Buying life insurance can be intimidating. There are a lot of different policies on the market. Insurance companies have different requirements for qualifying for a specific policy they offer. Jonathan Lawson Colonial Penn Life Insurance is now a staple of no health question life insurance advertised on TV. For some life insurance consumers the familiarity with an insurance company name creates a sense of trust. Be aware when you purchase any life insurance, it is best to know what is written in the policy. Ignore the ad. Apples are not apples with life insurance and it really has little to do with the name of the insurance company. Remember you are purchasing a policy that defines how your family will be compensated when you pass away.
Below you will find our professional and experienced based review of the 9.95 senior life insurance product. You can be assured as a licensed and independent life insurance agency, that we are speaking from extensive experience beyond the actual facts.
The Colonial Penn Commercial With Jonathan Lawson
If you’ve seen the many Colonial Penn ads over the years, then you know they like to use paid endorsers to market their life insurance to people 50-85. While the Jonathan Lawson Colonial Penn commercial is revitalizing their guaranteed acceptance whole life insurance made most familiar by Ed McMahon and Alex Trebek, the marketing approach has changed a bit. The differance, Jonathan Lawson… he is an employee of Colonial Penn. This of course is unlike paid endorsers such as Alex Trebek or Ed McMahon.
We are going to break this down for you so you can see the pro’s and the con’s and how it is really priced.
Colonial Penn $9.95 Life Insurance For 2023
Colonial Penn, with Jonathan Lawson’s assistance have rebranded the insurance company’s Guaranteed Acceptance Whole Life insurance as of 2022. It now seems to be called the 995 Plan with more focus on a number than ever before. Unfortunately, consumers are frequently upset to learn that $9.95 per month buys very little life insurance and certainly not enough to cover than cost of anyone’s funeral of burial age 50-85.
Included Benefits In The 9.95 Life Insurance Plan
First point to write down. It is a subtype of whole life insurance. A whole life insurance policy will not expire or lose value as you age, even with deteriorating health. The 995 life insurance is also includes “Guaranteed Acceptance” which means if you meet the age requirements and have the ability to pay the premium, you will not be denied coverage. Anyone between the ages of 50-85 may purchase lifetime coverage.
Guaranteed Acceptance?
There are NO health questions which could result in a decline for those in very poor health.
That sounds pretty good right?
The reality…
It will cost you a pretty penny to own upfront and risk your family not receiving the policy value you purchased. More on this later.
Second, you will not have full benefits for the first 2 years for natural death causes of death.
You must understand that life insurance companies cannot evaluate the risk of an applicant accurately without asking health questions. Life insurance is medically underwritten traditionally allowing the carrier to accurately assess their applicants overall insurability.
What do you think an insurance company does in to offset the risk of not having a clear picture of who is requesting burial insurance protection like the Colonial Penn 9.95 Plan?
You got it. They jack those rates up for starters…
And…
They also insert a 2 year limited benefit period for natural death causes into the policy.
It might be hard to believe that Jonathan Lawson Colonial Penn life insurance is like this, so I took the following from the Colonial Penn website. Please be sure to carefully reading the description. This is the reality of what your family would be stuck with.
Here is what you need to understand about that.
For the first 2 years of coverage with their 995 life insurance your loved ones don’t have much natural death protection. For example: cancer, stroke, heart attack, etc. Further, the interest rate factor offered is not competitive with the top life insurance companies offering guaranteed acceptance policies either.
Now,if you perish due to an accident such as a car wreck or a slip and fall, Colonial Penn would be obligated to pay the full policy amount as long as your passing occured within 90 days of the accident.
How Much Colonial Penn Life Insurance for $9.95?
The 9.95 plan is priced in “Units.” What is a unit? With Colonial Penn, a unit is a predetermined amount of insurance that you will be paying for based upon your age once approved by Colonial Penn. How much coverage is the $9.95 plan? Well this will depending upon your age and gender. It could be as little as a few hundred dollars per unit or up to a couple thousand. Youth is an asset when buying a life insurance policy, always.
Each $9.95 unit’s value is determined by your age when you are approved for this particular Colonial Penn policy. The younger you are, the higher the value of each unit. In 2022, a 50 year old woman would have a policy value of $2083 for $9.95/mo. An 85 year old man would have a value of $418 for that same $9.95.
So how many units of this plan can a consumer buy? As of January 2023, 15 units is the maximum. This means premiums for anyone applying will not exceed $149.25/month ($9.95 x 15). However, that does not mean the product is affordable or priced well. Take a look at the chart below. See the value of insurance protection per 1 unit.
