We’ve analyzed dozens of providers to present you with the absolute best burial insurance companies, with Mutual of Omaha topping this year’s list.
Picking the right final expense provider can be a daunting task as you compare underwriting requirements, reviews, prices, customer experience ratings, and financial strength.
We’ve taken the headache out of the process, comparing dozens of companies for you.
Using our data-driven model, we’ve used thousands of comparison points and narrowed it down to the top 10 final expense providers.
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Mutual of Omaha Insurance Company
Mutual of Omaha offers the most accessible and affordable burial policies to most applicants at competitive rates.
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Transamerica Life Insurance Company
Transamerica offers several flexible payment options on its well-priced policies with options for applicants in poorer health.
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Gerber Life Insurance Company
Not just for babies, Gerber offers cheap coverage and approves all applicants regardless of health with a quick and easy application.
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In the USA, there are literally dozens of companies that offer burial policies.
They all have different coverage options, rates, underwriting, riders, and application processes.
Several of the best term and whole life insurance companies have attempted to enter the burial market, but there are a few who stand out above the rest.
Top 10 Best Final Expense Companies in the U.S.
- Mutual Of Omaha
- Transamerica
- Gerber
- AIG
- Foresters
- Americo
- Royal Neighbors of America
- American Amicable
- Baltimore Life
- American Continental (AETNA)
Mutual of Omaha Insurance Company
Mutual of Omaha is this year’s top provider of final expense insurance, available in all states but New York.
The Living Promise lifetime coverage product from Mutual of Omaha (United of Omaha) is made available for anyone aged 45-85, with no separate classifications for smokers.
This is one of the few final expense life products made available to applicants below the age of 50.
MIB records and prescription checks are run for all applicants, build charts are a requirement, and phone interviews are administered randomly.
As such, applicants with fewer health problems can secure lower rates on coverage.
Face Amounts: $2,000 – $40,000 ($20,000 Graded Max)
Types:
- Level
- Graded
Payouts:
- Level – Immediate
- Graded – 2 Years (Return of Premium + 10%); Accidental death pays full.
Transamerica Life Insurance Company
Several options for final needs are available through Transamerica, including their Easy Solution, Immediate Solution, and 10-Pay Solution products.
With products available for ages 0 to 85, the company offers maximum flexibility for all ages and all health classes under graded terms.
The 10-pay option allows you to make payments for just ten years, subject to any outstanding loan amounts.
Face Amounts:
- $1,000 – $50,000
- $1,000 – $25,000 (Ages 76+)
Types:
- Level
- Graded
Payouts:
- Immediate Solution – Immediate
- Easy Solution – 2 Years (Return of Premium +10%) or (30% payout, 60% payout in PA, NV, AR)
- Accidental death pays full.
Gerber Life Insurance Company
The Gerber Life Guaranteed life insurance is one of the most straightforward final expense life insurance policies, made available for anyone ages 50-80.
There are no health questions, meaning that all applicants can be approved.
The simple application, which is 2 pages long, can be completed manually or over the phone.
Prices for this product are also among the cheapest, making Gerber’s policies one of the most attractive ones on the market right now.
Gerber’s policies are available in all states except for Arizona and Montana.
Face Amounts: $5,000 – $25,000
Types: Guaranteed
Payouts:
- 2 Years (Return of Premium + 10%)
- Accidental death pays full
AIG Direct
AIG is another A-rated insurer offering competitive final expense policies, ideal for applicants whose health might stand in the way of getting approved for a traditional policy.
Their Guaranteed Issue Whole Life Insurance grants guaranteed coverage without requiring a medical exam or any health-related questions.
Policies are available for applicants between the ages of 50 and 80 and come with level premiums, as well as a living benefits rider.
Coverage is available in all 50 states, except New York.
Face Amounts: $5,000 – $25,000
Types: Guaranteed
Payouts:
- 2 Years (Return of Premium + 10%)
- Accidental death pays full
Foresters Financial
The Foresters PlanRight Whole Life is a flexible option to buy permanent coverage.
It is one of the best funeral insurance products for applicants who can qualify based on their health.
That’s because Foresters distinguishes between non-smokers and smokers in its rating classes, which isn’t common for final expense insurance.
A short personal history interview is required, along with a prescription check. If you answer “yes” to any questions, it may lead to a decline, modified, or graded classification.
Face Amounts: $5,000 – $35,000
Types:
- Preferred
- Standard
- Basic
Payouts:
- Preferred – Immediate
- Standard – Immediate
- Basic – 2 Years (Return of Premium + 10%)
Americo Financial Life and Annuity Insurance Company
The Ultra Protector Series from Americo is another three-tier final expense product offering multiple levels of coverage, depending on your needs and current health conditions.
