John Hancock is a major insurance company that has been in business for 158 years, according to the Better Business Bureau. As such, it has a host of individual life insurance products. Below in our John Hancock life insurance review, we’ll look at those products in more detail, as well as the reputation of the company. Read on to find out if this is the life insurance company for you.
- Pros and Cons of John Hancock Life Insurance
- Life Insurance Products Offered Through John Hancock: 95/100
- Financial Strength Rating of John Hancock Life Insurance: 95/100
- Customer Satisfaction Rating of John Hancock Life Insurance: 75/100
- Consumer Complaints Rating of John Hancock Life Insurance: 30/100
- Digital Experience Rating of John Hancock Life Insurance: 50/100
Pros of John Hancock Life Insurance
- Has a program that gives you rewards and discounts for healthy lifestyle choices
- The company has a wide array of life insurance products that are in line with common industry features
- Has a stable outlook and good ratings through AM Best
Cons of John Hancock Life Insurance
- Complaint index through the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) is higher than expected for the industry
- The company performed modestly in the J.D. Power 2019 Life Insurance Study, with a 739 out of 1,000 possible score
- The digital quote process for term life wants you to give permission for the company to send you sales calls, texts and emails
Life Insurance Products Offered Through John Hancock
To start our John Hancock life insurance review, we looked at the products it offers. John Hancock lists three major life insurance types:
- Term life: This is a very common product on the market that allows you to be covered for a set period of time, like 20 years. The terms and coverage amounts are flexible, listing as high as $2 million in coverage, as an example.
- Permanent life insurance: Like other products on the market, this option allows for a death benefit that lasts your whole life and has a cash value component. Within this type, the company offers universal, indexed universal and variable universal life insurance. The features listed for these types are in line with other industry products.
Final expense with guaranteed acceptance: This product allows your family to cover things like medical bills and funeral expenses after your passing. The guaranteed acceptance component is a useful touch, meaning there are no medical questions or exams. The product is available to anyone ages 55 through 80. The coverage amounts are fairly flexible for a plan like this, ranging from $2,000 to $20,000.
An interesting feature of all John Hancock’s life insurance plans is that they have rewards for healthy living. Through the John Hancock Vitality program, you can get savings and discounts by making healthy choices. The Vitality PLUS program comes as little as $2 per month and gives you benefits like up to 15 percent in annual premium savings and you can earn an Apple Watch for as little as $25, as a couple of examples. The basic version, Vitality GO, is free and gives benefits like REI discounts, 20-40 percent off wearable fitness devices, Amazon discounts and free healthy living publications.
Financial Strength Rating of John Hancock Life Insurance
John Hancock has an A+ (Superior) financial strength rating through AM Best. The company outlook is listed as stable.
The long-term issuer credit rating is listed as aa- (Superior) and the outlook is listed as stable.
Customer Satisfaction Rating of John Hancock Life Insurance
John Hancock performed modestly in the J.D. Power 2019 Life Insurance Study. It got a 739 out of a possible 1,000 points, with the median score of 761. It also has two circles out of a possible five, or the lowest rating. Two circles are simply labeled “the rest.”
Life insurance companies are also rated on the 6 criteria of customer satisfaction in this study. Here are how John Hancock life insurance is rated:
- Product offerings: 2/5
- Price: 3/5
- Statements: 3/5
- Interaction: 3/5
- Communication: 2/5
- Application and Orientation: 3/5
Consumer Complaints Rating of John Hancock Life Insurance
We also looked at the NAIC complaint index for our John Hancock life insurance review. John Hancock (company code 93610) had a total complaint index of 1.64 in 2019. Expected complaints for the industry are at 1.00, so this is higher than average.
The company had five total complaints for individual life in 2019.
Digital Experience Rating of John Hancock Life Insurance
On the term life page, the site advertises that you can get an instant online quote for a term life plan with under $5 million in coverage.
When you select the option to get a free quote, you get a form to fill out full of the usual questions like tobacco use, birth date, gender and the state you live in. However, it also requires that you fill in your email and phone number.
There is a message under the form saying that you give consent for the company to contact you via emails, text and phone calls from auto-dialers. If you do not wish to be contacted, it tells you to call the 800 number. For that reason, we did not complete the quote process.
Final Thoughts in our John Hancock Life Insurance Review
John Hancock is a company that has been in business for over 150 years and has a very stable financial outlook. It has the main types of life insurance products in the industry. Consumer reviews are modest and complaints are a bit high, however. But where it stands out is in the option for you to get savings and discounts through healthy living choices.