Colonial Penn $9.95 Plan: Unveiling the Truth About This Burial Insurance Option

The Colonial Penn 995 plan has gained a ton of popularity over the past year.

Have you been approached by a Colonial Penn representative about their $9.95 Life Insurance Plan?

Curious as to whether or not it is legitimate or not?

There are many Colonial Penn 995 plan reviews out there, but I can assure you, this review is coming from a professional.

It is legitimate, however it is probably not what you think it is. The amount of coverage you get for $9.95 is nowhere near enough to cover your needs 99% of the time. So in my professional opinion, it is not the plan for you.

In my opinion, this product is very misleading, specifically in the advertising that Colonial Penn does for it. Many people believe that they will be able to get a policy that would cover an entire burial or cremation for $9.95. Unfortunately, that is simply not the case.

Consumers should always read between the lines, especially when something sounds too good to be true like in this case.

This article will cover the $9.95 plan, what it entails, and what it actually is so that you can make an informed decision for yourself, and not buy the plan without knowing the real facts.

Above all, you want to know for sure what you are looking at when considering the Colonial Penn 995 plan, so let’s get into it.

Article Highlights

Understanding Colonial Penn

Colonial Penn is a Life Insurance company that has been around for not very long honestly. There are simply better life insurance carriers that have been around for over a hundred years, and have the products to back them up.

They were founded in 1968 by Leonard Davis, and later sold in 1997 to CNO, a financial group.

While they have a ton of marketing dollars, they are lacking in the product. The product in this case being their final expense burial insurance. It is simply just not good.

It is heavily advertised as the most affordable burial insurance on the market, which is simply not true.

When you get down to it, it is one of the worst priced products on the market in all reality. That is so unfortunate when seniors are misled in this horrible way.

Is the Colonial Penn 995 Plan a Scam?

In short, the answer to this question which I get often is no.

However

There are definitely things that you need to know going into this decision of whether or not to get this 995 plan for yourself.

As an independent broker myself, it would be a disservice to you, and more importantly your beneficiary, to not inform you on exactly what this 995 plan is. The reason I feel it is so important is because of how well known the name of the plan is, but how little known the actual policy structure is.

There are many of these insurance plans that are advertised very heavily and are extremely misleading. The 995 plan is no different. You owe it to yourself and your family to get the proper information before making this decision, and that is what I am here for!

The $9.95 Plan: What You Should Know

The $9.95 plan, or 995 plan is a Guaranteed Issue, or Guaranteed Acceptance Final Expense Burial Insurance plan from Colonial Penn.

It is named the $9.95 plan because it is advertised that you can get coverage for that price each month. This in fact, is a true statement.

However, there are things you need to consider first. Such as:

• How much coverage will I get?
• How long will it last?
• Is there a waiting period?

This article will cover each of these main points, and then some.

First though, we should figure out what the plan is. Colonial Penn is a life insurance company that is well known for having Alex Trabek as their spokesperson.

In fact, you have probably seen a million advertisements with him on it. As of lately, they have changed to Jonathan Lawson.

This is a final expense plan, or burial insurance plan, designed for a person to cover their final costs. Such as a funeral, cremation, or whatever they choose to do at the end of their life. To read more about what these plans are, click here for my in depth articles on this topic!

This plan goes from ages 50-85, and covers men or women with a simple electronic application online.

Clients can pay with direct draft, debit or credit card, or even mail in a check to the company.

How much coverage will I get?

This is where the 995 plan by Colonial Penn gets tricky.

Yes, you can get coverage for $9.95 per month, but what you may not know is that is only 1 unit of coverage.

What does that mean?

With this program, they have broken it up into units of coverage. So one unit of coverage costs $9.95.

Furthermore, each unit of coverage varies in the amount of coverage based on your age and sex! For example, for a 50 year old male, 1 unit of coverage is $1,669 in coverage.

A 50 year old female, 1 unit is $2,000

75 year old male: 1 unit is $549 in coverage.

75 year old female: 1 unit is $762 in coverage.

