With most purchases, there is an expectation that you should have access to it right away once a product is bought. Immediate access could not be more important when discussing your family’s financial future.
Quick Links
- No Waiting Period Basics
- Final Expense Insurance & Waiting Periods
- How to Qualify for Immediate Coverage
- No Health Questions (Guaranteed Acceptance)
Burial Insurance No Waiting Period
Burial insurance with no waiting period is coverage that is immediately available to your beneficiary. This means that even if the insured dies right after the policy becomes active, the full death benefit is still awarded.
Health is the single most important factor in seniors qualifying for no waiting period burial insurance.
A burial policy for seniors is a type of whole life insurance meant to pay for the insured’s final expenses. This coverage is also referred to as final expense insurance and funeral insurance.
Final expense policies come in less coverage than traditional life insurance since they are intended to pay for funeral expenses. With an average funeral cost of $8,000 – $12,000, final expense coverage ranges from $2,000 – $40,000.
What Does No Waiting Period Mean for Life Insurance?
When discussing life insurance, no waiting period refers to the applicant getting immediate coverage. A waiting period is a time restriction before full coverage begins.
If the insured dies before the end of the waiting period, the beneficiary will not receive the total death benefit. The beneficiary can receive the full coverage amount for final expense insurance with no waiting period as soon as the policy is active, within days of acceptance.
Do All Life Insurance Policies Have a Waiting Period?
Not all life insurance policies have a waiting period. However, applicants must qualify for immediate coverage based on their health and age. Some companies are more lenient than others when allowing for senior life insurance with no waiting period.
What Life Insurance Has No Waiting Period?
Several types of life insurance are not subject to a waiting period, but many will make you get a medical exam to qualify. Final expense insurance will never ask applicants to get a medical exam to be eligible for immediate coverage.
How Long Does it Take for Burial Insurance to Take Effect?
If you qualify for immediate coverage, the policy will take effect upon your first payment. So if you pass away the next day, your beneficiary will still receive the total death benefit amount.
Does Final Expense Insurance Have A Waiting Period?
Some policies offered by burial insurance companies have a waiting period, and some offer immediate coverage. If you would like funeral insurance with no waiting period, you must qualify based on your health. Seniors with a chronic or terminal illness could be subject to a delay in coverage.
The important thing to understand is that each insurance provider sets its own qualifying standards for its plans. One carrier could accommodate people with a specific pre-existing condition, while another will deny the same applicant or enforce a waiting period.
The best burial insurance coverage is offered by a reputable company, with immediate benefits and low prices.
Funeral Insurance Plans
Within burial and funeral life insurance, there are four tiers of coverage that seniors will qualify for.
Level: This is the best burial coverage built to cover healthy seniors. There is no waiting period, and the prices are the lowest compared to the other tiers.
Graded: A partial death benefit is offered progressively through a 2-year restriction in coverage. This is the next-best funeral insurance plan for seniors unable to qualify for Level plans.
Modified: This plan is also referred to as a “return of premium life insurance” policy because, during the 2-year coverage delay, the death benefit is the paid premiums +10% if the insured dies.
Guaranteed Issue: No health questions are asked to obtain this type of policy. Plans with guaranteed acceptance will have a waiting period and higher costs.
Level is the only tier that has immediate coverage. Graded, Modified, and Guaranteed Issue plans have delayed benefits upon the policy being issued. Having said that, Graded plans offer partial benefits during this time.
What are Partial Benefits (Graded)?
True graded policies offer a percentage of the death benefit immediately, but full coverage is not awarded until the waiting period has ended. This time restriction is usually two years but varies by policy.
An example of a Graded (partial) coverage payout is:
- Death in year 1: 30% of the death benefit paid
- Death in year 2: 70% of the death benefit paid
- All other years: 100% of the death benefit paid
Again, this varies by policy, and not all Graded payout structures are like this during the coverage delay.
Some plans are marketed as Graded policies, but they have the structure of a modified plan. This is why we referred to it as a “true graded” policy.
