Burial Insurance For Seniors Over 70 | Insider’s Guide To Benefits & Low Rates
Written by Anthony Martin 
Founder & CEO | Licensed Agent | Forbes Author 
Fact checked by Brian Barber
Want the inside scoop on getting burial life insurance in your 70’s?
Of course you do; that’s why you’re here!
Well that’s what we are going to review today.
We’ll show you real burial insurance quotes for seniors over 70, how these plans work, some tips to find the best coverage for YOU, and much more.
Click a link below to jump ahead or just read on.
Article Quick Navigation Links
- Finding The Best Coverage For Seniors Over 70
- How Does Burial Insurance Work?
- How To Get Immediate
- When A Waiting Period Can’t Be Avoided
- Buying Online Without Meeting An Agent
- Best Companies For Seniors Over 70
- Real Prices For Seniors Age 70-79
How To Find The Best Burial Insurance For Seniors Over 70
You can search online for funeral plans for over 70 and find dozens and dozens of websites that claim they have the best rates, the best plans, best service, blah blah blah.
Like this one for example.
Websites like them say they have the best burial insurance, but how do you know? The truth is; you don’t. Don’t worry though, it doesn’t have to be that way.
Here’s what we are going to do.
We are going to arm you with some information to help you cut through the fog. There are two concepts we want you to understand that way you can make up your own mind.
We will explain the following:
- How to spot the best final expense policy
- How to find the best plan for YOU
Ultimately, once you read our formula to find the best funeral insurance for seniors over 70 we want you to ask yourself one question.
Does our formula make sense?
If our recommendation does not pass the smell test, then we encourage you to disregard our advice. However, we’d like to think that won’t happen. 😎
Elements Of Your Best Burial Policy
It’s pretty basic; you have to know what you are looking for if you really want to find it.
Given that, below we have clearly outlined what exact elements are necessary if a plan is going to be the best for you.
Out of all the policies available, the best one for you will have three attributes. They are as follows:
- A financially secure life insurance company. The insurance company must be fiscally stable because a policy is only as good as the insurer’s ability to pay their claims.
- The policy protects you as much as possible as soon as possible. There are some policies that make you wait 2 years before they pay benefits. While there are some health conditions where a waiting period is unavoidable, it’s very uncommon. No matter what, you want to avoid waiting periods if possible which is usually feasible.
- Your monthly premiums are about as low as you can get. Most final expense companies charge fairly similar rates. However some company has to be cheapest for you, and as long as the above two conditions are met, going with whichever policy costs less just makes sense.
As you can see, you are basically looking for the lowest cost over 70 final expense policy without a waiting period from an insurance company that is reliable.
Pretty simple right?
Simple is good sometimes 🙂
The Formula To Find The Best Plan
This method is our professional recommendation based off of years of experience exclusively in the burial insurance business. If you follow it, you are going to find yourself a really good deal on your policy.
To find the best final expense for seniors over 70 you need to contact an independent broker agency that specializes in final expense life insurance. They need to represent no less than 10 different insurance companies. Let them evaluate your situation, so they can compare policies from each company on the market to see which one is best for you.
Why This Works So Well
It’s no secret that shopping around is a basic requirement to ensure you are getting a good deal on a product or service. Burial insurance for seniors over 70 is no exception to this rule.
Here’s the thing
You can personally call 10-20 life insurance companies and try to get quotes. Very few will give you the quotes, and most will simply take your phone number, and have an agent call you.
But let’s just assume that each carrier you contacted did give you the quotes you wanted. Consider these questions:
- How long would it take to contact 20 companies to get quotes? It will likely take at least 3-5 hours of calling.
- Will each company take the time to do a thorough risk assessment of your health to ensure you are getting quoted accurately? Best believe the answer is no. The carriers that have someone who will quote you directly will very rarely take the time to go through all your medications and past medical history to ensure that the quotes they give you are achievable.
- Do you think any of the carriers you contact will recommend a company other than them self? This is emphatically a no. There is no chance they will encourage you to go with another life insurance company that is more suitable for your health conditions. That will never happen.
Now Compare That To Calling An Independent Agency Like Us
In one five minute phone call, you get the following:
- The same quotes from every company you would have called on your own, but in minutes.
- You get a professional risk assessment. This will ensure the quotes you are given are real (you would be medically capable of being approved at the quoted rates).
- Since we are not married to any particular carrier, we will impartially select which company has the best policy for you.
Remember how earlier we wanted you to ask yourself one simple question?
Now is the time.
Does our advice pass the common sense test?
