While it is a tough time for family and friends who lose a loved one, an agent can make the loss a little easier by providing quality and affordable service. Agents looking for a final expense insurance lead will want first-rate service to be at the top of their list for prospective clients. The popularity of burial insurance has increased in recent years as individuals and families look for both a dignified and affordable way to deal with the inevitable.
According to the National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA), consumer interest in preplanning funerals has been steadily rising for the past three decades, with much interest on prefunding these services. Final expense insurance is put to use as an alternative to life insurance, offering different benefits.
Since final expense insurance covers something that no one can escape, when a consumer obtains this type of policy, insurers know the client will use it at some point. With that being the case, insurance companies will charge accordingly. Unlike life insurance which gives the policyholder a large lump sum to distribute as they see fit, final expense insurance only covers costs related with the burial. Agents looking for a final expense insurance lead will inform prospective clients that expenses covered include: The coffin, the burial plot, and burial clothing.
With funeral prices continuing to rise, a $10,000 burial policy purchased now may not cover a funeral’s bill when the time arrives. Due to the fact these policies are individualized, there’s nothing that you can’t include with them, unless, perhaps, you have a plan that is capped to not exceed a specific dollar figure.
For consumers who do not or cannot afford to use final expense insurance, a life insurance policy is oftentimes used to pay for burial expenses. As final expense costs continue to rise, if the life policy is not too big to start in the first place, consumers could see final expense costs taking up a large portion of the money their family receives.
Another factor agents need to be direct about with prospective clients in working a final expense insurance lead is the danger of scams. While not the norm, scams in the funeral industry are unfortunately an occurrence. One scam agents need to warn consumers about is where a company claims it will provide burial benefits for a certain fee, then after the individual pays the premiums, the burial insurance company disappears. The bottom line is the insurer does not pay for the funeral, leaving family members to foot the bill.
Much controversy in the funeral industry, especially allegations that elderly individuals are being tricked into paying larger premiums than they can ever get back in benefits, has led states like Florida to seek banning the policies altogether. A good form of protection for consumers, one in which trustworthy agents will have no problem with, is checking to see if the Better Business Bureau says the company is who they proclaim to be. Agents can be a valuable resource when selling final expense insurance as consumers seek to be prepared for the inevitable.