18 Best Burial Insurance Companies Review 2022
The best burial insurance policy for you may not be the best one for someone else. Coverage amounts, age restrictions, and health are all important factors to consider when shopping for burial insurance, and some may mean more to you than others.
We’ve highlighted some of the burial policies sold by 18 of the best burial insurance companies in the United States, so you can weigh your options and find the right coverage for you and your family.
A burial insurance plan is a small and life insurance policy that doesn’t require any medical exam. It comes with a quick cash payout to your heirs to enable them to have the needed funds to pay for your funeral expenses.
Given the above points, there are salient questions that most certainly come to your mind:
- What should you understand about the final expense and burial insurance?
- What are the best companies?
- How much will it cost you?
- Which companies offer coverage without a 2-year waiting period?
In this article, we provide answers to the many questions you have.
Table of Contents
What is burial insurance, final expense insurance & funeral insurance?
Do these three terms sound similar to you at all? Burial insurance, final expense insurance, or funeral insurance, what do all these terms point to?
When talking about burial insurance, we are indirectly talking about final expense insurance or funeral insurance.
This is so because the three terms can be interchangeably used. By definition, burial insurance generally refers to a non-comprehensive whole life insurance policy with low-priced premiums meant for paying for all final expenses of an insured person at the time of his/her passing.
These policies and for most insurance companies, no medical exams are required, the acceptance rate is almost guaranteed regardless of any critical health issues and coverage amount normally starts from $2,000 to $40,000 to get started.
Typically, a whole life final expense policy doesn’t come with much fine print as with other policies, but there are certain salient points to note such as:
- Rates stay the same for life.
- Coverage never decreases.
- The policy never expires or gets terminated.
- Investment or cash value build components.
There is no confusion as to how funeral or burial insurance works and neither is it as complicated as many think.
Once the policyholder passes away, the insurance company will simply pay out the death benefit to your beneficiaries.
Generally, the death benefit comes in form of a tax-exempt check that will be paid directly to your beneficiaries.
Depending on your choice, the receiver of the death benefit doesn’t, in most cases, necessarily have to be your heir or a person.
You can choose or name a funeral home as your beneficiary and, in such case, when you pass away, the death benefit is paid directly to your chosen funeral home rather than a person.
Another important point you need to understand is the usage of the death benefit. While the death benefit is primarily meant for paying your final expense there is no restriction as to how the fund should be spent.
You can use the money to offset any outstanding bills such as funeral costs or medical bills and any leftover should be given to the insured’s beneficiary (s) and not the funeral home.
How the leftover is spent is not anybody’s business as the beneficiary can spend it on anything as s/he deems fit.
Sample Final Expense or Burial Insurance Cost.
Burial insurance policies can be different from company to companies and so for some insurance companies; it comes as either a whole life policy or term policy.
On average, burial insurance costs can range from $50-$100 per month (approx.) with the most common face amount going for $10,000.
Premium is another important factor to consider and your specific premium will vary based on your health, age, gender, and the face amount of burial insurance policy you purchase.
Looking at it from the point of samples, what exactly can your final expense cost?
There is actually no generally fixed cost for what insurance companies must charge for a burial insurance policy.
Below is a table showing an estimate of what final expense insurance might cost:
Age | Female | Female | Male | Male |
$10,000 | $10,000 | $10,000 | $10,000 | |
Without Waiting Period | With Guaranteed Application Acceptance | Without Waiting Period | With Guaranteed Acceptance | |
45 | $22 | $28 | $27 | $33 |
50 | $24 | $30 | $30 | $36 |
55 | $27 | $38 | $35 | $45 |
60 | $32 | $42 | $43 | $55 |
65 | $41 | $51 | $54 | $66 |
70 | $51 | $69 | $70 | $89 |
75 | $71 | $98 | $99 | $121 |
80 | $98 | $140 | $139 | $166 |
85 | $135 | $170 | $192 | $230 |
89 | $275 | N/A | $358 | N/A |
Note: The price can vary by insurance company, but from our experience, the table above gives the likely costs you can expect from various companies.
Burial insurance benefits.
The benefits of burial insurance are enormous and it’s worth the investment.
Apart from helping you relieve the financial difficulties your loved ones and family members may go through when paying for your funeral, it allows your beneficiary to use the money in the way s/he deem fit.
Additionally, it provides your beneficiary with the opportunity to use any additional funds left for paying for any unanticipated costs such as medical bills, legal bills, and more.
Preneed funeral insurance
As the name implies, preneed funeral insurance is aimed at achieving the same purpose as burial insurance, and in that, preneed funeral insurance is designed to earmark funds to meet up your funeral expenses before they arise.
Just like a burial insurance policy, preneed funeral insurance is another type of insurance policy aimed at relieving your loved ones from the burden of covering your funeral expense.
Some of the predetermined costs this policy covers include funeral merchandise, standard funeral home services, church services, and burial services as well as merchandise.
In some cases, depending on insurance companies though, this policy does provide protection against the rising cost of funeral expenses caused by inflation thereby making it easy to lock into the present costs of goods and services.
Generally, preneed funeral insurance typically costs from $10,000 to $25,000. The best part of this type of policy is that it allows you to pay either in full or in installments and it doesn’t require a medical exam to get started with it.
Preneed funeral insurance offers some other amazing benefits, and in that, it takes off your loved one’s shoulder the financial or administrative difficulties of covering your funeral expenses when you die.
More so, this policy allows you to choose a funeral home of your choice and to decide what benefits you want to pay for your funeral.
Which Should You Choose: Burial Insurance or Preneed Insurance?
Although Preneed policy can also be offered as either a term life policy or a type of permanent policy, it’s different from a burial insurance policy. In that, it doesn’t pay the benefits of your policy to your beneficiary as it’s applicable with a burial insurance policy.
Instead of paying the benefits to your beneficiary when you pass away, it pays the money directly to the funeral service provider you already selected.
So this means when you die, the policy pays the life proceeds directly and immediately to your chosen funeral home or an assignee who is expected to cover your funeral expenses for you.
How Does Burial Insurance Work?
If you’ve tried other types of life insurance, you most likely have an idea of how burial insurance works.
A burial insurance policy can be compared to other types of life insurance because if you’re already in any other type of life insurance you certainly can use it to pay for your funeral expenses.
Basically, the main reason why most people enroll for life insurance is that they believe it will relieve their survivors or beneficiaries of the financial burden they’ll have to bear at their death.
Although burial insurance is designed primarily to cover your final expenses, it can provide a partial replacement for your income loss at death and make life easy financially for your heirs.
Generally speaking, burial insurance is not different from a permanent whole life policy. However, it differs from “regular” whole life policies if you compare how burial insurance is issued, and, in that, burial insurance is issued in lower face amounts.
Sometimes it ranges from $1,000 to $25,000 and it can be higher than that depending on individual cases. The best part about these lower face amounts is that it makes it a lot easier for you to qualify for a burial insurance policy.
On top of that, once you enroll for a burial insurance policy and you pay your premium in full for the policy, the policy will remain intact up till your death. However, your heirs will need to enforce the policy when you die so they can claim the benefits.
You may want to ask a question: does a term life insurance policy work the same way as burial insurance?
The answer is “No”. Because term life insurance terminates at a certain point in life. Termination can come once you attain a specific age or after a given number of years.