How Much Insurance Does the 995 Colonial Penn Jonathan Lawson Plan Buy?
| Age | 1 Male Per Unit ($9.95) | 1 Female Per Unit ($9.95) |
| 50 | $1786 | $2083 |
| 51 | $1732 | $2068 |
| 52 | $1676 | $2022 |
| 53 | $1621 | $1973 |
| 54 | $1562 | $1929 |
| 55 | $1506 | $1884 |
| 56 | $1452 | $1838 |
| 57 | $1392 | $1786 |
| 58 | $1333 | $1732 |
| 59 | $1273 | $1676 |
| 60 | $1214 | $1621 |
| 61 | $1157 | $1562 |
| 62 | $1099 | $1506 |
| 63 | $1043 | $1452 |
| 64 | $987 | $1392 |
| 65 | $932 | $1333 |
| 66 | $880 | $1273 |
| 67 | $834 | $1214 |
| 68 | $792 | $1157 |
| 69 | $753 | $1099 |
| 70 | $717 | $1043 |
| 71 | $683 | $987 |
| 72 | $652 | $932 |
| 73 | $620 | $880 |
| 74 | $589 | $834 |
| 75 | $560 | $792 |
| 76 | $531 | $753 |
| 77 | $503 | $717 |
| 78 | $477 | $683 |
| 79 | $450 | $652 |
| 80 | $426 | $620 |
| 81 | $424 | $589 |
| 82 | $423 | $560 |
| 83 | $421 | $531 |
| 84 | $420 | $503 |
| 85 | $418 | $477 |
Colonial Penn, Jonathan Lawson insurance is not priced per thousand dollars the way the top life insurance companies do. While the advertisement seems to say how “affordable” the coverage is, the reality is quite different. This is simply because $9.95 just does not buy much insurance protection for the vast majority of people. Colonial Penn 9.95 life insurance is just very expensive to own. You will likely need to buy more “units” to get adequate coverage to meet your needs particularily in your 70’s and 80’s as a buyer.
Colonial Penn 9.95 Plan Pro’s
- No Health Questions and No Medical Exam
- Very small policy amounts available
- Guaranteed Lifetime coverage and level premiums
Colonial Penn 9.95 Plan Con’s
- Very high in cost
- 2 year limited benefit clause for natural death
- Low maximum policy value for those in the later senior years
- Puts family at risk of not receiving the money they need for funeral and burial costs for 2 full years
- May not provide adequate death benefits for a funeral and burial due to maximum policy size
Male Rate (AGE 64) For Guaranteed Acceptance Whole Life Insurance Compared to Colonial Penn
Female Rates (AGE 64) For Guaranteed Acceptance Whole Life Insurance Compared to Colonial Penn
With the Colonial Penn 9.95 Plan, 10 units for a 64 year old male would produce a value of $9870 of life insurance. Total monthly premiums would be $99.95 (9.95 x 10) per month for the remainder of the insureds life.
In the comparison quote tool above, we can see that their are competitors that offer Guaranteed Issue whole life insurance for a much more competitive price. For example, we see Gerber Life offering the same no medical question, no exam life coverage for $81.22 for a full $10,000 of coverage. Without getting into the details, during the 2 year limited benefit period, it does offer better benefits as well. As you can see, there are clearly 3 companies that are considerably more affordable for Guaranteed Acceptance whole life insurance.
Looking at a fair comparison for a 64 year old female to have almost $10,000 in coverage with Colonial Penn would require 7 units. 7 units would buy $9744 of coverage with the 9.95 plan which results in a monthly premium of $69.65 (9.95×7).
A $10K policy with Gerber Life would be $61.05 in comparison for the same, no health question, no exam, whole life insurance. Again, the Gerber benefits inside the first two years are also better than Colonial Penn 995 life insurance but that is beyond the scope of this review.
Tips For Finding The Best Burial Insurance Policy
Whether it’s Ed McMahon, Alex Trebek or a real Colonial Penn employee like Jonathan Lawson, don’t let the commercial fool you into believing the policy itself is something special.
lt is just fancy TV sparkle to fool you into buying overpriced final expense life insurance.
You can save a lot of money by purchasing the right no exam policy that really benefits your family and saves a lot of your hard earned money. No one wants to overpay on their insurance or leave their family short of resources do to policy limitations. Most people will qualify for full first day benefits and much lower pricing than even Gerber Life who is very competitive in the “guaranteed acceptance” no health questions life insurance space.
As I see it, you really have a couple choices as you make your life insurance decision.
