According to a recent study, a family’s number one concern when planning a funeral at the time of need is the cost. That same study showed that nearly 40% of people plan to use life insurance to pay for their funeral and 52% said they would like to use a funeral home’s assistance in filing a life insurance claim if the funeral home offered this service.
As a caring funeral professional, you may think it seems insensitive to bring up the subject of funeral costs or budgets first. However, many families want to discuss their financial options and budget before making other arrangements.
That’s why it’s important to discuss how to pay for the funeral early in the conversation.
You and your staff may be unsure about how to bring up the idea of insurance assignments to families. It’s easier than you think. Here’s how you can steer the conversation into the benefits of using a funeral funding service:
- Ask families if they plan to use a life insurance policy.
- Share how the funeral funding process works.
- Offer families more value by advancing additional funds for immediate needs.
When you learn that a family wants to use life insurance, you can explain what the funeral funding process is and how a funeral funding service makes the claims process quick and easy.
1. Ask families if they plan to use an insurance policy
Since nearly 40% of families expect to use life insurance to pay for a funeral, you can easily introduce your funeral funding service for group, preneed, and annuity policies and how they can help the family.
But before you explain funeral funding services to a family, you first need to learn how they plan to pay for the funeral. We promise that this doesn’t have to be an uncomfortable conversation. You can start by asking the family simple questions like:
- What do you think your budget will look like?
- Have you decided on how you’ll pay for the funeral?
- Do you plan on using life insurance?
Remember, this conversation needs to happen before any other details of the funeral are discussed. The family is eager to know how the funeral will be paid for. Don’t hesitate to bring up payment options once you’ve established a connection with the family.
2. Share how the funeral funding process works
Now that a family has told you they plan to use life insurance, bring up funeral funding services. Explain to the family that a funeral funding service can verify and deposit their life insurance policy funds in just a few days. You can also tell them how funeral funding services accomplish this, so the family won’t be confused later on.
An easy comparison you can make is how a family can receive an advance on their tax refund from a tax preparer. The concepts are very similar and easy to understand.
It can be a lot to remember, so feel free to use our script!
Many of our families choose to pay with life insurance policies. Here’s how it works!
First, we will need to collect some information from you about the policy and get a few papers signed. This allows our funeral funding company to start the claims process. Next, our funeral funding company will verify the policy and make sure everything looks good to go. Finally, our funeral funding company will advance the funds for the funeral within 24-48 hours of verification!
You deserve peace of mind that comes from knowing the funeral is paid for. That way, all you have to worry about is planning a funeral that honors your loved one.
3. Offer more value by advancing additional funds for immediate needs
Another benefit you could discuss with the family is advancing additional funds beyond the cost of the funeral.
Many families are depending on life insurance funds for immediate expenses like rent or mortgage, credit card payments, travel and lodging, and other living expenses. When you are filling out the paperwork for the amount that they want to advance, it’s the perfect time to let the family know that they can request extra funds to be advanced for those immediate needs.
Offering to advance additional funds to the family provides relief and peace of mind to families who may be in need of extra funds around the time of the funeral.
Let CLAIMCHECK focus on your finances. You focus on families.
We hope this article provided some clarity about how to explain funeral funding for life insurance to your families. Now, you just need to know that you are working with a partner who has your back!
At CLAIMCHECK, our top priority is taking care of you, your staff, and your funeral home’s finances. We accomplish all of this with:
- 100% Risk-Free Verification Process – Our team analyzes and verifies each policy so that you can confidently move forward with finalizing funeral arrangements. That way, you never have to worry about taking on a bad policy or a write-off again.
- Fast Funding – More than half of all assignments we receive are funded within 24 hours and 86% are funded within 3 business days. We’re getting faster every day, too!
- Accessible Specialists – The insurance assignment process can be a bit complex, to say the least. That is why our support team is here to help you get answers to your questions, big or small.
When you let CLAIMCHECK process your life insurance assignments, you can rest assured knowing your business’ financial future is in good hands. Request a demo to find out how we can best serve your funeral home, so you focus more on giving families peace of mind that comes with knowing their funeral is paid for.
