Planning for that final day of life is a hard to do isn’t it? No one likes to think about it any longer than required. Need the right kind of life insurance to protect or leave a gift for your loved ones? A common decision item is picking the best burial insurance from the companies that offer this type of whole life coverage.
Now, the policies from the best burial insurance companies are always going to require some health history questions. No way around that. Don’t confuse “no exam” with no health history questions if you are looking for the best policy and competitive pricing.
No Exam Burial Insurance For Seniors
The good news is, all of these burial insurance companies below have no exam, needles or doctors records to be approved. Applications are processed very quickly. We will also include one carrier below that is only necessary for those people who are considered high risk life insurance candidates.
What makes this this high risk life insurance policy different?
Well, it is a no health question policy. This should only be purchased if you’ve spoken to an experienced broker/independent agent first as it is more expensive and has limitations during the first 2 years.
Below are the top, no exam burial insurance companies as we see it. They are in alphabetical order rather than any any special preference.
To define “top” we are using the following criteria:
- No Medical Exam or Paramedical Required
- Very Competitive Premiums when compared to identical policies from other carriers
- Price never goes up, death benefit never goes down
- Easy to Apply Over the Phone and or With Use of Email or Text
- Offers Social Security Billing
- All are Permanent, Whole Life Insurance
- Accept Applicants in Less than optimum Health
- Have High Placement Ratios
- Immediate, Full First Day Benefit Policies (First Day, Full Coverage) Unless Otherwise Stated
Gerber Life Insurance
If you need a no health question, guaranteed issue whole life plan, Gerber is for you. Yes, this same company the offers the “Grow Up” life insurance policy for babies. The parent products company does market the famous baby food many of us were fed early on in life. Gerber Life Insurance entered the business in 1967 is located in Fremont, Michigan. Gerber Guaranteed Life Insurance is very competitively priced and beats Colonial Penn’s “Guaranteed Acceptance Whole Life” any day of the week. A guaranteed issue burial insurance product is best for those applicants who have a very high risk profile. Take a note here – no question life insurance does not have full death benefits for natural causes of death. The insured individual must live thru the first 2 policy years before the death benefit for natural causes increases to full value. This is typically someone who has a very serious health situation such as active internal cancer patients, terminal illness or other risks that are not medically insurable.
Mutual of Omaha
Here is one of those long time, big name carriers out of both life and health insurance. As a Fortune 500 company, Mutual of Omaha (MOO) offers final expense whole life policies called “Living Promise” for applicants age 45-85. Insurance in the amounts of $2000-$40,000 is available on their standard simplified issue whole life policy. An accelerated benefits rider allows the policy owner a one time option to receive a lump sum payment in the event of a terminal illness diagnosis. Mutual of Omaha has random phone interviews if they need any clarification on your application. MOO offers an excellent peace of mind combined with very competitive rates for seniors looking for burial insurance.
SBLI
Founded in 1907, SBLI (Savings Bank Life Insurance of Massachusetts) has built up a reputation for being a no frills, affordable life insurance company. In late 2022, they entered in Final Expense Insurance market with a very affordable burial policy combined with an outside funeral concierge service. The funeral concierge takes over when that day comes. This is arguably one of 3 best burial insurance companies available. Why? With SBLI’s Living Legacy final expense insurance, you have Sequoia Funeral Concierge paid for in your policy premiums. Sequoia will negotiate and arrange your wishes for the lowest cost with the funeral homes in your area on behalf of the family. This greatly reduces the emotional stress at a very tough time. The is really a proprietary product that other carriers cannot match at this time. This is not widely available. Select agencies and agents can offer this plan. We are one of them. SBLI has one of the highest placement ratios and fairly liberal underwriting (easy to qualify for).
Other Best Burial Insurance Companies Worth Noting:
While this list includes several funeral insurance carriers, it is worth noting that not all life insurance companies offer burial insurance policies. No exam life insurance is designed for less than perfect health but also understands the needs of people 50-90. Burial Insurance policies are often $50,000 or less. Many life insurance companies do not underwrite smaller policies or will mandate paramedical exams to verify health of the insured. Other companies that offer final expense insurance may have a lower placement ratio (underwriting approval). Still there are life insurance carriers that have not embraced technology and are simply hard to apply to without a traditional insurance agent or broker visiting you to take your application in person.
