5 Reasons Why You Should Obtain a Burial Insurance

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Last Updated on November 30, 2024

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When most people reach the age of forty, the concept of time changes and people start perceiving it as if it’s moving faster.

As years pass by, one thing which will often be on your mind is your old age years, your properties, and what happens to your loved ones when you die.

Burial insurance sounds like it is all about footing the burial bills once you have crossed over to the other side. However, it is a whole life insurance plan where you get a final sendoff as one of the additional benefits.  Having a burial insurance policy to make sure your family doesn’t have to worry about your final expenses is one of the most important financial decisions a person can make.

So, should you get burial insurance? Of course, you don’t want to leave a distressed family behind struggling with huge funeral expenses. But that’s not the only reason you should get the best burial insurance policy possible. We’ll look at five reasons you should get one now. 

 

Reasons to Get a Burial Insurance Plan

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1. Burial Insurance makes Funerals Affordable

 

A lot of money goes into buying a casket, planning a wake, and hiring priests and other services connected to the final sendoff. 

 Pre-paid arrangements with funeral homes exist, but Burial insurance is more affordable. Almost everyone can qualify for the plan because there’s no need for medical exams, as you only have to answer a few health questions. 

These policies have fixed premiums, regardless of the amount of time that you contribute to the plan. With the burial insurance plans, your family can pay for the coffin, the funeral home charges, the memorial service, the headstone, and even flowers.  If there’s any money left over, your family can spend it however they see fit.

 

2.You Choose the Beneficiary 

 

Most burial insurance plans will allow you to select a beneficiary. You pick the person you trust the most to carry out all your ideas to completion. Choosing a trusted family member as a beneficiary ensures that any leftover money is put into good use, like paying for any pending car loans and other debts. 

In some situations, you may want to assign the policy to a specific funeral home.  After you obtain a policy, you may always assign your policy to the funeral home of your choice.  By doing so, the death benefit is paid directly to them.  Any remaining life insurance proceeds are then paid to your family after all services are performed.

 

3.It is Flexible and Easy to Qualify For

 

The process of acquiring a final expense cover is straightforward.  First, you have to pick a policy of your choice then complete the application.  Applications can be completed online, over the phone, or generally can be emailed out to you.   Generally, you’ll answer 10 to 12 health questions that are in YES and NO format

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 The next thing is to pay your premium as per the policy.   While completing the application, you’ll provide your preferred banking information and premium withdrawal date.  Payments will be automatically withdrawn on your preferred payment date.

When you make a local arrangement with a funeral home, you cannot transfer benefits to another funeral home. This means if any circumstances lead to you ending up in another funeral home far away from the one you made arrangements with, the money will not be transferable. 

However, if you invest in the best burial insurance policy, you get the funds regardless of the funeral home they will be used in, which makes it a portable and flexible option to cover your funeral.  Policies can travel with you, no matter where you may live in the future, which provides some additional flexibility to you.

 

4.You can Borrow Against the Cash Value

 

Since burial insurance policies are whole life insurance policies, they will accrue cash value over time.  These policies will allow you to borrow against the tax-deferred value of your burial insurance cover. This simply means that in addition to covering the cost of your funeral and taking the burden off your family’s shoulders, you also get an extra potential credit line for emergencies and other needs.

While we do not encourage a person to borrow the cash value, in some emergencies, it may make financial sense to do so.

 

5.Life Insurance May Not Cover Everything

 

Many people take out life insurance to cover an outstanding mortgage, or to replace a certain number of years of income.  These traditional policies also may take 30 to 45 days to pay out the death benefit.

It may be wise to have the best burial insurance policy, in addition to your term life insurance policy to cover all funeral expenses. But when you have funeral insurance, you know that your final sendoff will represent your personality. Also, your family will not have to go through unnecessary stress when you pass on.  Many final expense insurance companies will pay out a death claim in 2 to 3 days.

How to Get a Burial Insurance Policy

First, you have to pick an insurance company. Then, you can complete the application online or over the phone.  The forms just need answers to simple questions such as your health status and if you have any terminal or chronic medical conditions.  They may also ask if you live in a nursing home or other assisted living facilities. This is one of the insurance policies, where gender is a determining factor. 

Before signing any contract, it is always advisable to figure out both the benefits and the possible graded benefit. Some products only offer full-range benefits when you have paid premiums for a long time. If you die within a year or two of getting the premium, you will get fewer benefits.  These guaranteed issue products may be the only type of coverage you qualify for.