The bottom line is short term policy can expire before your death and, in that case, you can’t claim the benefit.
All in all, each type of insurance policy has its own advantages. If you’re looking for a way to supplement your main life insurance policy, you may want to consider using burial insurance.
Also, if you’re looking for an insurance policy that will save you cost, burial insurance is way better than regular life insurance.
How Do The Insurance Companies Determine Your Cost of Final Expense Life Insurance?
If you’re wondering how much does burial insurance cost, you should try to first understand how insurance companies determine how much to charge for each person.
Since burial insurance is life insurance, a few different variables go into determining how much your funeral insurance should cost.
Remember, you don’t pay the same amount of premium as someone else, except you’re getting the same policy and your situation is identical.
Generally, the following factors will determine how much you pay for your burial insurance:
1) Your gender
Your gender is one of the most fundamental factors that determine the cost of your burial insurance. This is so as men pay more than women. However, there is an exception to this if you live in Montana.
In Montana, the state regulations stipulate the same rate for both males and females. See what people feel about this regulation:
‘Insurance is one of the few remaining areas where blatant sex discrimination is still sanctioned,’ Ann Brodsky of the Women’s Lobbyist Fund, a Montana women’s rights group, said.
2) Your age
It’s a norm for almost every burial insurance company to have a predetermined price for people of a specific age. There are prices for people aged 51, 52, 53, and above.
Also, some companies have prices based on certain age brackets such as 50-55 or 75-80 and so on. Although this type of pricing plan isn’t common in the industry there are few companies like AARP that does offer prices for an age band.
One thing you should know is that the older you become the higher the amount the carrier will charge you.
In other words, every time you have your birthday the cost of funeral insurance will increase. But you can lock in your monthly fee for life when you get the policy.
3) Your Health
Health is another factor that insurance companies consider when determining how much cost of funeral insurance you should pay. Insurance companies have a way of breaking their product down into 3-4 risk categories.
Most companies have different health ratings based on risk classifications involved:
Premier/Premium/Preferred Plus or Preferred Best–
This is generally used to describe the highest risk rating and This can be attributed to a number of different factors and remember different companies have different ways or ratings the use this.
Preferred–
This describes the insurer’s second-highest health rating. Most people who you may think of as relatively healthy individuals will fall into this risk rating.
In most cases, an insurance company will use this health rating if you have a little health risk factor like cholesterol or high blood pressure.
Standard Plus–
This is used to describe their middle-tier ratings or the third-highest risk rating.
Generally, people in this class are those with fair health status though may have slight risk factors such as high cholesterol, high blood pressure, or being overweight. And there may have one or more uncontrollable risk factors.
Standard–
A standard risk rating describes their riskiest and most expensive health rating. It’s the lowest of the common ratings.
Usually, people in this class are those with high blood pressure, significant overweight, or very high cholesterol. Most companies will usually use words like “Graded” or “Standard” to describe this health rating.
Overall, almost all of the insurance companies use the word “Modified” to describe their most expensive and riskiest health rating. And most importantly, your health will determine which risk classification best fits you.
4) Tobacco usage
If you’re a tobacco user, you definitely should expect your insurer will charge you more than an applicant who is a non-tobacco user.
Depending on the insurance company, you may get a non-tobacco rating like the ones above but a tobacco smoker is most likely going to give the insurance company a red flag.
Since smoking cigarette is considered a significant health risk and reduce life expectancy, smokers tend to pay higher life insurance costs than non-smokers.
5) The amount of coverage you select
In the end, all other factors above will determine how much exactly you’ll pay in insurance costs per $1,000 in coverage. Once this is determined, every other calculation is to just multiply by the amount of coverage you chose.
A typical illustration is something like this:
Assume your cost per $2,000 is $8.86 per month and you want $20,000 coverage, your monthly premium will come to $88.6 per month (8.86 x 10).
What this illustration means in essence is that the more coverage you purchase, the higher the price of funeral insurance you’ll pay. It’s a proportional thing.
How to Find the Best Burial Insurance Policy.
The truth about finding the best burial policy is that you wouldn’t know which one is best until you have compared offers. And, most importantly, you may have to involve the help of an expert to do this the right way.
While you can do a Google search on your own and get quotes from different companies, you can guarantee if a company will accept you or offer you the best service and cost by simply doing online research.
We will recommend you hire the service of a licensed agent to get some benefits that come with it. A licensed agent will help you determine your eligibility with each final expense company and determine how much exactly you’re expected to be paying per month.
Additionally, a qualified independent final expense life insurance agency will help you with choosing the best company. They’ll go to any length to compare different insurance companies and come up with the most suitable and affordable option for you.
According to statistics from Insurance Information Institute, over half of final expense life companies do not sell their product directly.
They make use of agencies to sell their products. And considering that a large percentage of these life insurance companies don’t advertise on TV, in newspapers, or online, there is a big chance there are many of these companies you don’t know about yet.
So you should understand by now why you need a qualified agent to help you out in your search for the best burial insurance policy.
If you decide to give a burial insurance policy a trial, here are the three fundamental features to look out for:
Financial Rating or Ability to Pay:
the ability of a life insurance company to pay its claims is one of the elements you should consider when choosing an insurance company. Through their financial track record, you can say if a company is reliable to work with.
A.M. offers a rating for insurance companies and the least rating you want to go with is anything from B rating or higher. An insurance company with a B rating or higher is an indication that the company can be trusted or relied upon.
No Waiting Period:
you must also consider when you’re covered. Does the company offer immediate benefits without a waiting period? This is very important as your health status may not be such that will allow a long waiting period.
So make sure you enroll in a plan that allows no waiting period or try to discuss the possibility of removing the waiting period right from when you’re choosing a plan.
Cost of the insurance:
cost is another key element you should consider. While some life insurance companies can be just exorbitant for no justifiable reasons, the onus is on you to compare offers and rates from as many companies as possible and then choose the one with the most affordable rate
With these three elements taken into consideration, you shouldn’t go wrong with choosing the best burial insurance company.
18 Best Burial and Final Expense Life Insurance Companies.
You have a lot of options when it comes to choosing funeral insurance. These companies are frequently rated by consumers as being trustworthy providers.
- Mutual of Omaha
- American Continental Insurance Company (Aetna)
- American International Group (AIG)
- Royal Neighbors of America
- Foresters Financial
- Americo
- Transamerica
- Liberty Bankers Life
- Gerber Life Insurance
- Baltimore Life
- Assurity
- Fidelity
- Sagicor Life Insurance Company
- Kemper Senior Solutions
- American Memorial Life Insurance
- United Home Life
- American National
- Sentinel Security Life
1. Mutual of Omaha
Mutual of Omaha is a business in the Fortune 500 mutual insurance and financial services industry based in Omaha Nebraska.
Founded in 1909, it’s a Mutual Benefit Health & Accident Association with a solid and reliable financial track record. It’s rated with A+ (superior) by A.M. Best rating and A+ by Better Business Bureau rating.
As a financial organization, Mutual of Omaha offers a variety of insurance and financial products suitable for individuals, businesses, and groups across the United States.
They offer various financial and insurance services for their clients including life insurance, long-term care coverage, and annuities, Medicare Supplement.
Also, there are insurance services designed for group coverage including life, disability, and 401(k).