Hopefully you see the value in working with an agency instead of trying to do this all by yourself.
Side Note: The formula above works even if you don’t buy through us. While we hope you give us the chance to show you why we are best equipped to help you, we know that won’t always happen.
If you heed our advice, we can promise that you will get a good policy at a really competitive rate no matter which agency you buy from.
Buying Through An Agency Vs. Direct With The Carrier
Most people don’t realize this, but 98% of life insurance companies will not sell you their insurance directly. They mandate that you buy through an agency.
It’s just how the life insurance industry is set up. They’d rather defer the customer acquisition cost and time necessary to sign people up to agencies like us.
Doing so means they don’t have to worry about anything other than issuing and managing policies.
In all honesty, it’s a brilliant tactic they came up with. They just sit back and let the orders come in. Us agencies do all the real work!
You might be wondering…
Does it cost anything to work with an independent agency?
No it does not. We get paid by the insurers which is why our services are free.
You might also be wondering…
Does the insurance cost more because you are buying through an agency?
No it does not. In fact, life insurance prices are equal no matter who you buy from. The few carriers that do sell some of their insurance direct to consumer, the prices are equal to what it would cost you if you bought through an agency.
In the end, there’s a 98% chance you will buy your funeral policy from an agency rather than directly from an insurance company. Just make sure select the right agency, so you can celebrate just like Will, Carlton, and Uncle Phil because you got such a good deal.
How Does Burial Insurance Work?
Just what is a burial policy and how does it work? This is one of the most common questions we get.
So let’s talk about it.
Ultimately, a burial policy is one taken out specifically to cover final expenses. You will very frequently hear the terms “final expense insurance” and “funeral insurance” used right along with the term burial insurance.
All three terms are synonyms because they are all referring to the same type of policy (just like the words “attorney” and “lawyer”). In fact, if you didn’t already notice this, we have used all three terms throughout this article. 😎
Here’s the deal
Burial insurance is a type of life insurance. It’s just a very specific type. As you may or may not know, there are dozens of different kinds of life insurance.
Funeral insurance plans are small face value whole life policies with very limited underwriting. Being that they are whole life insurance, you can expect the following to be true regardless of which insurance company provides your policy:
- Fixed monthly rates
- Permanent coverage that does not expire at any age
- Benefits are guaranteed to never decrease
As far as understanding the terms and conditions of a burial policy, that’s all there is to it.
Essentially, you buy your policy and make your monthly payments. Nothing about your policy will ever change. Whenever you should pass away, the insurance company will cut a tax free check to your beneficiary(s).
The proceeds from the policy provides your family the funds necessary to cover your final expenses. If there are funds leftover after the funeral bills have been paid, that money stays with your family to use as they see fit.
Having a burial policy can give you the peace of mind knowing that your family won’t have to dip in their piggy banks to pay for your end of life costs.
Funeral Policies For Over 70 Have Super Duper Relaxed Underwriting
We simply cannot put into words how extremely relaxed the underwriting is with these plans. The insurance companies designed them to accept many major health conditions.
In the end, virtually every risk factor is insurable by some company.
You might be wondering just how is that possible?
It’s possible because there are so many final expense companies on the market competing with one another.
Each insurance company has its own unique underwriting. While one company may not accept a certain health issue, others will. This plays out over and over for all sorts of health issues which is why most applicants can easily secure coverage with a company that has underwriting designed to absorb the risk of all their conditions.
For example, over 90% of our clients are approved for a policy that fully protects them from day one because we were able to find them a burial company that accepted all their health issues.
Baring some super high risk conditions like a current cancer diagnosis, Alzheimer’s, dialysis, transplants or being in a wheelchair due to a chronic disease, you can get approved for a plan that accepts all your health conditions.
For most clients, the question is usually: Which company(s) has underwriting that will freely accept all your health issues?
That’s where we come in! Call us and we will let you know once we learn about your health.
They Have Very Small Face Value Options
Another very unique element to funeral insurance for seniors over 70 is the ability to buy a very small amount of coverage.
If you want, you could buy as little as $2,000 in coverage. On the flip side, most companies won’t go much higher than $50,000 if you want that much in protection. If you wanted more, you would just have to buy multiple policies with multiple companies.
To put this in perspective; most traditional life insurance plans require you to buy no less than $25,000- $50,000 in coverage.
Even at $25K, that’s way more coverage than necessary to pay for your final expenses considering the average burial is $7,000-$10,000.
The point is; if you only need a little bit of coverage, final expense insurance is the only kind of life insurance that will allow you to buy such a small amount.
