Lincoln Financial Group Life Insurance Review 2020

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, not all companies are accepting new life insurance applications. For the latest information on how to cope with financial stress during this emergency, see NerdWallet’s financial guide to COVID-19.

Lincoln Financial Group offers life insurance, annuities, workplace benefits and retirement plan services. The company got permission to use its brand name from President Abraham Lincoln’s son Robert Todd Lincoln in 1905. President Lincoln’s profile still serves as the company’s logo.

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Lincoln Financial life insurance

Lincoln Financial earned 4 stars out of 5 for overall performance. NerdWallet’s ratings are determined by our editorial team. The scoring formula takes into account complaint data from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners and financial strength ratings from A.M. Best.

Based on these ratings, Lincoln Financial is among NerdWallet’s Best Life Insurance Companies for 2020.

Lincoln Financial offers term life insurance with a simple phone interview application. Some people who apply can qualify for coverage quickly without getting lab tests. Available terms are 10, 15, 20 or 30 years.

The company offers an array of universal, variable universal and indexed universal life insurance policies, including a survivorship variable product. Survivorship life insurance insures two people, typically a married couple, on one policy. The policy pays out when the second person dies.

Lincoln Financial’s MoneyGuard universal life policies offer long-term care benefits. The death benefit is reduced if the policy is used to pay for long-term care. If no long-term care benefits are paid, then the policy pays out the full death benefit when the insured person dies. A policyholder can also give up the policy for a partial or full return of premiums paid if no long-term care benefits have been used. Details and options vary by state.

Lincoln Financial complaints and customer satisfaction

Over three years, Lincoln Financial has drawn significantly fewer complaints to state regulators than expected for a company of its size, according to NerdWallet’s analysis of data from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners.

In a 2019 customer satisfaction survey by J.D. Power, Lincoln Financial scored “about average” in six categories and among “the rest,” the lowest rating, in another. The insurer ranked No. 13 overall out of 24 companies included in the survey.

Methodology: Life insurance ratings

NerdWallet’s life insurance ratings are based on weighted averages of complaint index scores from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners for individual life insurance, and financial strength ratings from A.M. Best, which indicate a company’s ability to pay future claims. To calculate each insurer’s rating, we adjusted the NAIC and A.M. Best scores to a curved 5-point scale.

These ratings are a guide, but we encourage you to shop around and compare several insurance quotes to find the best rate for you. NerdWallet does not receive compensation for any reviews.

Methodology: Insurer complaints

NerdWallet examined complaints received by state insurance regulators and reported to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners in 2016-2018. To assess how insurers compare to one another, the NAIC calculates a complaint index each year for each subsidiary, measuring its share of total complaints relative to its size, or share of total premiums in the industry. To evaluate a company’s complaint history, NerdWallet calculated a similar index for each insurer, weighted by market shares of each subsidiary, over the three-year period. Ratios are determined separately for auto, home (including renters and condo) and life insurance.