Key Takeaways
- Best fit for higher coverage amounts and impaired risks: Lincoln Financial is most competitive for applicants buying $500,000 or more in coverage, people with health conditions like diabetes or controlled heart issues, and those wanting life insurance paired with long-term care through MoneyGuard.
- Strong financial ratings, recently reaffirmed: AM Best reaffirmed Lincoln’s Financial Strength Rating of A (Excellent) with a stable outlook in March 2026. The 2022 downgrade from A+ is real history, but the trajectory is now positive.
- IUL illustration reality check: Lincoln’s IUL illustrations comply with AG49-A, but the projected column still assumes current cap rates and participation rates hold for 30-plus years. Ask for the guaranteed column before signing anything.
- No online quotes, no whole life: You can’t get a quote or apply without going through a financial professional. Lincoln also doesn’t offer whole life insurance at all.
- Compare life insurance rates and quotes
Lincoln Financial Life Insurance Overview
Lincoln Financial is worth a serious look if you’re buying $500,000 or more in term coverage or if your health history would get you penalized at most other carriers. It’s not the right call if you want whole life, need online quotes, or prefer to handle everything without an advisor.
The company has been in the life insurance business since 1905, when it got permission from President Lincoln’s son to use the famous name and likeness. Today it’s the fifth-largest life insurer in the U.S., with roughly 4.36% of the market and over $9.17 billion in direct premiums according to NAIC data. That’s real size, and the financial ratings reflect it.
We rated Lincoln Financial at 8.4/10. Solid, but not enough to crack our list of the best life insurance companies. The reasons are specific, and they matter depending on what you’re shopping for.
Who Is Lincoln Financial Life Insurance Best For?
Lincoln Financial works best for people buying higher coverage amounts, especially $500,000 and up. If you have health complications that would penalize you elsewhere, their flexible underwriting tends to produce better rates than competitors. They’re also a solid pick if you want to combine life insurance with long-term care benefits through their MoneyGuard product. Healthy applicants who want fast, no-exam term approval will appreciate TermAccel. Just be prepared to work with an advisor from quote to application.
Key Strengths
Lincoln’s complaint record with state regulators is notably clean. The company receives far fewer complaints than expected for a carrier of its size, per NAIC data. Their financial strength ratings are solid across AM Best, S&P, Moody’s, and Fitch, and AM Best reaffirmed the A (Excellent) Financial Strength Rating with a stable outlook in March 2026.
The TermAccel accelerated underwriting program approves healthy applicants in one to two business days with no medical exam required, up to $2.5 million in coverage. Their underwriting flexibility for people with health conditions, including diabetes, certain cancer histories, heart issues, and marijuana use, consistently outperforms what most competitors offer in those categories.
Key Weaknesses
No online quotes. No exceptions. You have to connect with a financial professional for everything, which is a real friction point for anyone used to self-service options. Lincoln also doesn’t offer whole life insurance, which leaves a meaningful gap in the permanent coverage lineup.
The mobile app is inconsistent. iOS users give it decent marks; Android users run into frustrating bugs. Customer service reviews are mixed, with some policyholders reporting delays and communication issues, particularly around claims. Lincoln ranked No. 14 out of 22 companies in J.D. Power’s 2025 U.S. Individual Life Insurance Study, which is below the industry average.
Compare Life Insurance Offers
Lincoln Financial Life Insurance Affordability
Lincoln’s pricing is competitive, especially at higher face amounts. For a 20-year term policy with $500,000 in coverage for a 35-year-old nonsmoker, you’re looking at around $378 annually. That’s roughly in line with the national average of $377 per year. Nothing dramatic in either direction.
Where Lincoln pulls ahead is on larger policies. For 10-year, $500,000 term coverage, they average around $24 per month. For $3 million in 10-year term, their pricing averages about $119 per month, which puts them among the most affordable options in that bracket. Lincoln updated rates for both LifeElements and TermAccel effective February 2026, so any quote you see from before that date is stale.
TermAccel policies carry annual policy fees between $80 and $90. Factor that into your total cost calculation when comparing against competitors who don’t charge policy fees. The LifeElements term product is designed for higher face amounts starting at $250,000, with no stated maximum for financially justified coverage.
