Burial Insurance

Ways to keep costs low

• Pick a realistic face amount. Price the funeral you want; NFDA’s 2023 median was $8,300 for a funeral with viewing and burial and $6,280 with cremation.
• Answer health questions if you can. Simplified-issue policies often cost less than guaranteed-issue policies and may pay the full benefit sooner.
• Buy sooner. Premiums are set by age at purchase and usually stay level.
• Compare several insurers. Prices for the same face amount vary.
• Use your FTC rights. Ask for itemized prices; you don’t have to buy a package.

What final expense insurance is

Final expense insurance, also called burial insurance, is a small permanent life insurance policy meant to pay for a funeral and other end-of-life bills. Funeralwise puts typical face amounts at $1,000 to $25,000, sometimes up to $50,000. The death benefit goes to the beneficiary you name, who can use it for anything: the funeral, medical bills, or debts.

A Life Insurers Council survey of 30 insurers found about 1.3 million final expense policies sold in 2025, with an average face amount of $15,344 for simplified-issue and $11,299 for guaranteed-issue policies. Simplified issue made up 76% of sales. The council notes its survey isn’t a complete view of the market.

Simplified vs. guaranteed issue

Sources: Funeralwise, ACLI, and sample policy filings. Terms vary by insurer and state.

Graded death benefits

Policies sold without health questions usually have a graded or modified death benefit. In a 2025 letter to the Interstate Insurance Product Regulation Commission, the American Council of Life Insurers described final expense designs that refund premiums, sometimes with a small multiplier such as 110% in year one and 120% in year two, if death from natural causes happens in the first two to three years, then pay the full benefit. Many pay the full benefit for accidental death at any time.

A filed American General graded whole life sample policy, for example, pays 110% of premiums paid for a natural-cause death in years one and two and the full face amount from year three; accidental death pays in full at any time, and a two-year suicide exclusion applies. Ask any insurer how its grading works before you buy.

What it costs

Premiums depend mainly on age, health, sex, tobacco use, and face amount, and they are usually level for life. Funeralwise’s example quotes for a $5,000 guaranteed-issue policy at age 65 were about $30 a month for a woman and $37 for a man. In the American General sample policy, a $5,000 graded policy issued at age 50 cost $323.30 a year, including a $24 policy fee. Your price can be very different, so compare quotes.

What funerals cost

The National Funeral Directors Association’s latest price study, from 2023, found a median cost of $8,300 for a funeral with viewing and burial and $6,280 for a funeral with viewing and cremation. NFDA projected a 63.4% cremation rate and 31.6% burial rate for 2025. Cemetery costs such as a plot, opening and closing the grave, and a headstone are usually extra.

Your rights under the FTC Funeral Rule

• You can buy only the goods and services you want; you don’t have to accept a package.
• Funeral homes must give prices over the phone, and you don’t have to give your name.
• In person, you must get a General Price List to keep, and casket and outer burial container price lists before you see them.
• No state or local law requires a casket for cremation, and funeral homes must offer alternative containers.
• A funeral home can’t refuse a casket or urn you bought elsewhere or charge a fee to use it.
• No state law requires routine embalming.

Source: Federal Trade Commission. The rule doesn’t cover third-party sellers or cemeteries without an on-site funeral home.

Social Security death benefits

Social Security pays a one-time lump-sum death payment of $255 to a surviving spouse who lived with the deceased, or in some cases to an eligible child, and you must apply within two years of the death. Monthly survivor benefits may go to a widow or widower from age 60 (50 if disabled), to a widow or widower caring for the deceased’s child under 16 or disabled, to unmarried children under 18 (19 if still in high school), and to dependent parents 62 or older. The $255 payment won’t cover much of a funeral, which is one reason people buy final expense coverage.

