I have a relative, mentally disabled, living in a group home. Age 50 something, in middling health. His mother is fretting if he dies, she has no money to bury him and she is collecting advertisements and phone numbers for insurance companies she sees advertised on daytime TV. Colonial Penn, AARP, First United Health. She wants to know what is involved, is willing to pay the “low low premium”. I don’t know anything about it, but - What should I tell her?
Funeral/Burial insurance is a sticky business. I’m not personally in the funeral business, but many family members are and most funeral directors feel as if these insurance programs are shams.
You’re probably best off advising her to speak to funeral directors at funeral homes about their pre-need packages. Visit more than one home. Don’t let them guilt her into paying higher prices. You could even go along as morale support.
It’s basically just life insurance for a small amount of money, sufficient to cover typical funeral expenses. If his mother is his guardian, she should have no trouble obtaining it. I would suggest starting with any insurance companies with whom she already does business, such as her car or home insurance carriers, although they may not have a product titled specifically burial or funeral insurance. The companies that do advertise that specific product tend to be targeting a financially unsophisticated market that may be less likely to comparison shop, so their rates may be somewhat higher.
The questions to ask are the same as for any life insurance policy, such as how long it lasts and whether the premium can change over time.
I would also suggest shopping funeral homes before the time arrives. Funeral pricing is extremely opaque, and the worst places will exploit a family’s emotional distress.
It seems to me that if the woman is willing to pay a low monthly premium for burial insurance, she should be able to set aside money each month on her own for a burial fund, especially since it would take some time for an insurance policy to kick in. It’s not like she’s buying a house. If she chooses a standard funeral without getting suckered into going for all the frills, shouldn’t she be able to bury her child for about $5000 or even less? She can probably even work something out beforehand with a funeral director as suggested above and maybe pay in installments if that’s offered.
Couldn’t agree more. Cut out the middle man.
Most of these insurances don’t even begin to cover all expenses.
Probably won’t work—I’m trying to do that right now. My mother passed away on Thursday, and I‘ve been trying to get the mortuary to work out a payment plan, but they won’t budge, despite the fact that my whole family is buried there—we’re regular repeat customers. Nothing gets planted until the bill is paid in full. I wound up borrowing three grand from my FIL and putting the rest on a credit card.
Almost all cemeteries sell plots on a 0% interest payment plan, but you have to pay it off before you can use it.
Different country with different rules, but recently my mother mentioned she was thinking of getting “interment” insurance for herself, as she’d heard that burial fees had gone up and gotten real high. The insurance would have cost about 240 €/year; it did not cover transportation, casket or repatriation if dead abroad… only the burial/incineration fees.
A quick google showed that the burial fee in Pamplona and in a family vault is now 64€ (up from 50€). That’s 1/4 what she would have been paying yearly! And the family vault has been paid-off for over 100 years…
My advice, investigate the local burial market and read the tiny print of any policies.
I’m glad I live in a country where (very basic) Last Rites and burial are covered by Social Security…
To the OP, as a general rule insurance is only a good idea if the event against which you are insuring would be a major financial hardship. If (the general) you can either afford the expense out-of-pocket (not your case) or save up for it gradually (hopefully your case) then that’s what you should probably do. No specific advice since I don’t live in the US, but what others have said sounds mostly reasonable.
Yes - I advise setting up a preneed with a local funeral home rather than an insurance package meant to defray the costs. The advantage of doing so is that a preneed is still regulated by the state insurance commissioner (because at it’s core it is an insurance policy) and you pay up front and will not be responsible for any price increases that occur in the interim for any guaranteed services and merchandise (that is the services and merchandise controlled by the funeral home) Since funeral homes routinely increased their pricing on a yearly basis, after just a few years this can equate to a significant cost savings.
Moderator Action
Another poor zombie that needs to be put back into its grave.
CoffinMan, please do not bump threads in GQ unless you have something new or significant to contribute to the thread.
Thread closed.