Most of the FE plans being sold today have some sort of terminal Illness rider where the insured can receive a portion of their death benefit if they are diagnosed as having less than 12 months to live. I have always just glossed over that benefit, often not even mentioning it. However, here is a situation that made that rider a very important benefit. A woman in TN was dying. She had a son that lived in CA that had two children that she had never seen. Her greatest desire was to see her son and her grandkids before she died. The problem was the son did not have the money for his family to travel to TN and neither did she. However, she did have final expense plan with a Terminal Illness rider. She accelerated a portion of the death benefit and the family was able to enjoy some time together before she passed away. . You never know just how many ways our simple whole life product can make a difference in people's lives. This also illustrates why a person might should buy enough coverage to do more than just cover the funeral expenses if they can afford the cost a couple of extra thousand of death benefit.
Final Expense Terminal Illness Rider
- Thread starter rousemark
- Start date
- 4,306
Good story. I've never thought of using it that way.
- 5,933
I have mentioned to many a prospect that had family out of state that the additional coverage could be used to make sure that travel as well time off work for family would give them the opportunity to celebrate their own life without assuming the financial hardship that would ensue.
- 4,306
When we lost my father in law in 1998, we lived over 2,000 miles away. We were completely broke at that time, so other family members pitched in to help us with expenses. He had $10,000 of life insurance, which was basically a final expense amount, but after funeral expenses there was still a substantial amount left over. Mom used it to reimburse her children's travel expenses, including ours.
- 5,933
@shonceman. that is one of those "gold record stories" that I would play every time I was with a prospect. Often our prospects need stories told to them to help create pictures of what reality could be.
Loss is never a timely thing.
Loss is never a timely thing.
- Thread starter
- #6
Yes, I have mentioned that situation when discussing how much death benefit they needed but this case takes it a step farther in that it made it possible for them to come while she was still alive..
Another thing for those that work the Hispanic market. A lot of those folks want their body returned to Mexico for burial... That will ad $8K-$10K to the normal burial expenses.. They will need an approved funeral home to handle things on this end, the cost of shipping the body - usually air freight - and then will need a funeral home to handle things in Mexico. If I could speak and understand Spanish, I would hit that market hard in this area..
- 5,933
Covered a gal from Samoa and had that very discussion. The cost of shipping is incredibly high. Am I mistaken to believe that the body has to be fully embalmed prior to shipment?
- Thread starter
- #8
I believe it does from what I have read. Plus, it has to be a pre-approved funeral director to handle the shipping. Also, it has to be a certified funeral director to receive the body in many countries.
- 26,134
ABR is a great benefit. I always explain it. People understand dying can be a slow and expensive process. Another benefit, one that they will see and feel, of the advance is a working spouse or child could take time off of work to help the person. Or the insured could help the surviving spouse plan the coming transition. All a much better buy than a cold hole in the ground.
- 5,933
Don't you find yourself often trying to help people understand things that they cannot fully grasp, knowing all along that that even if they fail to fully understand the issue, it is a valid one that they themselves are very likely to encounter? Sometimes this really frustrates me when in dialog with a prospect but I have to push it aside and focus on just making sure that there is "some" funding in the home for a death. I know our client bases differ and this is more typical in FE.
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