How Do I Get Burial Insurance With No Waiting Period?
The majority of seniors can qualify for immediate coverage. Working with an independent insurance agency specializing in this coverage area and having access to several life insurance policies will be the best tool to get funeral insurance with no waiting period.
To get an idea of the monthly funeral insurance cost, use the quick quote tool on this page. It will show a list of burial plans from a range of providers. The policies marked as “Level” will have instant coverage and are less expensive.
A final expense insurance specialist will be able to let you know which plan you can qualify for based on your health.
How Life Insurance Companies Determine Eligibility
The application will ask a series of “yes” or “no” health questions. If you can truthfully answer “no” to every question, you will get the best burial coverage with no waiting period. Benefits could be delayed if you answer “yes” to any of the questions.
Based on your answers, funeral insurance companies will take one of the following actions.
- Acceptance with instant benefits & low premiums
- Acceptance with partial coverage immediately & higher premiums
- Acceptance with a return of premiums, delayed benefits & highest premiums
- Denial of coverage
Every insurance provider determines its acceptance guidelines and prices, so how each company reacts to specific health questions is inconsistent from one carrier to the next.
Qualifying for Final Expense Insurance with No Waiting Period
The best way to learn if you qualify for day-one benefits is by working with a final expense insurance specialist with access to many top funeral insurance policies. More often than not, seniors have no reason to wait for coverage to begin.
Health Conditions that Qualify with No Waiting Period
These conditions will get approval when applying with the right insurance company.
- Angina
- Arthritis
- Asthma
- Atrial Fibrillation (AFib)
- Bipolar
- Chronic Bronchitis
- Cirrhosis
- COPD
- Depression
- Diabetes
- Diverticulitis
- Fibromyalgia
- Hepatitis
- High Blood Pressure
- High Cholesterol
- Liver Disease
- Lupus
- Neuropathy
- Overweight/Obese
- Schizophrenia
- Sleep Apnea
Certain combinations of health concerns might cause a provider to implement a benefit restriction. However, this varies greatly depending on the health combination and the carrier.
Please let your agent know your health concerns so they can best place you with the most appropriate plan.
Plans With No Health Questions
Burial life insurance without a medical exam or health questions will result in a waiting period. This is known as guaranteed acceptance life insurance or guaranteed issue.
Below are a few examples of medical questions on an application. Look them over to ensure you can get approved for a burial insurance no waiting period plan regarding your specific health situation.
- Have you had any major surgeries recently?
- Do you have a terminal illness or a current cancer diagnosis?
- Do you have a defibrillator implant or require continuous oxygen use?
- Do you have AIDS, ARC, or HIV?
- Are you bedridden, confined to a hospital, or on hospice?
- Have you been treated for dementia, Alzheimer’s Disease, or memory loss?
If you answered “YES” to any of these medical questions, we recommend learning more about guaranteed acceptance life insurance plans to gauge your next steps.
A guaranteed life insurance plan is unnecessary if you can answer “NO” to the above questions.
Healthy Seniors do Not Need Waiting Periods
We often speak with seniors who were sold the wrong life insurance plan for their situation. Getting an incorrect plan could mean that a perfectly healthy person buys a product with a coverage delay.
Guaranteed acceptance plans typically send information through the mail or promote it on TV commercials, like senior AARP life insurance and Colonial Penn life insurance. If it feels too easy to get a policy, there is a reason for that. Life insurance without medical questions comes with delayed benefits and much higher premiums.
You will want to avoid life insurance with a waiting period whenever possible because seniors should only use guaranteed issue plans with severely compromised health.
Final Thoughts On Getting Funeral Insurance With No Waiting Period
a. Burial insurance with no waiting period is available to seniors who qualify by answering the health questions favorably.
b. People with a chronic or terminal condition may be subject to a delay in coverage.
c. Working with an independent agent who can compare multiple plan options will be the best way to find affordable funeral insurance with no waiting period.