Mutual of Omaha’s burial insurance is a whole life insurance policy that has very friendly underwriting thereby making it easy for their participants to qualify easily especially if you’re a senior. Their whole life insurance starts at a minimum of $2,000 and can go as high as $40,000.
Ordinarily, you’re expected to use the final expense plans primarily for burial and other funeral expenses. The plan doesn’t impose any restriction as to how you can use the money.
Once you pay for the burial and other funeral expenses, you can use any funds left for any purpose you like.
If you’re planning to enroll for the Mutual of Omaha whole life insurance policy, you should know it’s damn easy to understand. For your information, here are some salient policy details you need to know about whole life policy:
- The premiums are fixed amounts that can never increase.
- The policy is permanent without an expiry date.
- They involve coverage that never decreases in value.
- The cash value under the policy always builds up over time.
- Whole life insurance allows your beneficiaries to get a tax-free check and the amount of benefits paid is equal to the amount of the insurance coverage you purchased.
Also, you need to know about the different riders that come with every United of Omaha final expense insurance policy. These riders are as follows:
Terminal Illness Rider –
This happens where a participant is diagnosed with a terminal illness and given a certain number of months to live.
Depending on the individual situation, some participants with terminal illnesses could be given up to 12 months or less to live.
So how the terminal illness rider works is that when you’re diagnosed with a terminal illness, the policy allows you to access up to 50% of your death benefit while you’re alive.
Nursing Home Confinement Rider –
This applies to nursing mothers who are confined to a nursing home for 90 consecutive days. In such a situation, the policy allows you to receive up to 50% of your death benefit.
Most interestingly, there is no separate fee for those riders as they come bundled with the policy at no extra fee.
Additionally, the non-2-year waiting period option of United of Omaha’s final expense policy for seniors is another exciting feature of the company.
As popularly known, “Living Promise” is the name given to the United of Omaha’s final expense policy for seniors.
This policy offers full day-one coverage for seniors and it comes with two health risk ratings, which include a level death benefit and a graded death benefit.
The Level Benefit Plan
As with the level benefit, it doesn’t come with any waiting period, and once approved for this health rating, you’re fully insured from the very first day of purchasing for the policy.
Also, the level death benefit allows you to purchase the Accidental Death Rider. And it’ll only cost you just a few dollars extra to get the level plan.
The good thing about the Accidental Death Rider is that if found out your death was caused by an accident, Mutual of Omaha will double your death benefit payout.
One thing to get right here is that even without this rider your policy will still pay out your accidental death amount in full but you’ll only get double the amount of the benefit if the rider is included in your plan.
To qualify for the level plan is fairly easy, but there are some health questions and guidelines you must stay in line with. You can check out our article mutual of Omaha Burial Insurance Comprehensive Review 2021.
Although Mutual of Omaha’s level plan is super easy to purchase as it’s available in all states except NY. One thing to know, however, is that issue ages are 45-85 and the policy is only sold through licensed brokers such as Simplifiedburialinsurance.com.
In other, you can’t buy it directly from Mutual of Omaha. To purchase the level plan, coverage amounts are $2,000-$40,000 ($5k minimum in WA) and it comes with immediate coverage with no waiting period.
The Graded Benefit Plan
The graded plan of United of Omaha comes with a 2-year waiting period. If you’re approved for this option, what it means is that Mutual of Omaha will make a refund of 110% of your premiums to your beneficiaries if you die during the first two years of purchasing the plan.
As soon as the two-year waiting period elapses, they terminate the waiting period, while you’re fully insured. The only exception to the waiting period is where there is accidental death.
In that case, you get a full payout of the death benefit including during the waiting period.
United of Omaha’s graded plan is available in all states except for AR, MT, NC & NY with the issue ages ranging from 45 to 80.
Just like the Level Plan, the graded plan is only sold through licensed brokers with the coverage amounts ranging from $2,000 to $20,000 ($5k minimum in WA). Also, this plan comes with a 2-year waiting period for non-accidental death.
Getting approved for the graded plan requires you to be able to answer some health-related questions. Your chance of being approved depends on whether you can say yes to those questions. You can check these health questions here to get a better idea of what to expect.
Factors Determining Your Qualification For Mutual of Omaha Burial Insurance Plan.
When it comes to determining your eligibility for Mutual of Omaha’s burial insurance plan, four basic factors come into play. Mutual of Omaha uses the following factors to determine your qualification for their insurance plan:
- Answers provided by you while filling out the application form
- Any past record filed with the Medical Information Bureau (MIB)
- Your height and weight
- Your medical prescription history
Generally, most burial insurance plans follow the above standard and you should expect Mutual of Omaha will use the same standard while trying to qualify for their burial insurance plans.
Additionally, Mutual of Omaha is known for holding random phone interviews with its applicants. This phone interview will be done on a recorded line and it mainly focuses on health-related questions.
If you’re selected for this phone interview, you can’t ask your family members or next of kin to do it for you. Sometimes they may ask for further details from you if they think they need more information. You shouldn’t panic at this at all as it’s the routine thing they do.
Once they review your answers and they’re satisfied with your answers, an underwriting decision will be made.
Depending on the mode of application (on-paper or electronic application), an underwriting decision can be made in two to three days or within minutes, if you go through an electronic application.
How Much Does Mutual of Omaha Burial Insurance Cost?
There is no one-size-fits-all rate for Mutual of Omaha burial insurance. Basically, the Mutual of Omaha burial insurance rates can range from $20-$200 per month, but some factors such as your age, health, gender, and how much coverage you purchase will determine the exact price you’ll be charged.
More so, the rate to charge can also be influenced by your Tobacco usage. If you are a Tobacco smoker, you should expect to pay about 40% more than a non-smoker.
2. American Continental Insurance Company (Aetna).
Aetna is a whole life insurance company founded in 1953 with its location in Hartford, CT.
As a massive insurance company, Aetna is known for its quality health insurance product line and they’re committed to providing insurance services to employers, individuals, health care professionals, producers, and all sorts of people with unique products, benefits, and services.
Since December 2017, Aetna is now a subsidiary of CVS Health Corporation. Aetna’s burial insurance, as known today, is being provided under the name American Continental Insurance Company.
Aetna is well rated with a sound financial track record. The good thing about this is that you can rest assured you’ll get paid your benefits at the due time.
If you’re looking for a whole life insurance policy that offers coverage up to 89 and wouldn’t subject you to any height and weight chart, or subject you to any MIB check as part of their application, American Continental Insurance Company is your best choice.
There is, however, one drawback about Aetna’s burial insurance and it’s with their modified plan, which is extremely exorbitant. You shouldn’t consider it no matter your circumstances.
But then their graded benefit plan is utterly good under certain circumstances. Although it offers you a limited payout of benefit the health plan it’s a better plan if you consider the health condition it accepts.
Also, Aetna is better when you consider what other burial insurance companies offer in a waiting period for the same health conditions that Aetna’s graded benefit plan covers.
For most companies and in most cases, some burial insurance companies offer a full two-year waiting period for their graded benefit plan.
More so, their level death benefit plan is quite better provided you qualify for it. For people between the age of 86 and 89, if their health meets Aetna’s requirements for a level death plan, Aetna will issue them a new policy.
All around, Aetna offers a very affordable program that you can choose depending on your health, and having a history of diabetes isn’t an issue here.
