Burial Insurance Options

Other fields of personal coverage were added as the years went by.  Then a young man dreamed up the idea of taking premiums in advance for that time of mortal departure we still call "DEATH!"  When you die your heirs will reap all these benefits. Therefore, he called the new field, "Death Insurance and went bravely out into the world to reap in the new sales."

Unfortunately, sales ranged somewhere between sluggish and hopeless. The moment he brought up the words "Death Insurance" he was tuned out and shunted aside. Finally he realized that death was not worth insuring to his clients; but what if he was to offer people an insurance policy that paid off if they LIVED?  "If you live to the age of 70 we will pay you a thousand dollars. And if you should die somehow before the age of 70 then your family will receive the full amount right then!"

Yes, and what do you call this new fangled kind of insurance?

Why, we call it LIFE Insurance!

Life insurance is still a hard sell to a poor man, but those with some wealth could be more easily persuaded that Life Insurance was a good investment.  During the Great Depression life policies were being sold for as little as $1 per week, and the sales agent would sweep through a community to collect the premiums every week.

Eventually even Burial Insurance came to be accepted in the more civilized world.

At the top of most lists comes ambulance fees, then there are hospital costs, transportation costs, making arrangements for the rest of the family and various other incidentals.

Many people assume that their heirs can simply take money from the bank account and pay those bills, but no, all your accounts will be frozen until after probate. When you figure in taxes there may not be that much left anyway.

When estimating the cost for burial insurance, the first thing you should do is determine those costs currently associated with a funeral and burial. Even if you already have a burial plan, the benefit amount may not be sufficient to cover the actual costs. The older your policy is the less likely it is that there will be sufficient to cover actual costs.
Back in the good old days no one could dream of a dollar so useless it wouldn't even buy a nickel candy bar. Some economists say that two dollars won't buy a nickel candy bar just 15 years from now. As long as there are politicians, inflation will steadily erode the value of our money.

Look at the Numbers

You won’t know what kind of burial insurance plan you need – or if the one you have is sufficient - until you estimate the costs of a funeral and burial. This will take a bit of time and research, but the effort will definitely be worth it. The items you must include in this estimate are: medical bills not covered by insurance, debts, cemetery plot, casket, vault, headstone, funeral service and viewing, floral arrangements, limousine service, minister’s fees, body preparation fees, and other miscellaneous expenses. A funeral home could give you a rough estimate of most of these costs.

Estimating the costs associated with a funeral and burial accomplishes two things: it allows you to choose an adequate burial plan and gives you an idea of the bill you or your survivors could be stuck with.

After you have guesstimated the funeral and burial costs, you can start looking for a burial insurance plan that best suits your needs. A reputable insurance agent in your area will be able to point you in the right direction.

First, Do You Need
a Burial Plan?

Before you begin shopping for a burial insurance plan, make sure that you really need one. Go through all of your existing policies and check for burial coverage. Especially if you have insurance through your place of employment, your burial costs may already be covered. If you find that you are not covered through your workplace, see if your employer offers an opt-in plan and whether or not you are eligible to participate. When an employer offers to match or at least help with your premiums they can be substantially lower than those paid through an independent plan.

Another ray of sunlight, if you or a loved one is a veteran of the U.S. Military, then a minimum-frills funeral, burial plot and other miscellaneous expenses are most likely part of your veteran’s benefits.

If you discover that you do have a current burial insurance policy, compare the benefit to the current estimated costs. Funeral costs are scheduled to increase every year as the value of the American dollar shrinks still more, and your current plan (especially if it’s an old one) may not pay enough to cover everything. If this is the case, investigate the cost of modifying your current policy, or try taking out an additional policy. My dad took out 3 additional policies in 20 years, and still just barely covered all the legitimate expenses. I was the only solvent part of the family and I shall be eternally grateful that Daddy took out those policies and left another policy to take care of my mother.

Buying Burial Insurance

Once you’ve decided to buy a burial insurance plan, do a lot of shopping around and make sure that the plan you choose fits your needs. You’ll want a policy that will cover all funeral and burial expenses and one that takes into account the increasing associated costs as well.

For example, if you’ve used today’s prices to calculate that the cost of your funeral and burial would be $10,000, a policy with a benefit in that amount will probably not cover the same expenses 10 or 15 years from now. You will need to make an educated guess as to the future cost or purchase a plan that takes these ever-increasing numbers into account.

An alternative to the traditional burial plan is something called “pre-need” insurance. This type of burial plan allows you to prepay for your burial expenses at current prices. It also lets you plan all aspects of the funeral, from the music played and passages read to who will pick out the clothing you’ll be buried in.

The burial insurance plan that you choose may simply require that you send in an application through the mail. If you are relatively young and have no major medical problems, then the premiums should be low and qualifying for the policy won’t be a problem. If, on the other hand, you have been diagnosed with any major or terminal illnesses, have recently been hospitalized, had an organ transplant or been denied insurance in the past 6 months, you will not qualify.

Other restrictions may apply.