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John Hancock life insurance review 2024

Updated Mar 14, 2024
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Bankrate's take

John Hancock Life Insurance Company offers a range of life insurance policies, and customers may have access to additional perks like discounts on fitness devices. However, there’s no online quoting tool and whole life coverage isn’t available.

John Hancock may be a good fit for customers who prioritize real-agent interactions and are interested in life insurance policies that tend to offer lower rates for older adults on average.

New

What’s new with John Hancock?

In September 2022, John Hancock began offering GRAIL's Galleri multi-cancer early detection test to eligible customers in the Vitality program. As the first life insurance company to offer such a test, John Hancock is helping its customers take control of their health. The test has been shown, in a clinical trial, to detect signs of over 50 types of cancer, 45 of which have no recommended screening tests.

John Hancock life insurance

If you are looking for a flexible life insurance policy with multiple rider options and perks available for your coverage, then John Hancock life insurance might fit the bill. The company, established in 1862, offers several life insurance plans with a variety of endorsements that can help broaden your coverage and provide peace of mind. To determine if John Hancock life insurance is right for you, take a look at our review of the company, its policies and other offerings to determine if the company is the best life insurance provider for your needs.

  • Term: John Hancock’s term insurance comes in four policy lengths — 10, 15, 20 or 30 years — and offers death benefit amounts ranging from $250,000 to $65 million. Term life is often a popular choice among families who want coverage for a shorter period of time, such as when debt is being paid down or until children are independent.
  • Permanent: Permanent policies last throughout your life, as long as you pay the premiums, and feature a cash value in addition to the death benefit. Permanent coverage may be a good option for people over 50 years old who want coverage for the remainder of their lives. John Hancock offers three types of universal life insurance, but doesn’t sell whole life coverage.
    • Universal: Universal life insurance is a flexible option that allows you to adjust your death benefit and premium to meet the changing needs in your life.
    • Indexed universal: This type of universal life insurance invests its cash value portion in an index, such as the S&P 500 or the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
    • Variable universal: Variable universal life allows you to place your cash value in a broader set of investments. To learn more about variable universal life, contact a licensed financial professional.

Unfortunately, none of John Hancock’s policies are guaranteed-issue, which means that your eligibility will depend upon your answers to the application’s questions and potentially on the results of a medical exam. As you shop for life insurance, it may be helpful to use a life insurance calculator or work with a licensed agent to determine how much coverage you need and which policy type is best for your situation.

Pros and cons of John Hancock life insurance

Pros
  • Offers a wide range of life insurance products

  • Offers additional riders and endorsements

  • Offers perks and discounts on other services to qualifying customers

Cons
  • Does not sell whole life policies

  • Does not have a purely online quote tool

  • Does not offer guaranteed issue life insurance

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John Hancock life insurance endorsements

Endorsements, also called riders, add extra coverage to your life insurance policy. People looking for the cheapest life insurance may not want to add riders, as they will very likely increase the cost of a life insurance policy. However, the added coverage of riders might be worth it, depending on your situation. John Hancock offers several riders, including a critical illness benefit rider, an unemployment waiver of protection rider and an accelerated benefit rider. To learn more, talk to a John Hancock agent.

Compare John Hancock with other insurers

When looking for the best life insurance for you and your loved ones, you may want to compare different companies to find what best fits your needs. If you aren’t sure if John Hancock is for you, you may want to consider getting quotes from these carriers.

John Hancock vs. State Farm

State Farm earned the top spot in the 2023 J.D. Power Life Insurance Study, indicating that the company’s policyholders are typically highly satisfied with its service. It also earned the Bankrate Award for Best Term Life Insurer for the third year in a row. State Farm offers more insurance products than John Hancock, including whole life, auto insurance and home insurance — none of which are offered by John Hancock — so it could be a good choice if you prefer keeping your products in one place.

