Colonial Penn Life Insurance Company Reviews

Colonial Penn Life Insurance Company Reviews
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    Our review of the Colonial Penn life insurance company will cover everything you need to know about them, their products, rates, and their confusing Unit pricing. We’ll even cover how their life insurance policies work as well as the pros and cons with our complete Colonial Penn Life Insurance Company Reviews!

    PROS

    No medical exam is required. Has a guaranteed approval product. Whole life fixed premium

    CONS

    Small coverage amounts. Premiums are higher compared to some other companies

    Colonial Penn Life Insurance Company

    62.23
    Cost
    Products
    Financial Strength
    Review Summary

    Colonial Penn provides shoppers simple and easy life insurance options. Unfortunately, their prices, products and options can often be beat by the competition. Also, based on the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC)- they have a higher than average customer complaint record.

    Below Average

    If you’re just looking for an instant quote to compare rates – simply click on our free life insurance calculator. Keep reading or use our easy table of contents below and jump right to the topics you’re searching for.

    Colonial Penn Life Insurance Company Pricing

    As we wrote above in our review summary, Colonial Penn life insurance products are typically more compared to other similar products sold by the competition. Let’s look at how seniors can save by shopping around.

    Colonial Penn Rates

    Colonial Penn Life Vs Competition

    Colonial Penn

    Too Much!
    $ 79
    60
    Monthly
    • Male
    • Age 65
    • $7,456 Face Amount*

    AIG

    BETTER DEAL!
    $ 67
    72
    Monthly
    • Male
    • Age 65
    • $8,000 Face Amount*
    • 15% SAVINGS + More Coverage!
    Savings

    Why only $7,456*?

    Did you see the little “*” that was included in our comparison above? That was included due to Colonial Penn’s confusing system of using “Units.”

    In our example above, the maximum amount of coverage that a man age 65 can purchase without any health questions was $7,456.

    Why does Colonial Penn use a Unit?

    What exactly is a “unit” anyway? Colonial Penn uses something called a unit to calculate the total death benefit available to you. The unit refers to the total death benefit available based on how old you are and your gender. Colonial Penn doesn’t provide a maximum death benefit like other companies. For instance, most companies will simply provide consumers a simple choice of $10,000 or $25,000 for their maximum coverage amount. Not Colonial Penn.

    We broke down a quick example below for a 65 year old man shopping for life insurance. In the chart below so you can see how Gerber Life and AIG is straightforward with their maximum coverage. Colonial Penn used their confusing “units” to show the maximum amount available.

    life insurance quote

    Colonial Penn vs Gerber vs AIG

    Age 65 / MaleColonial PennGerber LifeAIG
    Maximum Benefit Without Health Questions$7,456$25,000$25,000
    Fixed PremiumYesYesYes
    Qualification Questions?NoNoNo
    Paramedical Exam?NoNoNo
    Guaranteed Issue?YesYesYes

    Colonial Penn’s Confusing Rates

    Let’s take a look at their rates. We calculated a sample “John Doe” quote for the Colonial Penn Guaranteed Acceptance product. Once again, we used a 65 year old a male from Florida for our example. Colonial Penn’s plan returned a confusing range of rates based on their units of coverage.

    Below is snapshot image and explanation of the quote results:

    colonial penn rates

    Guaranteed Issue Life Insurance from $9.95 month

    Looking at the sample above, 1 unit shows a minimum death benefit coverage amount of $932 for $9.95 per month. That’s a pretty bizarre number.

    Remember that Colonial Penn’s rates are determined by “units”.  This is the complete opposite way of how almost every life insurance company determines their rate. Each unit will depend on the applicants age, gender and number of units.

    Therefore, every applicant will get a different coverage amount for the same exact premium. 

    The maximum coverage premium for our example quote above came came to $79.60 a month with a maximum coverage amount of $7,456. 

    WHAT!?!

    Why would Colonial Penn offer life insurance shoppers this odd coverage amount? More than likely it’s so they can use their creative marketing strategy of offering you life insurance for $9.95 per month

    They absolutely do offer it, but as you can see – it’s not a good deal. 

    life insurance tip

    It isn’t a scam. It’s all in Colonial Penn’s fine print, however it seems a bit misleading to the typical life insurance shopper.

    You can do better than Colonial Penn

    Colonial Penn’s life insurance policies have a tendency to be much higher than any other kind of policy. Not only that, but you’ll often have significantly lower coverage amounts as the image below shows. 

    As you can see, our John Doe example can purchase $8,000 in coverage for less than $68.

    You’re reading that correctly. 

    You’ll get more coverage at a lower rate if you buy from AIG or Gerber Life.

    Colonial Penn Term Life vs Other Carriers

    Why are their rates so much higher? 

    Colonial Penn’s high prices may have something to do with their marketing as their advertisements are frequently on TV. 

    Paying celebrities like Ed McMahon and Alex Trebek to be your spokesman isn’t cheap. 

    Those marketing costs get passed down to the consumer.

    Colonial Penn Rate Lock Commercial

    If you’ve seen Colonial Penn’s commercials then you may have gotten excited when Alex Trebek mentioned their Rate Lock.  He goes on to explain that your Colonial Penn monthly premium will never change with their whole life policy.

