest a part of your premium in a fixed-rate option or underlying investment accounts.
Prudential life insurance riders
Prudential offers the following riders that allow you to customize your policy to fit your needs better:
- Survivorship Benefit Access Enhanced Cash Value
- Guaranteed Policy Split
- Estate Protection
- Living Needs Benefit
- BenefitAccess Rider
- Enhanced Disability Benefits
- Enhanced Cash Value Rider
- Accidental Death Benefit Rider
- Children Level Term Rider
- Children’s Protection Rider
- Overloan Protection Rider
- Waiver of Premium
What Prudential doesn’t offer
Prudential’s policies come with some exclusions and limitations. Not all riders are available for all policies. With regard to premiums, fixed-rate term premiums increase each year after the term period finishes. Also, some policies only offer annual payments instead of monthly, quarterly and EFT payments.
Additionally, if you default on premium payments, your policy’s guarantee may change or be terminated. Also, it’s important to consider that guarantees don’t apply to underlying investment options. You should take note that if you surrender your policy you may incur charges for doing so.
The cost of Prudential life insurance
Life insurance rates vary greatly. Multiple factor/s determine what you’ll pay in premiums, including the following:
- Policy type
- Coverage amount
- Age
- Gender
- Location
- Underlying health conditions
- Medical exam results
- Lifestyle
- Use of tobacco
Below, we’ve outlined sample quotes based on Prudential’s Simply Term life insurance policy with $250,000 coverage for a 45-year-old female and male nonsmoker in excellent health:
Female
- 10-year term policy: $18.99 per month
- 20-year term policy: $29.41 per month
- 30-year term policy: $49.61 per month
Male
- 10-year term policy: $19.83 per month
- 20-year term policy: $30.86 per month
- 30-year term policy: $63.56 per month
Prudential’s credentials
Prudential is a reputable global company with a solid reputation. Read on for more information about its credentials.
Licenses and registrations
All life insurance products from Prudential Financial are issued by The Prudential Insurance Company of America (NAIC 68241), Pruco Life Insurance Company (NAIC 79227), and Pruco Life Insurance Company of New Jersey (NAIC 97195).
Awards and certifications
Prudential has won numerous awards for its commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion including:
- Ethisphere’s “World’s Most Ethical Companies”
- Points of Light’s “The Civic 50”
- Human Rights Campaign’s “Corporate Equality Index”
- Military Times’ “Best for Vets Employers”
- Barron’s “100 Most Sustainable Companies”
- Corporate Responsibility Magazine’s “100 Best Corporate Citizens”
- Hispanic Association of Corporate Responsibility’s “Corporate Inclusion Index”
- HISPANIC Network Magazine’s “Top Employers and Top LGBT-Friendly Companies”
- National Association for Female Executives’ “Top Companies for Executive Women” ,
- VIQTORY’s “Military Spouse Friendly® Employer”
- National Organization on Disability’s “Leading Disability Employer Seal”
- Disability:IN’s “Best Place to Work for People with Disabilities”
- Working Mother’s “100 Best Companies”
Regulatory or legal actions
Like many large-scale insurance companies, Prudential has faced some legal issues. In 2019, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged two subsidiaries of Prudential Financial, Inc., AST Investment Services Inc. and PGIM Investments LLC, with misleading disclosures and failure to disclose conflicts of interest concerning funds it managed.
Perhaps more alarming for those interested in life insurance is a recent class action suit filed in November 2022 claiming that Prudential violated digital privacy laws and used monitoring software to record the electronic communication of people who visited its website.
Our search on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) websites yielded no additional regulatory or legal actions.
Prudential’s accessibility
Prudential is a reputable life insurance provider. However, due to the scale of its business, we found the customer service challenging to access. Read on for more details about its accessibility.
Availability
Prudential services all 50 states through a network of licensed insurance agents. However, not all policies are available in every state. Prudential doesn’t currently have brick-and-mortar locations for insurance sales.
Contact information
Contacting customer service can be somewhat confusing. For term and variable life insurance (all policy numbers except those beginning with “FE”), you can reach Customer Service at 1-800-778-2255. For policy numbers starting with the letter “FE” you should call 1-833-626-1865 and hours for both numbers are Monday to Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. ET.
For intermediate and weekly premium policies (with a nine-digit policy number or number beginning with M), you should call 1-800-575-7780. Customer service hours are Monday to Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. ET.
Prudential has a live virtual chat to direct you to the information you need. If you are not currently a policyholder, you can find a local advisor through the website by entering your zip code.
