Colonial Penn Life Insurance Ratings & Full Review
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Kristen Gryglik
Licensed Insurance Agent
Kristen is a licensed insurance agent working in the greater Boston area. She has over 20 years of experience counseling individuals and businesses on which insurance policies best fit their needs and budgets. She knows everyone has their own unique needs and circumstances, and she is passionate about counseling others on which policy is right for them. Licensed in Massachusetts, New Hampshire,...
Licensed Insurance Agent
UPDATED: Dec 4, 2023
It’s all about you. We want to help you make the right coverage choices.
Advertiser Disclosure: We strive to help you make confident insurance decisions. Comparison shopping should be easy. We are not affiliated with any one insurance provider and cannot guarantee quotes from any single provider.
Our insurance industry partnerships don’t influence our content. Our opinions are our own. To compare quotes from many different insurance companies please enter your ZIP code on this page to use the free quote tool. The more quotes you compare, the more chances to save.
Editorial Guidelines: We are a free online resource for anyone interested in learning more about insurance. Our goal is to be an objective, third-party resource for everything insurance related. We update our site regularly, and all content is reviewed by insurance experts.
UPDATED: Dec 4, 2023
It’s all about you. We want to help you make the right coverage choices.
Advertiser Disclosure: We strive to help you make confident insurance decisions. Comparison shopping should be easy. We are not affiliated with any one insurance provider and cannot guarantee quotes from any single provider.
Our insurance industry partnerships don’t influence our content. Our opinions are our own. To compare quotes from many different insurance companies please enter your ZIP code on this page to use the free quote tool. The more quotes you compare, the more chances to save.
On This Page
What’s New in 2021 for Colonial Penn Life Insurance
How Has Covid-19 Affected Colonial Penn Life Insurance
The company responded to this challenging time by transitioning workers to remote positions while maintaining normal business operations for customers. Colonial Penn provided extended time periods for customers having difficulty paying monthly premiums.
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New Products or Changes
Colonial recently introduced a new policy called Living Insurance. This provides a 50% payout prior to death to pay for serious illness.
Colonial Penn Life Insurance in the News
The company was hit with a Florida class-action lawsuit in April 2021. Allegations pertained to multiple telemarketing calls made by brokers or independent agents. The plaintiff, Nancy Lang, reported, “I have not requested any information from any insurance company in over a decade.”
2021 Latest Colonial Penn Life Insurance Reviews
Frank from Nevada rated Colonial Penn as 1 out of 5 in February 2021 because his elderly parents paid over $40,000 in premiums for a policy that only pays out $21,000 in death benefits. He stated his concerns that the company misled his parents.
A February 2021 Better Business Bureau complaint reported that a customer suffered a lapsed policy due to a debit card expiring. The company admitted they were at fault but still asked the customer to redo the medical exam and paperwork so that the policy could start over.
ValuePenguin updated their Colonial Penn review in April 2021 and reports that customers can conveniently apply online for all life insurance products.
If you’re reading reviews because you’re looking for the right policy, you may be wondering why anyone would use Colonial Penn Life Insurance.
Tell that to the thousands of Colonial Penn insurance customers that have saved themselves time and money with this purchase.
Sure, their prices are higher than average…
…but the amount you pay for your life insurance isn’t the only factor to consider when you’re buying a policy.
Confused? Let me explain below.
Quick Guide / Table of Contents:
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Colonial Penn Background
I don’t know anything about insurers..can you tell me a little bit about Colonial Penn Life Insurance?
Sure can, let’s go!
Colonial Penn Life Insurance Reviews are a dime a dozen, but we really dig deep.
Here’s a little background on Colonial Penn Life Insurance. After all, it’s good to get as much information about a company as you can when you’re considering them for your insurance needs.
Colonial Penn’s HQ is in Philadelphia and they were founded in 1968.
They specialize in covering people between the ages of 50 and 85 and/or people with serious medical conditions. In other words, they’re very accepting of high-risk applicants who may otherwise find it difficult to find reasonably priced life insurance.
Colonial Penn Life Insurance Products
Hmmm, can you tell me a bit more about their offering?
