Last Updated on September 11, 2020 by lifepolicyshopper
Burial Insurance for Seniors in your State.
Although none of us spend much time thinking about passing away, most people understand that when that day comes there will be expenses that must be taken care of by our surviving loved ones, so making the necessary arrangements in advance is certainly how we show our love for family or friends who will likely get stuck paying the bill.
If you’ve ever been involved with making funeral arrangements or having to help pay for one, you are likely very aware of how expensive a funeral and burial service can be. For those of us who haven’t, you may be very surprised that the average price of a funeral can easily run $10,000 to $15,000 depending on all of the services you elect to purchase. Certainly, that’s an expensive burden to leave your surviving loved ones when you could have easily made financial arrangements in advance.
How much do Funerals actually Cost?
Although funeral costs depend on the geographic area you live in, there is information available on the internet to help you determine what to expect. The Federal Trade Commission provides a lot of information about funeral costs and the rights that consumers have regarding funerals and burials. We’ve found that websites like Parting.com and Everplans.com will do the research for you and help you understand the amount of money your loved ones will need to properly bury you when you pass.
In fact, Everplans.com has a national map posted on their website that links to each state’s rules and forms when it comes to the legal requirements. In most cases, however, the funeral home you select will provide these services as well.
We have found that a traditional funeral and the related costs for it can be broken down into three components: costs for the funeral home, costs for the cemetery, and costs for the headstone or grave marker. When you consider each of these components and total up the average in each category, you’ll typically find that the cost of an average funeral in the U.S. runs between $10,000 and $15,000 depending on where you live.
Burial Insurance for Seniors
Today, seniors can purchase burial insurance to fund the cost of your funeral when you die. The plans available today are affordable and do not require medical exams or blood and urine tests. In fact, there are guaranteed issue burial insurance plans that seniors with severe medical issues can purchase no matter how unhealthy they are.
The burial insurance for seniors’ policies are whole life insurance policies that have all the guarantees and benefits of traditional insurance plans. These guarantees and benefits are what make burial insurance plans so popular:
- They are affordable because the insured can choose a lower death benefit to cover only and funeral and burial expenses.
- Many of burial insurance plans do not require medical underwriting.
- Your burial insurance policy cannot be canceled by the insurer for any reason other than nonpayment.
- Once your burial insurance plan is issued the insurance company cannot raise your premiums for any reason.
- Since you burial insurance plan is whole life insurance, your policy can build cash value that you can access through loans, withdrawals, or surrendering your policy.
You have probably noticed that some insurance companies are advertising guaranteed acceptance burial insurance policies on TV but be wary of these policies because they can be more expensive than the policies you can find with traditional private insurers who are represented by independent insurance agents across the country. You do not save money by buying life insurance directly from an insurance company.
The Best Rates for Burial Insurance for Seniors in Your State
Your cost for burial insurance will depend on several factors that your insurance company will use to determine your rate per $1,000 of coverage:
- The amount of the death benefit you select
- Your age at the time of application
- Your current health and health history
- The type of policy you qualify for: Level benefit, graded benefit, or guaranteed issue
In most cases, you can shop your burial insurance online with most independent insurance brokers. Typically, a broker will represent most of the companies that allow agents to do business over the phone or online and not require a face-to-face interview with the agent.
The downside to this is that the companies who require face-to-face interviews generally have lower rates because the underwriter considers the field underwriting (face-to-face meeting) done by the agent. If your concern is more about your cost than your convenience, buying your burial policy from a company that requires face-to-face interviews will typically save you money.
Your burial insurance rates will also be impacted by the state you live in but this does not require you to do business with an agent located in your state. Most independent brokers are licensed in multiple states (many are licensed in every state) and also represent many of the highly-rated companies that offer burial insurance for seniors.
It's easy to find the Best Burial Insurance for Seniors in Your State
To get the best rates from insurance companies that allow phone sales and the ones that require face-to-face interviews, LifePolicyShopper.com is the number resource to meet your needs. For seniors who are looking for the most affordable policy, we use a network of agents across the US to deliver the best value on whole life insurance products for seniors because final expense companies that offer the greatest value REQUIRE a face to face application completed by a licensed agent.
For seniors that are more concerned about convenience and prefer doing business on the telephone, we have a world-class quoting system on our website that will allow you to shop your policy with the insurers we represent and then complete part of the application. Shortly afterward one of our insurance professionals will call to answer any questions you may have and then help you complete the application.
Many of the internet insurance agents use a limited number of insurance companies because many of the burial insurance and final expense companies will not allow policy sales over the phone. It has been our experience that the companies who require face-to-face interviews will deliver the better rates for your insurance policy.
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