Each unit STILL costing $9.95

Therefore, if a male who was age 75 wanted $5,000 in burial insurance, he would have to pay roughly $100 per month.

These prices get pretty high once you start adding up the units of coverage so that you can actually cover a burial.

Check your prices with the top A+ rated carriers in the country by clicking the “Check Burial Insurance Rates Here” button below!

Check Burial Insurance Rates Here

How long will coverage last?

The 995 plan is a final expense whole life plan, so it will last as long as a typical whole life policy.

Once you are approved, which means you answered the health questions truthfully and were approved for coverage, the policy is in effect and will last your lifetime, or to whenever the policy endows.

This is one good thing they have going for them, they aren’t acting like Globe Life and actually selling a group term life policy to seniors, posed as a whole life plan. This is a legitimate whole life insurance policy.

The only reason you can worry about it cancelling, as far as I am aware, is if you don’t make the monthly premium payment.

Is there a waiting period?

This is a huge negative to this Colonial Penn $9.95 plan, so read closely.

There is a 2-year waiting period even if you are perfectly healthy.

Where my clients who are healthy, or even have minor health issues like High Blood Pressure or Cholesterol, will be getting day one immediate coverage, that same person will not get immediate coverage with the 995 plan.

That’s right, you can be a perfectly healthy individual with no medical issues or even prescriptions, but you will still have to go through the 2-year waiting period.

The reason for this is because this plan is actually a “Guaranteed Acceptance” plan. That means it is designed to approve virtually anyone it possibly can.

This may look appealing to some, but any professional will tell you that with the right agent that has experience and expertise in this field, you can very well get a better policy that may not even have a waiting period.

You could be just like my clients who have had these waiting period policies before they met me! If you are a healthy person but you are going through a waiting period, please reach out to me! I will get you fixed with a policy that goes effective today, lasts forever, and never increases in price, at a better price than what you are currently paying.

So what does the waiting period mean?

I go more in depth on waiting periods with MY carriers that I represent in an article I wrote. You can access that here and check out what a waiting period really is.

Basically, a waiting period means if you were to pass away during the waiting period, your beneficiary would either get no payout, or only what you had paid on the policy.

The downside to this is if you are a healthy person, or even have some minor health issues, you can get approved to be covered on day 1 for cheaper than the $9.95 plan!

What is Bad About a Waiting Period?

One thing to know is that not all waiting periods are bad. There are some out there that the client or beneficiary would receive next to nothing in the event of death. However, with my carriers, our waiting periods are different.

With that being said, a policy with a waiting period, or Guaranteed Issue policies, should be a last resort, period. There is no possible situation where a healthy client or someone who qualifies for day one coverage will be better off with a waiting period policy.

Unfortunately, with Colonial Penn’s 995 plan, everyone is going through a waiting period. This is unethical in my opinion.

I take my job very seriously. My job is to provide my clients with the best possible solutions, even if that means sending them to another agent that offers something I don’t! (doesn’t happen with life insurance).

If I was giving all of my clients waiting period policies, I would most certainly be doing them a disservice. There is no question about it, it would be putting them in a vulnerable position, and not helping them whatsoever.

Is the Colonial Penn 995 Plan Worth It?

In short, no it is not worth it.

You see, $9.95 for life insurance would be great if that was the only thing you were paying. Unfortunately, you will be paying much more than just $9.95.

In fact, you could have to pay 10 times that number for a little amount of coverage!

The fact of the matter is that you simply get a better “bang for your buck” with an independent broker like myself. There is no way around that.

There are no shortages of life insurance agents, or companies for that matter in today’s world. You want to do business with the absolute best in the world! And that is all I represent.

I believe my clients deserve the absolute best solution for their situation, so that they can rest easy at night knowing that they are protected, they are covered, and their money is not being thrown into some program they know nothing about.

You owe it to yourself to look into the best options available to you, and there is no better place to do that then right here! Get yourself a free quote here on my site and let’s find out what works best for you!

