Last Updated on July 18, 2018 by lifepolicyshopper
Simply put, final expense and burial insurance furnish seniors with low-cost funeral insurance. These life insurance plans generally provide much lower death benefits (face amount) and usually will not require a medical exam or blood and urine test. They will, however, ask a number of health questions on the application.
Burial insurance for seniors is a preferred choice for those applicants who have had or presently have health problems and those applicants who can't afford life insurance that requires a medical exam.
The lower face amounts can be used for the following purposes:
- Take care of outstanding personal debts that might be transferred to a surviving loved one or your estate.
- Pay off any outstanding nursing home bills that were not paid by Medicare or other insurance.
- Leave a small financial legacy to a loved one.
- Provide the funds needed to cover funeral and burial expenses.
Even though there are numerous life insurance carriers that offer final expense and burial insurance for seniors with no medical exam, some do it a lot better than others. What we mean by this is that there is a lot more to final expense and burial insurance than low monthly payments. The insurer you want to buy final expense insurance from needs to be focused on the senior market and have an understanding of the challenges that seniors deal with. More importantly, the insurance company will need to offer the following services in an exceptional and customer-focused manner:
Easy Application
The application is generally the company’s first point of contact with an applicant after the buying decision has been made. The application will need to be easy to read and easy to understand. All the health questions should be precise and also easy to understand as well. The application should be concise and created with a quick issue in mind.
Customer Service
Although most insurance agents commonly refer to themselves as people pleasers that offer exceptional customer service, agents are primarily focused on selling insurance and not changing your beneficiary when you call. Additionally, agents come and go. Knowing this, an insurance company who chooses to engage in the senior market should understand that seniors are not necessarily thrilled with technology and so they expect a person to answer the phone to take care of their needs, even if their call is only to discuss a payment issue.
Claims
Final expense and burial insurance is really useless if it takes 3 or 4 months to get the death benefit paid to the beneficiary. Many funeral homes and cemeteries require to get paid something in advance and then the balance be dealt with sooner rather than later. Final expense insurance companies should pay a claim within a few days so the beneficiary won't have to reach out to family and friends to help with paying for and arranging Uncle Jim’s funeral and burial. Underwriting should be done before the policy is issued, not when it's time to plan the funeral.
Burial Insurance for Seniors from Mutual of Omaha
Mutual of Omaha Life Insurance Company and their affiliate companies have established time and time again that they are a company that can meet all the criteria discussed above. Mutual of Omaha is considered one of the leading life insurers that offers final expense and burial insurance for the senior market.
Established in 1909, Mutual of Omaha is a Fortune 500 insurance company and is consistently rated extremely high by all of the national insurance company rating services.
The company's final expense and burial insurance program is extremely popular because their policy known as "Living Promise" provides two types of final expense and burial insurance policies to meet the insurance needs of virtually every applicant. Mutual of Omaha offers their Level Benefit Plan and Graded Benefit Plan using whole life insurance which offers the guarantees that seniors have come to know and rely on.
Level Benefit
The Level Benefit Plan offered by Mutual of Omaha provides final expense and burial insurance for applicants who are between 45 and 85-years old. The available face amounts (death benefit) range from $2,000 to $40,000 (depending on your state of residence).
The Level Benefit Plan includes a living benefit known as the Accelerated Death Benefit which allows a policyholder who has been diagnosed with a terminal illness or nursing home confinement to claim a portion of the death benefit while they are alive. This advance of the death benefit helps the policyholder deal with the expense involved with an end-of-life situation or any other thing they choose to take care of.
Graded Benefit
If an applicant does not qualify for the Level Benefit plan, Mutual of Omaha will offer a guaranteed issue policy that does not take into consideration any medical underwriting. Since the company is offering life insurance for an unknown risk, there is a two-year waiting period when the insured will not be covered for death from natural causes. Instead of the full death benefit, the beneficiary would receive all premiums paid to the company plus 10% annual interest.
If the insured dies from accidental causes during the waiting period, the company will then pay the full death benefit. Beginning in year three, there are no more restrictions on the death benefit.
Eligible applicants are between age 45 and age 80, but the maximum coverage amount is reduced to $20,000.
Rates for Burial Insurance for Seniors
Below is a rate chart for actual final expense and burial insurance rates from Mutual of Omaha. The rates are based on a $10,000 Level Benefit for a female and male non-smoker.