Learn more: State Farm Insurance review

John Hancock vs. Mutual of Omaha

Mutual of Omaha ranks highly in customer satisfaction according to J.D. Power and offers a no-medical-exam option for whole life insurance, which might be appealing if you have health issues but still need coverage. Mutual of Omaha also offers several types of health insurance, including long-term care insurance, disability income insurance and cancer insurance.

Learn more: Mutual of Omaha Life Insurance review

John Hancock vs. Northwestern Mutual

Northwestern Mutual won our 2023 Bankrate Award for Best Universal Life Insurer due to its high customer satisfaction ratings, strong financial strength and accessibility. On top of its life insurance offerings, Northwestern Mutual also offers financial planning, investment products and some health insurance products.

Learn more: Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance review

Is John Hancock a good insurance company?

Our John Hancock life insurance review analyzed several aspects of the company, including its policy types, available riders and customer satisfaction. Our editorial team is familiar with the aspects of a life insurance company that matter most to consumers. John Hancock might be a good life insurance company if you are looking for additional perks, as the Vitality and Aspire with Vitality programs offer benefits not usually provided by life insurers. However, its customer satisfaction ratings vary, so talking with current customers before committing to a policy could be a good idea.

John Hancock customer satisfaction

Third-party John Hancock ratings are mixed. The company has an A+ (Superior) financial strength rating with AM Best, which measures the historical financial stability of an insurer. This metric may give you peace of mind that John Hancock has historically been a financially stable company and able to pay claims.

However, in the 2023 J.D. Power Individual U.S. Life Insurance Study, the company scored 782 out of 1,000 points, ranking it below the industry average. If you are considering a policy, it might be helpful to talk to current policyholders about their service experience first.

Study or Rating Agency John Hancock Industry average
2022 J.D. Power Individual Life Insurance Study 782/1,000 790/1,000
2022 J.D. Power Group Life Insurance Study Not rated 797/1,000
AM Best rating A+ (Superior) N/A

John Hancock life complaints

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) collects customer complaints regarding insurance companies and scores these companies based on how many complaints are received, balanced by the size of the company. These scores are referred to as the Complaint Index. It scores product groups within companies individually, so for instance, complaints for group life policies by John Hancock are separate from complaints for individual life insurance policies. The NAIC uses 1.0 as a baseline for average or expected complaint levels, with indexes over 1.0 indicating more than the average amount of complaints and an index under 1.0 meaning fewer complaints. In the last three years, John Hancock has received fewer complaints than expected for a company of its size, and its index score has improved year over year for the past three years.

Other John Hancock tools and benefits

Some interesting tools and benefits for the company's life insurance policies include the Vitality and Aspire programs. In addition to life insurance, John Hancock offers a variety of other financial products that you might find appealing:

  • Financial advice: Finances can be complex and nuanced. John Hancock offers advisors who can help you develop a plan for each aspect of your financial health.
  • Investments: John Hancock’s financial advisors may be able to help you choose from a variety of investment products, including mutual funds and EFTs, to bolster your financial plan.
  • Market Dynamics resources: These are prepackaged presentations and webinars that can be used by individuals or groups to gain a better understanding of investment strategies and market stressors.
  • Retirement planning: A John Hancock representative could help you review your retirement plan and make adjustments if needed.
  • Vitality program: This program offers perks and discounts on things related to healthy living, like discounts on wearable fitness devices, savings on groceries and discounts on travel and in some retail stores.
  • Aspire program: Aspire builds on top of the Vitality program to specialize it for those who have type 1 or 2 diabetes. This program offers specialized savings and discounts as well as virtual consultations with diabetes experts from Onduo.

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Written by
Joshua Cox-Steib
Contributor, Personal Finance

Joshua Cox-Steib has two years of experience in writing for insurance domains such as Bankrate, Coverage.com, The Simple Dollar, Reviews.com, and more. His work has also been featured on such sites as MSN and BBB (Better Business Bureau). His insurance writing career has spanned across multiple product lines, with a primary focus on auto insurance, life insurance, and home insurance.

Edited by Editor, Insurance