How Does Aetna’s Burial Insurance Work?
Aetna’s final expense insurance is not in any way different from other burial insurance companies.
It’s simple like its other competitors. Its burial insurance policy works like most other whole life policies and, in that, once you’re approved, the policy doesn’t expire and the price is fixed for life – it neither increase nor decrease, for whatever reason.
And more so, the insurance company can’t terminate your policy or decrease the benefits for any reason. Once you are in, you’re in for life except if you decide to cancel the policy on your own.
How Does Aetna Determining Your Eligibility
Basically, Aetna uses two ways to determine your qualification for their whole life insurance policy.
The two ways involve asking some formal health-related questions and running a prescription history check. What these pieces of information are used for is to enable Aetna experts to make a decision on your eligibility.
Unlike most whole life insurance policies, American Continental Insurance Company doesn’t use a build chart as part of their underwriting for burial insurance. Build Chart is a chart showing the height to weight ratio.
Most companies already have a set limit requirement on how much you can weigh on your height to qualify for their policies. A good example of another great kind of insurance organization that also has no build chart is Royal Neighbors.
And lastly, you can qualify for Aetna’s burial insurance if you’re under 50 but you shouldn’t be much less than 50.
How Much Does Aetna Life Insurance Cost?
Price is definitely one of the indispensable factors you need to consider when deciding on the health insurance provider to choose.
One thing you need to know about Aetna is that they don’t sell direct life insurance policies and, as such, you wouldn’t be able to get a quote online or through a phone agent. But it’s good to know what factors come into play when determining the cost of your coverage.
Personal factors that may determine what you’ll be charged include your age, and the total coverage amount, while other non-factors include a percentage of premiums your employer is ready to pay, your workplace group, and more.
As for the percentage of premiums required from your employer, Aetna requires your employer to cover at least 50% of the cost of group coverage for qualifying employees.
As a consequence, your out-of-pocket should be lower than when you’re buying personally the same level of coverage.
Does Aetna Offer Additional Protection Through Riders?
Unlike most other final expense companies, American Continental Insurance Company doesn’t offer additional rider options.
So if additional protection through riders is something you can’t dispense with, you may want to consider other insurance companies.
3. American International Group (AIG)
American International Group (AIG) is a whole life insurance company founded in 1919 with their product name known as Guaranteed Issue Whole Life.
AIG is well-rated for its nice financial track record and the premium amount that stays the same forever. It offers a 2-year waiting period before the policy will pay out a death benefit.
This kind of policy builds cash value and the policy doesn’t expire at any age. Although the premium can’t increase just as the coverage can never decrease, the insurance company can cancel the policy if you default payment.
One of the good things about this company is that it has a guaranteed acceptance rate with no medical exam required and new applicant ages ranging from 50 to 80.
You can apply for the policy through their licensed agencies or via AIG Direct. AIG’s whole life insurance policy is available in all states except ME and NY. To get started, the coverage amount ranges from $5,000 to $25,000.
Most interestingly, AIG guaranteed life insurance is the only final expense company that offers living benefits with their policy. With the living benefits, you can enjoy two riders on every policy at no extra charge.
The two riders are as follows:
Terminal Illness Rider:
This kind of rider option is useful for participants who have been diagnosed with a terminal illness and given a life expectancy of 24 months or less. With this terminal rider, you can access up to 50% of your debt benefit early.
One thing to note, however, is that this rider is only applicable after the 2-year waiting period has elapsed.
Chronic Illness Rider:
Upon becoming chronically ill, this rider lets you receive a one-time lump sum payment. An insured can be said to be chronically ill if s/he can’t perform 2 out of 6 daily living activities.
Again, these two rider options are already bundled into the policy and you’re not expected to pay an extra fee for them.
Who Should Buy AIG’s Policy?
If you’re looking for a competitively priced whole life insurance policy with no need for health questions or medical exams to qualify, AIG guaranteed issue final expense policy is your best option.
Also, if you have chronic health issues like Alzheimer’s or dementia, dialysis, HIV or AIDS, congestive heart failure with diabetes, and more, this insurance company is your best bet.
If you don’t have any of these health issues, instead of going for AIG guaranteed issue final expense policy, you should consider other policies with underwriting.
4. Royal Neighbors of America.
Royal Neighbors of America is a whole life insurance company founded in 1985.
Presence in all states of America except AK, AL, HI, LA, MA, NH, and NY, the company has an A rating with A.M Best. With this rating, it means you can rest assured the company will pay your death benefits when the time reaches.
Royal Neighbors’ whole life insurance product is known by the name Simplified Issue Whole. Unlike some of its competitors, Royal Neighbors’ insurance plan is subject to underwriting approval.
In other words, it means there is nothing like a 2-year waiting period as with most other insurance companies. Also, their policy comes with a policy duration that never expires with premiums that stay the same throughout your lifetime.
Like most of its competitors, this policy builds cash value and the new applicant age ranges from 50 to 80.
While you can’t buy the policy directly from Royal Neighbors, there are licensed agencies from almost all the states to buy from and the application approval time takes only between 15 to 20 minutes.
To get started with their policy, their coverage amount ranges from $7,000 to $30,000.
However, there are a few drawbacks in that the policy doesn’t come with rider options and there is no guaranteed acceptance. But then there are so many other good sides the policy offers when compared with other funeral life insurance companies.
Not only does the policy offer premiums that stay the same forever, but their premiums are also very competitive compared to other funeral life insurance companies.
More so, they do not require any medical exam from their applicants and they accept more health conditions than most of their competitors in the industry.
For your information, some of the common health issues they accept include but are not limited to:
- Type 2 Diabetes
- Schizophrenia
- Diabetic Neuropathy
- Bipolar Disorder
- Sleep Apnea
- Blood Thinners
- Blood Clots
- Retinopathy
- Scleroderma
- Grave’s Disease
- Crohn’s Disease, etc.
Two Types of Benefit Plans Offered By Royal Neighbors.
Royal Neighbors has two types of benefit plans that applicants can apply for and there are graded plans as well as simplified issue whole life plans.
Graded Death Benefit Whole Life Plan.
Their graded death benefit whole life plan is a great option for people with certain health issues. Although this policy comes with immediate protection there is a limitation on how much payout of benefits you can receive during the first two years
. While we may not be able to say whether or not the policy will be the best option for you, it all depends on your overall health history. All in all, their graded plan isn’t a bad option if you must go with it.
Simplified Issue Whole Life Plan.
The simplified issue whole life plan is extremely nice and competitive. For people dealing with diabetic conditions, this is the best option.
On top of that, the plan is also suitable for people dealing with other health issues. You only need to consider your own condition and needs to make the most informed decision.
Royal Neighbors’ Accelerated Living Benefit Rider.
As mentioned earlier, Royal Neighbors doesn’t offer rider options but they do offer an accelerated living benefit rider. This rider option comes bundled into the package (with no extra charge) but it’s not available in all states.
How these benefits work is by taking a portion of your life insurance certificate’s death benefit and paying it to you in a single lump sum. In calculation, the eligible proceeds will equal about 75% of your certificate’s death benefits.
Upon receipt of the acceleration request, Royal Neighbors will affect the payment the same day of that receipt.
Depending on several factors, you can get up to a maximum of $250,000 and a minimum of $5,000 can be made in acceleration request. Also, you should take note that a policyholder can only receive one acceleration.
