The basic terms
Insurance has its own vocabulary, and it can make a simple product sound complicated. Final expense insurance is a smaller whole life policy meant for funeral costs and final bills. Here is what the main words mean.
- Whole life: coverage that doesn't expire as long as premiums are paid.
- Face amount: what the policy pays when the insured person dies.
- Beneficiary: the person who receives the face amount and decides how to use it.
- Premium: what you pay to keep the policy in force, usually level.
- Issue age: the ages an insurer accepts, often 50 to 85, sometimes from 40 or 45.
Words about health and plan type
Underwriting is how an insurer decides whether to offer you a plan and which kind. For final expense insurance, there is usually no medical exam. Many insurers ask a short list of health questions and may check prescription history and medical records.
- Level benefit (or simplified issue): asks health questions and, if you qualify, usually pays in full from day one.
- Graded or modified: pays less, such as premiums plus interest, for natural death in the first two or three years.
- Guaranteed issue: no health questions, in exchange for a limited benefit if natural death comes within two years.
- Insurable interest: a real stake in the insured person's life, needed to buy a policy on someone else.
Talk to a licensed agent: (949) 807-3995
Words about cost
When people talk about funeral costs, they often mean the median, the middle price. The National Funeral Directors Association's 2023 General Price List Study put the national median cost of a funeral with viewing and burial at $8,300, and with viewing and cremation at $6,280. Those medians don't include cemetery, plot, monument or marker costs.
A quote is the price an insurer would charge for a given face amount and plan type, based on your age and health answers. Quotes can differ from one insurer to the next, which is why comparing several is helpful.
Putting the words to use on the call
Now the call should sound familiar. A licensed agent asks your age and the health questions, then quotes a face amount and a premium from several insurers and tells you whether each is a level or graded plan. You can ask what any word means. You can apply by phone if you choose. The quote is free and there is no obligation.
Independent agency is another term worth knowing. Eterna is one: its licensed agents are appointed with several insurers and help Mississippi residents compare their plans side by side. The insurer you choose issues the policy, and plans, prices and availability vary by state, insurer, age and health. Agents take calls every day, 8am to 8pm Central time.
One more term: the regulator. You can look up an agent's license or ask an insurance question with the Mississippi Insurance Department at https://www.mid.ms.gov/, which licenses agents and regulates insurers.