Lincoln doesn’t heavily advertise traditional discounts like multi-policy bundles or autopay savings. Their advantage is competitive base pricing and favorable underwriting. If you have a health condition that would push you into a standard or table-rated tier elsewhere, Lincoln’s underwriting is where you may recover real money.
Available riders include an Accelerated Death Benefits rider included at no extra charge on term policies, a Children’s Level Term rider for up to $15,000 coverage per child, and a Waiver of Premium rider that activates if you become disabled. Standard options for a major carrier.
For underwriting flexibility, Lincoln offers both traditional fully underwritten options and the accelerated TermAccel program. Healthy applicants may qualify for TermAccel with no medical exam and approval in one to two business days. Traditional underwriting for larger policies or higher-risk applicants typically takes two to six weeks.
Lincoln Financial Life Insurance Coverage Options
Lincoln offers two term life products and several permanent life options. Whole life insurance is not in the lineup at all.
The LifeElements Level Term policy is designed for people who need higher face amounts or have complex medical histories. Coverage starts at $250,000 with no stated maximum, available for applicants ages 18 to 80, with term lengths of 10, 15, 20, or 30 years. Medical exams are not required for applicants up to age 60 applying for up to $2.5 million.
The TermAccel Level Term policy is the faster track for healthy individuals. It offers coverage from $100,000 to $2.5 million for qualifying applicants ages 18 to 60. The accelerated underwriting process means many applicants get approved without a medical exam in one to two business days. TermAccel is not available in New York.
Both term products are convertible before the end of the level premium period or before the insured turns 70, whichever comes first. That gives you a path to permanent coverage down the road without new medical underwriting.
On the permanent side, Lincoln focuses on indexed universal life and variable universal life. Their IUL lineup has expanded: WealthPreserve IUL targets long-term death benefit protection, WealthAccumulate IUL targets cash value growth, and Lincoln added WealthProtector IUL and WealthBuilder ECV IUL to what they now call their Elite IUL Portfolio. WealthBuilder ECV is aimed at premium finance and business cases where early cash value matters. Survivorship IUL options are available for couples and business partners.
Variable universal life options include AssetEdge VUL and AssetEdge SVUL (survivorship). The 2025 update to AssetEdge VUL removed earlier allocation restrictions, allowing full access to indexed account options in all policy years. VUL products carry investment risk. Your cash value can fall if the underlying sub-accounts perform poorly.
If you’re being shown a Lincoln IUL illustration, the projected column operates under AG49-A as of May 2023, which capped how favorably volatility-controlled indices can be illustrated. That’s tighter than pre-2023 rules, but the projected column still assumes current cap rates and current participation rates hold for 30-plus years. Neither is contractually guaranteed. Before you make any decision based on an IUL illustration, ask the advisor to run the guaranteed column. That column shows what the contract actually promises, not what the software projects. On many IUL illustrations, the guaranteed column produces a materially different picture.
MoneyGuard is Lincoln’s hybrid universal life product combining life insurance with long-term care benefits. If you need long-term care, you can access the death benefit to cover eligible costs. If you never use the long-term care benefit, your beneficiaries receive the full death benefit. It’s a legitimate solution for people who want to address both concerns in one policy. As of 2026, MoneyGuard is a top-three hybrid long-term care product, competitive with Nationwide CareMatters II and OneAmerica Asset Care. In New York, the available version is MoneyGuard Reserve.
Living benefits are available through an Accelerated Death Benefits rider, which lets you access a portion of the death benefit upon a terminal illness diagnosis. Included with term policies at no additional charge.
Lincoln Financial Life Insurance Reliability
AM Best reaffirmed Lincoln’s Financial Strength Rating of A (Excellent) and Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating of “a+” (Excellent) in March 2026, with a stable outlook. That’s an upgrade in trajectory from where the carrier stood two years ago.
A bit of history matters here. AM Best downgraded Lincoln from A+ (Superior) to A (Excellent) in November 2022, citing balance sheet pressure from the variable annuity block and concentration of reinsurance arrangements. In February 2025, the outlook shifted from negative to stable. The March 2026 affirmation confirms that Lincoln’s capital rebuild has met AM Best’s expectations. It’s one notch below its pre-2022 position, but the direction is clearly positive.