The only rating class, aside from the product tier qualification, is male or female.
Max issue ages are 85 for tier I, 80 for tier II, and 75 for the third tier, so your health determines the maximum issue age.
Accelerated death benefit rider is also included, with children’s riders available.
Face Amounts: $2,000 – $30,000
Types:
- Level
- Graded
Payouts:
- Ultra Protector I – Immediate
- Ultra Protector II – Immediate
- Ultra Protector II – 3 years (5% payout, 10% payout, 75% payout)
- Accidental death pays full
Royal Neighbors of America
Although only available in a limited number of states, Royal Neighbors of America and their Simplified Issue Whole Life and Graded Death Benefit Whole Life products offer permanent life insurance choices you can’t outlive.
There are just a few simple health questions to answer, and any “Yes” answers still allow for the graded choice for applicants between 50 and 75 years of age.
There are no preferred or sub-standard rates issued; there are only tobacco and non-tobacco ratings for each gender.
Face Amounts:
- Simplified Issue – $7,000 – $30,000
- Graded: $5,000 – $10,000
Types:
- Simplified
- Graded
Payouts:
- Simplified – Immediate
- Graded – 2 years (30% payout, 70% payout)
- Accidental death pays in full
American Amicable
With its Golden Solution policy, American Amicable offers an affordable simplified whole life product to applicants from age 0 to 85.
The policy involves an application with a handful of medical questions that are used to determine the policy’s maximum death benefit and payout structure.
They also come with an optional grandchild rider and accidental death benefit rider.
Face amounts:
- Immediate – Up to $25,000 to age 75; up to $15,000 to age of 85
- Graded – Up to $15,000
- Return of Premium – Up to $15,000
Types:
- Immediate
- Graded
- Return of Premium
Payouts:
- Immediate
- Graded – 2 years (30% payout, 70% payout); accidental death pays In full
- Return of Premium + 10% – 3 years
The Baltimore Life Insurance Company
The Silver Guard simplified issue whole life series from Baltimore Life gives several tiers of insurance to consumers based on their health.
These three types of non-participatory whole life products last a lifetime and are made available for purchase to any person between 50 and 80.
The applicant must adhere to a build chart, meaning your height and weight could have an impact on your rates.
Face Amounts:
- $2,500 – $25,000 (Series I)
- $2,500 – $15,000 (Series II)
- $2,500 – $10,000 (Series III)
Types:
- Immediate (Series I)
- Simplified (Series II)
- Graded (Series III)
Payouts:
- Series I – Immediate
- Series II – 2 years (25% payout, 50% payout); Accidental death pays full.
- Series III – 2 years (25% payout, 50% payout); Accidental death pays full.
Aetna Life Insurance Company
The ACI/CLI Final Expense policy from American Continental, an Aetna company, comes in a graded product format.
This simplified issue policy has no height or weight requirements, no exams, is completed by finishing both an application and tele-interview, and won’t be issued with any “Yes” answers to health questions.
Persons with major health issues, such as lung, heart, or mobility will not be accepted and should look elsewhere.
These policies and the amounts of coverage offered are limited in some states, so you’ll need to make sure you’re eligible for a policy based on where you live.
Face Amounts: $3,000 – $35,000
Types:
- Level
- Graded
- Modified
Payouts:
- Level – Immediate
- Graded – 2 years (40% payout, 70% payout)
- Modified – 2 Years (Return of Premium + 10% interest first two years)
How We Chose the Best Companies
Our innovative methodology based on both consensus and data is the first of its kind.
You can trust that our ratings will provide you with an objective look at the top life insurance companies.
Each one of the companies we reviewed is evaluated based on the following criteria:
- Price/Value – Does the company offer competitive rates, on average?
- Financial Strength – Does the company have the ability to pay out their claims?
- User Experience – Does the company make it easy to understand their product, buy their product, and make a claim?
- Product Availability – Does the company have the right product to meet your needs?
- Brand/Size – Does the company have a strong reputation, with customers and the industry?
- Consensus – Does the general consensus of the company appear to be positive?
You can take a closer look at what goes into each of these metrics below.
The Complete Methodology, Fully Transparent
Our methodology brings in thousands of data points to provide you with an unbiased list of the top burial insurance companies.
We compare hundreds of companies based on the factors that matter most when it comes to choosing a life insurance provider, from cost and coverage to reputation and financial strength.
Price/Value (24%)
The cost of premiums for the average applicant.
One of the biggest decision makers when you choose a life insurance company is cost.
