Colonial Penn Life Insurance Review 2024

For decades, Colonial Penn has focused on selling life insurance to older customers, including a guaranteed issue whole life policy for people 50 and older. The Philadelphia-based insurer is owned by CNO Financial Group, which is also the parent company of Bankers Life.

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Colonial Penn life insurance rating

Colonial Penn earned 3 stars out of 5 for overall performance. NerdWallet’s ratings are determined by our editorial team. The scoring formula takes into account consumer experience, complaint data from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners and financial strength ratings.

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Colonial Penn life insurance policies

Whole life insurance. Colonial Penn offers whole life insurance to those ages 50 to 75 (or 50 to 73 for men and 50 to 75 for women in New York). Coverage amounts range from $5,000 to $25,000. The application asks health questions, but the insurer doesn’t require a medical exam.

Guaranteed acceptance life insurance. This policy is typically open to people ages 50 to 85 (age eligibility varies by state), and acceptance is guaranteed. Applicants don’t need to answer health questions or take a medical exam. The full life insurance death benefit isn’t paid out if the insured person dies during the first two years of taking out a policy.

» MORE: Guaranteed issue life insurance: Is it worth it?

How Colonial Penn’s pricing works

Colonial Penn sells its guaranteed acceptance coverage in “units,” and the amount of coverage this gets you varies by gender and age. Each unit costs $9.95 and you can buy up to 25 units. The sum you end up with is the total death benefit that will be paid out to your beneficiaries when you die. In other words, the coverage amount is locked in and doesn't go up or down over time.

Colonial Penn's pricing structure is unique. It's important to calculate how much life insurance you need and aim to buy the number of units to match so you don't end up underinsured.

This table explains what one unit of coverage is worth for male and female applicants ages 50 to 85. This amount of coverage would cost $9.95 per month.

Here is the maximum amount of coverage you can buy at each age. This amount of coverage would cost slightly less than $150 a month.

Colonial Penn customer complaints and satisfaction

Over three years, Colonial Penn has drawn far more than the expected number of complaints to state regulators for a company of its size, according to a NerdWallet analysis of data from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners.

What it’s like to apply for a policy with Colonial Penn

You can get a quote for guaranteed acceptance life insurance right from Colonial Penn’s homepage. The first page of the application asks for basic information like your name, address, gender, phone number and email address. Note that by submitting this page of the application, the fine print states that you consent to have the company send you email, texts and postal mail — even if you don’t end up buying a policy.

Screenshot captured by our editorial team on October 8, 2024.

Colonial Penn says once you choose your coverage amount and complete your application, you’ll be approved for a policy within a few minutes.

» MORE: How much life insurance do I need?

How Colonial Penn’s customer experience stacks up

Colonial Penn’s website makes it easy to start an application and find details about the company’s guaranteed acceptance policies. There’s a sidebar you can click on if you want to “chat with a specialist,” as well as a phone number in the top right corner of each page.

We called Colonial Penn twice, and each time we were connected with a representative within two minutes. Both agents accurately told us that Colonial Penn doesn’t offer term life insurance, but we got conflicting answers when we asked about what’s required to activate an accelerated death benefit rider. One representative told us the company doesn’t offer this rider, while the other said you had to make a payment on the policy and then the rider would be activated if available.

We encountered similar confusion when we used the live chat service, with two representatives giving different answers to our question about the accelerated death benefit. Colonial Penn doesn’t actually offer any riders.

The company doesn’t have a mobile app.

Where Colonial Penn stands out

Colonial Penn doesn’t require a life insurance medical exam for any of its policies, including its traditional whole life insurance. But healthy people can generally get better prices from companies that consider more medical information when setting rates.

Where Colonial Penn falls short

Colonial Penn’s advertising may be misleading to those who aren’t familiar with its pricing structure.

The insurer says throughout its website and in commercials that premiums can be locked in for as little as $9.95 a month, but this price earns you one of the insurer's "units," which is very little coverage.

» MORE: Average life insurance rates

More about Colonial Penn

Whether you need help with your application or want to learn more about a policy, Colonial Penn’s live chat feature allows you to choose the type of specialist you’d like to speak with. Once you're a policyholder, you can make premium payments online, but you’ll need to download a form to file a life insurance claim or change beneficiaries.

How to contact Colonial Penn

Colonial Penn can be reached by:

• Phone: Call 800-523-9100 on weekdays from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. ET. New York policyholders should call 800-323-4542.

• Email: No customer service email available.

• Live chat: Launch the live chat feature from any page on Colonial Penn’s website.