Colonial Penn Life Insurance Company Review

Colonial Penn is a popular provider of guaranteed life insurance for seniors, but its policies come with high premiums and limited face amounts.

Product Availability

Price/Value

One major factor to consider when comparing life insurance companies is cost.

Depending on the coverage you need and which risk factors you possess, one company could give you better rates than another.

Colonial Penn offers the most value to older applicants looking to secure guaranteed coverage, even if they have poor health.

The company claims to have policies starting at around $10 a month.

Overall, Colonial Penn’s premiums are above average, costing more than most of its competitors’ policies.

Most applicants can find cheaper and more robust coverage elsewhere.

Financial Strength

Financial strength is another essential consideration when you evaluate a life insurance company.

One of the best ways to assess a company’s financial stability is to study its credit ratings.

Colonial Penn is a subsidiary of CNO Financial Group, Inc., based out of Carmel, Indiana.

It has earned the following credit ratings:

A.M. Best	A-
Fitch	A-
Moody’s	A3
Standard & Poor’s	A-

These ratings result in a Comdex score of 62.

While Colonial Penn’s ratings are not the highest, they do suggest the company is stable and capable of paying out claims.

User Experience

Not only should you choose an affordable carrier with a strong financial outlook, but also one that prioritizes user experience.

Your life insurance company should make the process of buying life insurance an easy one, providing you with the resources you need at every step.

A company’s website, application process, and third-party ratings are all useful tools for assessing user experience.

Ratings

Two of the most insightful assessments of user experience are J.D. Power’s individual life insurance survey and the Better Business Bureau’s rating.

Colonial Penn was not included in J.D. Power’s survey, which ranks the nation’s top life insurance providers based on overall customer satisfaction.

However, it is rated by the Better Business Bureau.

Colonial Penn has an A+ from the BBB, and it was recently accredited, suggesting the company is committed to clear and helpful communication with policyholders.

Website

Colonial Penn’s website is straightforward, providing insurance shoppers with basic details on its policies like coverage limits and age requirements.

It also presents a resourceful FAQ section with further details on its policies and underwriting process.

Additionally, the site shares an overview of the company’s history, values, and causes.

Overall, the website is geared towards guiding visitors through its online quote process.

Policyholders can also utilize the site to manage payments and download forms for policy changes.

Application

Colonial Penn uses simplified underwriting, meaning you are not required to undergo a medical exam to get covered.

After providing your basic details, contact information, and coverage needs online, you’ll be given a quote.

From there, you can apply directly for a policy online, or download an application to mail in if you prefer.

For term and whole life insurance, you’ll be prompted to:

1. Provide your personal information
2. Name beneficiaries
3. Answer health questions
4. Select your billing preferences
5. Sign and submit

The application process for a guaranteed policy is similar, but it does not require you to answer any medical questions.

Product Availability

Colonial Penn Life Insurance Company offers three main products:

• Term
• Whole
• Guaranteed

Each type of policy comes with its own unique features and benefits, detailed below.

Term

For temporary coverage needs, Colonial Penn offers renewable term life insurance.

This coverage has some advantageous features, like acceptance for applicants up to age 75 and renewability through age 90.

However, coverage is limited to a maximum death benefit of $50,000, and your rates increase in age bands.

A solid term product should allow you to choose how many years you want to lock in your rates, but Colonial Penn’s term does not.

You should also note that many other no exam carriers offer far larger death benefits.

Whole

Whole life insurance offered by Colonial Penn isn’t much more substantial than its term option.

These no exam policies are available to 40 to 75-year-old applicants and offer cash value, locked rates, and flexible payment options.

Like their term counterparts, the maximum face amount of these policies is $50,000.

Unlike Colonial Penn’s term life products, the pricing structure for whole life policies is based on your age and gender when you apply rather than a group band.

Guaranteed Issue

The most prominent product Colonial Penn offers is their guaranteed acceptance life insurance.

Guaranteed issue life insurance is appealing because it features no medical exams, requires minimal information, and the company claims you can not be declined with a proper application.

The product offers very low face amounts, and the cost per thousand is relatively high because of the lack of underwriting.

It also carries a two-year waiting period, meaning your beneficiary cannot access the full death benefit if you die during the first two years of coverage.

Brand/Size

Based in Philadelphia, Colonial Penn has made a mark in its half of a century in business.

While the company, founded in 1968, is not among our best life insurance companies, it has certainly put its stake in the ground.

Colonial Penn is a subsidiary of CNO Financial Group, which boasts 3.2 million policies in force.

Colonial Penn helped lay the foundation for guaranteed products, as one of the first companies to bring this type of insurance plan to the market.

The focus of their initial products is still the backbone of the company as they continue to market to mature and senior audiences.

Colonial Penn does not share many details about its annual giving or community initiatives.

However, the company does claim to partner with the American Heart Association and its Healthy for Good™ campaign.

Brand Recognition

With their core and largest piece of business in the senior market, Colonial Penn advertises a little differently than some of its competitors, utilizing direct mail, call centers, and television.

Their paid endorsers have included familiar faces like Alex Trebek, Ed McMahon, and Joe Theismann, who appeal to the company’s target audience.

The company also posts sporadically on its Facebook account, but it does not appear to actively engage on other social media platforms like Instagram and Twitter.

Consensus

Before choosing a life insurance provider, it’s a good idea to get a range of opinions, both from customers and experts in the life insurance industry.

Like most life insurance companies, Colonial Penn has its fair share of complaints.

One recurring complaint is that the company targets the elderly with high premiums for too little coverage.

Due to its steep premiums and limited product availability, Colonial Penn does not often rank as one of the top life insurance companies overall.

Regardless of its limitations, Colonial Penn is a financially stable carrier which makes securing guaranteed coverage easy.

The best way to determine if you could get better rates or higher coverage amounts from another company is to compare quotes.