5. Foresters Financial
Founded in 1874, Foresters Financial’s whole life policy is known as “PlanRight Level Benefit”. Meanwhile, they offer other products like universal life, term life, accidental death, single premium whole life, and whole life meant for burial expenses.
As a whole life insurance company with an excellent rating with Best A.M, there is a guarantee you’ll get paid your death benefits at the due date and their application approval time is fast.
You can put in your application and get their feedback in as little as 15 to 20 minutes.
Foresters Financial products are available for sales across all the 50 states of the U.S.A. But you’ll need to go through their licensed agencies to buy their policy.
For new applicants, their required age range is from 50 to 85 and the coverage amount starts from between $5,000 to $35,000. With this insurance, once your application is approved, the policy lasts forever just as the premiums stay the same forever, too.
Overall, Foresters Financial offers plans with very competitive premiums and they accept many health issues compared to some of their competitors. With the policy, you can enjoy lots of amazing member benefits at no extra fee.
Although you don’t need any medical exam to get started that doesn’t guarantee you’ll be accepted.
Types of Plans Offered By Foresters Financial
Basically, there are three types of plans you can buy from Foresters Financial. Your choice of any of the plans will depend on your health.
Below are the 3 types of plans offered by Foresters Financial:
Modified Plan
If there is one plan we will recommend for you, it would definitely not be this one as it is very expensive.
Apart from the waiting period that this plan comes with, the price is a big turn-off. In short, you may want to consider other companies if your health demands that you must use this type of benefit plan.
Graded Plan
If you’re the type of person dealing with long-term chronic disease or at the risk of one, this is the best option for you.
It doesn’t only offer immediate protection it also provides you with coverage for long-term chronic illnesses like kidney or liver disease, COP disease, and more.
While this plan is competitively priced, we advise you consider your overall health profile to see whether or not it will be best for you.
Level Benefit Plan
As for this plan, it offers so many amazing benefits or advantages. From totally friendly underwriting to competitive pricing and decently built plans for people dealing with mental health issues, there are so many benefits you can get from this plan.
All in all, this plan has all you’ll ever need to plan solidly for your final expenses. And you’ll be proud you got it if you get approved for the plan.
6. Americo
With an A rating by A.M Best, Americo is a fantastic burial life insurance company that you can trust will pay its claims when the time reaches. The company operates its whole insurance policy under the name Eagle Premier Level.
If you’re a senior, this policy suits your need especially if you’re the type of person dealing with high-risk conditions such as diabetes, Lupus, Multiple sclerosis, and more.
Apart from the quick approval time the policy offers, there is no waiting period as applicable with other companies. Above all, this company stands apart from other insurance companies because it is one company that caters to certain people.
Plans Offered By Americo
Americo offers four different types of the plan as follows:
Ultra Protector III Plan
Out of all their plans, this is the most horrible option you should ever consider when starting out to enroll for a whole life insurance policy. Instead of taking this plan, which is way expensive for a starter, you should consider other companies.
Ultra Protector II Plan
Unlike the Ultra Protector III Plan, the UP2 is relatively better in that it comes with some nice benefits. With this plan, you can get a burial insurance plan that provides you with full first-day protection.
You’ll really enjoy this option if you fall into the category of people with chronic illnesses such as COPD, kidney or liver illness, and more.
Ultra Protector I Plan
Just like the UP3 plan, the UPI is another worst option you should never consider for any reason. If all you care about is plans with cheap prices, you can surely get that with other companies.
Eagle Series Plan
This plan has its own good sides and stands out in many ways from the rest of the plans already mentioned above. If you have heart attacks or stroke, tumors, systemic lupus, or Parkinson’s disease, this plan might be your best option.
The bottom line is, you should consider your overall health profile first to see if this is the right option for you.
7. Transamerica
Transamerica is without doubt a known whole life insurance company.
Operating throughout the USA, and having been around since 1904, the company is a well-known company. With an excellent rating with A.M Best, you can rest assured they’ll pay your death benefit when the time reaches.
Transamerica’s whole life insurance product is known as Immediate Solution Preferred. With this policy, your premium amount stays the same forever and the policy doesn’t expire at any age.
One of the best parts about this policy is that their underwriting is lax, which makes it easy for you to secure coverage with them without any waiting period.
There is also one drawback with this company and that’s with their final expense plan which is somehow complicated and the application process that’s almost a burden.
To register for Transamerica policy, its coverage amount ranges from $1,000-$50,000 (though varies by age) and their policy is available in all the 50 states of the USA. Once your application is reviewed and the policy is issued, the policy lasts forever.
While the new applicant’s age ranges from 45 to 85 you cannot buy Transamerica’s whole life policy directly from the company. To buy the policy, you’ll have to go through their licensed agencies and the application approval time ranges from 2 to 5 business days.
On top of that, you can rest assured you’ll get Transamerica’s unique plan that offers you no waiting period for high-risk chronic health conditions such as Parkinson’s, COPD, diabetes, and more.
Final Expense Plans Under Transamerica.
There are 3 different final expense plans that Transamerica offers and your qualification for any of them are dependent on your health.
Two of these plans are known by the name Immediate Solution. Immediate Solution work under two pricing plans namely preferred immediate solution and a standard immediate solution.
The third plan, which is the most expensive of the three plans, is called Easy Solution.
The preferred plan is also the cheaper of the preferred immediate solution and a standard immediate solution. Lastly, the three plans of Transamerica whole life policy are though available in every U.S state there are few select states where you can’t buy some of their plans and riders
This graded plan under Transamerica, like some other life insurance policies, comes with a two-year waiting period.
Their waiting period terminates at exactly the end of the two years. And if you pass away during the waiting period, you wouldn’t be eligible for Transamerica’s death benefit. But then they’ll refund all of your premiums plus an additional 10%.
Also, they’ll pay out the full death benefit in a situation where you pass away during the first two years due to an accident.
Is Transamerica’s graded plan a good option for you?
To be frank with you, it is not a better option especially if you consider the exorbitant fee involved. Under this plan, you’re charged more fees for the same health conditions that lots of other companies will accept at an affordable rate.
More so, Transamerica’s policy comes with a waiting period when many other companies are ready to offer you immediate protection for the same varieties of conditions.
Does that mean Transamerica doesn’t have any good sides about his plans?
Like every other whole life insurance company, Transamerica has its own pros and cons. And one uncommon feature Transamerica offers is with their Easy Solution plan. Under this plan, smokers and non-smokers are charged the same.
While this isn’t totally a reason to prove this plan is worthwhile, it might be to a smoker. But for a non-smoker and even a smoker alike, other burial insurance plans charge lesser with no waiting period.
How Transamerica Burial Insurance Works.
For a new applicant, Transamerica’s burial insurance is whole life insurance and it’s damn easy to understand. Once you’re issued the policy, it doesn’t expire at any age. Under this policy, your premiums and benefits are locked in for life.
Above all, the policy will provide you with the funds you need to cover your funeral expenses when the time reaches.
8. Liberty Bankers Life
Liberty Bankers Life is one of the few companies in the industry that uniquely does business.
Apart from the immediate coverage plan they offer people with COPD, they sell their plan to people as young as 18. On top of that, they offer one of the quickest application approval times with no medical exam requirement.
Liberty Bankers offer their burial insurance products under the name SIMPL Preferred.