- Buy life insurance directly from certain insurance companies (ie: Colonial Penn, Globe Life, State Farm etc.) and get overcharged.
- Find a state licensed independent life insurance agent or broker that represents a lot of different life insurance companies. Have them shop for your best offer.
One of the biggest consumer mistakes is assuming that you get a good deal when buying directly from a carrier.
This is incorrect and gets the consumer ripped off most of the time.
Why?
Number one, you are limiting your options. Apples are not apples with life insurance. Many insurance companies simply don’t offer a good policy. Does not matter if it term, whole or even universal life. Buy the policy/plan, not the advertisement. Secondly, you’ve raised the likelihood of being declined if your health is not ideal or up to their standards. Number three: Insurance companies outside of “direct” companies are much more competitive. This leads to better policies for your money and better protection for those you love.
These “direct” companies will NOT advise you to obtain coverage from another insurance company who has a better offer. Yes, they are happy to overcharge you each month. Imagine that over years of paying premiums to keep the protection locked in.
When you work with an agent or agency that brokers all the top life insurance companies, you have an excellent chance at getting the best policy for your needs at a good price. This is even true if you believe your health is not so good. We work with carriers offering affordable first day, lifetime coverage even with tough medical conditions like CHF, wheelchair confinement, daily oxygen use, COPD, kidney dialysis (most be under doctors care) as well as a host of other health issues.
If you want the best burial insurance, it is best to avoid the 9.95 Jonathan Lawson policy from Colonial Penn. Very, very few people need this policy.
Have your independent agent go shopping for you. No longer do you have to accept higher premiums and lower benefits just because your health is not A1. No exam life insurance isn’t hard to find if you are talking to the right people.
Colonial Penn would like you to think they are a cut above the rest. This is clearly not the case.
Complaints Surrounding Colonial Penn Including the $9.95 Life Insurance
Colonial Penn does have a high NAIC Complaint Ratio. Lots of upset people out there who were not satisfied with their Colonial Penn experience. This does not mean that Colonial Penn was denying legitimate claims but it sure seems as though many families have felt mislead in regards to the coverage they or their family member purchased.
This is not good folks. They have had 3X times as many complaints against it as a company similar to its size. This is well above the industry average.
When you buy life insurance, you want to make sure you are dealing with an agent who is able to tell you the pro’s and the con’s of any policy your are considering. Don’t get caught in the gimmicks. This seems to be a problem for Colonial Penn.
More often than not, when I receive a phone call from someone angry with Colonial Penn, I find it is usually a policy that was not explained properly by the Colonial Penn salesperson before it was sold. The person who bought the policy from Colonial Penn is typically their Mom, Dad, Brother or Sister. Almost always, they passed away in the first 2 years of coverage which results in very limited benefits paid to them.
When you buy a policy, be sure to read it over to be sure it meets your expectations. Ask your agent to clarify any questions. If it does not meet your satisfaction, you might want to consider exercising your free look provision which will allow you a full refund during the first 20-30 days depending upon your state law.
Conclusion
The Colonial Penn Jonathan Lawson commerical simply sounds like a top of the line life insurance policy doesn’t it?
Unfortunately, it is actually quite the opposite.
There are really 3 tiers of no exam, whole life insurance plans on the market. You can get instant quotes on this page for all the top companies and policies on the market. Without going into the different types, Guaranteed Acceptance Whole life insurance is at the bottom. That is what the Jonathan Lawson 995 life insurance is all about. Guaranteed Acceptance means lower benefits and higher prices. An insured individual on this type of insurance is considered a high risk life insurance candidate.
Ladies and gentleman, there are thousands of insurance carriers across the country. Many of them are life insurance companies. Colonial Penn is just 1. The vast majority of the top life insurance companies market themselves to life insurance agents/agencies not directly to consumers. If they did, your mailbox would be overflowing!
Their is a reason Colonial Penn works the way it does. They don’t want to compete against the other horses in the stable based on value and pricing. Good life insurance agents/brokers weed out the weak links like this. They don’t compete well against the top life insurance companies in terms of price, benefits and value. All they can do is try to create an illusion of offering a wonderful policy by creating a commerical that drives callers to pick up the phone and buy on emotion rather than doing research like you are today.
Protecting your family is very important and commendable. Just realize that you are compromising when working with any single insurance company like Colonial Penn. They just don’t have a lot to offer with their 995 life insurance plan unless you are over age 80 and in very, very poor health where it may be your only alternative to obtain any life insurance.
And that is that.
We’re always here to answer any questions and/or help you get your family protected. 269-244-3420
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