Their full ratings as of mid-2026: AM Best A (Excellent), Moody’s A2, S&P A+, and Fitch A+. These are solid investment-grade marks across the board. A carrier at this level has the financial reserves to honor its obligations decades from now.
On complaints, Lincoln’s NAIC individual life complaint index is well below 1.00, meaning the company receives significantly fewer complaints than expected for its market size. The industry average is set at 1.00. Lincoln’s track record here is one of the better ones among major carriers.
Lincoln Financial Life Insurance Customer Service
Customer service is the weakest part of Lincoln’s scorecard. The objective metrics look acceptable; individual experiences are inconsistent.
Phone Support
Lincoln Financial provides customer service by phone for policyholders. Reaching a representative requires working through phone tree options. The company’s published hours are Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. EST.
Digital Support
The mobile app earns 4.5 stars on the Apple App Store. Android fares much worse with a 2.2 rating. The app focuses primarily on retirement and investing accounts rather than life insurance management.
Lincoln Financial’s website offers live chat starting with a chatbot named Abe. Typing “representative” connects you to a live person, though agents often direct callers to search for a financial professional rather than answering product questions directly. Online account management lets policyholders view policy information and access downloadable forms. The site also includes calculators and educational content.
Third-Party Ratings
Lincoln Financial ranked No. 14 out of 22 companies in J.D. Power’s 2025 U.S. Individual Life Insurance Study, which is below the industry average score of 650. That’s a slide from the No. 10 position in the 2024 study. The company has an A- from the Better Business Bureau. On Trustpilot, Lincoln Financial Group carries a “Poor” rating of 2 out of 5 stars, with recurring themes around slow claims processing and difficulty reaching representatives.
On forums and consumer review sites, negative themes tend to involve disability and group benefit claims through employer plans rather than individual life insurance death benefit claims. Life insurance-specific complaints center mainly on delays with policy changes or surrenders, not death benefit payouts.
Lincoln Financial Life Insurance Claims Process
Filing a claim can be done online by answering a few questions about the policy. This generates a claims package delivered by email within five business days. You can also submit claims by mail to their Greensboro, North Carolina claims department, by fax, or by email. Payment options include check or electronic funds transfer, with flexibility to receive payments monthly, quarterly, semiannually, or annually.
Lincoln doesn’t publicly disclose specific claim denial rates or average settlement times for life insurance death benefits. Industry-wide, death benefit claims have high approval rates when documentation is in order, and there’s no evidence Lincoln deviates meaningfully from that norm.
Most of the highly negative consumer reviews online relate to disability and group benefits claims through employer plans, not individual life insurance death benefit claims. Life insurance-specific complaints tend to center on delays with policy changes or accelerated death benefit requests, not on claim denials.
Lincoln Financial Life Insurance Application Process
You can’t apply online. There are no direct quotes available without a financial professional. Fill out the online contact form, get connected with an advisor, and go from there. That’s the only path. It’s the most dated aspect of how Lincoln operates compared to direct carriers.
Once you’re connected with an advisor, the route depends on the product. For TermAccel, healthy applicants typically get approved in one to two business days with no medical exam. For LifeElements or higher-risk applicants, traditional underwriting applies and typically takes two to six weeks.
Coverage amounts for TermAccel run from $100,000 to $2.5 million for qualifying applicants ages 18 to 60. LifeElements starts at $250,000 with no stated maximum for financially justified amounts, available for applicants ages 18 to 80. Issue ages for 30-year terms have stricter limits.
Lab work is not required for TermAccel or the Lincoln WealthAccelerate IUL policy for applicants who meet certain qualifications. For LifeElements, medical exams are not required for applicants up to age 60 applying for up to $2.5 million in coverage. For other products or higher-risk applicants, medical exams are typically required.
Preferred-plus underwriting is a stack of conditions. No nicotine for five or more years, BMI under 28, no DUIs in seven years, clean family history, no felonies, no recent hazardous-activity disclosures. Roughly 15% of applicants qualify at that tier. If you’re on the edge of any of those categories, the MIB Group database and the prescription pharmacy database will surface what you didn’t list on the application. Underwriters pull both before quoting a final premium. That’s not Lincoln-specific; it’s industry standard.
Pros & Cons of Lincoln Financial Life Insurance
Lincoln Financial has clear strengths and clear gaps. Whether it’s the right fit comes down to what you’re shopping for.
