Penn Mutual Life Insurance Review 2026

Penn Mutual has a solid lineup of term and permanent life insurance policies, plus riders. However, you can’t get a quote or apply for coverage online.

Penn Mutual earned 4.7 stars out of 5 for overall performance. NerdWallet’s ratings are determined by our editorial team. The scoring formula takes into account consumer experience, complaint data from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners and financial strength ratings.

Based on these ratings, Penn Mutual is one of our picks for best mutual life insurance companies and the best life insurance for 40- and 50-year olds in 2026.

Where Penn Mutual stands out

Penn Mutual has a huge and diverse lineup of life insurance policies, and stands out for offering term life lasting up to 30 years and a bunch of universal life options.

The insurer also boasts exceptional financial strength. As a mutual life insurance company, Penn Mutual is owned by its policyholders. The company is set to pay $300 million in dividends to policyholders in 2026, the highest number in its history[1].

Where Penn Mutual falls short

Penn Mutual offers a lot of life insurance policies, but you won’t be able to get quotes for any of them online. In fact, there’s very limited policy information on Penn Mutual’s website. Instead, Penn Mutual will direct you to connect with a financial professional for more details.

Term life insurance. Depending on your age, you can choose a term life insurance policy lasting 10, 15, 20 or 30 years, with coverage starting at $250,000. Qualifying applicants may not need to take a medical exam. If you buy the Guaranteed Convertible Term or One-Year Term policies, you might have the option to convert to permanent coverage without going through the full underwriting process again.

Whole life insurance. Penn Mutual offers three whole life insurance policies, all of which build cash value and are eligible for annual dividends:

• Protection Whole Life is open to people up to age 85, with coverage starting at $50,000 ($100,000 for ages 71+). It’s paid up at age 100.

• Accumulation Whole Life has a maximum age of 85 and minimum coverage of $50,000 ($100,000 for ages 71+). One key difference is you can choose to pay premiums over a variety of time periods, starting at just five years, allowing you to build cash value more quickly.

• Survivorship Whole Life is available to those ages 20 to 85 and covers two people — typically spouses. Coverage starts at $200,000.

Universal life insurance. Penn Mutual has two main universal life insurance policies:

• Guaranteed Protection UL provides a guaranteed death benefit and flexible payment options.

• Protection Universal Life (PUL) features flexible payments and a guaranteed death benefit with no-lapse protection until age 100.

Indexed universal life insurance. These indexed universal life insurance policies tie your cash value growth to the performance of an index, such as the S&P 500.

• Accumulation Indexed Universal Life (AIUL) offers a choice of six indexed accounts that earn interest based on the performance of the S&P 500 Index.

• Survivorship IUL is a type of joint life insurance that pays out after both spouses have died.

Variable universal life insurance. If you want to choose the investments to funnel your cash value into, the company’s variable universal life insurance policies might be a good fit.

• Accumulation Variable Universal Life lets you build a custom portfolio of Vanguard investments to build your cash value.

• Protection Variable Universal Life (PVUL) has a lifetime No-Lapse Guarantee Rider up to age 121 automatically included.

• Survivorship Protection Variable Universal Life (SPVUL) is the survivorship version of the PVUL policy that pays out after both spouses have died.

Penn Mutual life insurance riders

Penn Mutual offers a range of life insurance riders. The options vary by policy, and include:

• Accelerated death benefit. Allows you to access up to 50% of your policy’s payout (up to $250,000) if you’re diagnosed with a terminal illness.

• Accidental death benefit. Pays out an additional sum if you die in an accident. 

• Child term. Provides $5,000 to $25,000 of coverage for your children under your life insurance policy.

• Chronic illness accelerated death benefit. Lets you access a portion of the death benefit if you have a chronic illness and can’t carry out everyday activities.

• Disability waiver of premium. Pauses your premiums if you become disabled and can’t work. This rider kicks in after a waiting period of six months.

• Disability waiver of premium with automatic conversion. Keeps your policy active if you become totally disabled before age 60, and converts your coverage to a whole life policy if you’re disabled for three consecutive years.

• Enhanced permanent paid-up additions. Gives you the option to purchase additional, paid-up whole life insurance and increase your policy value more quickly.

• Estate preservation term insurance. Helps to offset estate taxes if you and your spouse die before transferring the policy ownership to an irrevocable trust.

• Flexible protection. Blends term insurance with your whole life policy to provide a larger death benefit at a lower cost.

• Guaranteed purchase option. Boosts your coverage at certain dates without going through underwriting again.

• Overloan protection. Prevents your policy from lapsing if you withdraw too much money from your cash value account.

• Policy split option. Lets you trade in your survivorship policy for two separate whole life policies if you get divorced or federal tax laws change.

• Supplemental exchange. Designed for business owners, this rider extends coverage to key employees.

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A strong sign of consumer satisfaction is how many people complain about their insurance company to state agencies. Over three years, Penn Mutual has drawn far fewer than the expected number of complaints to state regulators for a company of its size, according to a NerdWallet analysis of data from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners.

Penn Mutual ranked No. 11 out of 22 companies for customer satisfaction in J.D. Power's 2025 U.S. Individual Life Insurance Study[2].

How Penn Mutual’s customer experience stacks up

Penn Mutual doesn’t support online quotes. They do provide at least partial policy details, including brochures, for the life insurance products on offer.

You can manage your policy, pay premiums and update your beneficiaries by logging into the online portal. Penn Mutual doesn’t have an app for its policyholders. Beneficiaries can fill out the claims form online or call 800-523-0650.

Founded in 1847, Penn Mutual Life Insurance Co. sells policies through a national network of financial professionals. It also offers fixed, variable and immediate annuities.

Penn Mutual can be reached by:

• Phone: Call 800-523-0650 on weekdays from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. ET. New York residents should call 855-446-7393.

• Email: No customer service email available. 

• Live chat: Not available.