The short answer
This guide answers the most common questions about what happens if i stop paying final expense insurance.
Smokers can get final expense coverage from most carriers. The main difference is the rate.
This guide explains how tobacco questions work and when quitting helps.
Part of our complete guide: Final Expense Insurance: The Complete Guide.
Quick answer
Smokers can usually get a level-benefit plan. Tobacco changes the price, not the plan type. Quitting before the look-back period can lower your rate.
MarketView Agency is an independent insurance agency (National Producer Number 18345705).
On this page
- What happens if I stop paying final expense insurance?
- What happens after you apply: underwriting
- What is final expense insurance?
- Do you need an exam for burial insurance?
- A worked example
- Final expense tobacco rates: what affects the cost of final expense insurance?
- Is final expense insurance right for a smoker?
- Frequently asked questions
What happens if I stop paying final expense insurance?
The benefit is paid to your beneficiary, not to a funeral home, so it can be used for anything. Families commonly use it for:
- Funeral home services, a viewing or a memorial service
- Burial or cremation, a cemetery plot and a headstone or marker
- Flowers, an obituary notice and travel for family
- Final medical bills not covered by other insurance
- Credit card balances or other small debts
- Everyday bills while the family gets settled
Costs vary a lot by region and by the choices a family makes. A local funeral home can give you a price list to help you pick an amount.
What happens after you apply: underwriting
Underwriting is how an insurance company decides whether to offer a policy and at what price. It sounds technical, but the idea is simple. The insurer wants a clear picture of your health, your habits and how much coverage you are asking for.
The application
You answer questions about your age, height and weight, tobacco use, medical history and prescriptions. Answer every question fully and honestly. A wrong answer can give the insurer grounds to contest a claim later, especially in the first two years of the policy.
Database checks
Most insurers check prescription history and a shared industry database of past applications. Many also look at your driving record. These checks are why some policies can skip a medical exam: the records answer many of the same questions.
Exam or no exam
Some policies ask for a short exam at home or work, usually a quick health check and a blood and urine sample. Others decide from your answers and records alone. A policy without an exam is faster, but it can cost more or cap how much coverage you can get.
Once the insurer finishes, it offers a rate class. Healthier applicants get better classes and lower rates. If the offer is higher than the quote, an independent agent can often take the same application to another carrier that views your history more kindly.
Compare rates from several carriers in about two minutes. Free, no obligation.
What is final expense insurance?
Final expense insurance is designed to make one hard week easier for your family. It pays a modest benefit that can cover funeral and burial costs, medical bills and other final expenses, so no one has to scramble to pay them.
- Smaller amounts than a typical life policy, sized to final costs.
- Lasts for life as long as premiums are paid.
- Simpler application, usually with no medical exam.
- Flexible use: your beneficiary decides how to spend it.
Do you need an exam for burial insurance?
Final expense insurance is one of the easiest kinds of coverage to apply for. In most cases there is no exam, no blood work and no doctor visit. You answer a few questions and the insurer checks records.
A worked example
Say you're 34 with a $150,000 mortgage balance and 16 years left, $19,000 in other debts, and an income of $55,000. Here's one simple way to size coverage:
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Mortgage balance | $150,000 |
| Other debts | $19,000 |
| 4 years of income | $220,000 |
| Total to consider | $389,000 |
In this example, a 20-year term would outlast the loan (it ends around age 54). Your own numbers will differ; use this as a starting point and adjust for savings, other coverage and future costs like school.
How to get covered in 3 steps
- Check your rate. Pick your state and answer a few quick questions about the coverage you want.
- Compare carriers. A licensed agent compares final expense insurance options from several insurers and explains the trade-offs.
- Apply and get covered. Many applications take one phone call. Coverage starts once the policy is issued and the first premium is paid.
Final expense tobacco rates: what affects the cost of final expense insurance?
Final expense pricing depends on your age, your answers to the health questions, tobacco use and the amount you choose. The type of policy you qualify for has a big effect on the price.
Because carriers word their health questions differently, an independent agent can often find a level-benefit policy even when one insurer would only offer a graded plan.
Is final expense insurance right for a smoker?
Often a good fit
- you use tobacco and want final costs covered without a medical exam.
- you quit recently and want to know when better rates apply.
Maybe not the right fit
- savings already cover final costs.
- serious health issues limit you to guaranteed acceptance plans; compare carefully first.