Let the funeral home handle my father's life insurance?

[JEDI]

My dad passed away last week:
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2389189

the funeral home estimates the cost at $15k.
they also offer to handle the life insurance ($100k) at no additional cost.
they'll cut her a check for the balance (ie: $85k).

my mom wants to do this. 1 less thing for her to do.

I'm thinking no. There's a catch somewhere.

I think she should just write them a check for $15k and let me handle the insurance.
she can easily afford a $15k check.

What do you think?

 

[KLin]

Why not ask them what the catch is?

 

[MustISO]

I would not give anyone access or permissions to handle anything relating to insurance payouts. I'd be very wary of their motives.

 

[Mermaidman]

I'm sorry to hear of your father's death.

Re: insurance - I suppose you can look closely at the undertaker's paperwork. What's buried under the legalese? How long will they take to transfer the money to your mother? If it were me, I'd decline and do it myself.

On a related note, don't feel bad about "shopping around" for the funeral. I had to help someone very close handle the death of a parent, and in retrospect, I think the funeral home took advantage of the bereaved. (Sorry if this has already been discussed.)

 

[lxskllr]

I don't know the funeral industry, but there might not be a catch. It might be worth it to them to do the work for guaranteed timely payment, No multiple bills, and people taking their time to pay, or things getting tied up by lawyers.

 

[kranky]

If your mom feels strongly about it, do what she wants. No sense fighting about it while your family is mourning. But I would point out to her that it is making things needlessly complicated, by inserting a third party into a simple transaction, and if something goes wrong it's a lot harder to recover from a small business than it is to get a life insurance check from a multi-billion dollar insurance company.

They probably offer this service because it ensures they will get paid promptly and they know the check won't bounce.

 

[drquest]

The funeral home took care of my father's insurance, and no catch, just less things to have to worry about taking care of.

Sorry for your loss....

 

[Elixer]

Don't do it, there are some very shady people around... and it is possible that they use your $$$ for some other things, and there is NO GUARANTEE that you will see your $$$ again if they take the $$$ and run, or get the $$$ in a timely fashion.
The check should come to you, and then you pay the funeral people.
Heck, most places do direct deposits if you ask them as well.

 

[OVerLoRDI]

I'd not feel comfortable with them doing that. Just call your insurance rep, spend 15 minutes on the phone and figure out the steps to get the pay out, pay the undertaker yourself.

 

[Markbnj]

I'd question anything a funeral home wants you to do. It's an extraordinarily high markup business that thrives on people being in a state of mind that does not lend itself to calm reflection and review of options.

A friend of mine recently buried a relative and the funeral home wanted to sell them a very expensive casket. He bought a similar model online for less than half and had it shipped to the home. By the time we was done going through what they were going to charge his family for he got a large chunk of the bill chopped.

 

[Iron Woode]

we have a Federal Death Benefit program here:

http://www.servicecanada.gc.ca/eng/services/pensions/cpp/death-benefit.shtml

It can pay up to $2500 towards funeral expenses.

It helped us out when my father passed away as the funeral cost around $5000.

 

[LTC8K6]

Local funeral home handled my Mom's insurance. No catch at all. One less thing/company to deal with.

 

[who?]

I wonder if they do the right thing (by that I mean notify the authorities) if somebody says " let's keep it a secret that this person is dead".

 

[edro]

It's probably an industry thing since they already have the death certificate and are dealing direct with the coroner and have all the life insurance connections, etc. Maybe they are authorized (with your signature) and it is a common benefit in the industry.

 

[slightlyhuman]

sorry for your loss :heart;

 

[Strk]

My guess it is their way of making sure they get paid when people get the sticker shock.

 

[ch33zw1z]

Nothing is free, do it yourself.

and...my condolences

 

[PokerGuy]

The funeral homes offer this service because it ensures that they get whatever fees they are due, they'll just take it out of the insurance payment. Not a good idea at all. For example, what if they add additional fees to the amount you supposedly owe them and deduct them from the insurance payment? That's going to be a major pain to fight.

No, the correct way to do it is to get the insurance payment yourself (which is not going to be difficult by the way, you just need documentation like death certificate etc), and then pay the funeral company as appropriate.

 

[Jimzz]

I'd question anything a funeral home wants you to do. It's an extraordinarily high markup business that thrives on people being in a state of mind that does not lend itself to calm reflection and review of options.

A friend of mine recently buried a relative and the funeral home wanted to sell them a very expensive casket. He bought a similar model online for less than half and had it shipped to the home. By the time we was done going through what they were going to charge his family for he got a large chunk of the bill chopped.

THIS.

They want to make sure they get paid for the costly service.
15k; that's more than my first car and current truck cost... combined. If you want a casket go to Costco.com and many other sites. Costco even sells urns.

Cremate me and have my son/grandkids? save the money. What are they going to do, dig me up every couple years to play with? I'm dead, waste of money IMO. My grandmother worked for a mortuary and did not have a grave side service or many other things.

 

[Markbnj]

The funeral homes offer this service because it ensures that they get whatever fees they are due, they'll just take it out of the insurance payment

Not only that, but it helps the bereaved decide in favor of their costly services, because it's not coming "out of pocket."

 

[JEDI]

I'd question anything a funeral home wants you to do. It's an extraordinarily high markup business that thrives on people being in a state of mind that does not lend itself to calm reflection and review of options.

A friend of mine recently buried a relative and the funeral home wanted to sell them a very expensive casket. He bought a similar model online for less than half and had it shipped to the home. By the time we was done going through what they were going to charge his family for he got a large chunk of the bill chopped.

found out (too late) that Costco sells caskets for $800 shipped.
mom is buying a $2k casket (cheapest they have).

what charges did you get dropped besides the casket cost?

 

[roguerower]

I'd agree with most people here. Take the insurance money and then pay the funeral home.

EDIT: Why is it too late Jedi?

 

[mikeford]

Talk to someone that knows, your insurance agent for one, maybe accountant.

$15k sounds about triple what recall.

Funeral business is in trouble, less than half of gen X want a traditional funeral, and its dropping fast. The way they twist the bereaved for the last penny disgusts me.

 

[mikeford]

I'd agree with most people here. Take the insurance money and then pay the funeral home.

EDIT: Why is it too late Jedi?

The first thing the funeral home does in put the body in the casket, then it can't be refused because the funeral lobby owns the legislature. Nasty trade, good when its gone.

 

[Vdubchaos]

Sorry about your father.

HELL no I wouldn't let them. That is your OWN responsibility, and don't think for a minute that they will not get SOMETHING out of it.

15k funeral fee itself should be a HUGE red flag....