Guaranteed Coverage Available Too
Another incredibly unique element to the final expense industry is the availability of guaranteed issue life insurance.
These policies have no medical underwriting whatsoever. That means no health questions, and no prescription history checks.
They literally just issue the policy blind.
Sounds amazing right?
Not so fast.
These guaranteed acceptance burial plans do cost much more per month, and they always come with a 24 month waiting period. If you die during the first 24 months, they will merely refund your premiums plus interest.
Basically, a guaranteed issue plan is only meant as a last resort when your health prevents you from being approved for plan that does ask health questions.
Tips To Getting A Plan With No Waiting Period
Aside from people inquiring about how burial insurance works, the second most popular question centers around waiting periods.
If you do a bit of searching for final expense insurance, you will quickly learn that some policies with some companies have a provision that makes you wait two years before your policy pays out a death benefit.
This sort of provision stipulates that if non accidental death occurs during the waiting period, the insurance company will simply refund all premiums plus interest (usually 10%).
But fear not, having to endure a waiting period is rare, and we will show you how to avoid one if possible.
Here’s How You Avoid The Waiting Period
The only way to get a funeral life insurance policy that protects you 100% from day one is to be approved for a policy that has health questions.
If you apply for a policy that has no health questions, it will not pay out a death benefit during the first two years.
Side Note: Policies that have no health questions are called guaranteed acceptance life insurance plans. There’s many companies that provide these. If you are curious, you can read our in depth review of these no heath question plans here.
The surest way to get a plan that has no waiting period at all is to apply with a company where you can say no to all their health questions.
Basically, you are looking for companies that have designed their underwriting where they are perfectly accepting of all your health conditions.
Things To Remember About Applications That Ask Health Questions
First of all, life insurance companies only ask about the issues they care about.
That means if they do not ask about a health issue, it means they are okay with it!
For example, you could search for a year trying to find a burial insurance company that asks about high cholesterol, and you will not succeed.
The reason you won’t succeed is because no company asks about high cholesterol due to the fact that they don’t care about it. It’s just not a risk factor they are concerned with.
Second, if you ever answer yes to a question on any burial insurance application it will at minimum result in a higher monthly premium.
Now
In addition to a higher premium, saying yes to a health question could also result in a partial or full waiting period.
For example, some companies have questions where they would still offer you a full death benefit from day one even if you answered yes to certain health issues.
On the other hand, some companies will impose a full or partial waiting period because you said yes to any of their health questions (or they will decline you).
It just depends on the company. Quite frankly, this whole area is another reason why it’s so important you work with an independent agency like us.
We know how every company responds to every health question. Call us and tap into our knowledge. We are more friendly than you think 🙂
When Can A Waiting Period Not Be Avoided?
As you may have picked up by now, there are some medical situations where a waiting period is unavoidable. Albeit rare, they are indeed out there.
For example, take a look at these inquires below. These are actual submissions on our website.
Conditions like those just aren’t eligible for immediate coverage.
Believe it or not, there aren’t very many situations where a waiting period is mandatory. Below is a pretty complete list of all the situations where a waiting period is just something you will have to accept.
Whether you are looking for funeral cover for over 75, or any other age. These conditions will result in a waiting period no matter your age.
We have divided the conditions into two sections.
- Health conditions where a full 24 month waiting period is certain
- Health conditions where you are eligible for partial immediate coverage
For all these conditions, the details don’t really matter. With burial insurance, it’s a simple yes or no. You either have a condition or you don’t. The companies aren’t concerned with the how severe or mild of a case you may have.
Mandatory 24 month waiting period health issues
- Wheelchair bound due to a chronic disease or illness
- Cancer within the last 24 months (except basal cell or squamous cell)
- Organ transplants
- Current dialysis
- HIV or AIDS
- Terminal illness
- Heart attack within the last 12 months
- Full blown stroke (TIA attacks are okay) within the last 12 months
- Angina (chest pains) within the last 12 months
- Any kind of heart or circulatory surgery within the last 12 months
Conditions eligible of partial coverage during the first two years
Most burial insurance companies will call these plans a “graded” policy. They usually pay out 30-40% of the death benefit during year 1. During year 2, they would pay out 70-80% of the death benefit. After 2 years, it’s 100% for life.
- Oxygen use (if for sleep apnea that is eligible for 100% day one coverage)
- Congestive heart failure
- Cardiomyopathy
What You Need To Know When Buying Final Expense Insurance Online
Here’s the raw truth about buying end of life insurance on the net. Most burial insurance websites are nothing more than lead aggregators.
