Penn Mutual Life Insurance: A Comprehensive Review for 2025
NerdWallet’s rating: 4.5 stars
Penn Mutual has carved a niche in the life insurance market, and this review provides an in-depth look at its offerings. Known for its strong financial standing and high customer satisfaction, Penn Mutual caters to a diverse range of policyholder needs. However, it’s important to note that they don’t offer online quotes.
Overview
Pros:
- Offers term lengths up to 30 years.
- Extensive universal life insurance lineup.
- Low volume of customer complaints.
Cons:
- No online quotes available.
- Limited policy information available on their website.
About Penn Mutual
Founded in 1847, Penn Mutual Life Insurance Co. operates through a countrywide network of financial professionals. As a mutual life insurance company, Penn Mutual is owned by its policyholders. The company’s focus on policyholder value is reflected in its plans to pay out $265 million in dividends in 2025, which is the highest amount in Penn Mutual’s history [1].
Penn Mutual Policies
Penn Mutual offers a variety of term and permanent life insurance policy options, but you must contact a local agent to apply for coverage.
Term Life Insurance:
Provides coverage for a set period, ranging from 10 to 30 years, with coverage starting at $250,000. Qualified applicants may be able to bypass the need for a medical examination. The Guaranteed Convertible Term or One-Year Term policies may give you the option to convert to permanent coverage without completing the full life insurance application process again.
Whole Life Insurance:
Penn Mutual offers three whole life insurance options, all designed to build cash value and offer annual dividends.
- Protection Whole Life: Available to individuals up to 85 years old, with coverage starting at $50,000. It’s paid up at age 100.
- Accumulation Whole Life: Also has a maximum age of 85 and a minimum coverage of $50,000. It provides flexibility in premium payment periods, starting at five years, to boost cash value accumulation.
- Survivorship Whole Life: Designed to cover two people (typically spouses) aged 20 to 85, with coverage beginning at $200,000.
Universal Life Insurance:
With seven universal life insurance policies, Penn Mutual caters to various customer preferences. These include indexed universal life options, where cash value growth depends on the performance of an index, such as the S&P 500. For those eager to select their investments, the variable universal life insurance policy may be a suitable choice.
Penn Mutual Life Insurance Riders
To customize plans, Penn Mutual offers a variety of riders, which vary by policy:
- Accelerated death benefit: Allows access to up to 50% of the policy’s payout (up to $250,000) if diagnosed with a terminal illness.
- Accidental death benefit: Provides extra payout of at least $5,000 if death occurs due to an accident.
- Child term: Offers $5,000 to $25,000 in coverage for children under the policy.
- Chronic illness accelerated death benefit: Permits access to a portion of the death benefit if you have a chronic illness, and cannot carry out everyday activities.
- Disability waiver of premium: Suspends premiums if the policyholder becomes disabled and unable to work (after a six-month waiting period).
- Disability waiver of premium with automatic conversion: Maintains the policy if totally disabled before age 60, and converts to whole life coverage if disabled for three consecutive years.
- Enhanced permanent paid-up additions: Enables additional payments to boost cash value and death benefits on a whole life policy.
- Estate preservation term insurance: Available on joint life insurance policies to assist with estate taxes if both spouses die before transferring policy ownership to an irrevocable trust.
- Flexible protection: Lets you buy more permanent life insurance at a lower cost.
- Guaranteed purchase option: Boosts coverage without another medical exam.
- Overloan protection: Prevents policy lapse if too much money is withdrawn from the cash value account.
- Policy split option: Enables the exchange of a survivorship policy for two separate whole life policies in scenarios such as divorce or changes in federal tax laws.
- Supplemental exchange: Designed for business owners and extends coverage to key employees.
Penn Mutual Customer Complaints and Satisfaction
Data from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners indicates that Penn Mutual has received far fewer complaints than expected for a company of its size. In J.D. Power’s 2024 U.S. Individual Life Insurance Study [2], Penn Mutual ranked number 8 out of 21 companies for customer satisfaction.
How Penn Mutual Compares
The following table provides a comparison of Penn Mutual to some of its competitors.
Additional Information
Policyholders can manage their policies, pay premiums, and update beneficiaries through an online portal. Policyholders can’t use an app. Beneficiaries can file claims online or call 800-523-0650.
How We Evaluate Life Insurance Companies
Our reviews consider the customer, the quality of the insurer’s offerings, and the company’s financial stability.
Key factors include:
- Policies offered.
- Financial strength.
- Complaints.
- Ability to purchase online.
References
- Penn Mutual. Penn Mutual Announces Record-Breaking Dividend Award in 2025. Accessed Feb 6, 2025.
- J.D. Power. J.D. Power 2024 U.S. Individual Life Insurance Study. Accessed Feb 6, 2025.
