Burial expense insurance

Burial expense insurance which is also referred to as final expense insurance is a type of permanent insurance coverage which people purchase for themselves for the various costs associated with their death. Usually this kind of insurance is available for the amount of $2,500 to $50,000 depending upon the age and needs of the applicant.

In current times, the average cost of a funeral is $10,000 and it can easily go as high as $25,000 when adding the last minute medical costs which are not covered in medicare or health insurance policy. There can be federal or state taxes as well as other bills which are still outstanding in the deceased name which can add to the total expenses at that time. All this pile up on the family of the deceased person compounding the situation which is already difficult due to emotional stress and bereavement. You can easily plan to prevent your family and loved ones from going through this torture after you die by opting to buy a burial expense insurance. In addition, this type of policy also allows you to specify the details of your funeral and burial, including the type of service and casket that you prefer.

There are a few options available for people when it comes to this type of insurance. These are pre-needs insurance, burial insurance, easy issue insurance and graded benefit life insurance.

Pre needs insurance is also commonly known as “final expense” insurance. It has become pretty popular in recent years. Usually there is no medical or heath check up required while buying this insurance policy. Pre-needs insurance is simply a type of policy for which you pay a premium, and the benefit goes to the funeral home. As the name suggests, you can pre-select everything about your funeral like the type of casket, the funeral arrangements, number of cars, accessories used in funeral etc. You can work with the funeral home director to arrive at a cost of all these things and get the amount fixed for the insurance. He should be able to give you a guarantee that the funeral expenses will not exceed the face value of the insurance policy. You should make sure that the policy is transferable to another state in case you have to move. You should also make sure that in case the funeral expense are less than the face value of policy, the remaining amount should go to the pre specified beneficiary. You need to specifically put that in the contract.

Burial insurance is like just another whole life insurance policy which is of a smaller amount. Since it is of smaller value the number of health questions asked is limited. Therefore it is easier to get. If your health doesn't allow you to get a whole life policy, you can go for something called graded benefit life insurance policy. With the graded benefit, you must live two years before the entire face value will be paid. This type of policy is a "guaranteed issue," meaning you cannot be turned down. It is more expensive than whole life, but is a good policy if you have no other options.

There are a few key features of a burial insurance policy:

• Burial insurance is whole life with cash value
• Easy medical underwriting
• Premiums and benefits remain level
• Simplified application
• Face values available to fit your needs
• Benefit is paid to a beneficiary tax free
• Loans can be taken against the policies
• Generally, anyone under 79 can be insured even if it means a graded benefit
• Double indemnity available in the event of death by an accident

Burial expense insurance is becoming a must have for every senior person so that they can leave peacefully without having to worry about the financial hardships their family will have to go through.

Related hubs on life insurance:

• No physical term life insurance
• Over 50 life insurance
• Senior term life insurance
• Term vs permanent life insurance