User experience
Prudential’s website is easy to use, well organized and provides download links for policy brochures. Additionally, policyholders can access important documents, such as claim forms, easily online.
Limitations
When it comes to contacting a live customer service representative for general information, Prudential falls short in our experience. Phone wait times are extensive, and its chat function doesn’t connect you to a live agent, only a virtual assistant.
Prudential’s customer satisfaction
Overall, Prudential receives low customer ratings on online platforms. However, it’s in good standing with the third-party agencies that benchmark industry performance.
Customer complaints
Prudential isn’t accredited by the Better Business Bureau (BBB) and received only 1 out of 5 stars on the BBB website. On the review platform Trustpilot, it has 1.2 out of 5 stars. Customer complaints often mention poor customer service, difficulty receiving claim payout and long claim-processing times.
Third-party ratings
According to third-party ratings, Prudential is financially secure. It holds a financial strength rating of A+ (Superior) with AM Best. It received fewer complaints than its competitors on NAIC’s National Complaint Index and holds a score of 0.67 (the complaint index standard is set to 1.0). However, it ranks slightly below average for customer satisfaction, coming in at number 11 on JD Power’s 2022 Individual Life Insurance Study.
Prudential vs. the competition
How does Prudential stack up against the competition? Take a look at some important highlights:
| Life insurance details | Prudential | AAA | Metlife | Banner |
| Coverage | Term, universal, indexed universal, variable universal | Term, whole, universal | Term, group universal, group variable | Term, universal |
| Discounts | Not disclosed | AAA members receive a $60 fee waiver annually on whole life and 10% off for term life | Not disclosed | Not disclosed |
| Cash value | Yes | Yes | Yes (only for group policies) | Yes |
| Coverage duration | 0, 15, 20 or 30 years | 0, 15, 20 or 30 years | Not disclosed | 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35 or 40 years |
You can read more about AAA life insurance, Metlife insurance and Banner life insurance in our reviews.
Prudential life insurance FAQs
How to get a free Prudential quote?
You can get a free term life insurance quote from Prudential online. You can fill out a form on its website with basic personal information, including age, lifestyle and general health. You can select the coverage amount and terms you are interested in. You must also provide your email address, phone number and zip code.
For policies other than term life insurance, Prudential provides details on contacting a local representative.
How to file a Prudential insurance death claim?
You can file a death claim online or with a Prudential representative. When you file, you'll need the policyholder's name, date of birth and social security number or policy number.
To help you through the process, Prudential also provides a helpful online checklist. Once the claims department receives the documentation, turnaround time is usually five to seven business days.
How to check a Prudential insurance claim status?
In order to check the status of your claim, you'll need to call customer service and speak directly with a representative. You can reach them at 1-800-496-1035, and the hours are Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. ET.
Does Prudential life insurance have cash value?
Prudential offers cash value accumulation with its universal, variable universal and indexed universal life insurance policies. Some policies provide cash value accumulation through underlying investment or fixed-rate options. Term life insurance policies don't offer cash value accumulation.
How to cancel my Prudential life insurance policy?
You'll need to contact a Prudential representative if you want to cancel your life insurance policy. You can call customer service at 1-800-778-2255, Monday to Friday, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. ET. You'll need to have your policy numbers on hand. Depending on the policy and your cancellation date, there may be administrative fees and surrender charges incurred, which will reduce the cash surrender value of your policy.
How we evaluated Prudential life insurance
We evaluated Prudential’s policies for variety, coverage, terms and available add-ons for customization. We also looked at policy exclusions and restrictions. We investigated whether the company has been involved in any legal or regulatory proceedings and reviewed government websites for any other black marks.
We also analyzed data from rating agencies that assess industry standards and business practices. We reviewed customer complaints on third-party websites and contacted customer service and licensed agents for coverage information and quotes.
Summary of our Prudential Review
Prudential offers a wide array of term, universal, indexed universal and variable universal life insurance policies, along with multiple riders that give policyholders the opportunity for further customization and flexibility.
Prudential stands out for offering policies with a high potential for growth and various underlying investment options and styles to choose from. It also offers policies like survivorship policies that facilitate estate planning.
Prudential does appear to miss the mark with its customer service. Phone wait times are extensive and you must sometimes talk to multiple agents before reaching the right department. However, its website is easy to use and you can find local agents with a quick search.
Kristin Cobos has worked as a writer, researcher, and educator for 18 years. She holds a B.A. in International Relations from Webster University in Leiden, Netherlands and M.A. in Teaching English as a Second Language from Southern Illinois University — Edwardsville. She covers finance and technology.