Lincoln Financial Life is part of Lincoln Financial Group, “solutions that empower people to take charge of their financial lives.” They were started in 1905 by a group of businessmen from Fort Wayne, IN. They asked permission from Robert Todd Lincoln to use Abraham Lincoln’s likeness, and he agreed. Abraham Lincoln still serves as the logo to this day.
These days, they offer a variety of life insurance products, and the parent company offers annuities, retirement funds, and long-term care planning. In 2018 they were ranked 187th on the Fortune 500 list.
- Pros and Cons
- Products Offered by Lincoln Financial Life Insurance: 85/100
- Financial Strength Rating by Lincoln Financial Life Insurance: 95/100
- Customer Satisfaction Rating of Lincoln Financial Life Insurance: 50/100
- Consumer Complaints Rating of Lincoln Financial Life Insurance: 90/100
- Digital Experience Rating of Lincoln Financial Life Insurance: 70/100
Pros and Cons of Lincoln Financial Life Insurance
| Pros | Cons |
| – Phone application process – No medical exam on certain policies. Learn more about no medical exam life insurance – Good rates for smokers and applicants with some health issues – Good rates for older applicants – Agents provide a personal experience – Far fewer complaints than most | – No whole life insurance. Explore our guide to the Best Whole Life Insurance Companies – No online quoting; you must go through an agent – Young, healthy applicants might do better elsewhere |
Products Offered by Lincoln Financial Life Insurance
Lincoln Financial offers:
- Term life insurance
- Universal life insurance
- Indexed Universal life insurance
- Variable life insurance
- Survivorship policies
Lincoln Financial offers two types of level term life insurance, one for those 60 and under seeking $1 million or less in insurance, and one for applicants either:
- Age 30 and up, seeking over $1 million in life insurance
- Age 55 and up, seeking amounts of $500,000 and above
Both of these policies offer a phone interview application process, and approval in as little as two days. Terms can be 15, 20, or 30 years. You can get death benefits from $100,000. All of Lincoln’s term insurance policies are able to be converted to universal life insurance.
Universal Life Insurance through Lincoln Financial combines the flexibility of a customizable death benefit with the ability to build cash value. You can take out a loan against the cash value, although it might affect your death benefit if you don’t pay it back. You can choose the amount and frequency of the premium payments.
Indexed Universal Life is permanent insurance that builds cash value through market index performance.
Variable Universal Life is permanent insurance that offers variable investment options for you to choose from, thus allowing tax-deferred earnings.
Both indexed and variable universal life insurance are great options for retirement planning. Learn more about using life insurance in retirement planning through a case study.
Survivorship policy is a type of policy that’s payable upon the death of the second spouse. It provides estate planning for your beneficiaries by providing tax-free benefits.
In addition to several variations on universal life policies, you can also attach the following riders (not every rider is available on every policy):
- Accelerated death benefit
- Accidental death benefit. Learn more about Accidental Death Life Insurance
- Assured distribution endorsement rider
- Children’s term rider. Learn more about life insurance for children
- Disability waiver
- Guaranteed insurability rider. Learn more about guaranteed insurability
- Overloan protection endorsement
- Value protection rider
- Inflation protection rider
Lincoln National offers ten different VIP Trust insurance products, (Mutual funds) retirement accounts, and annuities.
The broad array of riders and policies means that Lincoln Financial offers a good deal of flexibility for those seeking life insurance. They also have retirement plans and annuities.
Financial Strength Rating of Lincoln Financial Life Insurance
A.M. Best gives Lincoln National Life insurance an A+ rating, which is superior. A.M. Best provides potential customers with data to evaluate a company’s financial strength, which is important when it comes to paying out claims.
Customer Satisfaction Rating of Lincoln Financial Life Insurance
Every year, J.D. Power runs a life insurance study to evaluate companies on several facets of customer service, as well as an overall ranking. In 2019, Lincoln Financial Group ranked 13th out of 24 insurance companies. They earned an overall score of 750 (out of 1,000) with the national average median score being 761.
Companies are also rated on six criteria of customer satisfaction. Here is how Lincoln Financial did:
- Product offerings: 3/5
- Price: 3/5
- Statements: 3/5
- Interaction: 3/5
- Communication: 3/5
- Application and Orientation: 2/5
Ratings are average across the board, except for application and orientation. This is based on the ease of the application process, how customers find the process, and the reasonableness of the documentation required. It seems Lincoln Financial could improve in this area.
Consumer Complaints Rating of Lincoln Financial Life Insurance
The National Association of Insurance Commissioners provides insurance shoppers with a service. You can look up any company and see how many complaints they get. Every company gets a ratio, with 1.0 being the median. A score of 2.0 would mean a company got twice as many complaints as expected.
In 2019, the NAIC ratio for Lincoln National was .45 for group life insurance and .12 for individual life insurance. This is very few registered complaints for a life insurance company.
Just to double check, we also looked up the BBB rating, and Lincoln National gets an A+, although they are not accredited. There are no complaints registered.
Digital Experience Rating of Lincoln Financial Life Insurance
If securing an online quote is important to you, Lincoln Financial is not your company. To get a quote, you need to click the button on the website that says, “Get connected” and they will help you find a financial advisor. Even applying for a policy has to be done over the phone.
Once you have an account, you can pay online, file claims, and have 24/7 access to view your policy. And to cancel your policy, you’ll have to mail in a paper form.
Last Thoughts
Lincoln National Life insurance is backed by many years of service and financial stability. If you’re an older applicant, or you’ve experienced some health problems, you might do well with a quote from Lincoln. The fact that they are such a large, stable company allows them to offer competitive rates to customers who are more difficult to insure. On the other hand, younger healthier shoppers might do well to look around. Rates may be better elsewhere. Lincoln Financial is a solid insurance company with flexible products and a strong financial background but lacks in the online experience.