Colonial Penn Life has three life insurance products…
…and they’re relatively standard — not that there’s anything wrong with that. Let’s check them out now:
Guaranteed Acceptance Life Insurance
- Guaranteed coverage
- Locked-in benefit amount
- Locked in premium
- Choose from paying premiums monthly, quarterly, semi-annually, or annually
Term Life Insurance
- Available for people between 18-75 years old
- Cheap premiums, temporary coverage (i.e. 10, 20, 30 year terms)
Permanent Life Insurance
- Available for people 40-75 (payable to age 121)
- Cash-value build-up component
- Permanent coverage, but more expensive premiums
***IMPORTANT!! COLONIAL PENN INSURANCE DOES NOT REQUIRE A MEDICAL EXAM FOR ANY OF THEIR POLICIES
We’ll get into why that’s so significant a bit later… if you can’t already guess, that is 😉
The Pros
Chris – it sounds like this is an interesting company – but why should I consider them? Well, they have a unique offering.
Let’s take a look…
Great! Now that you know more about Colonial Penn, let’s explore their life insurance offering in a little more depth.
YES, there are some VERY good reasons for you to consider purchasing a policy from Colonial Penn Life Insurance. Let’s take a gander now:
Quick Pros:
- They are lenient when it comes to their life insurance health ratings, and even have guaranteed acceptance policies
- No medical exam is required
- You can get covered FAST
- Getting a quote is quick and convenient
Colonial Welcomes High Risk and Older Policyholders
Let’s get started with some of the good stuff. First of all, Colonial Penn Insurance will cover just about anyone.
This means that if you’ve been denied coverage because you’re considered a high-risk applicant, Colonial Penn Life Insurance will welcome you with open arms.
One of the drawbacks to this leniency is that their policies are more expensive than the majority of their competitors.
But guess what? High-risk applicants pay through the roof for their life insurance anyway — even with the cheaper companies.
That’s because most life insurance companies require medical exams, so they’ll end up factoring your health issues into the cost of your premiums.
Check Out Colonial Penn Even If You’ve Been Declined!
Colonial Penn Insurance is a solid choice for people with medical issues that want to cover at least some of the final expenses for their family. Did you know a funeral can cost more than $10,000? Yeah, that figure was shocking to me too!
To make it worse, only one out of six funeral homes post full price lists online, making it difficult to compare costs, a new survey by the Funeral Consumers Alliance and Consumer Federation of America of 26 U.S. cities found.
Without the ability to shop online, you may spend far more than you planned on a burial or cremation, the consumer groups warn.
“Faced with grief, American families often emerge from the arrangements office in sticker shock,” the report states. “Many grieving people are loathe to question the price tag, though they may regret it later.” Why This Group Wants You to Know the Cost to Bury You Loved One – AZCentral
Perhaps more importantly, it’s very unlikely you’ll be denied coverage.
Many people with health issues, especially those who aren’t expected to live a long life, find it difficult to get accepted by most life insurance companies.
This means families need to pay for final expenses and more out of their own pockets.
The exciting news is, Colonial Penn Insurance won’t hang you or your family out to dry, regardless of your health condition(s).
No Medical Exam Needed
It’s is very unusual for me to recommend no-exam life insurance. Why?
Because is expensive and 9 times out of 10 you’ll get a better deal if you opt for a term policy that requires a medical checkup.
The simple fact of the matter is, life insurance companies don’t take on additional risk without passing the cost on their customers. This means your premiums will be COSTLY.
That being said, there are people who would be turned down for traditional term policies because they are VERY high risk and the underwriters wouldn’t advise the company to go down that road.
If you fall into that category, Colonial Penn Life Insurance may very well be the right insurer for you.
The truth of the matter is, if you’re ill, even IF you could find a company to insure you, you’d be rated and pay out the nose anyway. So Colonial Penn Insurance seems like a lot less hassle.
In a nutshell, medical exams slow the whole process because they must be scheduled and the results analyzed.
Since Colonial Penn Life Insurance omits the medical exam for all of their policies, you’ll be accepted almost instantly. For this reason, Colonial Penn can help you out when most insurance companies can’t.
QUICK Coverage
Colonial Penn’s lenient acceptance and no medical exam policies are also PERFECT for people that need to get covered quickly. In fact, even their term and whole life policies don’t require a medical exam, which is extremely rare.
So, what are the advantages to this?
Well, if you’re required to take a medical exam, then it’s going to take longer for your application to be reviewed and accepted. For people with serious medical conditions, this isn’t an option.
On top of this, your rates won’t be higher due to medical conditions, since you don’t need to disclose your health issues.