 

When working with an agent at Diabetes Life Solutions, we’ll review all possible options available to you.  It may be best to call us at 888-629-3064.  We’d love to have a brief phone conversation with you and answer any questions you may have.

What are the Common Types of Policies?

Different insurance companies have their own specific terms and conditions for their high risk burial insurance premiums. However, insurers have three broad plans for the underwritten burial insurance:

  • The level benefit plan: this is the policy you qualify for if you answer no to all the health questions. Some of the health conditions they will ask about include disabilities, Diabetes, heart conditions, Alzheimer’s, and other chronic illnesses. If you have none, the insurance becomes active after you make the first payment. You will also get the lowest premium rates. 
  • The graded benefit plan: This is what you get if, in the view of the insurer, your health is under some risks. If you answer yes to some of the questions, your health is termed risky. You will pay between 15 and 40 percent more for your policy
  • Modified Plan: This is the ideal plan for high-risk applicants. The insurers classify specific health conditions under the modified benefit, and if you have them, you will have to pay 20 to 50 percent more for your premiums.

Therefore, your state of health determines the plan to get and the amount you will pay in premiums.

Questions People Often Ask about Burial Insurance

 

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1.What if a Person has Life Insurance? 

 

A life insurance policy should benefit your family and other dependents and beneficiaries continue with their lives once you have passed on. It might not be a wise thing to force them to dig into the policy and its savings immediately after your demise to get burial money. When you get specific burial insurance plans, you allocate specific funds for the burial process.

Many people may benefit from having a stand alone life insurance policy, laddered with a burial policy.  

 

2.Why Not Just use Savings for Funeral Expenses?

 

People die of many ailments. Sometimes, people suffer a long illness that depletes their health insurance and wipes out savings before they pass on. If such an eventuality was to happen to you, you would leave loved ones fundraising to afford to bury you. The burial insurance plans stops such an eventuality.  

Not everyone has the ability to save funds, and not ‘dip’ into the savings over time.  Burial policies avoid this by making it tougher to access the cash value.

 

3.What if a Person has a Plan With a Funeral Home?

 

Whether to get additional funeral expenses insurance when you have a plan with your funeral home depends on what is covered in your current plan. If the plan covers burial and every extra cost or debt which may be incurred in the process, you do not need a high risk burial insurance. On the other hand, if it does not cover any extra costs, you may benefit from burial insurance. 

 

4.Do Veterans Need Burial Insurance?

 

All veterans qualify for burial benefits, capped at 2000 dollars if you died while in service, and 300 dollars if not. However, these benefits are reimbursed after the expense, meaning that your family has to get funds for burial expenses before the federal government pays them. Having final expense insurance will give your family the initial source of funds to cater for your funeral expenses. 

 

5.Does Medicaid or Social Security Cover Burial Expenses?

 

Medicaid allows a limited amount of money to go towards burial and funeral expenses. Social security also allows around 200 dollars for the same purpose. If you compare this with the medical and funeral expenses you will encounter, the money from these two sources can never be enough.

 

Conclusion

One of the best legacies that you can leave behind when you pass on is a decent sendoff. This should not be the sole responsibility of your family members. When you get a reliable burial expenses insurance cover, you ensure that your family has an easy time planning your funeral. Make an appointment to learn more about the burial plans before choosing the best policy for your needs. 

People with Diabetes will have lots of options to choose from when deciding on a burial insurance policy.  Let our agents help you determine what companies will work best for your personal decision.  Diabetes Life Solutions has helped thousands of families secure coverage.

Even if you have had severe health issues, or maybe Diabetes complications like Retinopathy and Neuropathy, there is a strong possiblity you will still qualify for a policy at affordable rates.

A quick call at 888-629-3064 is all it takes. Contact us and let us help you secure the best burial insurance policy possible.

Matt Schmidt is a nationally licensed diabetes insurance expert. Over this time frame he's helped out over 10,000 clients secure life insurance coverage with Diabetes. He's frequently authors content to Forbes, Entrepreneur, The Simple Dollar, GoBanking Rates, MSN, Insurancenews.net, and Yahoo Finance and many more.

Matt Schmidt is also the Co-Founder of Diabetes Life Solutions and Licensed Insurance agent. He’s been working with the Diabetes community for over 18 years to find consumers the best life insurance policies.  Since 2011, he has been a qualified non-member of MDRT, the most prestigious life insurance trade organization in the USA

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