Penn Mutual whole life insurance review

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Our take:

Penn Mutual’s various whole life offerings provide whole life insurance shoppers with the flexibility to get a policy that works best for them. The company, ranked No. 4 on Insure.com’s list of best whole life insurance companies, is financially strong, according to AM Best, which gave it a 5-star rating for financial strength. The rating demonstrates the company’s ability to meet its financial obligations. Policyholders have benefited from dividend payouts. 

Penn Mutual
Penn Mutual Ratings
Overall Rating:
Financial strength:
Cost competitiveness:
Pricing stability:
Account access:
Historical performance:

Insure.com’s review of the entire company and its line of life insurance products follows. This review is based on third-party metrics and our survey of insurance customers. Find the full methodology here , including an explanation of our survey scores.

Pros:
  • Policyholders receive cash dividends based on company performance
  • Wide variety of life insurance products
Cons:
  • No online applications

Penn Mutual third-party ratings

Trustworthiness
A+
Financial Strength
A+
Customer Experience
N/A

Trustworthiness: The Better Business Bureau (BBB) evaluates businesses’ behavior, trustworthiness, and performance. A business with a high ranking from the BBB can be trusted to meet its commitments. Penn Mutual is not accredited with the BBB, which means it has not committed to responding to complaints made to the BBB about its service. Still, the BBB gives Penn Mutual an A+.

Financial strength: AM Best evaluates a company’s financial health and its ability to meet its financial obligations. AM Best gives Penn Mutual an A+.

Customer experience: Trustpilot is an online platform for individuals to provide reviews of companies and their customer experience. However, Penn Mutual has not been rated on Trustpilot. 

More details about Penn Mutual life insurance

Policies offered

Life products offered: Term and permanent (which includes whole) life insurance

Other coverage: Accelerated benefit riders, disability waiver of premium rider, children’s term rider, guaranteed insurability rider, estate protection rider, among other options. 

Rates: Contact company or insurance agent for quotes. 

Insurance partners: Penn Mutual’s partners and subsidiaries include The Penn Insurance and Annuity Company of New York, Vantis Life Insurance Company, Janney Montgomery Scott, Hornor, Townsend & Kent and Penn Mutual Asset Management.

Other details

Ages and coverage limits: Penn Mutual’s whole life products are available to people up to age 85 and guarantee protection to age 121. Up to age 70, the minimum amount available for Guaranteed Whole Life II is $50,000, increasing to $100,000 at age 71 and above.

Waiting period: There is no waiting period.

Medical requirements: Medical exams may be required depending on your age and the policy. 

Types of whole life insurance offered by Penn Mutual 

Penn Mutual Guaranteed Whole Life II

Penn Mutual’s Guaranteed Whole Life II is the company’s flagship whole life insurance product and guarantees protection to age 121. You can purchase a policy up to the age of 85. This offering allows for customized payment durations, from 5 years after your policy is issued to up until age 100. Penn Mutual has 13 available riders for Guaranteed Whole Life II, including term blend riders, paid-up additions (PUA) riders and overloan protection benefit riders. Penn Mutual recommends this product to customers who prioritize dividend repayments and flexibility. Depending on your age, you might not have to submit to a medical exam, although you might get lower premiums by taking one. 

Protection Whole Life

Protection Whole Life is Penn Mutual’s latest whole insurance option designed to provide robust protection for competitive premium prices. It comes with a high death benefit internal rate of return (IRR) and cash value guarantees. Nine riders are available, including a disability waiver of premium rider and chronic illness accelerated benefit rider. A medical exam is typically required and premium costs are guaranteed once you start your policy. This product is not available in California or New York. 

Survivorship Whole Life

Penn Mutual recommends survivorship whole life for clients seeking coverage for two people, like spouses or business partners. It offers flexible estate planning options and seven rider options. You can pay off your policy within 10 years or until you turn 100. Depending on your age, a medical exam is required. Even though the policy pays the death benefit after both policyholders die, the premiums for Survivorship Whole Life are significantly lower than two individual whole life policies. 

How much does Penn Mutual life insurance cost?

Penn Mutual doesn’t provide public information on its rates for whole life insurance. To get a quote, contact the company or an insurance agent. 

Interesting tidbit: Some insurance brokers only deal in Penn Mutual products. 

States where Penn Mutual offers coverage

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States where Penn Mutual offers coverage
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AL AK AZ AR CA CO CT DC DE FL GA HI ID IL IN IA KS KY LA ME MD MA MI MN MS MO MT NE NV NH NJ NM NY NC ND OH OK OR PA RI SC SD TN TX UT VT VA WA WV WI WY
Available
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About Penn Mutual

Penn Mutual was founded in 1848 and remains wholly owned by its policyholders, not stockholders like most insurance companies. Penn Mutual also has a long reputation for paying out cash dividends to policyholders.  The company is known for its variety of whole life insurance products, but you must contact the company or a financial professional to receive a quote. 

Company background

Penn Mutual

Company address: The Penn Mutual Life Insurance Company, PO Box 178, Philadelphia, PA 19105

Company website: pennmutual.com

Company email: Contact company online through website

Company phone: (215) 956-8000

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Methodology

The best whole life insurance company rankings are based on a conglomerate of Veralytic and third-party data, including the National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ complaint data, which ranks a company by the number of customer complaints it receives, and the Better Business Bureau, which scores how well a company works with its customers. The data was weighed to create a final star ranking, one being the lowest and five being the highest. Each data point was weighed as follows: 

  • Financial strength: 20% of total score
  • Cost competitiveness: 20% of total score
  • Price stability: 15% of total score
  • Account access and restrictions: 10% of total score
  • Historical performance: 15% of total score
  • NAIC: 10% of total score
  • BBB: 10% of total score

The average annual whole life insurance rates are based on rates from male and female 35-year-olds who are in excellent health or smoke tobacco. The policies are paid up until age 100. The rates are an average of rates from 12 different policies from: AIG, American National Insurance Company, Banner Life, Midland National, Nationwide, North American Company, Pacific Life, Protective, United State Life Insurance Company of New York, and Penn Mutual. Some insurers in this list provided rates for more than one type of whole life insurance company.

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Barry Eitel
Contributing Researcher

 
  

Barry Eitel is a content writer and journalist focused on insurance, small business and finance. He has researched and written about personal finance since 2012, with a special focus on entrepreneurship, freelancing and other small business operations. His writing on insurance and small business has been featured in 7x7, Brit + Co, Intuit Quickbooks, Bankrate, Policygenius and Lendio.

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