What Burial Insurance For Adults Is Available & How To Qualify
Generally, burial insurance providers start offering these policies to seniors aged 50 and over. However, many still offer coverage to adults as young as 18.
Please note that there are virtually no guaranteed acceptance burial insurance policies available to young adults under age 45.
Below are the basic requirements for an adult to qualify for a burial insurance policy:
- No medical exam.
- Answering health questions.
- Have an SSN or TIN.
- Be physically located within the USA at the time of the application.
- If buying burial insurance for a parent, they must be involved in the application process.
Burial insurance policies are a type of small whole life insurance policy meant to be both simple and affordable. The coverage limits are often $2K-$50K, the payouts are fast, and most pre-existing conditions won’t preclude you from qualifying. Most of the time, applications are approved instantly or within a few days.
Being a type of whole life insurance, the cost will not change, and the coverage lasts your entire life.
When you die, the insurer will pay out the death benefit tax-free directly to your beneficiaries. They can spend that money on anything (not limited to funeral expenses).
Best Final Expense Insurance Companies For Adults
There are dozens of good burial insurance companies in the USA. Which one is best varies from person to person. That said, below are three of the top providers to consider if you’re looking to buy burial insurance for an adult.
- $10K Policy Cost$41.01/month*
- New Applicant Ages45-85
- Death Benefit Options$2K-$50K
- 2-Year Waiting PeriodNo
- $10K Policy Cost$43.99/month*
- New Applicant Ages45-80
- Death Benefit Options$2K-$50K
- 2-Year Waiting PeriodNo
- $10K Policy Cost$47.00/month*
- New Applicant Ages50-80
- Death Benefit Options$5,000-$50,000
- 2-Year Waiting PeriodNo
How Much Does Burial Insurance For Adults Cost?
The average cost of burial insurance for adults is $50-$100 per month. Please note that your final rate depends on factors such as age, gender, and how much coverage you select. Below are some sample prices for various ages.
The Full Process To Buy Final Expense Insurance For Adults
To buy final expense insurance for an adult, here’s the basic process:
- Research: Investigate the companies in the market and obtain quotes and policy specifics.
- Choose: Identify the insurance company you want, then reach out to them to formally apply.
- Application: When you formally apply, you’ll need to answer the health questions (unless applying for a guaranteed acceptance policy) and provide all your personal information and beneficiary information.
- Decision: You’ll then need to wait for the decision. Usually, applications are approved within minutes.
- Policy: Your policy will be mailed to you. You should keep it somewhere safe and notify your beneficiaries that you have the coverage so they know whom to call when you pass away.
- Activation: Coverage will start on the day you elected for payments to begin.
How Much Burial Insurance Coverage Should Adults Buy?
The benefit of burial insurance is to pay for all your final expenses so that your family is not burdened by unpaid funeral bills. That said, knowing how much coverage to buy is critically important. If you buy too little coverage, your family is then at risk of having to come out of their own pocket to cover your funeral costs.
As a general rule, a funeral with a burial costs roughly $10,000 according to the National Funeral Directors Association. A cremation costs less, coming in around $7,000.
It’s wise to use a funeral cost calculator to accurately estimate the cost of your preferred funeral. Also, young adults should take inflation into account. While a burial might cost roughly $10,000 today, it will easily be $20,000 in 25-30 years.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nearly all final expense insurance companies allow children to buy all types of life insurance for a parent. It’s important to note that your parents must participate in the application process. If they refuse, there is no way to insure them. That said, it’s perfectly acceptable to call a company ahead of time (without your parent) to get quotes and ask questions about the process.
A burial expense policy does not cover only funeral costs. The money that is paid out upon the insured’s death can be used for anything, including debts, medical bills, or other expenses.
A final expense insurance policy will “kick in” on whatever date you make your first premium payment. The first day you make a payment on an insurance policy is considered the effective date. This is essentially the policy’s birthday. Whatever the policy’s terms and conditions are, they begin on the effective date. Now, if your policy has no waiting period, you’ll be fully covered for natural or accidental death on the effective date. However, if your policy has a two-year waiting period, then you’ll be covered for natural causes of death exactly 24 months after you’ve made your first payment.
Our Insurance Review Methodology
Every company we review has an overall score that illustrates how well it stands out in the market relative to its competitors. These scores are not subjective. Instead, we utilize a defined 5-star scoring system that applies a weighted average of particular factors, all of which are outlined below and on our review methodology page.
Coverage
Strength
Complaint Index
Hold Time
We measure the price of a company’s most popular policy relative to its competitors’. The closeness of their cost to other companies determines the final score. Read a full breakdown of the price of coverage factor on our review methodology page.
Coverage
Coverage
Strength
Complaint Index
Hold Time
This factor assesses whether a company offers immediate coverage and, if so, how difficult it is to qualify for it. Read a full breakdown of the no waiting period coverage factor on our review methodology page.