However, I would point out that we do write a lot of business with other very good final expense insurance carriers not mentioned above. Here are several other honorable mentions:
- Transamerica – Pro’s: Accept a lot of prescriptions and tough health conditions that other carriers decline, very competitive rates. Con’s: Longer application and disappointing customer service performance
- Trinity Life/Family Benefit Life – Pro’s: Price Buster, Liberal Underwriting, instant decision. Prompt customer service, Social Security Billing Con’s: Phone interview process, extensive prescription evaluation
- AIG/Corebridge Financial – Pro’s: Accept Credit or Debit Cards, will accept high risk health conditions others immediately decline, also offer a Guaranteed Issue Policy. Con’s: Lacks the personal touch on the customer service end
- Aetna – Pro’s: Simple application process and very competitive pricing age 85+, can be more lenient on overall health. Con’s: Can be unpredictable with some medications, lower placement rate (cases not approved as applied for)
- Royal Neighbors of America – Pro’s: Long history, since 1895, offers several different final expense options, liberal underwriting, competitive premiums, true social security billing. Con’s: Customer Service can be hard to reach at times, preferred rates only offered on policies greater than $25,000
The top 3 carriers listed above are available in 90+ percent of the country.
Our Burial Insurance Company Update for 2025
Aflac is being evaluated on our end as a top provider of whole life insurance policies for seniors. Aflac is new to the burial insurance market but widely available around the country. What we like at this point… competitive life insurance premiums for the policy offered, claims paying history and positive name brand recognition for their insurance products. Only time will tell but are excited about this new product for 2025 and see if they can climb into our top 3 status over the next few years.
Forester’s Financial has made their application for their “Plan Right” burial insurance making it much easier to apply for. Forester’s has listened to their brokers like Special Risk Life and have become more accessible to the seniors around the country. With their 2025 application process, you can easily apply…without the stress of the old process. Foresters does have very liberal underwriting allowing people with very significant health issues to qualify for a 1st day, full coverage policy.
Specific High Risk Burial Insurance
As a general rule, all burial insurance is designed to accept higher risk applicants that a typical term life insurance policy. While term life is really designed for large death benefit amounts, it is much more difficult to qualify for than a burial policy which is typically 50K or less. Life insurance companies offering burial insurance realize they are taking on an insured individual who is planning for end of life.
With that said, there are companies the one might say are definitely high risk burial insurance companies. Gerber Life, Colonial Penn, AARP/NYL, Corebridge Financial/AIG and even Royal Neighbors of America as of 2024.
Why are these companies a bit different? Well, while this list is not all inclusive, they all offer guaranteed acceptance whole life insurance policies. No health questions on these applications, at all. Most life insurance companies do not offer guaranteed issued products. It is not part of their business model.
Recap: Best Burial Insurance Companies
While this is not the full extent of the final expense life insurance carriers we work with, these are the easiest to recommend to you based on the criteria mentioned above. Other carriers not mentioned that we use for final expense insurance may not be available in several states and frequently used for hard to insure cases.
Applying for a policy takes 15-40 minutes of your time.
Since the insurance companies will require your date of birth and Social Security Number, be prepared to provide that with your address to your agent. The insurers are required by law to verify your identity. Do you also have your beneficiary’s info date of birth, address and phone number handy? When do you want to start your coverage? Do you have your banking info: routing and account numbers if paying monthly?
If you have these details, applications move quickly and smoothly. Once completed on your independent agents end, the application can be electronically signed and submitted by different methods including voice and email. Once received by the carrier, electronic underwriting decisions can be instant to 3 business days or so if a underwriter needs to make the decision manually. Most decisions are made by the insurance companies computer one it has received your signature.
All the carriers in our 2025 list of the best burial insurance companies do not require any medical exam. However, for the best policies, you will still have to qualify based on your overall health history. Sorry, the best and most affordable burial insurance will have a few questions in order to qualify. No way around that one.
Hope this has given you some insight on the best burial insurance carriers out there. Please feel free to leave comments below or give us a call if you need help with your end of life planning. 269-230-3464
Michael is a veteran independent life and health insurance agent who specializes in guiding people with even high risk health conditions thru the insurance process. He is passionate about helping individuals and families get their unique financial protection needs met, providing his experienced based advise and delivering affordable, dependable coverage you can count on.