Get Speedy Quotes
Nothing is without challenges. Are instant quotes EVER as easy as they sound?
When you take a look at the Colonial Penn Insurance website, you’ll see that they advertise an instant quote for your life insurance premiums.
Skeptical?
Yeah, I was too. That’s why I started to plug-in information to see how quick it’d really be.
The first step is to choose which life insurance product you’d like to purchase:
I opted for a term life insurance policy, because…
…well, let’s save that debate for another time!
Anyway, the next thing you’ll need to do is plug in your date of birth, state, gender, and email. I entered in a random birthday to see what the prices on term life insurance would be for a 38-year-old male from Massachusetts.
Remember, your age, gender, and state all have an impact on the price of your premiums. So, for a 38 year old male from Massachusetts, I got these rough estimates:
Well, I’ve gotta hand it to Colonial Penn Life Insurance — their quotes are pretty instant. No fuss no muss!
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The Cons
Wow! Colonial Penn Life Insurance is looking pretty promising – so are there any cons?
YES, absolutely, because Colonial Penn Insurance has a unique offering, it’s not for everyone. Let’s check out some details that may make you put on the brakes…
Prices…
At the end of the day, most of the people who come to my site are looking for information about how much their life insurance is gonna cost ’em.
Yes, of course, the other details I provide are appreciated and help them navigate through the system.
….but savings tips and advice on finding the best and CHEAPEST policy is one of the most important parts of any review.
So, how does Colonial Penn Life insurance stack up next to its competitors?
If you’re new to life insurance, those figures I posted above might look like a bargain…
….but that’s exactly why the number one rule in life insurance, is to shop around for companies before settling in on a policy.
As with all forms of insurance, it pays to shop around to ensure you get the best deal, whether you are buying a policy for the first time or already have coverage in place.
However, the small print will vary between insurers, so make sure you know exactly what you are signing up for. Five Ways to Get Cheaper Life Insurance, BT
As I Mentioned Above – Colonial Penn Life Insurance is EXPENSIVE
Yes, these prices are actually significantly higher than most term life insurance policies. But there is a solid reason for this.
Colonial Penn is set-up with high-risk applicants in mind. This means the insurer is taking on more risk with their applicants and they pass that risk on to you by way of elevated premiums.
If you’re healthy, I would not recommend a carrier like Colonial Penn. But if you’re considered high risk and would be rated after a health exam, this is a pretty good deal.
So let’s check out some rates for different periods of your life now:
Term Life Insurance Quotes Colonial Penn Life Insurance
Age | $20,000 | $30,000 | $40,000 | $50,000 |
---|---|---|---|---|
38 Year Old Male | $14.98 | $21.72 | $28.47 | $35.21 |
48 Year Old Male | $23.48 | $34.47 | $45.46 | $56.46 |
58 Year Old Male | $40.82 | $60.47 | $80.13 | $99.79 |
68 Year Old Male | $77.51 | $115.52 | $153.53 | $191.53 |
*Life Insurance Quotes based on a male, non-smoker*
So the next step is to compare them with one of our traditional insurers like Transamerica Life Insurance…
Hold on a sec – I have high blood pressure. What’s that gonna do to this quote? I’m worried about the medical exam…
Good news! Blood pressure, if well-controlled, isn’t something life insurance companies ding you hard for.
But let’s say for argument’s sake you only qualify for a standard rating with Transamerica……
Term Life Insurance Quotes Transamerica Life Insurance
Age | $25,000 | $50,000 | $75,000 | $100,000 |
---|---|---|---|---|
38 Year Old Male | $10.23 | $15.31 | $20.38 | $20.55 |
48 Year Old Male | $14.96 | $24.77 | $34.57 | $35.43 |
58 Year Old Male | $29.33 | $53.49 | $77.66 | $78.78 |
68 Year Old Male | NA | NA | NA | $229.28 |
As you can see Transamerica beats Colonial Penn Insurance EVERY SINGLE TIME.*Life Insurance Quotes based on a male, non-smoker in Standard health*
Plus look at the coverage! YEAH!
I’m going to go into this more below. It’s easy to see why I steer nearly all my clients toward traditional exam life insurance.
…and check rates in your later years, Transamerica doesn’t even offer those super low coverage figures. You’d have to look at a company like American General Life Insurance.
