At a glance
Colonial Penn is a life insurance company based in Pennsylvania that offers term life insurance and permanent life insurance to people 18 – 85.
Colonial Penn Life Insurance typically markets to the senior market using Alex Trebek as their national spokesman in print and TV advertising.
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 and compare their rates to other – more reputable – providers.
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Our review for Colonial Penn
Our biggest concern with Colonial Penn is their pricing. They are typically 100 to 200% more expensive than other, more reputable insurance providers.
Aside from their pricing, their reputation is not great either, which seems to stem from being vague about their underwriting and claims process.
Most of Colonial Penn's negative consumer reviews are from individuals that filed a claim within 2 years, not knowing Colonial Penn denies life insurance claims filed within the first 2 years of the policy, which leads to devastating results.
If you’re interested in buying from Colonial Penn, we advice to shop around before taking that step.
Colonial Penn’s Term life insurance price comparison
Term life insurance is the most popular life insurance type for individuals under age 64.
Typically, you choose a term (the amount of years you want to be insured for), and you pay a monthly price during that term that never changes.
However, Colonial Penn’s term life insurance gets more expensive as you grow older, so keep that in mind.
Example scenario
The following sample rates are for a healthy 30 year old individual seeking $50,000 in coverage, with no medical exam.
| Company | Monthly price | Reviews | Get a Quote |
|---|---|---|---|
 | $8.55 | Get a Quote | |
 | $8.61 | Get a Quote | |
 | $11.82 | Get a Quote | |
 | $12.99 | Get a Quote | |
 | $23.96 (and increases as you get older) | See their BBB rating | Get a quote on Colonial Penn’s website |
Colonial Penn’s Guaranteed issue life insurance price comparison
Guaranteed issue life insurance is a popular choice for individuals age 65 or older, or individuals with a health history that can not qualify for other life insurance products.
Since acceptance is guaranteed, there are no medical exams involved. Guaranteed acceptance does come with a cost, which is why the typical guaranteed issue policy ranges from $5,000 – $20,000 in coverage.
Example scenario
The following sample rates are for a 65 year old individual seeking $5,000 in coverage, with guaranteed acceptance.
| Company | Monthly price | Reviews | Get a Quote |
|---|---|---|---|
 | $32.40 | Get a Quote | |
 | $32.58 | Get a Quote | |
 | $39.17 | Get a Quote | |
| $69.65 | See their BBB rating | Get a quote on Colonial Penn’s website |
Types of life insurance they offer
Colonial Penn offers three different life insurance products, Term life insurance, Guaranteed acceptance life insurance, and Permanent whole life insurance.
None of their products require a medical exam, although some medical questions could still be involved, and you could still be denied.
Colonial Penn’s guaranteed acceptance product is the only product you can not be turned down for.
Term life insurance by Colonial Penn
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 available
- 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, 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.
Compare the best term life insurance rates
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 (although it depends on your age)
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 * 12)
For example: The death benefit is $10,000. The monthly premium is $50, which we multiply times 12, to get the annual cost, which in this case is $600.
Now we divide the death benefit, $10,000 by $600, which results in give or take 16.5 years.
This is why you should always compare pricing from multiple providers to make sure you’re getting a good price. Not just because a higher price means a higher bill, but because you will outlive your policy much faster.
Compare the best guaranteed issue life insurance rates
Permanent whole life insurance
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:
Colonial Penn’s permanent whole life insurance is similar to their guaranteed acceptance product, they are both whole life insurance policies that last your entire life.
The difference is that this product does not offer guaranteed acceptance, you may be disqualified based on your health history.
It also builds cash value, where a guaranteed acceptance policy does not.
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What do they mean: “limited benefits for the first 2 yrs. ?? You pay full monthly payment for first 2 yrs. and what kind of benefits you get ???
Guaranteed acceptance plans have what is called “modified benefits.” The death benefit works as follows: Years 1-2: 110% of the premiums paid. Years 3+: Full face amount. Accidental death: Full face amount. In the event of a suicide: Premiums refunded.
They refund your premiums paid during the first 2 years instead of your policy limit. Advantage for CP
Just had a bad experience with them. They were introduced to me through my job, they collected premiums for 2 yrs. When I filed a claim they not only took their sweet time to respond, but they denied it because they said I didn’t report my accidental injury according to their policies. I spoke to my co workers and they also said they don’t make good on the medical reimbursements they promised. I contacted my job and I formed them of the bad service and demanded the discontinuance of their payments. This is really bad insurance!
Thank you for sharing your experience. We have seen similar experiences many times.
