We use cookies to give users the best content and online experience. By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to allow us to use all cookies. Visit our Privacy Policy to learn more.

Manage Cookies
Resources for Businesses My BBB
Share
Business Profile

Retirement Planning Services

Lincoln National Corporation

Headquarters

This business is NOT BBB Accredited.

Find BBB Accredited Businesses in Retirement Planning Services.

Complaints

This profile includes complaints for Lincoln National Corporation's headquarters and its corporate-owned locations. To view all corporate locations, see

Find a Location

Lincoln National Corporation has 33 locations, listed below.

*This company may be headquartered in or have additional locations in another country. Please click on the country abbreviation in the search box below to change to a different country location.

    Please enter a valid location.

    Customer Complaints Summary

    • 186 total complaints in the last 3 years.
    • 83 complaints closed in the last 12 months.

    If you've experienced an issue

    Submit a Complaint

    The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

    Sort by

    Complaint status

    Complaint type

    • Initial Complaint

      Date:12/02/2024

      Type:Service or Repair Issues
      Status:
      Answered
      Resolved:
      The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
      Unresolved:
      The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
      Answered:
      The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
      Unanswered:
      The business failed to respond to the dispute.
      Unpursuable:
      BBB is unable to locate the business.
      We are trying to enroll an employee in a 457 retirement plan through Lincoln Financial Group. We have other employees enrolled already. May 2024 the first application was submitted. A month went by and we received a new form for enrollment. Then I received another new form in September which was sent directly to Lincoln by fax on 9/26/2024, with a copy to the financial professional at ****** *****. We were instructed the employee would received an email directly from Lincoln to finish setting up his account. This email never came. I checked in regularly with the employee to see if he had received it. I contacted Lincoln on November 20, 2024. They indicated there was something missing from the application and they sent an email to the employee. The employee did not receive any email in junk/spam folder or otherwise. They told me to resubmit the application and call back in two days. I asked if they could tell me what was missing but the answer was not clear. I am resubmitting, but this has been the most difficult enrollment I have experienced thus far.

      Business Response

      Date: 12/31/2024

      Dear BBB,

      I am writing in response to your email dated December 02, 2024, to LifeCompliance at Lincoln Financial regarding Complaint ID ********.  Due to privacy laws, Lincoln Financial cannot provide you with any policy information regarding the complaint Ms. **** ********** filed.  Accordingly, Lincoln Financial has responded directly to Ms. **** ********** regarding this matter.


      Thank you for bringing this matter to the company's attention.  If you have any questions or should you need any additional information regarding this matter, please feel free to contact me.



      D. ******* *********
      Analyst, *********************************** ************** Office 
      ************** Fax 
      Lincoln Financial
      ********************************************************

      **********************************************



      Registered representative of Lincoln Financial ****************** (LFD), a wholesale broker-dealer and ***** member firm. I do not provide securities recommendations or investment advisory services. Insurance products offered through *** affiliates. Lincoln Financial is the marketing name for Lincoln National Corporation and its affiliates. This email and its attachments may collect your personal information to improve Lincolns products or to provide you with services related to its products. For more information, please see our privacy policy.
      Notice of Confidentiality: **This email and its attachments may contain information that is privileged, confidential, proprietary, or subject to copyright belonging to the Lincoln National Corporation or its companies. This email is intended solely for the individual or entity to which it is addressed. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any distribution, copying, or action taken in relation to the contents of and attachments to this email is strictly prohibited and may be unlawful. Additionally, please notify the sender immediately and permanently delete any copies of this email and destroy any printouts.**


    • Initial Complaint

      Date:11/15/2024

      Type:Service or Repair Issues
      Status:
      Answered
      Resolved:
      The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
      Unresolved:
      The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
      Answered:
      The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
      Unanswered:
      The business failed to respond to the dispute.
      Unpursuable:
      BBB is unable to locate the business.
      ********************* passed away on May 20, 2024. Benefits were to be issued to Mrs. ****** *****. Several phone calls were made and 3 checks were issued, Ck# ********, Ck# ******** and Ck# ********. These checks were then asked to be returned with no explanation. Two death certificates were submitted to Lincoln Financial. Mrs. ***** would like an explanation as to why these checks are being held up and why payment has not been issued. She would like payment issued or contact by Lincoln Financial to explain the situation.

      Business Response

      Date: 12/17/2024

      Attached please find our response.