With their coverage plan, you don’t have to worry about any waiting period and their products are available in most states of the U.S except CT, MA, MN, NH, NY, RI. But you have to go through their licensed agencies to buy their products.
Apart from burial insurance, Liberty Bankers offer a variety of other products including immediate and deferred annuities, term life products, and pre-need insurance.
In total, Liberty Bankers offer three different final expense plans and your eligibility for each of the plans depends on your health.
Final Expense Plans Under Liberty Bankers.
In total, there are three different final expense plans you can buy from Liberty Bankers. These include modified, standard, and preferred plans.
First off, this plan might not be the best option for you if you’re looking for an affordable plan.
Again, the fact that the plan comes with a waiting period may be a turn-off for you if you’re looking for a plan that offers immediate coverage. All in all, we don’t advise you to take this plan because of its exorbitant price.
As for their Standard plan, it’s quite amazing in that it doesn’t come with any waiting period and you can qualify for the plan despite dealing with a high-risk illness such as kidney, COPD, or Hepatitis issues.
Moreover, this plan is competitively priced and it’s quite worthwhile if you consider the health conditions they accept. And most interesting of all is the fact that you’ll get full first-day coverage with this plan once issued.
Just like the Standard plan, their Preferred plan is quite awesome too, though seems most suitable or designed for healthier people. If you have had major health issues in recent times, this plan might not be your best bet.
All in all, your health comes first to qualify here and you’ll definitely get a cheaper price if you qualify for the plan.
How Does Liberty Bankers Determine Your Eligibility?
Liberty Bankers will determine your eligibility by considering four things. First, they will ask you questions related to your health.
Second, they will assess you concerning their build chart, where they’ll consider the height to weight ratio. Third, they’ll run an electronic check on your prescription history. And lastly, they’ll carry out a MIB check.
9. Garber Life Insurance
As one of the most famous brands in the U.S, Garber Life has been around since 1967. Their product name is known as Guaranteed Life Insurance and it’s a type of burial policy that comes with a 2-year waiting period before you are paid your death benefit.
As for the policy duration, it never expires and once you’re issued the policy, the premiums stay the same forever. With an A rating with A.M. Best, Garber Life is a whole life insurance company that has a robust financial track record to pay your death benefits when the time reaches.
Although they have a robust life insurance product offering with about three million policies in force they might not be your best bet if you’re looking for a policy with a rider option.
Getting started with Garber Life’s whole life policy isn’t as difficult as most people think. The new applicant age requirement ranges from 50 to 80 with coverage amounts starting from between $5,000 to $25,000.
Once you submit your application, you can get their application approval feedback in less than 10 minutes. And the best part of it is that no medical exam is required and there is guaranteed acceptance.
Some of the common health issues they accept include dementia, congestive heart failure, wheelchair usage, and more.
However, you can’t buy the products directly from Garber. You can only buy their products from their licensed agencies. But then their products are available for sale in all states of the U.S except MT.
Is Gerber’s Guaranteed Life Insurance Right For You?
The fact that Garber Life offer guaranteed issue with no medical exam and health questions shouldn’t be the only thing to consider when you’re choosing a burial insurance policy.
Sure it may sound like it’s worthwhile for anyone but the truth is that Gerber Life’s guaranteed issue has its pros and cons. One of its drawbacks is the 2-year waiting period that comes with it.
So this means for the first two years you’re not given any protection. Another drawback is the monthly price that tends to be higher compared to a policy that requires medical exams or health questions.
The most important factor to consider when choosing a burial insurance policy is your health. As a starter, if you’re such a person without high-risk health issues, you should consider going for underwritten burial insurance. With this, you’ll have the benefit of lesser price and immediate protection.
If your health is such that you know you wouldn’t pass some of the health questions, you may want to consider going with the guaranteed issue policy.
Another thing you should also consider is time – how long you have been dealing with a condition, and how long you have been on medications?
Remember to consider all these factors before jumping at a particular burial insurance policy.
10. Baltimore Life
Baltimore Life may sound like a strange brand in the industry it has really been around for a long time. They have been in the business since 1882 and they have a B++ rating with A.M. Best, which isn’t a bad rating at all.
Baltimore Life burial insurance is a life insurance policy that doesn’t only pay out a tax-free cash benefit directly to your beneficiary. And, just like all other insurance companies, the policy is meant to cover your burial or other final expenses.
There are no restrictions on how your beneficiary can spend more. They can spend it as they deem fit.
When it comes to enrolling for a Baltimore burial insurance policy, their application process is swift. Generally, their application approvals time takes less than 15 minutes to get their feedback.
And most interestingly, once your plan is issued, it will never change, and you can always rest assured it will cover your final expenses.
However, one big drawback with the Baltimore burial insurance policy is their age limitation. Their funeral insurance policy doesn’t accept people over 80 years of age.
Rider Option Under Baltimore
Baltimore Life offers a Cash Draft Benefit rider on all their policies, and this comes at no extra charge. But this only becomes effective two years or more after the policy has been issued.
In this rider option, your beneficiaries can receive up to $1,000 of the policy’s death benefits upon the insured’s death. While this rider benefit is to be made available upon the insured’s death the claim will still be pending.
Also, you can choose to add their Accidental Death Rider, which is an optional rider you can choose to use for additional premiums. This rider lets you double the payable death benefit if the cause of death is specifically due to an accident.
The only downside about this rider is that it isn’t available in all states and it has restrictions on the age of applicants who can benefit from it. You’ll qualify for this rider if your age range is between 50 and 65. And once you reach age 70, the rider ceases being in force.
11. Assurity
Founded in 1890, Assurity Life Insurance Company is a mutual insurance company based in Lincoln, Nebraska.
They have a wide offering ranging from term and whole life insurance, universal life insurance policies as well as high-risk illness insurance coverage, annuities, and disability insurance coverage, among many others.
Assurity policy comes with policy fees, they don’t require a medical exam for most of their policies. Plus, there are multiple optional riders and high coverage amounts. Just like most of their competitors, they don’t sell their products directly to participants.
You can only buy their insurance through their licensed agencies. All in all, Assurity may be your best bet if you’re looking for a substantial life insurance policy with customizable policies.
Insurance Plans Offered By Assurity
In total, Assuirty offers five insurance plans that you can choose from based on your needs and age:
Term Life
This is the best option for people looking for less expensive coverage. It’s also one of their popular options that provide protection for only certain terms.
Depending on your needs, you can choose terms of 10, 15, 20, or 30 years.
Whole life
One of the best parts about this plan is that it offers you a guaranteed death benefit for as long as you are alive.
Also, where this type of plan builds cash value, you can borrow against it or use the fund to settle your emergency bills or augment your retirement.
Assurity offers three whole life options such as whole life with accelerated underwriting, single premium whole life, and children’s whole life.
Universal Life
Under this plan, you get protection for your lifetime with a specified death benefit and an investment element.
With the investment element of universal life insurance, you can grow your cash value substantially. Assurity life policy accepts people as old as 85 years or below.
Optional Riders Under Assurity Policy
Assurity offers optional riders as follows:
Accelerated Death Benefit
This rider option is meant for people dealing with critical terminal or chronic illnesses. With this rider, an insured person diagnosed with a terminal illness can receive a portion of his/her death benefit to pay for his expenses while still living.
