Lincoln Financial Life Insurance review 2022

Founded in Fort Wayne, Indiana, Lincoln Financial Group has sold life insurance products since 1905. Its insurance companies, The Lincoln National Life Insurance Company and Lincoln Life & Annuity Company of New York, together, provide life insurance in all 50 states and Washington, D.C. Lincoln Financial offers personal life insurance policies through employer benefit plans and a network of financial professionals.

Lincoln Financial offers a more limited range of policy options than many of its competitors. While the company offers two different types of term policies and a few different types of permanent policies, you cannot purchase whole life insurance with Lincoln Financial.

Lincoln Financial is a fairly accessible company in terms of customer service and availability. Between Lincoln National Life Insurance Company and Lincoln Life & Annuity Company of New York, the company writes policies in every state and Washington, D.C., which makes it available to most Americans. Lincoln Financial life insurance may be a great option for those who value educational resources and professional assistance. The company offers a wide range of educational materials on its website, including a quick explainer and comparison chart of the various types of life insurance. The website also outlines important information about annuities, long-term care and investing. Additionally, the website includes a feature to connect you with a financial advisor in your area.

Lincoln Financial life insurance coverage types

Lincoln Financial offers various types of life insurance, including term and permanent life coverage.

• Term: If you’re looking for the best term life insurance for you, Lincoln Financial offers two different types of term life policies in increments of 10, 15, 20 and 30 years. Policyholders who only want coverage for a certain amount of time, such as the length of their mortgage or while their children are young, may benefit from a term life policy. Term life policies typically come with much lower premiums than permanent life insurance policies. Lincoln Financial offers three riders on term policies, including a children’s term insurance rider, which may be helpful to those interested in purchasing life insurance for your family.
• Permanent: Permanent life insurance offers lifelong coverage as long as you pay your premiums and comes with a cash value account that allows you to earn interest and returns. Permanent life may be a good option for those who want coverage until they pass away and also want their policy to include a savings or investment account. However, Lincoln Financial does not offer whole life insurance, which is a type of permanent life insurance with fixed premiums. The company also does not offer guaranteed life insurance. Lincoln Financial does offer three different types of permanent life insurance: universal, indexed universal and variable universal. Universal life insurance allows policyholders to adjust their premium, death benefit and cash value account. Indexed universal life comes with an adjustable death benefit and flexible premiums, and the cash value account earns interest based on the performance of a certain index, such as the S&P 500. With variable universal life, the cash value account is invested in bundles similar to mutual funds.

Lincoln Financial life services

In addition to life insurance, Lincoln Financial also offers financial planning and annuities. The company’s website offers a wealth of educational resources on life insurance, annuities, long-term care planning and investment. In addition to online tools such as a life insurance calculator, Lincoln Financial offers a tool to find a financial advisor near you. If you’re not sure how much life insurance you need, these tools may be especially helpful. The company also offers employee benefit plans that include long-term and short-term disability insurance, critical illness insurance, accident insurance and dental and vision coverage.

Other Lincoln Financial perks worth considering

Lincoln Financial offers a few additional perks for life insurance customers:

• Mobile app: Tech-savvy shoppers may appreciate Lincoln Financial’s easy-to-use mobile app.
• Digital tools: The company offers dozens of mobile tools to help with your financial planning, including online calculators and educational explainers of various financial products.
• Financial advisors: One of the company’s tools is designed to pair you with a local financial professional to help you put together a sound financial plan, figure savings or find the life insurance policy for your and your family’s needs.

Lincoln Financial life insurance customer and claims satisfaction

J.D. Power publishes an annual study of life insurance companies, rating providers based on their performance in areas such as claims handling, policy offerings and price, then ranks carriers based on a 1,000-point scale for overall customer satisfaction. In the 2022 J.D. Power U.S. Individual Life Insurance Study, Lincoln Financial life insurance ranked 14th out of the 22 insurers that made the list, with an overall customer satisfaction score of 764 — 10 points below the industry average.

AM Best assigned Lincoln Financial an A+ (Superior) financial strength rating, which means the provider has historically been well-positioned to pay out on claims. The NAIC maintains a national complaint index, which rates insurers based on the number of consumer complaints it receives. The index utilizes a 1.0 baseline. Scores below 1.0 indicate lower than average complaints, while scores above 1.0 indicate more complaints than average for the industry. Lincoln Financial has a .30 NAIC complaint index score for individual life insurance, which is considerably below the national baseline.

Lincoln Financial corporate sustainability

The Bankrate insurance editorial team’s Lincoln Financial life insurance review wouldn’t be complete without touching on the company’s corporate responsibility initiatives. Lincoln Financial reports to be on track with its greenhouse gas emissions reduction for 2021, as set out in its Paris Agreement to reduce emissions by 25 percent by 2025. It has reduced emissions by 38 percent so far according to its 2019 baseline, and also saved 500 trees by reducing paper purchases by 30 percent.

The company also operates a philanthropic group called Lincoln Financial Foundation, which awards grants to nonprofit organizations. In 2021, the foundation supported over 285 nonprofit organizations, provided 1.2 million people with needed services and contributed almost $10 million to various communities across the country.

Lincoln Financial received the following awards and recognition for its social responsibility in 2021: Best Place to Work for Disability Inclusion from the Disability Equality Index, Best Place to Work for LGBTQ Equality and Diversity Lab Mansfield Certification.

The company was also named on the following lists: Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI), Newsweek America’s Most Responsible Companies, FTSE4Good Index which measures the performance of companies exhibiting strong environmental, social and governance (ESG) practices.

Not sure if Lincoln Financial is right for you? Consider these alternatives

The best life insurance companies are based on your individual needs and financial goals. If you need more options to compare while determining whether Lincoln Financial is right for you, you may find it helpful to get and compare life insurance quotes and coverage or policy options from the following providers.

Lincoln Financial vs. SBLI

Unlike Lincoln Financial, SBLI offers whole life, guaranteed life and final expense insurance policies. However, SBLI does not offer universal life policies, have local agents or a mobile app like Lincoln Financial does. Shoppers up to age 60 may qualify for no exam coverage on up to $750,000 in life insurance. While SBLI has a lower-than-baseline NAIC complaint index of 0.78 for individual life insurance, it did not rank in the 2022 J.D. Power Life Insurance Study.

Learn more: SBLI Life Insurance review

Lincoln Financial vs. Fidelity

If you’re looking for quick approval, you may want to consider Fidelity, which is known for its RAPIDecision policies that offer coverage on the same day or a few days after you apply. Although Fidelity offers term and permanent life insurance like Lincoln Financial, its permanent life insurance products, whole life, final expense and guaranteed issue, are only available to seniors. There is also no universal life insurance option with Fidelity like Lincoln Financial has. Fidelity is also not rated in the J.D. Power Life Insurance Study and has a higher-than-baseline NAIC complaint index of 2.74 for individual life policies.

Learn more: Fidelity Life Insurance review

Lincoln Financial vs. MassMutual

MassMutual offers term, whole life, universal life and variable universal life insurance policies. Its life policies are also available nationwide. Both carriers offer calculators, online tools, a mobile app and financial advisors to help you choose the policy that fits your needs. Like Lincoln Financial, MassMutual has a comparably low NAIC complaint index. However, while Lincoln Financial received a below-average score in the 2022 Life Insurance Study, MassMutual received an above-average score with 780 out of 1,000 points.

Learn more: MassMutual Life Insurance review