Home › Carriers › Lincoln Financial

Lincoln Financial Life Insurance Policy Help

Billing and lapse notices, beneficiary updates, universal life questions and independent reviews

Two things bring most people to a page like this one. The first is a letter that does not make sense. The second is a policy whose paperwork carries one company's name at the top and a different one on the envelope it arrived in. Lincoln Financial's book of life insurance covers a wide spread of product types, from level term to universal life to policies tied to investment accounts, and those behave very differently as the years pass. Part of Lincoln Financial's in-force life business consists of policies originally issued by Jefferson-Pilot, which are now obligations of The Lincoln National Life Insurance Company, and Lincoln also has policies issued by its subsidiary First Penn-Pacific Life Insurance Company.

Common reasons people call about a Lincoln Financial policy

• A notice saying the policy needs more money. Universal life policies are funded by a balance that internal charges are drawn from, and those charges typically rise as the insured gets older. If the balance thins, the insurer writes to say a larger payment is needed. That letter is not a mistake and it should not be filed away unread.
• The name on the paperwork does not match. An owner finds a contract in one company's name while the statements arrive from another, and wants to know whether it is the same policy. Business transfers between insurers are ordinary, and the policy terms travel with the contract.
• The level period on a term policy running out. Term coverage is priced to stay flat for a set number of years. What happens after that is set out in the contract, and it is usually the point at which the payment changes sharply.
• Changing a beneficiary. After a divorce, a remarriage or a death, the record at the insurer is what governs who is paid. Updating it means filing the insurance company's form, and instructions left in a will or told to a family member do not do the job.
• Payments and drafts. A new bank, a replaced card, a missed month, or a wish to switch from monthly to annual billing. Where a payment has already been missed, the first thing to establish is whether the policy is inside a grace period, lapsed, or eligible to be reinstated.
• Coverage bought through an employer. Policies connected to a workplace can change when a person leaves the job or retires, and the paperwork explaining that often arrives at the least convenient moment. What can be kept, and on what basis, is a contract question.
• Sorting out a policy after a death. A widow, widower or executor with a certificate and no idea what happens next, or unsure whether more than one policy existed.

What to have ready before you call

• The insured person's full legal name as it would have appeared on the application.
• The approximate year the coverage started.
• Any statements, premium notices or letters you have received, especially anything warning about the policy lapsing.
• The beneficiary on record, if you know who that is.
• Whether the policy came through an employer or was bought privately, if you can tell.

If your file is empty, that is common and it is workable. Nothing on this page asks for a policy number, a date of birth or a Social Security number, and you should be wary of any website that does. The insurance company handles identity verification itself when you deal with it directly.

Before you cancel or replace anything

There is a version of this decision that saves money and a version that quietly costs a great deal, and the difference is in the details of the contract you already own. Buying again means being underwritten at your age now and your health now. Anything that has happened medically since the first application gets taken into account, and for some people that closes off a replacement altogether. A new policy also usually brings a fresh period during which the insurer can re-examine the application if a claim is made soon after issue. Meanwhile, an older contract may include provisions that are simply not written anymore. That said, some policies are genuinely too expensive for what they deliver, and keeping one out of habit is its own kind of mistake. Put both sides of it to a licensed independent agent, with the actual documents, before you stop a payment or sign anything new.

Questions people ask