Final expense vs. preneed

Final expense insurance isn’t the same as a preneed (prepaid) funeral contract. With preneed, you choose and pay ahead for specific goods and services, usually through a funeral home, by lump sum, installments, or a life insurance policy assigned to that provider. A final expense policy pays your beneficiary in cash. The Kentucky Department of Insurance notes that the FTC Funeral Rule applies to both preneed and at-need arrangements. Preneed sellers and contracts are regulated by state law, so cancellation and refund rights differ from state to state.

Free look and contestability

Most states give you a free-look period, often 10 days and up to 30 days in some cases, to cancel a new policy for a refund; the NAIC’s state chart lists 10 days for individual life in many states. For the first two years, insurers can generally contest a claim for a material misstatement on the application, and a suicide in that period typically limits the benefit to a refund of premiums, according to the North Carolina and South Carolina insurance departments. Answer application questions completely.

Checking a plan and insurer

• Graded benefit. Ask how much the policy pays in the first two or three years.
• Face amount. Match it to realistic funeral and final bills.
• Level premiums. Confirm the premium and benefit can’t change.
• Health questions. Answer fully to avoid a contested claim.
• Beneficiary. Name someone who can pay the funeral home quickly.

What an independent agency does

An independent insurance agency is licensed to sell policies from several insurance companies. Instead of quoting one company's products, an independent agent can compare options from the insurers the agency represents, explain the differences in coverage, and help you re-shop at renewal. The insurance company, not the agent, makes underwriting and claim decisions.

Blake Insurance Group is an independent agency. We work with clients by phone, email, and online in states where we are licensed, and we will tell you which insurers we can quote for your situation.

How we work

Blake Insurance Group serves clients by phone, email, and online in states where we are licensed. The insurers and plans we can offer depend on our appointments and your location; a company named on this page may not be available through us.

How to verify an insurer or agency

Before buying through any website or app, confirm who is selling you the policy and who will issue it:

1. Find the licensed agency or insurer named in the site's footer, terms, or license page.
2. Look up the agency or producer on your state insurance department's license search, or through the National Insurance Producer Registry (NIPR).
3. Look up the insurer on your state insurance department's company search to confirm it is authorized in your state.
4. Save the insurer's name and policy number once issued, since that is who handles claims.

A legitimate service will make this information easy to find. Be cautious if you cannot identify the licensed entity.

Sources

We checked the facts on this page against the sources below in October 2026. Plans, prices, and rules change, so confirm current terms before you buy.

• Funeralwise: Final expense insurance (Aug. 2026)
• LOMA/LIMRA Life Insurers Council: Final expense sales in 2025 (July 2026)
• ACLI letter to the Interstate Insurance Product Regulation Commission (Aug. 2025)
• American General graded death benefit whole life: sample policy
• NFDA: 2023 General Price List Study release
• NFDA: Statistics (cremation and burial rates)
• FTC: The FTC Funeral Rule
• SSA: 20 CFR 404.390, lump-sum death payment
• SSA FAQ: Lump-sum death payment
• SSA Blog: Understanding survivors benefits
• Kentucky Department of Insurance: Prepaying your funeral
• NAIC: Life insurance (Nov. 2025)
• NAIC presentation: Accelerated underwriting (Dec. 2019)
• Simplicity LifeLink: Life insurance quotes
• NAIC: Life insurance disclosure provisions chart (LI-30)
• NOLHGA: Coverage levels by state (as of June 1, 2025)
• NAIC: How to use the Life Insurance Policy Locator (May 2025)

What to have ready for a final expense quote

These details help an agent quote accurately.

1. Age and date of birth. Pricing is set by age.
2. Health and medications. For simplified-issue questions.
3. Tobacco use. Rates differ for tobacco users.
4. Coverage amount. Funeral plans and other final bills.
5. Beneficiary. Who will receive the money.

Burial insurance FAQs

Related guides

• Life insurance agency
• Final expense life insurance
• Term life insurance quotes
• Whole life insurance
• Funeral insurance

Partner quote options

Your next step

Request a quote, and a licensed agent will compare life insurance options available to us for your age, health, and budget.