Accidental Death
This rider option allows the beneficiary of an insured person who dies in an accident to receive a substantial part of the death benefit.
Children’s Term
This is primarily designed for children. By this, you can buy an insurance policy for your children to convert it to a permanent policy once they attain adulthood.
Guaranteed Insurability
This rider allows you to buy additional coverage to the policy without undergoing any medical exam.
Disability Waiver Premium
As the name suggests, this rider allows you to waive payment of premium in a situation where you become permanently disabled. In other words, it means your coverage will remain in force while your premiums will be waived.
12. Fidelity Life
Fidelity Life has been around since 1896 offering a series of life insurance policies to customers. The company has been offering its products under a brand known as RAPIDecision.
Fidelity Life may be a good option for you if you have found it difficult to get approved for other forms of insurance. On top of that, the company has an impressive financial track record, multiple policies, and a wide variety of rider options.
Insurance Plans Offered By Fidelity
Below are the different types of plans you can under Fidelity Life’s term life insurance:
RAPIDecision Life –
This type of plan offers you a specific term. You can choose terms of 10, 15, 20, or 30 years. With coverage up to $2 million, premiums stay the same under this plan for as long as the policy remains in effect.
RAPIDecision Senior Life –
This plan is more suitable for people from 50 to 70 years old. Unlike RAPIDecision Life, this term life insurance policy expires at age 80 or upon the expiration of the policy.
Just like the RAPIDecision Life, premiums under this plan stay the same and the coverage lets you choose a term of 10, 20, or 30 years. The coverage price ranges from $10,000 to $150,000.
Under Fidelity Life’s permanent life insurance plan, we have the following plans:
RAPIDecision Final Expense –
With the coverage starting at $5,000 and up to $35,000, this plan provides you with money to pay for your final expenses like medical and funeral costs.
RAPIDecision Guaranteed Issue –
The best part of this plan is that it doesn’t require any medical exam and you can get up to $25,000 in guaranteed coverage with level premiums.
RAPIDecision Senior Life –
This type of permanent life insurance is meant for seniors from 50 to 85 years. Although the plan doesn’t require a full medical check it does require some level of check on your health history. Plus, you can get up to $150,000 coverage with a cash value component.
13. Sagicor Life Insurance Company
Sagicor Life Insurance Company has been in the business of offering insurance products since 1954. As a full-service insurance company, their products are available for sale in about 45 U.S. states including the District of Columbia.
Sagicor is rated with an “A- “with A.M Best making a company with a great financial track record that you can rely upon to meet its financial obligations when the time reaches.
While Sagicor Life Insurance Company offers one of the most simplified underwriting processes their coverage is more limited when compared with other companies. And again, unlike some other providers, Sagicor requires a medical exam before you can be accepted.
Available Plans Under Sagicor
In total, Sagicor Life Insurance Company offers four types of insurance namely term, whole, universal, and indexed universal life insurance.
Term Life –
This is the type of insurance plan that’s meant for providing coverage for only a short time and it comes with an expiration date.
However, you can convert this plan to permanent coverage before the policy expires. Although this depends on policies most policies will allow you to convert from short-term to permanent coverage.
Sage Term Life Insurance –
Sagicor’s term life insurance is a one-term insurance policy that comes with a level of death benefit until you reach age 95. With this term life insurance policy, you’re allowed to choose a term of 10, 15, or 20 years.
Whole Life –
Sagicor offers two types of plans under their whole life insurance and they’re as discussed below:
Sage Whole Life –
This type of whole life insurance offers you permanent coverage without any expiration provided you don’t default in your premiums payment.
Sagicor’s Sage Whole Life policy offers you a level premium that locks in the value of premiums forever with cash value build components. But coverage under this policy depends on your age.
Peace Assured Final Expense Whole Life –
Sagicor’s Peace Assured Final Expense Whole Life policy is best suited for people looking for a policy that they can use to cover their final expenses such as funeral and burial costs. With this policy, your beneficiaries can get the cash payout almost immediately after your death.
More so, you can lock in your coverage and rates for the duration of the policy provided you pay your premiums. To get started, you can buy coverage starting from $5,000 to $50,000 if you’re between 45 and 85 years.
Above all, you don’t need any medical exams to get approved.
Available Riders Under Sagicor
Sometimes, there might be the need to add additional protection to your policy to suit your needs and purposes. In that case, you’ll need life insurance riders with customizable features.
Sagicor offers additional types of coverage that you can customize to suit your family’s needs. Sagicor life insurance policies offer Accelerated Benefit Insurance Rider you can add to your policies at no extra cost.
Accelerated Benefit Insurance Rider
The accelerated benefit insurance rider comes at no additional cost as it’s already bundled into the policy. If you’re dealing with terminal or chronic health issues, this rider will let you access a portion of your policy’s death benefit to cover any extra medical expenses you may have.
To implement this, the provider will choose whichever is lesser between your policy’s face amount less $5,000 and $250,000. Whichever is less between the two options above will determine what you’ll get in death benefit.
Accelerated Death Benefit Rider
Under this policy, a policyholder who dies due to an accident will get an extra death benefit.
Children’s Term Rider
The Children’s term rider offers you additional protection for your children.
To qualify for this rider, your children must be between the ages of 15 and 19 years and the coverage expires once the child reaches age 25 or gets married, or whoever comes first.
The good thing about this plan is that you can convert it to permanent coverage when the coverage expires.
Guaranteed Insurability Option (GIO) Rider
The Guaranteed Insurability Option (GIO) Rider doesn’t require any medical exams before you can upgrade your coverage provided you meet the required terms of service.
Waiver of Monthly Deductions Rider For Disability
If you become totally disabled during the policy duration, there is an opportunity for you to waive your monthly deductions for your premiums and any riders.
Also, there is a waiver of premium rider that will wave premiums when you find yourself in total disability.
14. Kemper life insurance Company
Headquartered in St. Louis, Kemper Life Insurance Company offers term and whole life insurance policies alongside other insurance companies.
Such as United Insurance Company of America, The Reliable Life Insurance Company, Union National Life Insurance Company, and Mutual Savings Life Insurance Company.
There is also a subsidiary of Kemper Life & Health that sells guaranteed issue whole life policies.
Kemper sells their term and permanent life insurance policies through their affiliates, subsidiaries, and a group of insurance companies, you can buy their policies through their licensed agencies but you can’t buy Kemper life insurance policies online.
Life Insurance Plans Under Kemper Life
The following are the various plans offered by Kemper Life Insurance:
Term Life Insurance
This type of life insurance is issued for a specific number of years such as 10, 20, or 30 years and it comes at level premiums. Above all, it only offers you temporary coverage and it’s best suited for people looking for an inexpensive plan.
Whole Life Insurance
Just like the term life insurance, whole life is a form of permanent life insurance policy that is offered at level premiums.
Guaranteed Issue Life Insurance
This type of insurance policy is being offered by a subsidiary of Kemper Life Insurance Company known as Reserve National Insurance Company.
Guaranteed issue life insurance comes with some inherent benefits like cash value build-up component, level premiums, and zero medical exams for approval.
Limited Pay Whole Life Insurance
This type of insurance policy requires you to pay premiums only for a given period after which you’re no longer required to pay premiums to keep the policy in force.
Does Kemper Life Insurance Offer Rider Options?