    • Initial Complaint

      Date:11/07/2024

      Type:Service or Repair Issues
      Status:
      Resolved
      Resolved:
      The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
      Unresolved:
      The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
      Answered:
      The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
      Unanswered:
      The business failed to respond to the dispute.
      Unpursuable:
      BBB is unable to locate the business.
      I have a 403B with Lincoln Financial Group. I requested a distribution on October 31, 2024. Usually the processing is completed and in my Bank within 3 to 4 days of receiving the fax. To date November 7 2024 the funds have not been disbursed. I have made 17 calls which each time someone gave me another story. Yesterday we are being told the funds were not processed correctly and it is Lincoln Financials fault and they have to backdate to the date of the withdrawal request of October 31. I spoke with a Manager name LUX who promised a call back to me today November 7 2024 at 1230. It didnt happen. I called **************** Lux told her he would call me in 40 minutes, again did not happen so I called at 320 p. EST and he finally got on the phone and did nothing he said he would prior to the day before. He said the processing team is in ***** and they disburse the funds but yet he said he walked over to the processing department and asked to expedite the process. Again another lie. He is not in ***** so how did he walk a over there where he told me the processing department is in *****. Please help us get our disbursement so we can clear this up and then follow up with another disbursement and close this account. This ********************** is so untruthful. This cost me to cancel our getaway this weekend.

      Business Response

      Date: 11/20/2024

      Dear Ms. ********************* see the attached.

      Thank you.

      Customer Answer

      Date: 11/22/2024

      This matter has been resolved as of today, November 20, 2024.
      Thank you 
      ***** *******

    • Initial Complaint

      Date:11/04/2024

      Type:Service or Repair Issues
      Status:
      Answered
      Resolved:
      The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
      Unresolved:
      The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
      Answered:
      The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
      Unanswered:
      The business failed to respond to the dispute.
      Unpursuable:
      BBB is unable to locate the business.
      My name is ******* *******, my mother (*** *******) passed away on Mar. 23, 2024. I am her successor (She had a Will and a Trust). She also had an Annuity with Lincoln Financial Group. I contacted Liberty first time on April 1, 2024 to notify them of her passing and start the process of collecting the Annuity monies. It has been a nightmare dealing with this company and it's employees. I have uploaded the letter below as this is not enough room to tell the goings on with this company.

      Business Response

      Date: 01/06/2025

      Dear Ms. ********************* see the attached.

      Thank you.

      Customer Answer

      Date: 01/09/2025

      [To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed as Answered]

       Complaint: 22512660

      I am rejecting this response because:  Liberty National did not respond to my request for a statement showing me how much was in the Annuity account of my Mother, (*** T. *******).  Their employee told me that they do not recognize me as Successor even though I sent them proof, they said they do NOT recognize Trust Accounts.  Nor did they address the issue of my having to retain an attorney due to their negligence.  Until the attorney got involved would they move forward. I want reimbursement for my out of pocket expense. 


      Regards,

      ******* *******








      Business Response

      Date: 02/20/2025

      Dear Ms. ********************* see the attached.

       

    • Initial Complaint

      Date:11/03/2024

      Type:Service or Repair Issues
      Status:
      Answered
      Resolved:
      The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
      Unresolved:
      The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
      Answered:
      The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
      Unanswered:
      The business failed to respond to the dispute.
      Unpursuable:
      BBB is unable to locate the business.
      This is the 2nd time reporting to the BBB about this company. I completed a form for a Distribution Request on 10/22/24 i/a/o $6200.00 and sent it by email the same day.A day or two later, I was checking the status of my distribution as it was for a family emergency, and the my account showed that ******************************************* took $16,200.00 out of my account.I immediately notified the company to correct immediately as I was still needing the $6,200.00 for a family emergency. My account has not been corrected, and no money was put in checking account as a direct deposit.

      Business Response

      Date: 11/15/2024

      Please see attached response letter. 

    • Initial Complaint

      Date:10/29/2024

      Type:Customer Service Issues
      Status:
      Answered
      Resolved:
      The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
      Unresolved:
      The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
      Answered:
      The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
      Unanswered:
      The business failed to respond to the dispute.
      Unpursuable:
      BBB is unable to locate the business.
      Iv tryed to continue my life insurance coverage after i separated from the company i worked for usually they send mail to continue i received none. I attempted to call them but i was transferred 9 times in one hour in what i believe is an attempt to jerk me around until past the due date to continue the policy individually and none with 2 days left the finally email me the form i need to fill out

      Business Response

      Date: 11/12/2024

      Please be advised that privacy laws limit what information we can disclosed in our online responses. Upon our receipt of your inquiry, Lincoln's port and conversion team reviewed the consumer's group policy and determined that consumer is covered under a "self-administered" group. This means the consumer's employer sends out paperwork to continue coverage. Lincoln has not received any paperwork to continue life coverage. The consumer should contact the employer to determine what options are available. 