Why the 995 Plan Might Not Be Right for You

In my professional opinion, as someone who has been in this business for quite some time, I would say the 995 plan is absolutely not for you.

There really isn’t a scenario where I would say the 995 plan from Colonial Penn is right for any person. Even with a waiting period, my carriers still blow the rates out of the water when comparing apples to apples.

And most importantly, my clients know exactly what they are getting when they get a policy with me.

It is so important to explore your options. More importantly, explore your options with an independent agent who can shop the Best A+ rated carriers for you and get you the absolute best solution for you and your family.

There’s a reason why my clients save up to 58% when they get their Final Expense burial coverage with me.

Regardless, the 995 plan in my opinion just isn’t made for the consumer. It is made for Colonial Penn.

Many people wouldn’t be able to afford very many units of coverage, even at the youngest age as a female!

Colonial Penn 995 Plan Reviews

There are many different reviews out there for Colonial Penn’s 995 plan, and rightfully so!

Above all, I believe transparency is extremely important, especially when you are considering your life insurance options.

Unfortunately for Colonial Penn, most of the reviews that have been done by actual professionals in the industry are not good. The overall understanding is that these plans are very misleading, and very overpriced for the majority of people shopping this option.

You can see their reviews online, but many of them are pretty disheartening.

I see many reviews where the client feels mislead into buying this 995 plan, or maybe another plan of theirs, when they thought they were getting actual life insurance or burial insurance. This was not what they actually received.

The unfortunate reality of the situation is these families that are mislead will not be receiving the payout they had hoped for. Especially if the client passed in the waiting period. This would only give them a small fraction of what they believed their loved one was covered for.

There are just way too many better options out there for seniors, and the reviews make that very obvious.

More so, I have heard from many people that were policyholders with Colonial Penn, and that had the 995 plan. They speak the same truth that I just mentioned. They were mislead into thinking they could get a full funeral size policy for $9.95 and it simply wasn’t true.

They saw Jonathan Lawson on a television commercial and decided to inquire about the amazingly priced $9.95 life insurance! This ultimately led to their disappointment when they discovered the reality.

Some clients didn’t even realize the details of the policy until after they had one! I have heard from countless individuals that say they got the policy but had no idea it wouldn’t actually cover their entire final wishes.

It is so sad to see these things unfold, but it is the unfortunate reality of the 995 plan by Colonial Penn.

995 Plan Pros and Cons

There are good and bad things about many carriers or products that are out there.

Colonial Penn’s 995 plan is no different.

Even with having many flaws, there are a couple of pros to it as well.

Pros:

• Anyone 50-85 is Approved without question. You are guaranteed coverage.
• The process is very simple and can be done online.
• Colonial Penn has been around for a little while, and due to advertising they are well known.
• You can pay by credit card along with EFT or even mail in your payments.
• Critical Illness rider for cancer, heart attack, or stroke.

Cons:

• The value as far as coverage per dollar is incredibly low compared to top carriers today.
• Everyone must go through a 2 year waiting period before the policy would pay the death benefit. Regardless of health.
• Reviews are not very good.
• Extremely misleading and deceptive advertising practices.
• Very overpriced when compared to top carriers in the country.
• Units of coverage make it tough for clients to know exactly how much coverage they truly have.
• 15 units is the max you can buy.
• Up to 48% more expensive than top carriers today.

Johnathan Lawson and the 995 plan

Johnathan Lawson is the new Alex Trebek for Colonial Penn. He is not an insurance agent, just a commercial piece for the company to use!

Many companies do this as a marketing ploy, in order to show a face that people know and trust to get them to call in to their lines, and ultimately purchase insurance that they know little to nothing about.

Alex Trebek and the 995 Plan

Just like Lawson, Alex Trebek was the face of the $9.95 plan for a while. Honestly, it was up until he passed away.

This was a brilliant marketing move by Colonial Penn, as Trebek was the host of the show Jeopardy. What senior doesn’t watch Jeopardy every once in a while? Heck every now and then my wife and I will watch it!