Unlike most insurance companies, Kemper doesn’t have optional riders for their customers. So if you’re most interested in additional rider options, you may have to go for other insurance companies.
15. American Memorial Life Insurance
American Memorial is owned by Assurant and, as an insurance company that specializes in the selling of niche life insurance products, they offer only final expense and preneed insurance.
Since its acquisition by Assurant in 1996, the company’s primary goal has been to access the preneed market. And the good thing about the company is that it has an A+ rating with BBB.
This makes a reliable company that you can rest assured you wouldn’t have headache or regret dealing with them.
Life Insurance Products Offered By American Memorial
Unlike most of their competitors, American Memorial only offers final expense and preneed insurance.
In other words, if you’re looking for short-term or whole life insurance, this might not be the right choice for you.
Final Expense Insurance
Under this policy, the death benefit is usually smaller compared to what you’ll get under the traditional life insurance policies.
The death benefit is smaller compared with other life insurance policies the purchase under final expense insurance is relatively less expensive. Final expense insurance is designed primarily to cover final expenses such as funeral costs, etc.
Preneed Insurance
As the name suggests, this type of insurance policy allows you to plan your after-death expenses yourself before your death actually comes.
You have the opportunity of planning the funeral costs, choosing your funeral home, and more.
Unlike the final expense policy, you don’t have the opportunity of choosing your beneficiary as that will be determined by the funeral home you already chose.
Who Is American Memorial Best For?
If you’re more concerned about the simplicity of an insurance company, this is surely your best bet.
American Memorial offers a policy that will cover all your funeral and burial costs thereby making life easy for your beneficiaries during and after your death.
However, American Memorial might not be best for you if you care most about having a policy that will offer you large death benefits.
Does American Memorial Offer Any Additional Rider?
American Memorial doesn’t offer any additional riders for their customers. This is really a big downside when you compare American Memorial with other companies that offer additional riders for their customers to customize their policies.
16. United Home Life Insurance Company
United Home Life Insurance Company has been around for quite a long time. With its headquarters in Indianapolis, India, the company operates under its parent company known as United Farm Family Life.
Getting accepted into the United Home Life’s policy isn’t as hectic as it is with other insurance companies.
Apart from the simplified process and policy, they offer, which makes it easy for anyone to qualify for the policy without going through any medical exams; the company offers a wide variety of nice policies to choose from.
On top of that, they offer additional riders with customizable features for their policyholders, with some of the riders coming at no extra charge.
Types of Life Insurance Offered Under United Home Life Insurance Company
United Home Life company offers both term and permanent life insurance policies.
Term Life Insurance
This type of plan is offered by United Home Life company and their parent company, United Farm Family Life. Under this plan, the policy is based on a defined amount of coverage over a given period of time.
Every year, the premium rises up until the expiration of the policy, which is when the insured reaches age 95.
There are three basic products offered under term life insurance and they include express issue term 20, express issue term 30, and premier 20 with ROP.
Permanent Life Insurance
A permanent life insurance policy comes with both death benefit coverage and cash value build-up.
The best part about this cash build-up under this policy is that any gain on the cash is tax-free until you withdraw the cash.
Also, this policy offers the beneficiaries of the insured person fantastic death benefits where the insured passes away due to natural causes.
In that case, American Memorial will make a refund of the premiums paid plus interest to the insured’s beneficiaries.
Above, there are other additional riders you can add to the policy that you can personalize for your own needs.
17. American National
Headquartered in Galveston, Texas, American National is an insurance company founded by William Lewis Moody Jr. in 1905.
The company operates in all 50 states of the U.S and Puerto Rico, the company has life insurance products ranging from term and whole, universal and indexed universal life policies.
If you’re looking for a life insurance policy with multiple policy options, rapid application reviews on some policy types, and multiple riders, American National is your best bet.
Just like most other companies American National offers additional rider options that you can customize to suit your family’s needs. Available riders under American National include accelerated benefit, children’s term, and disability waiver of premium.
Available Riders Under American National
The following are the riders offered by American National:
Accelerated Benefit
For people who are diagnosed with a terminal, chronic, or critical illness. This plan allows you to use a portion of your death benefit to ease your financial burden.
The only condition for using this rider is that you can use it only when you’re still alive. With this plan, the maximum accelerated benefit you can get is $2 million for an insured person aged 65 or below, and $1 million for policyholders from 66 and above.
Children’s Term
The children’s term rider lets you add additional coverage for your children. It works the same way as it’s with other companies and, in that, the policy expires when your child reaches 25, but it can be converted into permanent coverage thereafter.
Disability Waiver of Premium
With the disability waiver of premium, if you become totally disabled and you add the policy to your ride, your premiums will be waived while the policy will remain active.
18. Sentinel Security Life
Sentinel Security Life Insurance Company was founded in 1948 to provide final expense life insurance plus fixed and fixed indexed annuities, among others.
Although Sentinel Security Life offers a few nice annuity options, it definitely wouldn’t be your best bet if all you’re looking for is comprehensive life insurance options.
Available Riders Under Sentinel Security Life
Sometimes you would need to add additional benefits or personalized coverage options to your policy to meet your family needs. A rider is all you need.
Sentinel Security Life Insurance has a good number of decent riders for its annuity and life insurance products that you can add to enhance annuity.
Annuity Death Benefit
The annuity death benefit is meant to let you get a death benefit equal to your contract’s value when you pass away. Depending on your contract’s value, this rider offers you a 0.35% fee.
Terminal Illness Rider
Similarly referred to as a nursing home care rider, this policy offers you the benefit of withdrawal charges on annuity products when you’re diagnosed with a terminal illness or confined to a nursing home for 90 days or more.
There is a 0.15% fee on this rider and the fees are determined based on the total value of the contract.
Guaranteed Lifetime Withdrawal Benefit
This rider comes with an income that is paid at regular intervals such as monthly, quarterly, semi-annual, or annually so long as the policy remains in effect.
The fees are based on the total value of your contract, the fees vary based on the number of years involved. For years 1-5, it comes with a 1.25% fee, while anything from 6-10 years attracts a 1.60% fee.
Legacy Benefit Rider
Legacy benefit rider lets you increase the contract benefit your beneficiaries can get by an extra 4%. The fees also vary based on the total value of the insurance contract. And for years from 1-5, the fee is 1.25%, while the fee is 1.60% fee for years 6-10.
Accumulation Interest Withdrawal Rider
With this rider, you can start to immediately remove accumulated interest without paying a surrender charge. On top of that, you don’t have to pay any fee for this rider.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:
Should you go for burial insurance?
The primary objective of burial insurance is to plan ahead of your burial and save your heir from the financial burden they may go through when you pass away. Given this rationale, you may want to consider taking a burial insurance policy.
Therefore, it’s worth the investment if you think you may not be able to afford the cost of your funeral when the time reaches and don’t want to leave your beneficiary (s) in financial burden.
Is there any difference between burial insurance and life insurance?
Burial insurance is the same thing as funeral insurance and, in that, it’s a type of affordable whole life policy designed to make available a quick cash payout to enable your beneficiary (s) to pay for your funeral expenses.
Are there any restrictions on how to spend the money?
No. You can spend the money to offset medical bills or pay for other final expenses as you deem fit. And after that, any leftover belongs totally to the insured’s beneficiary (s).