Frequently Asked Questions

What is preneed life insurance?
What is the difference between final expense, preplanning and prefunding?
What’s the difference between a traditional life insurance policy and preneed life insurance?
Isn't funeral preplanning primarily for the older generation?
Do I actually need preneed life insurance; can't I simply use some other source of funding?
What is preplanning for my funeral like?
How much does preneed life insurance cost?
Are there tax issues with preneed insurance?
Where does my money go?
How can I be sure my money is safe?
What if I am simply interested in setting aside funds for my funeral expenses?
Can I change my mind after prefunding or if I cannot afford my payments?
Can my prearranged funeral contract be transferred to another funeral home if I move?
How do I file a claim and how long does it take?
Can Assurant Preneed help me with my funeral preplanning?
Do you provide customer support?

What is preneed life insurance?
Preneed life insurance is an insurance policy whose benefits cover the cost of the predetermined expenses of a funeral, cremation or burial. The expenses typically include standard funeral home services, funeral merchandise, church services and even burial services and merchandise.
The purpose of preneed life insurance is to set aside funds for your funeral, before the need arises, thereby protecting your loved ones and your financial assets by locking in today’s costs.

What is the difference between final expense, preplanning and prefunding?
Final expense insurance policies may set money aside for the future use of paying for a funeral or cremation at the time of a person’s death. No merchandise or services are pre-selected so there are no price guarantees associated with a final expense policy.

Funeral preplanning or prearranging is the process you and your family go through to make decisions about how you want your funeral or cremation performed and what casket, urn, flowers, and so on, you want at your funeral. Funeral preplanning documents your wishes so that your loved ones may avoid making difficult decisions during an emotional time.

Prefunding is paying in advance for your prearranged funeral or cremation. In many instances, prefunded prearranged funeral contracts lock in the cost of the merchandise and services selected at today’s costs, protecting those prices from inflation.

What’s the difference between a traditional life insurance policy and preneed life insurance?
Traditional life insurance is intended to provide for a broad range of your survivors’ future financial needs - provide income, cover education costs, pay off a mortgage, and the like.

Preneed life insurance, on the other hand, is specifically intended to cover only the predetermined expenses of a funeral, cremation or burial. In addition, there are several other important differences between the two types of coverage.

For example, with regard to benefit distribution at the time of death, preneed life insurance may be payable immediately to the beneficiary (generally the funeral home) upon the policyholder’s death; traditional life insurance policy benefit distributions may require several weeks to be paid by the insurance company.

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Isn’t funeral preplanning primarily for the older generation?
Funeral preplanning or prearranging is for anyone who is interested in sharing their desires, relieving their family of difficult choices and unnecessary expenses, and making important decisions without the pressure of illness or circumstance. There may also be other financial benefits to prefunding your funeral at a younger age.

Do I actually need preneed life insurance; can’t I simply use some other source of funding?
Preneed life insurance is a choice, not a requirement. However, it is important to understand the added value of preneed life insurance over other sources of funding, such as savings accounts, trusts and final expense insurance.

First, preneed life insurance is tied directly to the costs of a prearranged funeral or cremation. All of the services and merchandise that you select may be completely covered by your insurance if your funeral home has guaranteed the price of your funeral.

Second, there may be no tax liability on the death benefit to your surviving family members.

Third, the benefit of your preneed life insurance policy may be payable immediately to the funeral home at the time of your death.

Fourth, there may be limited or no underwriting required applying for a preneed life insurance policy. A decision is typically made within minutes.

What is preplanning for my funeral like?
Funeral preplanning or prearranging consists of meeting with a funeral preplanning professional to document the type of funeral or cremation service you desire, including the type of casket, concrete vault or cremation urn.

Once your funeral prearrangements are made, you may prepay your funeral expenses to secure the majority of the price at today’s cost.

How much does preneed life insurance cost?
The cost of the insurance used to fund your prearranged funeral or cremation depends on the cost of the merchandise and services you select for your funeral during the preplanning process.