Our research puts our estimate at around 80%. That means 80% of websites that claim to sell final expense life insurance don’t sell anything but leads.
If you go to these sites to get final expense insurance rates you won’t get them. You’ll get a thank you message without seeing a single price.
It’s quite sad too since almost every one of these sites makes it seem as if you are working directly with licensed agents. The truth is, you are not.
Now, you are probably thinking, what the heck is a lead aggregator?
A lead aggregator (aka lead vendor) collects leads for resale. In almost every case, companies that do this don’t sell insurance (even though their websites proclaim they do). They only sell your contact info.
When you type your information into their website, they sell your contact info to agents and companies interesting in buying their leads.
Most of the time, the companies that buy leads from aggregators don’t specialize in final expense life insurance.
Ultimately, whoever contacts you likely doesn’t have the knowledge or the tools to ensure you get the best and lowest cost burial insurance.
How To Know If A Website Is A Lead Vendor
There are steps you can take to identify which websites are really agencies (like us) that actually sell final expense for seniors over 70, or if they are nothing more than lead aggregators.
Below is a list of different check points you can look for before you submit your information on a website. This way you will be able to tell if you are looking at a real company like Choice Mutual or a lead seller.
Check Their About Page
First of all, if there is no about page, they are a lead vendor. Period.
If there is an about page, it should detail background information on actual people within the company. You should be able to see information about the CEO, people in management, or agents who work for the company.
In addition, there should be some information about how the company got started, it’s mission, how it provides value to the market, or an explanation of why they are involved in the burial insurance business.
Virtually every legitimate business will have this kind of information on their website.
If all the legitimate businesses have it, and you are looking at a website that does not, what does your gut tell you?
Look Out For Quote Fields That Start With “Enter Your Zip Code”
Lead vendors almost always have their “quotes” begin by having you put in your zip code.
It’s pretty safe to say that there is about a 98% chance that any website with a quote box like the one pictured is in fact a lead vendor.
Contrast this to our website. Our quote box has you put in the necessary information that will allow us to actually show you real prices (which we do).
Look For Insurance Company Logos
If the website you are on actually sells insurance, they will 100% show you some of the logos of the carriers they work with.
If you see no evidence of any particular insurance companies, that’s because there are none.
No logos= lead vendor.
Does The Website Look Cheap?
Take a moment to look at the website to see if it looks professional or not. In most cases, it should be obvious.
Most lead aggregator websites are not aesthetically pleasing. Oftentimes, the images look odd (and are often in poor resolution), and the flow of the content is not smooth.
Usually, if the website looks bad, it’s probably a lead vendor.
Any respectable burial insurance agency like us will take great pride and ensure their site looks professional and polished.
Check Their Blog For New Content
This one is usually a dead giveaway. It’s very rare that lead vendors will post new content to any part of their website let alone their blog.
They usually build the site, post all the initial content, and then they spend a few months promoting it so that it eventually draws users.
After that, they usually just let it sit, and bank on whatever traffic it generates.
Any agency that actually sells final expense insurance will surely post new content to their blog on a regular basis (or at least they should be).
The other thing to keep in mind is that you want to work with a company that is up to date on the latest information in the burial insurance business.
If a company is posting new content regularly, it’s a clear sign they are actively involved in the selling of insurance (not leads).
Is Their Website Secured?
A website that is secured will display some very specific attributes in the address bar. You will see, in all green, a little picture of a lock followed by the name of the company.
If you don’t see this, the website hasn’t been validated to be a real business entity. Take a look at the pictures below, or just look up at the web address bar right now.
See how our website appears with our company name in all green?
To get your company to show up like that you have to prove that you are legal business entity. They do a background check on your business, and verify your phone numbers.
Test Out Their Links To Trustworthy Institutions
Any website can paste an image of anything they want, and many websites do.
What we see very often is lead aggregator sites post images showing they are members of the BBB or some other credible organization.
They do this to gain your trust. They know that most users will merely see the logo in question, and assume it’s legit.
The truth is, most of them are just images that link to nothing. They are no more real than the boogeyman.
So how do you find out the truth?
Test them!
If a company is a member of the BBB, the logo should be a link that when clicked takes you directly to their BBB listing on the BBB website. This is a BBB requirement by the way.
Below is an example of how most lead sellers will display their “BBB accreditation”
See how it’s just an image, and there’s nothing to click? Ya that’s bad news.
If you see links other notable websites (Facebook, YouTube, etc), test them out by clicking on them.
If they go to an invalid page, or worse don’t take you to any web page at all, you are almost certainly dealing with a lead vendor.
