By Nadene Smith, Director of Business Services
As a funeral professional, you meet with different families weekly to plan and finalize funeral arrangements. When it comes time to discuss payment for your services, you likely have a routine script you use to mention payment options like credit card, cash, ACH payments, and others.
During that conversation, how often do life insurance assignments come up?
Life insurance assignments can be a convenient way for families to cover funeral costs without worrying about immediate out-of-pocket expenses. However, there are often significant disconnects between funeral homes and families when using these assignments.
When families know they can use a life insurance policy as payment, they can make more informed decisions regarding their selections for a funeral service.
In this article, discover the 4 biggest myths funeral homes believe about life insurance assignments and the truth behind them.
Myth #1: Families want to avoid paying with life insurance policies.
Many funeral homes believe families won’t want to pay with life insurance policies because they might be planning to live off the life insurance policy and not use it for the funeral.
But, in a recent study by McKee Wallwork + Co., Funeral Directors Life, and Passare, the findings proved quite the opposite!
The study found that 39% of families believe they will use life insurance to pay for a funeral.
This stat indicates that families consider their payment method long before entering your funeral home. And many of them plan to use life insurance. If you inform families that you accept their life insurance assignment early on, they will have peace of mind knowing they won’t have to pay out-of-pocket expenses unexpectedly.
Myth #2: Families want to schedule the service as quickly as possible.
We surveyed funeral homes and families and asked, “How quickly do families want to have a funeral?”
Funeral homes said 3-4 days. Families said 11-12 days.
See the discrepancy?
When planning the service, funeral homes often feel the pressure of that 3-4 day turnaround, but the truth is, you don’t need to rush!
Since families expect the service to be later, you have time to determine how much money is available. When you help families verify their policy upfront, they’ll know how much they have to spend, allowing them to plan a service that meets their needs and fits their budget.
With the right funeral funding partner, verifying that policy won’t be on your to-do list and will be done in a fraction of the time, so you can provide families with the knowledge and support they need when going through the planning and grieving process.
Myth #3: Advertising life insurance assignments as a payment option isn’t a good idea.
Many funeral homes don’t advertise that they accept insurance policies on their website. Why?
If we had to guess, even though paying with an insurance policy is attractive for families, funeral homes know how difficult it is to process assignments and how much work it creates for their staff.
However, families may be more inclined to choose your funeral home if they know that you accept life insurance policies. And with 88% of consumers turning to online search engines for answers to their questions, making it clear on your website that you accept life insurance is a good strategy. That way, if families are intending to pay with a life insurance policy, they’ll know they can do business with you right away!
Myth #4: Processing insurance assignments isn’t worth it.
Your funeral home always has the best interest of your families in mind, including offering them the most convenient way to make payments.
But let’s be honest – when you consistently receive new policies to process for payment, the paperwork starts to pile up.
You might spend hours on the phone with insurance companies or wait days, weeks, and months to get verified or receive your funds. In the end, it may not even feel worth your time.
Processing life insurance assignments on your own can be extremely difficult, but that shouldn’t stop you from providing the best service possible to your families!
When you work with a reliable funeral funding partner like Claimcheck, processing assignments is easy and quick. We understand the challenges that funeral homes face when processing life insurance assignments, which is why we offer a reliable and efficient solution to make the process as easy as possible.
With Claimcheck, you’ll work with a team of specialists who work hard to make sure you receive your funds quickly, allowing you to focus on providing the best service to your families.
Make life insurance assignments easy for everyone with Claimcheck
Don’t spend another minute struggling to process life insurance assignments in-house when you can simplify the process with Claimcheck. Let us take care of the paperwork and communication so you can focus on what truly matters – providing compassionate support to the families you serve.
And, the next time a family says, “I’d like to use the life insurance policy for payment,” you’ll be able to meet their needs without any added stress.
If you want to learn more about enrolling in Claimcheck, click here.
About the Author: Nadene Smith serves as Director of Business Services for CLAIMCHECK. She has over 10 years of experience in the preneed insurance industry. Having lost her husband, Nadene brings a compassionate perspective to fast funding business, understanding how difficult it can be to work with insurance companies directly to process claims. Nadene is passionate about helping families and funeral homes navigate this difficult process when time is of the essence. To contact Nadene, email her at [email protected].