The Hidden Truth About Lincoln Heritage Funeral Advantage Program (2023 Review)

Last Updated April 24, 2024
Middle aged man distressed after reading Lincoln Heritage Funeral Advantage Reviews

What is Lincoln Heritage? What is a funeral advantage plan?  Funeral Advantage Lincoln Heritage is said to assist you in paying for you final expenses, but how true is this? Funeral costs are on the rise and you need something to take care of your final wishes so your family isn’t left with a financial burden. This article will give Lincoln Heritage Funeral Advantage reviews and insight on if it’s the right program for you.

Is the Lincoln Heritage Funeral Advantage program real? