What is colonial penn\s 995 plan

Would it surprise you to learn that a single $9.95 Colonial Penn unit would give a 50-year-old male only $1,669 of life insurance?

If you’re older, you’ll get even less coverage.

And Colonial Penn units have a 2-year waiting period before you’re insured.

Don’t be lured by their deceptive ads.

Colonial Penn life insurance is objectively one of the worst policies you can buy.

You can get way more coverage for the dollar spent from dozens of other life insurance companies.

Not to mention, multiple other insurance providers offer no waiting period coverage.

Topics Covered In This Article

• $9.95 plan breakdown
• How do units work?
  • Rate chart
• Pros & cons
• Alternate whole life option
  • Living insurance
• No term life insurance
• Customer complaints
• 3rd party ratings
• Company background
• Better options
• The bottom line
• FAQs

How The $9.95 Colonial Penn Life Insurance Plan Works

The Colonial Penn life insurance plan for $9.95 per month is a guaranteed acceptance whole life policy with a waiting period of two years.

It offers permanent lifelong coverage with a premium that will never increase and builds cash value.

There are no health questions or exams to determine your eligibility.

They guarantee your approval regardless of what health conditions you may have.

Tip:

With the 995 plan, if you die during the first two years, your beneficiaries will only receive a refund of the premiums and a small interest amount. You must live for at least 24 months before your loved ones get the full death benefit.

Strangely, they sell this coverage using a unit system. Each unit provides a particular amount of life insurance.

Fifteen units are the maximum amount of death benefit coverage you can buy.

Everyone pays only $9.95 as the monthly premium per insurance unit.

How much coverage you get from each unit varies based on age and gender.

Before you sign on the dotted line, consider this very critical question:

How much life insurance coverage do you get for $9.95?

The short answer is not much.

The following paragraph shows precisely how much coverage a unit provides for all ages.

What Is A Unit?

A unit of Colonial Penn coverage corresponds to the life insurance death benefit amount the policyholders receive for $9.95 per month.

Your age and gender determine the exact amount of insurance coverage a single unit provides.

Use the Colonial Penn life insurance calculator and table below to see how much coverage you get using their unit system.

Colonial Penn rate chart

Choose your age and gender to see the total monthly cost and how much life insurance you’ll get per number of units.

The table below illustrates exactly how much coverage a single unit provides based on age and gender.

Pros & Cons Of Colonial Penn Life Insurance

Pros

• No medical exam required
• Guaranteed acceptance coverage options
• Seniors up to age 85 can apply
• Coverage is available in all states
• Strong financial rating (A- Am Best rating)
• 100% online application
• Living benefit rider options for cancer, heart attack, or stroke
• You can pay via credit card or mail in monthly payments

Cons

• Highly deceptive ads
• Extremely overpriced coverage relative to other carriers
• All seniors age 75 or older have a waiting period
• No options below age 40 or above 85
• Strict underwriting for their whole life coverage that has health questions that tends to deny common health issues 
• A confusing unit system that makes it hard to understand how much coverage you’re getting
• Lots of negative reviews online from previous customers
• $50,000 is the most insurance you can buy
• No term or universal life insurance

Alternate Colonial Penn Whole Life Insurance Option

They don’t advertise it, but Colonial Penn offers another whole life policy outside their $9.95 plan.

As you can see from their products page, this whole life policy is much different.

In short, this policy isn’t sold by the unit and has an underwriting component. It’s not a guaranteed issue plan, so you’ll have to qualify medically.

No medical exam is required, but you must answer these health questions.

If you’re approved, there is no waiting period.

The underwriting on this plan is rather strict, so unless you’re in picture-perfect health, don’t expect to qualify.

Even if you do qualify, the prices aren’t very competitive.

For example, A 66-year-old male would pay $70.15 per month for $10,000 in coverage with this Colonial Penn whole life plan.

In comparison, Mutual of Omaha would charge only $59.85 per month.

Below is a table that compares both of their whole life options.

Living Insurance® from Colonial Penn

When you apply for their whole life product with health questions, they allow you to add two different “living benefit” riders.

These riders cost extra, and you can only choose one. You cannot have both added to your policy.

• Critical Illness: This allows you to access up to 50% of your death benefit if you suffer a heart attack, stroke, or are diagnosed with a terminal illness.
• Cancer: Allows you to receive up to 50% of your death benefit if you are diagnosed with cancer (not all forms) or a terminal illness.

Essentially, they provide an additional layer of protection if you’re ever diagnosed with a chronic illness or major health event.