Pros
Competitive pricing at higher face amounts, often beating major competitors for million-dollar-plus policies. Strong underwriting flexibility for people with health conditions including diabetes, certain cancer histories, heart issues, and marijuana use. Solid financial strength ratings, with AM Best reaffirming A (Excellent) with stable outlook in March 2026, backed by over 120 years of operating history. TermAccel approves healthy applicants in one to two days without a medical exam, up to $2.5 million. MoneyGuard is a competitive hybrid life and long-term care solution that ranks among the best in that category. And Lincoln’s NAIC complaint index for individual life is well below the industry average of 1.00.
Cons
No online quotes. No self-service application. Everything runs through a financial professional, which adds friction for anyone used to buying direct. No whole life insurance, which is the most common type of permanent coverage and a gap that matters if that’s what you need. The mobile app is inconsistent, decent on iPhone and problematic on Android. Lincoln ranked No. 14 out of 22 in J.D. Power’s 2025 life insurance customer satisfaction study, below the industry average. TermAccel is not available in New York. Variable universal life products carry investment risk that can reduce cash value in a down market.
Our Verdict & Rating for Lincoln Financial
Lincoln Financial earns its 8.4/10 on the strength of competitive pricing, above-average underwriting flexibility, and a solid financial foundation. The March 2026 AM Best reaffirmation confirms the carrier is stable and moving in the right direction after the 2022 downgrade. For most buyers shopping high face amounts or dealing with health complications, Lincoln should be on the quote list.
The weak points are consistent and worth naming clearly. The advisor-only model is a real friction point. The J.D. Power 2025 ranking dropped to No. 14 out of 22, below the industry average. If customer service experience matters to you beyond just claims, that slide is worth factoring in. The Android app situation is embarrassing for a carrier of this size.
For IUL buyers specifically: Lincoln’s products comply with AG49-A illustration rules, but that doesn’t make the projected column a guarantee. Ask for the guaranteed column before signing. It tells you what the contract actually promises, which is the only number that matters if markets and crediting rates shift over a 30-year window.
Who Should Consider This Company
Lincoln Financial makes sense if you’re shopping for high coverage amounts of $500,000 or more, especially at the million-dollar-plus level, where their pricing often beats competitors. Anyone with health complications like diabetes, controlled heart conditions, or a cancer history should get a Lincoln quote, because their underwriting tends to be more accommodating than most. Healthy applicants who want fast no-exam term approval will appreciate TermAccel’s one-to-two-day turnaround. People interested in combining life insurance with long-term care protection in one policy should look at MoneyGuard. Those who prefer working with an advisor rather than buying direct will find Lincoln’s model suits them.
Who Should Consider Another Provider
If you need online quotes and a self-service application, Lincoln will frustrate you. Carriers like Haven Life or Bestow offer a more streamlined direct experience. Anyone specifically wanting whole life insurance needs to shop elsewhere, since Lincoln doesn’t offer it. State Farm, Northwestern Mutual, and MassMutual are common whole life options. New York residents should note that TermAccel is not available in the state and product availability may differ. Anyone who’s had poor experiences with advisor-based sales models should look at direct-to-consumer carriers.
Methodology
This assessment evaluates Lincoln Financial across five weighted categories, including life insurance rates, reflecting what matters most to life insurance buyers.
- Financial Stability: 20% – Assessing partner carrier ratings from AM Best, S&P, and Moody’s, plus NAIC complaint data
- Coverage Options: 10% – Evaluating policy types, coverage amounts, term lengths, and flexibility
- Affordability & Value: 30% – Comparing premiums against competitors and considering overall value proposition
- Claims Process: 20% – Reviewing settlement timelines, denial rates, and customer claims experiences
- Customer Service: 20% – Analyzing support availability, response quality, and third-party satisfaction ratings
How Lincoln Financial Life Insurance Scored
- Financial Stability: 8/10
- Coverage Options: 6.5/10
- Affordability & Value: 7.5/10
- Claims Process: 7/10
- Customer Service: 6/10
- Overall Score: 8.4
We reviewed over two dozen life insurance companies to assemble our ratings. You can see all the companies we reviewed here: Life Insurance Company Reviews.