    Newsflash!

    life insurance help

    This isn’t unique to Colonial Penn. In fact it is how all whole life insurance policies work. This isn’t some special feature that you’ll only get with Colonial Penn. 

    Gerber Life, AIG, Mutual of Omaha….they all have rate locks.

    Find out if we can beat Colonial Penn's price!

    Will Colonial Penn or some other company like Aetna, Americo or Cigna Life get you the best deal? If you want to make sure you’re getting the best life insurance policy available, here’s what you need to do…

    Compare Quotes

    Use our online instant calculator to compare rates from dozens of the top companies.

    Total Time Needed: 5 minutes
    Total Cost: 0 USD

    Required Tools:

    - A Computer.
    - Internet Connection.

    Things Needed?

    - A pen
    - A piece of paper

    Steps to get an accurate quote

    Use the calculator on this page or click the link above to visit our instant quotes page.
    Step 2 : Input coverage details
    Fill out the basics about what you’re wanting, how much coverage, for how long, etc. That way we can understand your situation before we can help you. Complete the calculator details as accurately as possible, and be absolutely sure your contact information is correct so we can reach you.
    Step 3 : Get help from a licensed agent
    Once you’ve filled out the calculator, one of our licensed agents will  provide you all your options and plan out who will provide you the best rate based on your specific health and goals. All of the recommendations will be based off of the details you provide. It’s very important that you're honest and answer your agent's questions accurately. 
    Step 4 : Compare realistic rates
    This is where we really begin working to figure out exactly which company will get you the best rate, and how to make it happen. There are literally hundreds of companies and thousands of policy options available. We'll make sure you get the best one based on what you'll qualify for.

    Colonial Penn Life Insurance Products

    With Colonial Penn, you’ll get access to 3 basic types of life insurance policies. With each policy you’ll have a 30 money back guarantee. This guarantee is something all companies provide. With Colonial Penn you can purchase:

    Term Life

    Colonial Penn offers shoppers a renewable term policy. You must be between the ages of 18 and 75 with the option to renew up to age 90. You need to be aware: Colonial Penn’s term rates will increase in time when your life insurance policy renews when you’re older.

    Colonial Penn term life face amounts go up to $50,000.

    Whole Life

    Beginning at age 40, you can buy Colonial Penn’s whole life policy. You do need to prequalify for this policy to be approved, but there is no medical exam required. 

    Colonial Penn’s whole life policy will grow cash value like all whole life policies. The maximum face amount for their whole life policy is $50,000.

    Guaranteed Issue Life Insurance

    More than likely this is the policy you’ve seen advertised on TV. Colonial Penn’s guaranteed issue whole life insurance policy is available for ages 50 to 85. Like other final expense life insurance policies, it does not require a medical exam, but is has a graded benefit.

    What is a Graded Benefit?

    All guaranteed issue policies have a graded benefit. When you hear the word “benefit” it’s usually a good thing. Unfortunately, it’s another way of saying that the policy has a waiting period before the entire death benefit is available. Colonial Penn has a 2 year waiting period on their policy. This is pretty standard for guaranteed issue final expense life insurance policies. In fact some companies have 3 years or more.

    Don’t Buy Guaranteed Issue Unless You Have To

    You should never purchase a guaranteed issue policy unless you’re uninsurable. A guaranteed acceptance policy is a policy of last resort. They are the most expensive policy available when you compare the monthly premium to the amount of coverage you receive.

    Even if you have some significant health risks, you may qualify for a no medical exam simplified issue policy. These policies only have a few questions and each company is different. Make sure you get help from an independent life insurance agent like us at Life Insurance Blog. Everyone wants to buy from a top 10 life insurance company. We use over 60 top rated companies to shop for our clients so they can be sure they’re getting the best deal available.

    Colonial Penn Company Details

    Name(s): Colonial Penn Life Insurance Company; CNO Financial Group, Inc

    Address:
    399 Market Street
    Philadelphia PA, 19106

    Phone: 800-523-9100

    Website: https://colonialpenn.com/

    Ratings: A.M. Best (A-), Standard & Poor’s (BBB+), Fitch (BBB+) Comdex (N/A)

    Colonial Penn Life Insurance Company Reviews

    As can probably tell from this review, we aren’t the biggest fans of the Colonial Penn life insurance company. If you shopping for a Colonial Penn plan or already have one of their policies, we’d recommend shopping around – especially if you’re healthy.

    Sure, it’s better to have a life insurance plan from Colonial Penn than not having coverage at all. However, you’re probably paying more for less coverage.  So who is a better choice?

    Here is our review of the Top Final Expense Companies in the market. We also recommend these top 3 companies:

    1. AIG
    2. Gerber Life 
    3. Mutual of Omaha 

    If you have any questions about Colonial Penn or any other company, please contact us. We’ll help you find the best company you can qualify for. You won’t get any pushy sales techniques – just a dedicated licensed independent agent who will help you fro start to finish.

    Contact us today and let’s see how we can help you!

    Picture of Michael Quinn

    Michael Quinn

    Michael is a licensed life insurance agent, expert & owner of Life Insurance Blog. LIB has helped thousands of shoppers understand life insurance and secure affordable coverage.

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