Final Expense Life Insurance – It Puts You in Charge
Author: weissheiss
Final expense life insurance is specifically designed to meet the FINAL needs of you, the policy owner. In this way it’s unlike other life policies which provide a benefit, but to the heirs of the policy owner. Though all life insurance provides peace of mind to you while you are alive, this form of life insurance meets your needs as a deceased person.
Final expense life policies are so called because it is a policy is designed to cover the ‘final expenses’ of the policy owner. These usually cover, as a bare minimum, the cost of a casket and vault. But the size of the benefit paid out is often calculated to cover obituary notices, flowers, grave services and limousines as well and can include outstanding bills etc.
Ask advice on how much ‘final expense’ cover you will need
Many people who take out a final expenses life policy are keen to have all the arrangements for their funeral settled well prior to their death. So you can calculate how much insurance cover you will need, Funeral Directors provide advice on the cost of different types of funerals. And they may also provide a price guarantee for all or part of the funeral expense though this is not always available.
Difficulty in deciding exactly how much a funeral will eventually cost often results in a final expenses life policy owner taking out a policy which is large enough to cover all eventualities. Whatever the face value or death benefit of the policy, you entrust the beneficiary of the policy, usually a family member, with the task of making funeral arrangements in accordance with your wishes. However legally a beneficiary may make any arrangements they like, so it pays to choose a beneficiary who will be completely trustworthy in following your wishes.
Sometimes a Funeral Director may also be a licensed insurance agent. The policies they sell are normally called pre-need life policies rather than final expense life insurance. The funeral home is the beneficiary of the policy and the Funeral Director has the responsibility of carrying out your final wishes in relation to your funeral. It is harder to comparison shop for these policies as Funeral Homes usually have a business relationship with a specific underwriting company.
The conditions attaching to a final expense policy
The premium for final expense life policies can be paid for in full when a policy is taken out. When this happens it is more likely a price guarantee will be given by a Funeral Director on the costs associated with burial. Cost guarantees can however be given for some expenses and not for others. It is also possible for premiums to be paid over a period of time but there is less likelihood of price guarantees being available in this case.
As final expenses life policies are a very specific type of policy they can often be issued with few or no medical questions being asked. It is very unusual for the face value of such a policy to exceed $50,000 and one would normally give a final benefit of between $10,000 – $20,000 which reflects the average cost of funerals in the United States. Normally these polices are not issued to people over the age of 75-79, depending on the insurance company involved, so plan ahead in buying one.
If a policy owner of a final expense life policy has a serious medical condition a policy may specify a lower benefit will be paid during the first few years of the policy. These policies can be either a term policy, which is for a specific period of time. Or they may be a whole life policy covering the whole period of the policy owner’s life. Get a quote from a reputable company and find out how inexpensive this form of coverage can be.
Posted in Final Expenses Insurance | 
Tags: Beneficiary, Casket, Death Benefit, Funeral Directors, Funerals, Licensed Insurance, Life Policies, Obituary Notices