A Few Of The Best Burial Insurance Companies For Seniors Over 70
We selected these companies for 3 reasons.
- They offer competitive pricing for funeral cover for over 70
- All of these companies are very financially stable
- Each of these companies offers unique underwriting value
We’ve included some key value points about each company. Just remember, there is more to each company that what’s listed. We basically highlighted some of their biggest strengths.
- First Year In Business: 1904
- A.M. Best Rating: A+
- Face Amount Options Ages 70-79: $2,000-$40,000
- Optional Riders For Additional Premium: Accidental Death
United of Omaha funeral insurance is one of the best plans on the market. They offer great pricing and underwriting that accepts most applicants.
If you can qualify for their policy, do it because you won’t get a better deal!
- First Year In Business: 1874
- A.M. Best Rating: A
- Face Amount Options Ages 70-79: $2,000-$35,000
- Optional Riders For Additional Premium: Accidental Death
Foresters is hands down the most welcoming company to applicants with any sort of mental health issue. They are also very friendly to diabetics, and folks with seizure disorders. Their underwriting can easily get most applicants approved on the spot.
- First Year In Business: 1895
- A.M. Best Rating: A-
- Face Amount Options Ages 70-79: $5,000-$25,000
- Optional Riders For Additional Premium: None
Without question Royal Neighbors is the best company for anyone who has severe diabetes (even with complications like neuropathy). They are also very accommodating to blood thinners and mental health issues. In all honestly, they just might have the most lax underwriting on the market.
- First Year In Business: 1928
- A.M. Best Rating: A+
- Face Amount Options Ages 70-75: $1,000-$30,000
- Face Amount Options Ages 75-79: $1,000-$25,000
- Optional Riders For Additional Premium: Accidental Death, Children & Grandchildren Coverage
Transamerica is one of the few companies that offer full first day coverage to COPD applicants as well as some other common serious health issues. Altogether, they have very liberal underwriting where most people can approved for a plan that has no waiting period.
Prices on Funeral Plans For over 70
We’ve taken the liberty of running through a bunch of quotes for from Mutual of Omaha, Foresters Financial, and Transamerica.
Please keep in mind the following when you look at these quotes:
- All rates are for non tobacco users. If you have smoked cigarettes within the last year, you will pay more. If you use a form of tobacco or nicotine other than cigarettes, we will connect you with a company that will offer you non tobacco rates for the type of tobacco you use.
- Prices are consistent with an application where all the health questions are answered no.
- We have many other funeral expense companies other than these three. Your best plan may be with one of these companies. Then again, it may not. We’ll assess your heath to determine which company is best for you.
Females are listed first (Ladies first 😎). Click here if you want to jump to the male rates.
70-79 Year Old Female Burial Insurance Quotes
AGE $5,000
$10,000
$15,000
$20,000
70 $28.22 $53.24 $78.26 $103.28
71 $29.92 $56.63 $83.34 $110.06
72 $31.66 $60.12 $88.58 $117.04
73 $33.57 $63.93 $94.29 $124.65
74 $35.49 $67.78 $100.07 $132.36
75 $37.81 $72.41 $107.01 $141.62
76 $40.73 $78.25 $115.77 $153.29
77 $43.36 $83.51 $123.66 $163.81
78 $45.82 $88.44 $131.06 $173.67
79 $48.31 $93.41 $138.52 $183.62
AGE $5,000
$10,000
$15,000
$20,000
70 $28.28 $53.42 $78.55 $103.69
71 $30.45 $57.75 $85.05 $112.35
72 $32.62 $62.08 $91.55 $121.01
73 $34.78 $66.41 $98.04 $129.68
74 $36.95 $70.74 $104.54 $138.34
75 $39.11 $75.08 $111.04 $147.00
76 $42.71 $82.28 $121.84 $161.40
77 $46.31 $89.48 $132.64 $175.81
78 $49.91 $96.68 $143.44 $190.21
79 $53.52 $103.88 $154.25 $204.61
AGE $5,000
$10,000
$15,000
$20,000
70 $28.70 $53.90 $79.10 $104.30
71 $30.45 $57.40 $84.35 $111.30
72 $32.20 $60.90 $89.60 $118.30
73 $34.60 $65.70 $96.80 $127.90
74 $36.35 $69.20 $102.05 $134.90
75 $38.15 $72.80 $107.45 $142.10
76 $41.85 $80.20 $118.55 $156.90
77 $45.30 $87.10 $128.90 $170.70
78 $48.90 $94.30 $139.70 $185.10
79 $51.35 $99.20 $147.05 $194.90
