What is Funeral Insurance?

When planning funerals at funeral homes in Greenbelt, MD, it’s a good idea to consider purchasing funeral insurance to relieve your family of the burden of having to find the money – or take it out of your estate – to cover your funeral expenses.

The difference between life insurance and funeral insurance is that funeral insurance is a policy that is designed specifically to cover funeral expenses, while life insurance is a policy that can cover many different expenses and provide financial security for the family when someone dies.

While no one likes to think about funerals, especially when it comes to their own deaths, thinking about funeral insurance now can make sure your family has money already designated to cover all your funeral expenses. This means that if you also have a life insurance policy, that money can go toward securing the financial future of your family after you die.

Funeral insurance policies are different from life insurance policies in that there are no medical exams associated with them. In other words, everyone can buy funeral insurance policies, regardless of their age or health (life insurance policies can be quite expensive if they are purchased when people are older and/or have significant health problems).

There are many different avenues for purchasing funeral insurance policies, but one of the easiest – and perhaps most affordable – ways is to look at the insurance policies you already carry. Many people bundle their insurance – home, cars, contents of home, etc. – with a single company, so that they qualify for an overall discounted rate.

Consider making an appointment with your insurance agent to go over all your insurance coverage. Many times, for example, home insurance coverage equals the purchase price. If you’ve paid 10 or 15 years on a 30-year mortgage, then you can probably adjust the amount of coverage of your home insurance and convert some of that policy into a funeral policy. This is perhaps the easiest way to make sure you have funeral insurance in place.

Funeral insurance policies should be considered, as well, by people who would have to pay outrageously high premiums for life insurance because of their ages and/or their health. However, people who are younger and in good health should purchase life insurance instead – designating by a written instructions or in their wills that funeral expenses should be paid out of it – because they can get a lot of coverage for much lower premiums.

When you purchase a funeral insurance policy, you have three options on how to use it to pay for your funeral expenses. One is to name a beneficiary who will receive the payout on the insurance policy and then is responsible for paying your funeral expenses. Another is to designate the funeral home as the beneficiary – you should make sure they have a copy of a the funeral insurance policy – and the money will be paid directly to the funeral home to cover your funeral expenses. A third option is to create a preneed funeral agreement with the funeral home, where you set up a payment plan to pay your funeral expenses in advance.

Regardless of which way you go, a funeral insurance policy relieves your family of an additional worry and burden when you die, giving them some breathing room to focus on grieving and healing.

If you’d like to know more about funeral insurance at funeral homes in Greenbelt, MD, you can talk with our knowledgeable team at Donald V. Borgwardt Funeral Home, P.A. You can visit our funeral home at 4400 Powder Mill Rd., Beltsville, MD, 20705, or you can call us today at (301) 937-1707.