Quick answer
Colonial Penn is an A rated (Excellent) insurer owned by CNO Financial Group, best known for its $9.95 per unit guaranteed acceptance whole life for ages 50 to 85. The program asks no health questions and cannot turn you down, but two details matter: a unit is not a fixed amount of coverage, so the same $9.95 buys less death benefit the older you are, and non-accidental death in the first two years pays a return of premiums plus interest rather than the face amount. Healthier seniors frequently get several times more coverage per dollar from simplified-issue alternatives.
What you need to know about Colonial Penn:
Colonial Penn is a life insurance company based in Pennsylvania that offers renewable term life insurance, permanent whole life insurance, and guaranteed acceptance life insurance.
Colonial Penn typically markets life insurance for seniors using Alex Trebek as their national spokesman in print and TV advertising.
As a sister company to Bankers Life and Casualty Company, CNO Financial owns Colonial Penn wholly as a subsidiary. Also, in the state of New York Bankers Conseco Life Insurance underwrites all of Colonial Penn’s life insurance offerings.
Before you make a decision about going with one of their policies, you should learn a bit more about what Colonial Penn is actually offering.
The three types of policies Colonial Penn offers:
- Guaranteed Acceptance Life insurance
- Renewable Term Life Insurance
- Simplified Issue Whole Life Insurance
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Term Life Insurance
Policy Details
- Available for ages 18-75
- No medical exam
- Builds a cash value component
- Rates increase as insureds get older, based on specific age brackets
- Guaranteed renewable until age 90
- Up to $50,000 of coverage is available
- Instant issue life insurance
- Coverage is not available in Maine, Montana, New York, or Vermont
Considerations:
What’s notable here is that even though this policy offers the added convenience of no medical exam life insurance, it has some issues. Specifically, the $50,000 coverage limit is very low compared to so many other options that are available. Coupled with the spotty availability based on your state, you may be better served looking at other term offerings.
Guaranteed Acceptance Life Insurance
Policy Details:
- Available for ages 50-85
- No medical exam, but still requires answers to health questions
- They can’t cancel your coverage
- Graded benefits for the first two years
- Locked in premiums
- Maximum benefit of $20,000
Considerations:
As with any guaranteed issue policy, insured’s run the issue of outliving their policy. To help remedy this here’s a helpful formula to consider:
Death Benefit / (Monthly premium x 12) = How Many Years Until You Outlive Your Policy
Alongside that consideration, the benefit of this policy is also very low compared to others. Plus, the graded death benefits mean that the only a portion of the benefit will pay out if the insured dies in the first two years of their policy. That coupled with the possibility of outliving your policy, give you plenty to think about in terms of this policy.
Permanent Whole Life
Policy Details:
- Available for ages 40-75
- No medical exam
- Builds a cash value component
- Premiums based on health and age when the policy starts
- Maximum benefit of $50,000
- Policy is not available in Maine or Vermont
Considerations:
Similar to both the term and permanent policies, the maximum benefit here is a lot lower than comparably priced policies. Not to mention, it also has variable premiums depending on your health when you apply for the policy.
Colonial Penn Life Insurance Pricing
Colonial Penn products for seniors are priced HIGHER than the similar products offered by competitors, as demonstrated below:
Colonial Penn Life Insurance Price Comparisons
| Company | Guaranteed Acceptance Whole Life Policy | Maximum Coverage | Price Per Month |
|---|---|---|---|
 Gerber | Yes | $25,000 | $44.78 |
 AIG | Yes | $25,000 | $44.81 |
 Great Western | Yes | $40,000 | $47.50 |
 Colonial Penn | Yes | $7,040 | $56.53 |
These prices are calculated for a 65 year old male with $5,000 in coverage.
Colonial Penn Insurance Review
Customer Satisfaction
Colonial Penn Life Insurance does have a few blemishes regarding overall customer satisfaction. Colonial Penn has had 130 complaints filed against the company in 2022 per NAIC, which is higher than average for a life insurance company. Most of these complaints were surrounding premium refunds regarding their Guaranteed Issue policies. Click on the logos below to read more reviews on the company.
Who Is Colonial Penn Life Insurance Best For?
Based on customer reviews, pricing, and underwriting practices; Colonial Penn is best for customers who can not get guaranteed acceptance life insurance from any other life insurance company.
Many other companies like Gerber, AIG, and Mutual of Omaha offer equal or better quality guaranteed issue and final expense products at prices that are up to 33% less than Colonial Penn. Not to mention, that the maximum benefits on their term and simplified issue life insurance offerings are significantly lower than many competitors as well.
As always, we highly encourage all customers to get quotes from other companies prior to purchasing any form of insurance. Prospective insured will likely find more coverage at a better premium if they shop around.
If you’d like to explore their options further, you can click here to get sample quotes from Colonial Penn.
If you would like to shop around more, Insurancy has helpful agents who are ready to help find you the best life insurance coverage. You can review the offerings we have listed on our final expense life insurance. Instead, if you’d like to reach us directly, give us a call at (855) 458-1985.
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