Strength
Coverage
Strength
Complaint Index
Hold Time
A company’s financial strength is based on its rating with A.M. Best. Read a full breakdown of the financial strength factor on our review methodology page.
Complaint Index
Coverage
Strength
Complaint Index
Hold Time
The National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ complaint index measures an insurer’s frequency of consumer complaints compared to the rest of the market. The score the insurer receives is based on how it stacks up to the median score of other insurers. Read a full breakdown of the NAIC complaint index factor on our review methodology page.
Hold Time
Coverage
Strength
Complaint Index
Hold Time
The customer support hold time score is based on the average amount of time it takes a company to connect an existing policyholder to a human customer service agent. Read a full breakdown of the customer support hold time factor in our review methodology page.
Why trust Choice Mutual?
When we review products, our findings are unbiased and free of any influence from partnerships or methods of compensation. All findings, good or bad, are solely the derivative of our objective analysis of any given product or company.
As noted on our review methodology page, our researchers evaluate the financial stability of the insurer, policy costs, product limitations, state availability, customer satisfaction, waiting periods (if applicable), and other relevant factors. We aggregate all this cumulative data to develop objective overall scores based on predefined weighted factors.
In addition, a qualified expert who is well-qualified to speak on the matter will provide opinion-based feedback about the company or product being reviewed.
For over a decade, Choice Mutual has been an insurance agency specializing in final expense life insurance. Our expertise in this type of insurance is well documented in numerous authoritative publications, some of which are listed below:
Choice Mutual’s mission is to provide consumers with unbiased, expert commentary and explanations of the topics under discussion. We want our readers to be armed with information and tools not found anywhere else on the internet, so they can make an informed decision.
All content on this website is written by Anthony Martin, a licensed life insurance agent with over a decade of industry expertise, who has been quoted hundreds of times as an expert source by reputable news outlets.
Per our editorial guidelines, we have never used and will never use artificial intelligence to create our content. Every word printed on this website is produced and curated entirely by human beings who have firsthand experience with the subject matter.
- Nationally licensed life insurance agent with over 16 years of experience.
- Personal annual production that puts him in the top .001% out of all life insurance agents in the nation.
Anthony Martin is a nationally licensed insurance expert with over 16 years of experience and has personally served over 10,000 clients with their life insurance needs. He frequently authors entrepreneurial and life insurance content for Forbes, Inc.com, Newsweek, Kiplinger, and Entreprenuer.com. Anthony has been consulted as an expert life insurance source for dozens of high-profile websites such as Forbes, Bankrate, Reuters, Fox Business, CNBC, Investopedia, Insurance.com, Yahoo Finance, and many more.
- Nationally licensed life insurance agent with over 20 years of experience
- Best selling Amazon author.
Jeff Root is a nationally licensed life insurance expert with over 20 years of experience. He has personally helped over 3000 clients with their life insurance needs. Jeff is a best-selling Amazon author and the managing partner of a highly successful insurance brokerage that manages over 2,500 licensed insurance agents across the USA. He has been a featured life insurance source for prestigious websites such as Forbes, Bloomberg, MarketWatch, Nerdwallet, and many more.
- Nationally licensed life insurance agent with over 15 years of experience
- Best selling Amazon author of five insurance sales books.
David Duford is a nationally licensed insurance expert with over 15 years of experience. He has personally helped more than 1,500 clients buy life insurance. David has been featured as an expert source for highly authoritative publications such as A.M. Best and Insurancenewsnet. He also runs one of the largest YouTube channels to help aspiring insurance agents serve their clients better.
- Nationally licensed life insurance agent with over 20 years of experience
- Best selling Amazon author.
Jeff Root is a nationally licensed life insurance expert with over 20 years of experience. He has personally helped over 3000 clients with their life insurance needs. Jeff is a best-selling Amazon author and the managing partner of a highly successful insurance brokerage that manages over 2,500 licensed insurance agents across the USA. He has been a featured life insurance source for prestigious websites such as Forbes, Bloomberg, MarketWatch, Nerdwallet, and many more.
- Nationally licensed life insurance agent with over 15 years of experience
- Best selling Amazon author of five insurance sales books.
David Duford is a nationally licensed insurance expert with over 15 years of experience. He has personally helped more than 1,500 clients buy life insurance. David has been featured as an expert source for highly authoritative publications such as A.M. Best and Insurancenewsnet. He also runs one of the largest YouTube channels to help aspiring insurance agents serve their clients better.
Choice Mutual often cites third-party websites to provide context and verification for specific claims made in our work. We only link to authoritative websites that provide accurate information. You can learn more about our editorial standards, which guide our mission of delivering factual and impartial content.
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National Funeral Directors Association. https://nfda.org/