If you opt to purchase their whole life policy with health questions, adding one of these riders would be a good idea.

Colonial Penn Does Not Offer Term Life Insurance

Although they did in the past, Colonial Penn currently does not sell term life insurance.

At present, whole life insurance is the only type of policy they offer.

If you currently have a term life policy with Colonial Penn, they will honor it per the terms of the original agreement.

Colonial Penn Customer Complaints

Over the years, they have racked up quite a few Colonial Penn life insurance complaints. When you analyze their complaint ratio with the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, their numbers are well above the average.

Their 2021 NAIC complaint ratio for individual life insurance products was 23.29, nearly 23 times higher than the average life insurance company.

Them getting many complaints isn’t surprising given their misleading advertising.

When an insurance company makes it appear as if everyone can get $10,000 in life insurance coverage for $9.95 per month, it’s no surprise that many angry customers file grievances.

Third-Party Financial Strength Ratings

Colonial Penn has an A- (Excellent) rating with AM Best, Standard & Poor’s, and Fitch Ratings. Moody’s has their rating at A3.

The one rating organization where they shine brightest is the Better Business Bureau. They currently have an A+ rating with the BBB.

Colonial Penn Life Insurance Company Background

AARP’s co-founder Leonard Davis founded Colonial Penn Life Insurance company in 1968. Colonial Penn is owned by the parent company CNO Financial Group.

They were one of the first insurers to offer guaranteed acceptance policies. They have even sold Medicare supplemental plans in the past.

For many years, Alex Trebek was the face of Penn Life Insurance Company. He was their paid endorser until his death on November 8, 2020.

They now feature Colonial Penn sales manager Jonathan Lawson as the pitchman in their commercials.

Most of their licensed insurance agents work from the home office in downtown Philadephia Pennsylvania. However, some of their agents work from home.

• Website: www.colonialpenn.com
• Address: 399 Market St, Philadelphia, PA 19181
• Phone number (all states except NY): 1-877-877-8052
• Phone number for New York residents: 1-800-323-4542

How To Find Better Options Than Colonial Penn Final Expense Insurance

If you are looking for life insurance for a senior, you can 100% get a much lower price elsewhere.

In addition, you can likely get coverage with no waiting period.

The biggest issue with Alex Trebek’s life insurance is that you’re dealing with a captive insurance company.

When you speak to a Colonial Penn agent, they cannot shop around and show you another insurance company that could potentially give you a better deal.

The trick to finding the best and most affordable final expense life insurance (or any other type of life insurance) is to work with an independent insurance agency. Only an independent agency can compare offers from multiple providers.

An independent broker such as Choice Mutual will shop the market for you to determine which insurance carrier has the best price and coverage based on your unique situation.

Believe it or not, it does not cost you a fee to work with an independent agency, and the insurance itself isn’t more expensive.

Working with an independent agency can save you as much as 70% on your life insurance (this is not an exaggeration).

You can call us at 1-800-644-2926, and we can assist you. We’re independent and have over 15 different A rating companies that we will shop for you. Final expense life insurance is our specialty. It’s all we do.

Below are genuine reviews from past customers who allowed us to serve them.

The Bottom Line

Colonial Penn earned 1 star out of 5 for overall performance. Choice Mutual’s ratings are determined by our editorial team. The scoring formula considers consumer experience, complaint data from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, and financial strength ratings.

Learn about our rating methodology.

Policy rates relative to other carriers

Credit ratings from A.M. Best

Consumer feedback from third-party websites like Facebook, Yelp, and Trustpilot

Up-to-date complaint score from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners

Advertising Practices

1.0

Accuracy and trustworthiness of marketing

Number of policy types, including no-exam options

Frequently Asked Questions

One unit of Colonial Penn Life insurance costs $9.95 per month, regardless of your age or gender.

Colonial Penn life insurance plans are generally not a good deal compared to other providers. For starters, most Colonial Penn clients have a 2-year waiting period that could have been avoided elsewhere. That aside, their prices are much higher than many other companies.

Colonial Penn currently only sells whole life insurance. They used to offer term life insurance, but they discontinued it.

Everyone, regardless of their age and gender, pays just $9.95 for their guaranteed acceptance coverage. The most you can buy is 15 units. The amount of life insurance provided by a single unit depends on your exact age and gender.

Colonial Penn burial insurance is generally their guaranteed acceptance 995 plan. You cannot be denied due to pre-existing conditions, and everyone pays just $9.95 per unit. How much coverage you get for a single unit depends on your gender and age.

What does Colonial Penn give you for $9.95 a month?

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