J. R. January 22 2019 I do not see how Colonial Penn Ins. is still in business. They are trying to scam me now. I do have an attorney, that is more then willing to help me. He is my brother-in-law and it will not cost me a anything, and he is real good. Alex Trebek should be ashamed of himself helping Colonial Penn scam people especially seniors. I guess dose not matter how rich he is he still wants more even at the cost of seniors. I am highly disciplined in him. You will be hearing more from me. Disciplined
About 3 yrs ago a young male knocked on my door. I don’t open my door to unexpected strangers, dangerous. But there’s a message on my door about how to call me if there’s an emergency, and he used it and called me fifteen minutes later, tried to sell me Colonial Penn! I said, you’re not an emergency, I’ve never contacted your company, and I want your company’s 800 number to complain. He wouldn’t give it to me! I got it elsewhere and called the company three times, and they hung up on me three times.,. They claimed I had called them THREE YEARS EARLIER! and that they were just now following up, because they don’t like to “leave loose strings.” What honest insurance company waits three years to follow up on a lead? And I don’t need, and never will need, insurance. They LIED. I contacted their State agency that handles insurance, and registered a formal complaint. They said lots of others complained about this company’s weasely tactics, too. And I can’t stand that TV ad they saturate the airwaves with, using Trebek as if old people trust him… he’s just a paid spokesman. I don’t watch shows like his, and the ad is irritating, condescending and patronizing. Saturates the airwaves all day! Be careful, if you do need insurance find another, more honest company. They tried to GASLIGHT me into thinking I had called them three years previously! I’ve never called them or any other insurance company, I don’t need it!
Do not do business with this company. They are quick to take your money out monthly for dues but when you actually have a claim for a death, they give you the run around in what types of documents you need to send them, once you send the paperwork they asked for, they need additional paperwork. You wait for the so called claims dept to process your claims and it takes 14 business days the customer service dept says. I have waited for 2 months now! You have to keep calling and you get shuffled all over the place with people who you can hardly understand!!! Finally spoke to supervisor, A***** F***** (redacted by admin for privacy) who didn’t sound like he was very thrilled to be bothered. He actually hung up on me and said that he is rejecting my call because i raised my voice!!!
Spend your money elsewhere. It is devastating to lose a loved one, then having to spend time and effort on the phone to get the insurance claims dept to release your money that you are entitled to is a pain in the behind.
Hello, can you cancel your policy for a full refund?
Hi Cassie!
I don’t know of any case where a policy like what Colonial Penn offers would offer a full refund. Similar to how auto insurance works, even though you didn’t file a claim during that month, they still provided coverage for you during that time. The only policy that gives you a full refund is a Return Of Premium term life insurance policy.
Hope this helps!
-Luke
Colonial Penn are a bunch of [admin edit] and liars, they’re great when you don’t have any contact with them for years while they’re taking money out of your bank account years, but it’s a whole different ball came when you try to cancel your policy and get the money they owe you and stop them from taking money out of your bank account, they say they sent the paper to close the acct to your address you had when you opened the acct even though you haven’t live there for years even when you give them your current address, I could go on and on, put there’s not a big enough page here, lets put it this way these people that work the phones for Colonial Penn are totally incompetent and rude. these people are crooks if you do business them you’ll be sorry. BAD BUSINESS!!!!
I wouldn’t buy your insurance if I needed it! It’s probably good insurance–but seeing Alex promoting same on “ME TV” 8 times a day,
day after day saying PRICE PRICE PRICE I tune him out.You should have an alternate ad every once in a while. But GREED in all companies win out. Wonder how many other people feel the same? You are not the only company doing this–they all do it.
Hi Charles!
There may be some confusion, so I just want to clearly state that we are not Colonial Penn and that you echo the sentiment of many seniors out there.
Colonial Penn uses TV advertising as part of their mass media marketing to attract the attention of seniors and there are many seniors in your position who are tired of seeing these commercials nonstop. This is why we offer products that are not only more affordable options, but we also don’t advertise this way either.
I encourage you to check out what companies we represent, pick a policy that works best for you, and reach out if there are any questions you may have.
-Luke
Charles, I agree with you. Also, who pays for that commercials? However, Alex is quite good on Jeopardy. That should be enough income alone. Just my observation.
I am honestly upset over this false advertisement, I will turn them in to bbb.. they state you cannot ever be turned down,,well let me tell you they turned me down,,,,i will spread this word about this insurance company. its false advertisement.
It’s not good insurance. Read the reviews on this website.
No, but they ARE the worst! In terms of their ads, and in terms of their business practices!