Lincoln Heritage Life Insurance Review 2025
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Lincoln Heritage
on Nerdwallet
Financial strength rating
Online purchase
NAIC complaints
Policies offered
on Nerdwallet
Lincoln Heritage
Financial strength rating
Online purchase
NAIC complaints
Policies offered
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About Lincoln Heritage life insurance
Lincoln Heritage earned 2.5 out of 5 stars for overall performance. Since it opened its doors in 1963, Lincoln Heritage has specialized in one type of life insurance: final expense. Its Funeral Advantage policy is tailored to those who want to purchase coverage to take care of their funeral, burial and end-of-life expenses.
You can get a policy without a medical exam, and Lincoln Heritage is unique for giving all policyholders access to the Funeral Consumer Guardian Society. This organization can help you or your family members plan your funeral and compare costs for various services.
Although Lincoln Heritage has a solid financial strength rating, its limited product lineup and high volume of consumer complaints mean it’s not the best choice for most life insurance shoppers.
No medical exam required.
Accidental death and dismemberment rider available.
Offers help with funeral planning.
Sells only one type of policy.
Not available in New York or Washington.
High volume of customer complaints.
» MORE: Compare life insurance quotes
Lincoln Heritage life insurance policies
Final expense life insurance. Lincoln Heritage sells one final expense policy: Funeral Advantage. Available to anyone 85 or younger, Funeral Advantage is a permanent life insurance policy that’s designed to help your family cover your funeral, burial and end-of-life costs. You can buy up to $35,000 of coverage without a medical exam, and the premiums never change.
To apply, you’ll need to fill out a form on the website and complete a health questionnaire. Applications for higher coverage limits may require a phone interview as well.
There are three possible outcomes:
You’ll be approved for coverage. If you’re relatively healthy, you should be approved.
You’ll be offered a “modified plan.” If you have a history of serious health conditions like heart disease or cancer, you might be eligible for a modified plan. This plan is more expensive and has a two- to three-year waiting period. If you die during that time, your life insurance beneficiaries won’t receive the full payout. Instead, the insurer will reimburse them for the premiums you paid.
You’ll be denied coverage. Your application might be rejected if you have certain pre-existing conditions.
Lincoln Heritage life insurance riders
Lincoln Heritage allows you to add up to $100,000 in accidental death and dismemberment insurance to your policy. With this rider, your beneficiaries will receive an additional payout if you die in an accident, and you’ll get a lump sum if you’re seriously injured in an accident.
» MORE: Best burial insurance companies
Lincoln Heritage customer complaints
Over three years, Lincoln Heritage has drawn more than the expected number of complaints to state regulators for a company of its size, according to NerdWallet’s analysis of data from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners.
» MORE: Best life insurance companies
What Reddit users say about Lincoln Heritage
Reddit is an online forum where users share their thoughts in “threads” on various topics. The popular site includes plenty of discussion on financial subjects like life insurance, so we sifted through Reddit forums to get a pulse check on how users feel about insurers. People post anonymously, so we cannot confirm their individual experiences or circumstances.
Most comments on Reddit about Lincoln Heritage are about working for the company, rather than customer experiences with its policies. Redditors point out that the company is known for burial insurance (the only policy it sells), and some say its products are overpriced.
Questions from Reddit: Our experts answer
Who needs final expense insurance?
Also known as burial insurance, final expense insurance is designed to ease the burden of funeral costs for your family after you die. It can be a good choice if you’re a senior who simply wants to cover your own end-of-life expenses, or if you have a pre-existing condition that makes it difficult to qualify for other types of life insurance. But because it tends to be expensive, you may also want to look into other options, like term life insurance. See how to use burial insurance to pay for final expenses.
How much does final expense insurance cost?
Because final expense insurance is generally sold to older consumers and doesn’t require a medical exam, it typically costs more than other types of life insurance. For a $10,000 guaranteed issue policy, a 50-year-old man could pay $40 per month, according to 2024 data from Choice Mutual. For a 50-year-old woman, the average rate for the same policy is $30 per month. You can expect to pay higher rates if you’re older or you want more coverage.
What it’s like to apply for a policy with Lincoln Heritage
You can start the quote process from the Lincoln Heritage homepage or from its top navigation menu on any page. When you click “Get a free quote,” you’ll be taken to a page where you can enter your name, address, email, phone number and age.
Screenshot captured by our editorial team on November 18, 2024.
Once you fill out the information, you’ll see a message saying that a Lincoln Heritage representative will reach out to you with further information. There’s also a short “what’s next” video showing an agent visiting potential policyholders in their home to go over coverage options.
Screenshot captured by our editorial team on November 18, 2024.
How Lincoln Heritage’s customer experience stacks up
The Lincoln Heritage site is easy to navigate, with detailed information about the company’s final expense policy in English and Spanish. There are also options in the top navigation menu to help you get a quote or contact the company.
The site has separate guides to “final expense insurance” and “burial and funeral insurance.” This may be confusing to some visitors, as these are essentially the same thing (the type of coverage Lincoln Heritage offers). There are also guides to “life insurance for seniors” and “life insurance for parents,” both also pointing to Lincoln Heritage’s final expense coverage as the recommended solution. These guides have some useful information, but are littered with pitches for Lincoln Heritage’s policies and offers of “free gifts” from the company.
The company doesn’t have a mobile app.
More about Lincoln Heritage
Lincoln Heritage has a network of life insurance agents across the country.
You can manage your policy through the online portal. When you die, your beneficiaries can file a claim over the phone or by mail, fax or email. The insurer says it typically pays out approved claims within 24 hours.
How to contact Lincoln Heritage
Lincoln Heritage can be reached by:
Phone: Call 800-438-7180 on weekdays from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. MT and Saturdays from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. MT.
Email: Send a message to [email protected]. For help with claims, email [email protected].
Live chat: Not available.
Life insurance buying guide
Before you start comparing companies, choose the type of life insurance you want, such as term or whole life. Decide which life insurance riders, if any, you want the policy to include. Calculate how much life insurance you need and how long you want the coverage to last. Check that the insurers you’re considering offer the coverage you’re looking for.
When comparing rates, be sure the quotes are for the same amount of coverage over the same period of time. It’s also important to make sure the policy’s medical requirements match your needs. For example, if you want to skip the life insurance medical exam but don’t mind answering health questions, confirm that the application process for each policy you're comparing aligns with that.
Price may not be the biggest driver behind your decision to buy. Look at the number of consumer complaints each company receives, as high numbers can be a red flag about the quality of service.
For more guidance, see our life insurance buying guide.
Methodology
Life insurance ratings methodology
NerdWallet’s life insurance ratings are based on consumer experience, complaint index scores from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners for individual life insurance, and weighted averages of financial strength ratings, which indicate a company’s ability to pay future claims. Within the consumer experience category, we consider ease of communication and website transparency, which looks at the depth of policy details available online. To calculate each insurer’s rating, we adjusted the 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. Read our editorial guidelines.
Insurer complaints methodology
NerdWallet examined complaints received by state insurance regulators and reported to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners in 2021-2023. To assess how insurers compare with 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. NerdWallet conducts its data analysis and reaches conclusions independently and without the endorsement of the NAIC. Ratios are determined separately for auto, home (including renters and condo) and life insurance.
