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About John Hancock Life Insurance
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John Hancock Life Insurance Reviews
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Paying my disability policy for almost 40 years. Became disabled/ filed claim. Tons of calls, repeated many times same paperwork. Still no denial or approval. Hired attorney and now out almost $50,000. Careful with Hancock. Not honorable company.
My Mom passed in Jan 23. John Hancock has been absolutely HORRIBLE!!! Every time I asked about my claim, they would give me one excuse after another. It's terrible how they do this to people who just lost a loved one!! I would NOT recommend John Hancock to anyone! I am still waiting on my insurance money. My mom had 3 life insurance policies at different places, and I never had the trouble I am having with this company!! They definitely don't need to be in a business like this.
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Note, I am 56, and this is only the 2nd negative review I have written for any business ever. We have had 2 life insurance policies with John Hancock (my husband and I) for probably 5 - 10 years now. We have just experienced a 2nd episode where John Hancock has said right before their policy canceling deadline that they didn't receive our annual premium checks.
They have ADMITTED THAT THIS IS BECAUSE THEY HAVE A SIGNIFICANT (IE WEEKS LONG) PROCESSING DELAY OF CHECKS ON THEIR END, and they told us that if we didn't provide immediate payment (IE by providing our bank account information) our policies would be canceled. Having no other choice, I provided the bank account information and was told that as soon as my original checks were cashed by them, I could call back (and go thru the whole phone tree and wait time again) to request a refund for the duplicate payments. I did this today, and I was told:
1) I need to wait ANOTHER 10 days and call back again because of the 10 day hold they place on all checks (even though my bank account shows the checks as paid).2) The refund could only be in the form of a check that would be mailed back to me.
3) Even though I paid both payments for my husband's premium from our joint checking account (and I have all of his identifying info IE SSN, DOB, etc) that he would still need to call separately for his refund (which is not convenient for his work hours as a physician when their line is only open from 8AM-6PM).
I get that sometimes things happen at companies that cause unique and problematic delays, but this is the SECOND TIME that we have been thru this almost exact same scenario. Also of note, both times they somehow seemed to "find" and process our checks LITERALLY LATER THE SAME DAY that we made the duplicate electronic payments. This MAKES ONE WONDER IF THIS ISN'T INTENTIONAL ON THEIR PART. Insurance companies make their money off of investing premiums. If they can have an extra 3-4 weeks of duplicate annual premiums for all their clients, they may feel the income offsets any customer dissatisfaction. It would be highly burdensome for a client to have to cancel their premium and then initiate a new premium with a different company, because the price would be higher due to any aging since they took out the first premium.
Fortunately, we can afford to have an additional $2,600 missing from our checking account for the 3-4 weeks that this whole process will take to refund to us. If you can't afford that then I DEFINITELY WOULD NOT DO BUSINESS WITH THEM. If anyone wants the details, we mailed our annual premiums at the end of December (on time and shortly after we received the statements). We were told at the beginning of February that they had not been received yet (even though my credit card company received and processed a payment I mailed the same day ONE MONTH EARLIER). The deadline for premium cancelation was February 6. The electronic deduction from our account was posted on 2/1/23, and the checks are listed as cashed ALSO ON 2/1/23.
They do not accept electronic wiring from your Bank. They want your checking account number and withdraw the amount from your account, not the other way around. It's the customer's purchase not John Hancock. John Hancock wants to control how business transactions are done on their terms....not the customer. I do not want to give them authority to pull monies from my checking account. Their retaliation is... "Send a check or let us pull the funds." Not customer friendly. US bank sends them a check....as John Hancock will not accept electronic wired monies from the customer. The check sets in their corporate back log. LAPSE WARNINGS ARE SENT. It requires from the customer... time and aggravation. Which is what they want. As they want...access to the checking account and paid on their terms. NOT CUSTOMER FRIENDLY.
I want to simply go in to my checking account and wire funds to John Hancock Life Insurance Company. Having them receive the funds in a day. Maybe two? Oh no, they won't have that. They want access to your checking account. They want you to give them permission to remove the funds from the customer's account. BIG BULLY. If it weren't for the fact I've had this policy for a long time, I'd let it go. WORST CUSTOMER SERVICE!!
I open this policy in early December and told them the payments were to come out on the first of every month. They attempted to take a payment on the 26th and it was insufficient somehow even with a lot of money in my bank account. They sent me a letter on January 3 saying that I had 15 days to make the payment or my policy was gone. This letter was not in my mailbox until today, 23 January…. I spoke to the agent and told them they weren’t even supposed to touch the money until the first and I did not receive any emails or anything not even a phone call. They told me to reapply. I told her to shove it. I’ve had nothing but communication issues with this company even in the beginning when I need to elect beneficiaries for my policy. They got my address wrong and beneficiaries wrong. Could not get them on the phone or email replied.