As it relates to your insurance payments, you can make a single premium payment and owe nothing further or you can choose a plan that provides insurance coverage while you make payments over several years. You may also choose to have the monthly payments withdrawn from your checking or savings account automatically.

The choice and the control are all yours. When you prefund with us you are assured of flexible payment options to fit your financial situation. Our wish is to make funding your funeral or cremation as simple as possible for you.

Are there tax issues with preneed insurance?
As a general rule, preneed life insurance benefits are paid in a lump sum to the funeral home and have no tax consequences to you or your family. Please consult with your tax advisor regarding the possible tax implications given your specific situation.

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Where does my money go?
Premiums are paid to our company and are used to pay expenses and establish reserves, which are used to pay future claims benefits as they come due. The death benefit is designed to grow over time to help cover the rising cost of funerals. At the time of death, the death benefit is paid to the funeral home after the funeral home delivers the merchandise and services.

How can I be sure my money is safe?
Assurant Preneed is the market leader in the United States in prefunded funeral insurance based on the face amount of new policies sold. Assurant Preneed began operating with the acquisition of United Family Life Insurance Company in 1980. American Memorial Life Insurance Company was purchased in 2000. Assurant Preneed offices are located in Atlanta, Georgia and Rapid City, South Dakota. Our ratings are listed below:
AM Best*
A (Excellent): Fortis Benefits Insurance Company
A (Excellent): American Memorial Life Insurance Company
A (Excellent): United Family Life Insurance Company
Moody’s**
A2 (Good): Fortis Benefits Insurance Company
Standard & Poor’s**
A (Strong): Fortis Benefits Insurance Company
A (Strong): American Memorial Life Insurance Company
A (Strong): United Family Life Insurance Company
* Confirmed in June, 2004
** Issued in December, 2003

What if I am simply interested in setting aside funds for my funeral expenses and not ready to select a specific funeral home or funeral services?
Final expense insurance plans are available for this type of coverage. Final expense means that you can choose any amount of money to be paid to your beneficiary at the time of your death. You may specifically designate this money to help pay for your funeral arrangements or expenses related to death, whatever they may be.

Can I change my mind after prefunding or if I cannot afford my payments?
We offer a 30-day free-look period at the beginning of the prearranged funeral contract. If, for any reason you choose not to continue the contract, you may cancel in the first 30 days and we will refund all the premiums paid.

From time to time financial circumstances change. If that is the case, we recommend that our policyholders call our customer service center to find out what options are available. One thing to keep in mind is that if you quit making your premium payments you may lose the cost guarantee associated with funeral prearranging and locking it in at today’s costs.

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Can my prearranged funeral contract be transferred to another funeral home if I move?
Many people move to another town or simply change their preferences of funeral homes. We will pay the death benefit to any funeral home that provides your services.

If you want to change your funeral home preference prior to your death, you may contact the funeral home of your choice to determine if they will honor the price guarantees offered by the funeral home where the prearranged funeral contract was written.

If they do accept the charges, then notify our company that you have changed funeral home locations. At the time of death, we will pay the funeral home that performs the services.

How do I file a claim and how long does it take?
To file a claim, your family simply needs to contact the funeral home. The funeral home will handle all of the paperwork and correspondence with our company. The claim is processed and a check may be mailed or electronically transferred to the funeral provider within 24 hours of receiving all of the required documentation.

Can Assurant Preneed help me with my funeral preplanning?
Assurant Preneed provides insurance and annuity products underwritten by Fortis Benefits Insurance Company, United Family Life Insurance Company and American Memorial Life Insurance Company. A funeral home delivers the merchandise and services at the time of death.

There are several ways to obtain the quality services and benefits offered by our company. Often, consumers develop a relationship with a funeral provider who is appointed with us.

You can obtain a list of these providers in your area by using our funeral home locator or by simply contacting us. These funeral preplanning professionals can guide you through the funeral prearranging and prefunding process.

Do you provide customer support?
Absolutely! Our knowledgeable staff is here to answer questions that pertain to preneed life insurance and how it may relate to you. You can contact our world-class customer service center by phone or email. Visit our Contact Us page for more details.

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