Best Universal Life Insurance Companies in January 2024

COMPANY HIGHLIGHTS

MoneyGeek Score: 97.4
J.D. Power (out of 1,000): 820.5
AM Best Rating: A++
NAIC Complaint Index: 0.19

MoneyGeek’s Take: State Farm is our top pick for the overall best universal life insurance because of its #1 ranking for customer satisfaction, along with its excellent reputation, superior financial strength and robust universal life policy choices.

State Farm is J.D. Power’s winner for individual life insurance customer satisfaction, with a score of 822 out of 1,000 points. The company beat out 20 other life insurers for the best communication, customer interaction, product offerings and statements, attesting to the high-quality life insurance company this provider offers to its customers.

State Farm offers individual universal life, joint universal and survivorship universal life products. Joint universal life insurance protects two lives — spouses, business owners with a buy-sell agreement, etc. — and pays out when each person dies. The survivorship universal life policy only pays after the second spouse dies and is generally used to offset estate taxes for large estates or to maintain or create generational wealth. Insuring two people with one policy is usually cheaper than two separate policies, making this an attractive option for some.

Along with flexible payments and coverage amounts, State Farm offers valuable riders to tailor your universal life policy to your specific needs. You can add term life insurance for your children and spouse. At the same time, the guaranteed insurability option allows you to buy more life insurance with no health questions or medical exams on certain dates.

With flexible care benefits, you can access a portion of the death benefit to pay for long-term care expenses. The waiver of premium for disability rider will pay your premiums if you are completely disabled for six months or longer.

Policy Types Offered:

• Universal Life
• Survivorship Universal Life
• Joint Universal Life

COMPANY HIGHLIGHTS

• MoneyGeek Score: 90.8
  
• J.D. Power (out of 1,000): 783.4
  
• AM Best Rating: A+
  
• NAIC Complaint Index: 1.20

MoneyGeek’s Take: We chose Mutual of Omaha as the best indexed universal life insurance company because its policies can be tailored to fit your needs, with downside protection to avoid negative market returns.

Mutual of Omaha offers two choices for indexed universal life insurance. Both policies come with market return protection, so if the market index is negative, your returns are guaranteed never to go below zero. This is a significant benefit to someone willing to take the risk for higher cash value growth but doesn’t want to risk negative returns, which could cause the policy to lapse.

The Life Protection Advantage indexed universal life policy guarantees coverage up to age 90 or older, as long as premiums are level or higher based on the no-lapse guarantee minimum required premiums. This policy includes the accelerated benefits rider, which provides some of the death benefit before you pass away if you are diagnosed with a terminal illness. It also has a guaranteed refund option rider, which allows you to surrender the policy at specific dates with a guaranteed refund amount.

Income Advantage is similar but focuses more on building cash value through interest-crediting options. The money isn’t invested in the market, but the interest accrued is based on market index performance. This could lead to higher cash value accumulation, but you still get the downside protection guarantee if the market underperforms and creates a negative index return.

Policy Types Offered:

• Life Protection Advantage IUL
• Income Advantage IUL

COMPANY HIGHLIGHTS

MoneyGeek Score: 82.8
J.D. Power (out of 1,000): 756
AM Best Rating: A+
NAIC Complaint Index: 0.15

MoneyGeek’s Take: Prudential is our pick for the best variable universal life insurance. This company offers individual and survivorship variable policies, with several rider options available and no-lapse guarantee provisions included.

Prudential has three options for variable universal life insurance, and all come with a no-lapse guarantee, as long as minimum premiums are paid, and requirements are met. The VUL Protector is best for those with moderate investment risk, hoping for moderate returns.

PruLife Custom Premium II focuses on long-term growth potential and is best for high-risk, high-reward individuals, with short-term and limited no-lapse guarantees to protect from downturns in the market. With PruLife SVUL Protector, you can choose your market risk and investment options to leave a legacy or fund your business or charity with a second-to-die permanent life insurance policy.

Each policy type has an impressive lineup of riders available to tailor your variable universal life policy to your needs. Each offers living benefits at no extra cost for a diagnosed chronic or terminal illness, plus overloan protection, which prevents a policy lapse if large loans are taken from the policy.

SVUL Protector also has estate protection available, which increases the death benefit if both insureds die before the fourth policy year. This plan also offers enhanced cash value, which is ideal for business owners who want higher cash surrender value if they cancel the policy in the first few years. The guaranteed policy split feature ensures the ability to split the policy into two if the spouses divorce. VUL Protector and PruLife Custom Premier II also offer the enhanced cash value rider, plus children’s term life and enhanced coverage for accidental death or disability.

Policy Types Offered:

• PruLife SVUL Protector
• PruLife Custom Premium II
• VUL Protector

COMPANY HIGHLIGHTS

MoneyGeek Score: 81.6
J.D. Power (out of 1,000): 735.8
AM Best Rating: A++
NAIC Complaint Index: 0.73

MoneyGeek's Take: Guardian Life is our choice for the best universal life insurance with guaranteed interest, which currently sits at 3.5% and has the potential to increase.

While most universal life insurance companies offer a minimum floor set at 0% to avoid market downturns, Guardian steps up with some of the best guaranteed interest rates we’ve seen on these policies. Guardian Life offers all types of universal life insurance policies, and all have guaranteed interest rates except for variable universal life.

The company’s minimum interest rate will always be at least 2% but has the potential to go higher each year if the market warrants an increase, which is evidenced by its current interest rate minimum of 3.5%. Guardian may be the best choice for someone on the fence about the risk involved in owning and maintaining a universal life insurance policy.

Guardian also has generous underwriting guidelines, allowing those with pre-existing conditions to qualify for competitive pricing on universal life and other life insurance products. Those in good health may be eligible for accelerated underwriting, which requires no medical exam or lab work.

Those looking to buy up to $5 million in universal life insurance, and those between rating classes, may have an opportunity for the Expanded Standard Program, which puts you in a better rating class with lower premiums. These are just some of the ways Guardian Life has become one of the best universal life insurance companies.

Policy Types Offered:

• Indexed Universal Life
• Universal Life
• Variable Universal Life

COMPANY HIGHLIGHTS

MoneyGeek Score: 84.5
J.D. Power (out of 1,000): 758.1
AM Best Rating: A++
NAIC Complaint Index: 0.07

MoneyGeek’s Take: MassMutual is our pick for the best payment flexibility, with the option to change payments monthly or as needed to meet your financial and policy goals.

If you want the ultimate in payment flexibility for your universal life policy, MassMutual may be the best choice. Recognizing the need for flexible premiums, MassMutual policyholders can change their payment amount at any time, even month to month. The only restriction is the policy has to have enough cash value to prevent it from lapsing if you plan to reduce your payments.

Having a good understanding of universal life insurance is key to ensuring your policy doesn’t lapse, even if you choose the no-lapse guarantee offered by MassMutual. Though riders for universal life are limited with MassMutual, its universal life policies come with a free accelerated death benefit rider, which allows you to access some of the death benefit if you are diagnosed with a terminal illness.

The company also offers group universal life insurance you can buy through your employer, which is an uncommon characteristic. Employees can take advantage of group rates and, if they decide to leave the company, they can take the policy with them at the same great rate.

Policy Types Offered:

• Universal Life
• Variable Universal Life