If you’re comparing a handful of financially solvent companies and all of them have the type of policy you need, you can choose the most affordable option.
To assess the cost-effectiveness of each company, we compare quotes across several demographics and coverage needs to get an idea of what the average applicant can expect to pay.
Financial Strength (16%)
The provider’s ability to pay out claims.
A key indicator of how solvent a company may be 10, 15, or 20 years into the future is its current financial strength.
You should be able to count on your life insurance provider to have the means to pay out your policy when the time comes.
To gauge financial strength we consider factors like:
- Credit ratings from A.M. Best, Fitch, Moody’s, and Standard & Poor’s
- Number of policyholders
- Assets under management
User Experience (12%)
The ease of using the website, applying for coverage, and filing claims.
We also evaluate each company based on the simplicity of navigating their website, applying for a policy, and filing a claim.
The best life insurance companies provide you with a stellar experience from day one, whether it’s over the phone, in person, or online.
To assess user experience, we use sources such as the NAIC, the Better Business Bureau, and J.D. Power, which assess factors like:
- Customer complaints
- Ease of application
- Online experience
- Claims paying history
Product Availability (12%)
The breadth of products to meet most people’s needs.
We also evaluate each final expense insurer by the types of burial policies on offer, to determine if they have the coverage most people need.
The three most popular types of final expense insurance include:
- Graded
- Guaranteed
- Level
In addition to considering the availability of the policy types above, we factor in:
- Age limits: Some companies offer coverage up to age 85 while others have more stringent age requirements. The minimum age limit can also vary from one provider to the next.
- Death benefit size: Final expense insurance comes in smaller amounts than traditionally underwritten life insurance policies, but some carriers offer more robust coverage than others.
Specialty (20%)
The ease of approval, underwriting speed, and quality of a particular product.
Getting approved for final expense coverage can prove more difficult with some providers than others.
While some companies have little to no health requirements for approval, others might base your access to coverage and rates on:
- Build charts
- MIB records
- Prescription checks
- Tobacco use
To assess the ease of approval of each company, we consider the underwriting factors above and whether or not the company enforces waiting periods.
Along with the ease of approval, we also factor in the speed of getting approved with each company. The quicker coverage takes effect, the better.
Consensus (12%)
The overall agreement on the quality of a provider.
Life insurance is an investment that will protect your family in the most trying time of their lives, so you shouldn’t stake your choice of insurer on one person’s opinion.
Instead, you should choose a company that’s highly rated by several reviewers.
To gauge the consensus surrounding a company, we look at a range of opinions from industry experts and consumers.
Brand/Size (4%)
The company’s overall size, market presence, and general brand recognition.
Brand recognition can go a long way in instilling confidence in potential policyholders.
The larger and more recognizable a company is, the easier it is to learn more about.
To evaluate each company’s brand recognition and size, we consider factors like their:
- Social media activity
- Amount of employees
- Number of policyholders
- Community involvement
Frequently Asked Questions
Most final expense policies fall in the range of $10,000 – $25,000, with some as low as $2,000 and others as high as $50,000.
The range could cover anything from a basic cremation up to a more standard burial with a casket.
Since the coverage amounts are smaller for final expense policies, they are affordable and seniors with health issues can still qualify due to the lenient underwriting.
In fact, some plans have no underwriting where acceptance is guaranteed regardless of your health.
It’s quite common for some companies to refer to burial insurance plans as final expense insurance or funeral insurance. Regardless of the label used, they all refer to the same type of policy.
Funeral insurance plans are still life insurance plans, so at the end of the day, the result is simply a tax-free check issued directly to the beneficiaries.
Technically, this money can be used any way they please. If they don’t use all the money for funeral bills, the remaining money can be spent at their discretion.
To qualify for a burial insurance policy with no waiting period, you’ll need to be a bit healthier when you first apply.
However, if health is a concern, there are two additional types of policies offered: graded and guaranteed.
A graded policy may come with less underwriting than a policy with no waiting period, but instead of a full payout from day 1, it may be tiered over a 2 or 3-year period.
A guaranteed policy has no underwriting at all and has the same tiered payout structure as a graded policy, but will be even more expensive.
Life insurance companies often collect data from a few sources to define the level of risk you pose.
These include the Body Mass Index and your Motor Vehicle Report.
Whether or not these come into play with final expense insurance depends on the type of product you pick, the company’s underwriting requirements, and the level of risk you present based on your application.
If you’re an older applicant buying a small life insurance policy specifically for funeral expenses, it’s best to buy a standard lifelong policy that you aren’t at risk of outliving as opposed to a temporary one.