    • Initial Complaint

      Date:10/20/2024

      Type:Delivery Issues
      Status:
      Answered
      Resolved:
      The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
      Unresolved:
      The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
      Answered:
      The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
      Unanswered:
      The business failed to respond to the dispute.
      Unpursuable:
      BBB is unable to locate the business.
      I filed for a short term disabaility claim and was approved. I have never received a paper check from my job it's always been direct deposit. On oct.3 a check was issued to me. I still have not received said check. I tried reaching out multiple times thru e-mail no response. I call leave a message and my case worker calls back and tells me that my direct deposit information was in the system but somehow got deleted. She was suppose to call me back and let me know what's going on still haven't heard from them. Horrible experience so far.

      Business Response

      Date: 10/24/2024

      RE:         Complaint Case Number: 22447300
      Insured: ***** *******
      Complainant: ***** *******

      We are writing in response to your email dated 10/23/2024, to The Lincoln National Life Insurance Company (Lincoln Financial)regarding the above-referenced Case Number. Due to privacy laws, Lincoln Financial cannot provide you with any policy information regarding the complaint that ***** ******* filed.  Accordingly, Lincoln Financial attempted to contact Mr. ******* directly regarding this matter.

      Claim Supervisor, ***** *. attempted to reach out to Mr. ******* by phone on 10/24/2024 but was unsuccessful in reaching him by phone.  The supervisor sent Mr. ******* an email which included her contact information.  We encourage Mr. ******* to reach out to the supervisor to resolve the issue.

      Sincerely,
      ****** *.
      Claims Resolution Consultant
      Claims Resolution Services
      Lincoln Financial Group

    • Initial Complaint

      Date:10/14/2024

      Type:Service or Repair Issues
      Status:
      Answered
      Resolved:
      The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
      Unresolved:
      The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
      Answered:
      The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
      Unanswered:
      The business failed to respond to the dispute.
      Unpursuable:
      BBB is unable to locate the business.
      I have a disability claim with Lake in financial they were supposed to transfer my case over to long-term care at the beginning of September but they did it at the end of September. They dropped the ball and told me that they were going to send it to *********** I called *********** They do not have my case then I called Lincoln back then they said they opened up a long-term care case. The claim examiner was supposed to call me today. She did not call me. It has been one and a half months since I received the check due to Lincoln financial lack of professionalism and care for their clients.

      Business Response

      Date: 10/25/2024

      RE:  Complaint Case Number:  22421391
                Insured: ******* ******
                Complainant: ******* ******

      We are writing in response to your email dated 10/23/2024 to The Lincoln National Life Insurance Company (Lincoln Financial)regarding the above-referenced Case Number.  Due to privacy laws, Lincoln Financial cannot provide you with any policy information regarding the complaint that ****** ****** filed. Accordingly, Lincoln financial will respond directly to *********************************** ***** *. reached out to Ms. ****** by phone on 10/17/2024 to provide guidance on her claim.  We encourage Ms. ****** to reach out to her claims examiner if she has further questions.

      Sincerely,
      ****** *.
      Claim Resolution Consultant
      Claim Resolution Services
      Lincoln Financial Group

       

       

    • Initial Complaint

      Date:10/10/2024

      Type:Customer Service Issues
      Status:
      Answered
      Resolved:
      The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
      Unresolved:
      The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
      Answered:
      The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
      Unanswered:
      The business failed to respond to the dispute.
      Unpursuable:
      BBB is unable to locate the business.
      I went out on disability on August 29th and my employer does not pay into state disability so we pay into Lincoln Financial to provide payments. I completely understand that we do not get paid for the first 8 days. We are paid weekly I have received a total of 3 checks in the amount around $1400. I'm owed 4 pay checks that should total over $4000. I have informed the company that my mortgage is due and I would need my pay as I have never been late paying. I called my claims adjuster ******* and left 7 voicemails with no return call. I received an email from another adjuster Jamia on Sept 28th stating that they needed further documentation from me. I spoke with her on that following Monday and she informed me that the documents from my doctor had a blank page. I called my doctors office to informed them and have it re-sent. I then tried calling ******* and Jamia to see if they received it, I even had my call escalated to a supervisor ****** whom refused to take my calls and requested I be sent to voicemail and had yet to return any of my calls. All of their voicemail state that they return calls within 24 hours. ****** also assured the agent that she would call me by end of business yesterday. I received a call from Jamia acknowledging that she received my documents 5 days later and that they were forwarded to the clinical department and that review can take another week. I just feel like if anyone had taken the time to return my call I would have been knew that something was wrong and I could have the correction done immediately. I don't understand why management will not take my call if their team is not performing as they should be.

      Business Response

      Date: 10/21/2024

      We are writing in response to the complaint filed by ****** *******.  Due to privacy laws, Lincoln Financial cannot provide you with any policy information regarding the complaint.

