As of April 11, 2022, pricing for PruLife Founders Plus UL® and PruLife Essential UL will decrease for most ages and categories. That’s good news for clients who want a flexible premium universal life product that provides affordable death benefit protection with meaningful no-lapse guarantee periods, all with the flexibility of cash value growth potential. What’s more, Founders Plus retains its advantage with the recently added Goldman Sachs Voyager Indexed Account option.
What’s changing
To remain competitive in the current environment, both products will undergo these updates:
- Sales loads up to Target in durations 11+ are being lowered.
- The reduction in premium loads in years 11+ will result in lower premiums when comparing the products with the same assumed interest rates. On average the decrease will be about 3%.
- Because the premium load is only being reduced in years 11+, short and single pay designs are not impacted by this pricing improvement.
- There are no changes to NLG pricing.
Clients who can benefit
Founders Plus or Essential UL can be a good fit for many clients.
Consider them for clients who seek:
- A flexible permanent life insurance option.
- Meaningful guarantees.
- Cash value accumulation potential.
- A 1035 exchange with a loan.
- Upside potential with downside protection.
- A whole life or guaranteed UL alternative.
Extra-value features that are not changing
You and clients can still rely on Prudential and Term Essential to deliver value with advantages like these:
- Term to Perm conversion privilege allows flexibility that helps meet clients’ needs now and in the future.
- Age Last Birthday Pricing means clients could pay lower premiums.
- Consistent and strong underwriting to let you know we’re giving clients the best rates we can.
- Living Needs Benefit rider allows clients to accelerate the policy’s death benefit should they be diagnosed with a terminal illness.
- eCapabilities simplifies life and creates a seamless, digital experience from start to finish, with:
- eSubmission, eSignature, eInterview, and eDelivery to eliminate paperwork, medical exams, and delays.
- PruFast Track, our accelerated underwriting process, to approve eligible clients in days.
- LifeInsight eService platform, to help you monitor clients’ policies to avoid surprises.
Transition Rules
On Monday April 11, 2022 the revised PruLife Founders Plus UL and Essential UL will be introduced, subject to state approvals.
The following rules apply to any request for New Business, Term Conversion, or OPAI (Option To Purchase Additional Insurance) Conversion.
- April 11th, 2021 (Ready to Sell Date): New Rates for the repriced product are in effect. All applications signed and dated1 on or after April 11, 2022, will receive New Rates.
- April 15th, 2022 (Home Office Receipt Date): Last day that an application can be received in the Home Office with Old Rates.
- June 17th, 2022 (Placement Date): Last day that a pending case can be placed with old rates. All delivery requirements must be received in good order by end of business day (4 PM EST).
- June 17th, 2022 (1035 Exchanges): Cases involving 1035 exchange must be initiated/started by June 17th to retain old rates. If the 1035 initiation/start deadline is met, the policy will not be subject to an additional placement deadline.
REQUESTS FOR OLD RATES DURING THE TRANSITION PERIOD:
APPLICATIONS WITH PENDING OWNERSHIP ARRANGEMENTS
Updates to applications as part of establishing a trust or finalizing the ownership arrangement can be made after the application deadlines outlined in the transition rules. However, these cases must still meet the application deadlines for the original application, and comply with all other deadlines outlined in the transition rules.
INFORMAL/INQUIRY APPLICATIONS
Informal/Inquiry applications will not be eligible for Old Rates unless replaced by a live application by April 11th, 2022, based on state approval.
REQUESTS FOR NEW RATES
Requests for changes to the New Rates will be permitted consistent with the following current practice for these situations:
- Any pending case or issued policy that is not yet delivered with an application date prior to the state introduction date can be changed to New Rates, as long as the request for change is made on or after the state introduction date.
BACKDATING
Normal backdating rules apply, meaning that the new policy date can be backdated up to six months prior to the application date. A policy with New Rates can be dated prior to the state introduction date as long as the
application meets the requirements in the TRANSITION RULES above. Please note: If the date of birth is more than 6 months prior to the state introduction date, you cannot backdate the policy to save age with a
request for the new product version.