Turnkey Death Planning Programs May Work In The U.S.

This package includes not only life insurance (to cover funeral and burial or cremation expenses) but also a type of "concierge" service arranged in advance to ensure proper handling of logistics when the inevitable occurs.

The program includes education, information and professional counselors prior to death; choice of ones own mortician, burial location, and method of final disposition of remains; and ability to make changes in the plan up to time of death. The critical element is that it provides a decision process that, when recorded, takes the guesswork out of the funeral process.

In this manner, missteps can be avoided at the time of emotional distress because all decisions were made and arrangements put in place well in advance of when needed.

We bring this up here because the integrated approach may go a long way toward helping people start thinking about their final day now. By combining all the elements into a program that allows choice and leaves control in the hands of the client, such programs may take away some of the negativity that people have about making their final arrangements.

This resonates strongly with the life insurance message–that it is wise to make important decisions well in advance of death. It also resonates with the flexibility messages that are central to so many life insurance products todaythat is, you can choose and you can make changes after you choose.

As the various players in the U.S. market expand their own end-of-life programs, we would not be surprised to see a similar integration occurring here. In fact, we think the life insurance industry might do well to spearhead moves in this direction.

Why? Such programs tend to validate the entire life insurance process. In addition, they have strong potential to serve as a lead generator for more comprehensive forms of life insurance coverage. Obviously, people who have explored the need for funeral planning also are candidates for fuller forms of life insurance protection.

Such programs also can help insurers promote persistency among holders of life and annuity policies and with other types of financial services. This is a time when insurers are scrambling to keep business in force. Offering this type of service to existing policyholderswith or without the additional life insurance includedcould help accomplish that goal.

The program appears to have achieved wide acceptance in Canada, where it is used primarily with affinity groups. An important element is a specially designed life policy that permits immediate payment of proceeds upon notification of death without the usual delays attendant to obtaining death certificates, etc. This enables beneficiaries to use the proceeds to pay final expenses at time incurred, without having to dip into other funds while waiting for death benefits from traditional types of policies.

None of us want our inevitable passing to be any more of a trial for our loved ones than is natural for the event. We believe a turnkey approach to final planning is long overdue in this country. For those of us with the potential for funerals of aged parents or of ourselves in our immediate future, these programs could provide some much needed peace of mind.

Norse N. Blazzard, JD, CLU, and Judith A. Hasenauer, JD, CLU, are attorneys in the Pompano Beach, Fla., office of Blazzard, Grodd & Hasenauer, P. C., You can e-mail them at: [email protected].

Reproduced from National Underwriter Life & Health/Financial Services Edition, December 5, 2003. Copyright 2003 by The National Underwriter Company in the serial publication. All rights reserved.Copyright in this article as an independent work may be held by the author.