      The claims supervisor for this matter reached out to Ms. ******* on 10/18/24 to discuss her concerns.  Thank you for bringing this matter to the company's attention.  If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us.

      Sincerely,

      ****** *.
      Claims Resolution Consultant
      Claims Resolution Services
      Lincoln Financial Group

      Customer Answer

      Date: 11/05/2024

      [To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed as Answered]

       

       Complaint: 22407319

      I am rejecting this response because:
      The letter received on 10/18 was in response to my original claim on 10/11. This has nothing to due with my current issue.

      Regards,

      ****** *******








      Business Response

      Date: 12/05/2024

      We are writing in response to the follow up received 12/5/2024.  As previously stated, privacy laws limit the amount of information that we can provide the Better Business Bureau regarding this matter.

      The prior filing from 10/17/2024 was regarding Ms. ********* inability to speak with a supervisor which was resolved on 10/18/2024 when she was contact by the claims supervisor.

      The claim was handled in accordance with the provisions of the policy.  The policy affords Ms. ******* the right of appeal should she disagree with the claims determination.  If the claims determination is the "current issue" she is referring to in her rejection we encourage her to exercise her right to appeal.

      Sincerely,

      ****** *.
      Claims Resolution Consultant
      Claims Resolution Services
      Lincoln Financial Group

    • Initial Complaint

      Date:10/09/2024

      Type:Service or Repair Issues
      Status:
      Resolved
      Resolved:
      The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
      Unresolved:
      The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
      Answered:
      The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
      Unanswered:
      The business failed to respond to the dispute.
      Unpursuable:
      BBB is unable to locate the business.
      I needed to apply for a personal loan from my 403b account, However I had two previous loans already in which I was aware of. I owed $486 on my active loan and $488 on my defaulted loan. I was told that all I needed to do was to pay off my defaulted loan before I could apply for another one which I did via wire transfer on June 6th 2024. I called to confirm that my defaulted loan was paid. I was told yes but I needed to wait for my account to clear in their system. I was calling for two weeks on and off only to be told that the money was deposited to my active loan and not the defaulted one as I requested. I was also told by customer service **** that they would put in a request to transfer funds to the defaulted account. I called several times but kept getting the run around. I borrowed money from a family member to again now pay for the defaulted loan which I paid $488 on July 24th via wire transfer. I was then told that everything was paid in full and I was able to apply for a loan on my account. On August 7, 2024 I applied for a $10,000 loan via email as instructed by customer **** ** was approved but I never received a deposit to my account. I have been contacting them for weeks straight only to be told that they made an error on my account and it needed to be corrected first in order for them to process my loan request. Everytime I call it's a different story from different people. I continued to call every week because right now my family is in a financial crisis. Whenever I would ask to speak to a manager I was told that it wasn't anyone available. On Sep. 25 I was finally spoke to someone on the leadership team by the name of ***** *****. All she could tell me was how they have an influx of mistakes and errors from their end that needed to be corrected and she can't give me any information on when it would be completed and when I will receive my deposit. On Oct 2 and the 7th I received the same email saying that she basically don't have any undated info.

      Customer Answer

      Date: 11/21/2024

      Good evening, Just wanted to inform you that my complaint has been resolved by the company. Thank you for your support.

    Lincoln National Corporation is NOT a BBB Accredited Business.

    To become accredited, a business must agree to BBB Standards for Trust and pass BBB's vetting process.

    Why choose a BBB Accredited Business?

    BBB Business Profiles may not be reproduced for sales or promotional purposes.

    BBB Business Profiles are provided solely to assist you in exercising your own best judgment. BBB asks third parties who publish complaints, reviews and/or responses on this website to affirm that the information provided is accurate. However, BBB does not verify the accuracy of information provided by third parties, and does not guarantee the accuracy of any information in Business Profiles.

    When considering complaint information, please take into account the company's size and volume of transactions, and understand that the nature of complaints and a firm's responses to them are often more important than the number of complaints.

    BBB Business Profiles generally cover a three-year reporting period, except for customer reviews. Customer reviews posted prior to July 5, 2024, will no longer be published when they reach three years from their submission date. Customer reviews posted on/after July 5, 2024, will be published indefinitely unless otherwise voluntarily retracted by the user who submitted the content, or BBB no longer believes the review is authentic. BBB Business Profiles are subject to change at any time. If you choose to do business with this company, please let them know that you checked their record with BBB.

    As a matter of policy, BBB does not endorse any product, service or business. Businesses are under no obligation to seek BBB accreditation, and some businesses are not accredited because they have not sought BBB accreditation. BBB charges a fee for BBB Accreditation. This fee supports BBB's efforts to fulfill its mission of advancing marketplace trust.