What You Should Know
- A lot of life insurance companies offer coverage for funeral expenses
- Burial insurance—or final expense insurance—allows beneficiaries to utilize funds at their discretion for funeral costs or to pay off debt
- Funeral insurance typically pays out the benefit of the policy directly to a designated funeral home
As you plan for your loved ones after you pass away, one thing you will want to take care of is the money it takes to cover your funeral. If you are searching for life insurance, you may want to learn more about life insurance companies that cover funeral expenses.
There are countless life insurance companies that offer burial insurance, and the best life insurance to cover funeral expenses is a common product that many people want to have as a part of their life insurance policy.
If you currently have a life insurance policy, you might look into adding a funeral expense rider to your coverage. You can use a life insurance guide to help you better understand different companies and costs.
But if you're shopping for life insurance quotes that include coverage for funeral expenses, you'll want to find and compare multiple companies at once to see how much this coverage will cost you.
Not every life insurance company charges the same rates for coverage. So it's a good idea to shop around to compare life insurance rates for funeral expenses. This will help you make sure you're getting the best deal you can.
As you look for affordable life insurance for funeral expenses, don't forget to use our free quote tool above to compare rates from top companies.
Do life insurance companies cover funeral expenses?
There are a lot of final expense life insurance companies that include burial insurance as an add-on to a life insurance policy. This type of coverage will help ensure your family members are not left covering the cost of your funeral.
While many companies offer this type of coverage, there are some companies that people use most commonly. These life insurance companies include:
- Mutual of Omaha
- Aetna
- AARP
- Royal Neighbors of America
- Foresters Financial
- Transamerica
- Prosperity Life
- AAA
- AIG
- Americo
- Liberty Bankers Life
- Gerber Life
- American Amicable
- Baltimore Life
- Globe Life
These companies do not offer free burial insurance, but they do allow policyholders to purchase this type of insurance either as a rider to a policy or as a standalone type of coverage.
When you read through the list of companies above, you may want to pursue Globe Life burial insurance, AAA burial insurance, or AARP final expense insurance rather than looking at any other companies.
If that's the case, you should call to speak to an insurance representative and see what your options are when it comes to coverage.
But it is a much better idea to shop around for final expense life insurance coverage, even if the coverage comes from a company not listed above.
How can I use final expense insurance?
Final expense or burial insurance is typically used by your beneficiaries to cover any costs associated with your funeral, including the casket, the burial plot, the headstone, and even the flowers.
The major difference between burial insurance and funeral insurance is that burial insurance is typically paid out to the beneficiaries of a policy, while funeral insurance goes straight to the designated funeral home.
With burial or final expense insurance, some companies allow for beneficiaries to use the final expense benefit for other purposes, such as to pay off debts like medical bills or a mortgage.
If the addition of this type of coverage to your policy does not increase your insurance rates too much, it's a good idea to consider. You'll feel better knowing you did not burden your family with the financial responsibility of your funeral.
Which company offers the best burial insurance for seniors?
There is not one single life insurance company that offers the best burial insurance for senior citizens. But shopping around for coverage will help you know whether a company's rates will work best for you.
If you are on the fence about purchasing final expense insurance, you can always speak to an insurance agent and share your concerns. Before making any decisions on a life insurance policy, it's important that you evaluate how much life insurance you need.
Should I get burial insurance?
Burial insurance is a good way to help cover the cost of your funeral, but for many people, the rates are higher than they would like.
Typically, because burial insurance does not require a medical exam, it is often issued at higher rates when compared to other types of life insurance policies. This is similar to a guaranteed issue life insurance policy.
In addition to the high cost of burial insurance, you should also look to see if any policy you're considering has a graded death benefit, as these are common with burial insurance.
A graded death benefit stipulates that if you pass away in a certain amount of time—typically anywhere from two to five years—after signing the contract, your beneficiaries will only get a refund of your premiums instead of the benefit you initially signed up for.
In a lot of ways, burial or final expense insurance can be a bit of a gamble. And if you have a life insurance policy that includes a death benefit, burial insurance is probably not necessary.
But if you do not have any life insurance coverage, then you may want to consider final expense insurance.
If you do decide to search for burial insurance or any life insurance coverage at all, be sure to shop around online to find exactly what you're looking for.
You can use our free tool below to buy life insurance that covers funeral expenses today.
About The Author:Brianna Slattery
Freelance Writer
Brianna Slattery is a writer at Clearsurance. Her writing interests include helping readers answer their specific questions about insurance.