This brings us to Colonial Penn Life Insurance face values:
Incredibly Low Face Values
Unfortunately, it gets worse…
The maximum coverage for Colonial Penn Term and Whole Life Insurance is $50,000, which is absurdly low. For the record, it’s not uncommon for people to take out life insurance policies that are well upwards of $500,000!
Basically, this means that the policy is really only useful to cover final expenses and other last-minute costs.
In most cases, $50,000 is not nearly enough to continue providing for your family after you’ve passed away. Therefore, if you have any debt, like a mortgage, or dependents, such as children, Colonial Penn’s policies just aren’t going to cut it.
Financial Rating: Yikes!
What if my beneficiaries want to make a claim. Is Colonial Penn Life Insurance in the game for the long haul?
Well….this is another area of potential weakness if you ask me…
The financial rating of an insurance company is a great indicator of its stability.
Why is this important?
Well, if you’re investing a significant amount of money into insurer to protect your family, it’s important that the company is financially solid… especially when it comes to life insurance.
Rating agencies like A.M. Best specialize in calculating the financial strength of insurance companies.
Let’s take a look to see how Colonial Penn Life Insurance scores in this category:
- M. Best — B++
- S&P — BBB
- Fitch — BBB
While these ratings indicate that the company is relatively secure… let’s be honest. Compared to most of their competitors, these ratings are some of the worst we’ve seen.
Ideally, you’ll want to see at least an A- rating in order to be fully confident that an insurance company can meet their ongoing obligations.
They’re half-a-grade away from being mediocre — that’s not exactly conducive to your peace of mind as a policyholder.
The Bottom Line
It’s clear that Colonial Penn Life Insurance specializes in covering applicants that are considered high-risk. On one hand, that’s good for the elderly or people with medical conditions because they’ll be able to get some form of coverage from Colonial Penn.
On the other hand, this means that prices are more expensive and the coverage available is quite limited.
Therefore, unless you’re really struggling to find a life insurance company that will cover you, you’re usually gonna be better off going with a different company.
Those are just the cold, hard facts.
So, what do I honestly think about Colonial Penn?
Well, I think it’s a great option for a very small number of clients:
- Colonial Penn is a good choice for people considered very high-risk applicants
- If you need to get covered quickly, Colonial Penn won’t let you down
- Their quote process is one of the easiest out there
…but a poor option when it comes to:
- People in decent health, Colonial Penn isn’t worth the cost
- Colonial Penn’s financial strength – it’s questionable
- Face value – the $50,000 cap won’t be enough coverage for most people/families
While Colonial Penn Insurance is costly and may be on financially shaky ground, there is a time and a place where I might recommend them!
For the average applicant, no way, but for those in poor health, Colonial Penn is a respectable company that will provide you with at least some protection — no questions asked.
Call Us Today
What I would suggest is that you call one of our independent life insurance agents TODAY! Especially if you are looking for Colonial Penn Life Insurance Reviews.
There’s no obligation to move forward with us, but we can go through your options with you.
To be frank, if you’re considering Colonial Penn Life Insurance you really need to speak with someone who knows the ins and outs of the underwriting guidelines for the best life insurance companies.
In my experience, people overestimate their medical conditions because they’re worried they’ll be declined altogether.
At Huntley Wealth we specialize in High-Risk Life Insurance.
You’d be VERY surprised to find out how many hopeless cases we have solved through creative thinking.
If you have high blood pressure, elevated cholesterol, diabetes or a past history of cancer, we can help.
DON’T just assume Colonial Penn is the only insurer who’ll insure you.
In my humble opinion, the TRUE superheroes in life are the people who protect those they love with adequate coverage. Don’t leave your family to foot the bill.
A little planning can save them from financial ruin.
Call us at Huntley Wealth today! 888-603-2876
Enter your ZIP code below to view companies that have cheap insurance rates.
Secured with SHA-256 Encryption
Kristen Gryglik
Licensed Insurance Agent
Kristen is a licensed insurance agent working in the greater Boston area. She has over 20 years of experience counseling individuals and businesses on which insurance policies best fit their needs and budgets. She knows everyone has their own unique needs and circumstances, and she is passionate about counseling others on which policy is right for them. Licensed in Massachusetts, New Hampshire,...
Licensed Insurance Agent
Editorial Guidelines: We are a free online resource for anyone interested in learning more about insurance. Our goal is to be an objective, third-party resource for everything insurance related. We update our site regularly, and all content is reviewed by insurance experts.