Do not use this company. I’m telling you right now you are going to regret it. There are also many reviews of people who have been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and have been booted from their policy. Do not waste your money on this policy and John Hancock if you’re reading this, you’re awful. You’re the worst company in the world and I’m gonna keep telling everyone about it and I’m glad New York beat you in that lawsuit hahaha.
My dad paid for his John Hancock long-term care insurance policy for many years. In December 2021, he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. We had to have 24 hour care in his home until he died at the end of March. I filed a claim from John Hancock, and it was all downhill from there. They never contacted me for any documents, but when I would call them and wait on hold for an hour, they would tell me they needed something new, like verification from the hospital, verification from the long-term care provider, invoices from the long-term care provider, and finally at the end when I called them to say, “why haven’t I heard from you for the last three months?”, they said they needed timesheets from the long-term care provider. Each time I would come up with the paperwork they required for the file and submit it.
It took nine months. Finally I got someone to review the file, using their text chat room on the website, and was told that my dad died before his benefits kicked in. At no point did this company correspond with me in any manner. I just would call every couple of months, and then FAX them their next request for paperwork (who uses a fax machine anyway? We had to take the paperwork to the office fax machine).
Clearly, this company is a SCAM. Perhaps they pay out if someone is in a long-term care facility for many many months, but for nine months they completely ignored my paperwork submission, they didn’t answer the phone, and they just blew me off. This is a bad company.
Dad and Mom Paid Approximately $80,000 in premiums over a period of about 27 years. John Hancock was Very, Very Slow to authorize payment for their care. We do Not recommend this company. Most people do not live more than 2 years in assisted living. Save your money in an escrow. You will have far less aggravation and ultimately save money.
I have a disability policy with John Hancock for 40 years> always paid premium then became disabled. Filed claim with John Hancock and never heard back. Telephone calls, e mails then got State Dept of Insurance involved. Finally Hancock told the Dept of Insurance they basically dropped the ball. Still nothing. All papers sent certified. Emails, etc. Still nothing. Then they increase my premium 300%.. They wanted me to miss my premium so I they increased it 300% when I should not even be paying a premium. Hired an attorney and still no response from Hancock. Then I get a call and letter from UNUM, 3rd party company who works with Hancock and stated to me that I need to send all papers again for a new claim.
This is gong on 7 months and sent many times so did it again and still nothing. BUT I AM STUCK paying Hancock $1000 each month while not working so they do not say I did not pay my premium and lapse my coverage. Basically Blackmail with Hancock. Still Nothing so will now go to court. OF course I am out thousands of dollars in legal fees. DO NOT GO NEAR JOHN HANCOCK. THEY WILL NOT HONOR THE POLICY.
My mother, who passed away on April 24, 2022, had an annuity with John Hancock Life Insurance in the name of her trust. I first made contact with the JHLI on May 5, 2022 to start the claim process and it is now July 12, 2022 and I am still trying to get the claim processed. Every time I call I get a different person who tells me something different in terms of paperwork and timelines. I have not spoken to one person who seems to be competent and who knows what is happening with the estate's claim for the annuity. Buyer Beware!!!
This company has the WORST customer service. No two people at this company knows the same information. The reps can not be called back so no accountability can be enforced. I was on a 90 minute conference with one of their reps and a rep from my bank and at the end of the call it was decided that I needed to open a beneficiary IRA account at JH so the money could be transfered to my beneficiary IRA at my bank. Three hours after that call ended I got an email from JH that they no longer offer this financial product! What? How did the rep not know that?
17 phone calls between the two firms and today I find out that what was suppose to be a electronic deposit was sent by paper check. Unreal. I wonder who ties their shoes in the morning???? In any event stay away from John Hancock as a whole. The woman at the brokerage firm where my deceased uncle had this account told me to get my money tranfered out because they had very poor customer service and that JH was difficult to deal with. Pathetic.
John Hancock author review by Neal Frankle
Hancock was founded in 1862, but it was acquired by Canadian insurer Manulife Financial in 2004. The subsidiary is still headquartered in Boston.
Product variety: Hancock offers a complete line of insurance products.
Additional tools: Long-term care insurance, mutual funds and college savings plans are also offered by Hancock.
Industry leader: John Hancock leads the industry in survivorship life sales.
Products: Hancock agents will likely steer customers towards using Hancock products.
Not for everyone: While competitive on many levels, Hancock will not always be the best fit for all consumers.

Neal Frankle is a Certified Financial Planner in Los Angeles. He is the publisher of WealthPilgrim.com, an information resource for consumers. He has been a professional financial advisor since 1991 and is the editor of www.MCMHA.org.
John Hancock Life Insurance Company Information
- Company Name:
- John Hancock
- Website:
- www.johnhancock.com
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