What better person to connect with seniors than the host of a show that is primarily viewed by seniors? Again, very smart move.

Unfortunately, it was still completely unethical to advertise the 995 plan with Alex Trebek, just as it is with Johnathan Lawson.

Seniors see these familiar faces and trust them when they mention that these products are great. Ultimately, we know that is not the case.

Neither Alex Trebek or Johnathan Lawson are Licensed agents, they do not offer these products personally, just paid by Colonial Penn to talk about them.

995 Coverage Amounts

Above all, remember that the 995 plan by Colonial Penn is not what it seems. Ultimately, you can get coverage for $9.95, but that is only a single unit of coverage.

Unfortunately, most people don’t know this as it is not what Johnathan Lawson mentions in their commercials.

For example, one unit of coverage for a 50 year old male is only $1,786 in coverage.

• 60 Year old male: $1,214
• 65 Male: $932
• 70 Male: $717
• 80 Male: $426

You can see where this is going. Sadly enough, it is the same case for females.

• 50 Year old Female: $2,083
• 60 Female: $1,621
• 65 Female:$1,333
• 70 Female: $1,043
• 80 Female: $620

As you can see, $9.95 will only get you so far. If you are a 60 year old male wanting 10,000 in coverage, you will need to be spending $89.55 per month. That will give you a little over $10,000 in coverage.

What Other Options are Out There?

I’m so glad you asked!

There are many different options out there for you. That is why as an independent agent, I represent many different carriers. No two clients are the same, and their needs are different as well.

To check out my top choices for burial insurance carriers in 2022, click here! I had an absolute blast putting that piece together, and would love to share it with you.

The fact of the matter is when it comes to final expense or burial insurance, Colonial Penn doesn’t even come close when offering apples to apples. Sure, the $9.95 looks cool, but how many people will only spend $9.95 per month? I would bet less than 15% of the people covered under the plan!

Meanwhile, my clients can get $15,000 for much lower than they could with the 995 plan. Astronomically different!

For me personally, I like to send my money and business to the best of the best. Because of this, I choose to represent the best of the best so my clients don’t have to worry about a single thing!

Once you are a policy holder with one of these companies, you are part of their family and will be taken care of as such. It is an incredible thing to be insured through the strongest companies in the nation, many of them coming with living benefits.

Check Rates

What Burial Insurance Rates Can I Expect?

To give you a rough idea of what you can expect to see with the Top Burial Insurance Carriers in the country, I provided a table of prices for $10,000 in coverage for a variety of ages. Both male and female, smoker and non smoker.

Above all, I want everyone to know there are far better options out there than the 995 plan by Colonial Penn.

This 995 plan simply just not a good program. For the price per unit, a person can get far more coverage with one of my A+ rated carriers.

It hurts my heart to see so many people have this plan with no idea what other options are out there. That is the sole purpose of this article!

It is so important to know that there are options out there that are lightyears ahead of the Colonial Penn 995 plan in quality and value. While the agents are stuffing their pockets, your family will be the ones who are hurting when it comes time to make the death claim, and the check is much lower than anticipated.

Age	Male Non-Smoker $10,000	Female Non-Smoker $10,000	Male Smoker $10,000	Female Smoker $10,000
55	$35.95	$27.71	$47.78	$38.62
60	$43.76	$32.87	$59.64	$45.19
65	$55.83	$41.01	$79.16	$56.66
70	$70.00	$53.24	$106.66	$74.48
75	$97.50	$72.41	$144.95	$99.96
80	$134.16	$97.50	$206.27	$134.06

Mutual of Omaha

Mutual of Omaha is a great alternative to the misleading 995 plan. 

If you watched television in the 70’s, you know who Mutual of Omaha is! Even if you watch today, you probably see their advertisements. 

They have been around for over 100 years, and have an outstanding Financial rating. Most importantly, they always pay out! You never have to worry about Mutual of Omaha not paying your beneficiary. 

This company is fantastic for my clients that are healthy and maybe only taking medications for High Blood Pressure, Cholesterol, or minor health conditions. 

Aetna Accendo/CVS

You most definitely have heard of Aetna or CVS. They are the same company you see at pharmacies, and they have a life insurance division.

They have a fantastic Burial Insurance product, and it is at a great price point.

I love using CVS for my clients that are healthy, or even have COPD but aren’t on oxygen yet. They can qualify for day one coverage and get the best rate that is available in the country!

Royal Neighbors of America

Royal Neighbors is one of my top carriers, and they have a fantastic story!

They were founded in 1895 by a group of amazing women. Can you imagine starting a business, much less an insurance company in 1895? What strength they had!

Royal Neighbors has fantastic products ranging from term life to final expense burial insurance. They have great underwriting exceptions, and I love them for my clients with Neuropathy, Bipolar disorder, or even Schizophrenia. My clients with issues like this can get day 1 coverage no problem!

They also have amazing living benefits that my clients get to experience! From discounts on medications, to basic living wills, they have outstanding options for my clients to use while they have a policy with them.

No other company has a story like Royal Neighbors, and their product is just as wonderful!

Prosperity Life

Prosperity life is another company that is again, very competitively priced, but not always the first option for some clients. As I have made clear, the first option is most likely going to be a Mutual of Omaha or Aetna policy. Simply because of the price!

However, there are conditions that Prosperity is my go to for a client. If that client is on social security and has no bank account, Prosperity is great. They actually work with SSI to draft the funds when the check goes in, that way you don’t have to worry about the policy lapsing.

Also, if the client is not in the best health and qualifies for a “graded” plan, Prosperity has arguably the best one on the market. It does have a 2-year waiting period, but your beneficiary will still get a check if you pass in those first 2 years! It will be for a percentage of the Policy amount! This is way better than other options out there.

Great Western

Great Western is a fantastic burial insurance carrier, but they are not my first or second choice. Now let me explain:

Great Western has a phenomenal “Guaranteed Issue” Product. This means the client has some major health issues and will have to go through a 2 year waiting period. It is the best possible solution, and our last effort to get coverage.

They also have a level plan, or day one coverage, but the product simply is not priced as well as a Mutual of Omaha, Aetna, or Prosperity plan. However, for the right situation, Great Western is fantastic. They have great customer service, and are always extremely helpful.

995 Plan is Not Great for Seniors

This is the truth, plain and simple. There are far better options out there that you can find here on arkburialquote.com, and other places as well.

With life insurance, I believe it is important for people to really understand what it is they are getting, and with hybrid products and companies like Colonial Penn with the 995 plan, it is hard to really know what it is you are signing up for without being in the industry!

I believe in full transparency. Even if the client doesn’t like what I have to say, I believe it is important for them to know the absolute truth. That way, they can be completely certain that I am the best agent and advisor that they can have on their side!

At the end of the day, Colonial Penn is out to put more money in their pocket, and pay out less to beneficiaries. In my world, I am out to put more money in your pocket, and eventually put that money in your beneficiaries pockets! That is my job, and my passion.

It is so much better for seniors to find an independent broker like myself and have a discussion about their final expense burial insurance options. They can leave knowing that they are in a better position than they were before we met!

Check Burial Insurance Rates Here

Closing Thoughts

The 995 plan, while it looks good on the surface, can be very misleading, and may not be the policy you need.

Colonial Penn, and other companies have very famous spokespeople for their objective. This is how they try to lure clients in. With me and my carriers, we simply offer the best burial insurance in the country. We don’t need the flash and fame.

I encourage everyone to shop around with an independent agent, and there is nobody better to shop with than me!

I specialize in this exact form of coverage, and have assisted too many seniors to count get themselves protected, and more importantly, their families protected from the financial burden.

Too many times with the 995 plan will people be thinking they have more coverage than they actually do, and their families will pay the ultimate price when that time comes. Do yourself and your family a favor and check on your policy! Make sure everyone knows how much you have so that they know what to expect.

As always, if you have any questions or comments you would like to share with me, please leave them down below! I look forward to serving you and your family.

God Bless.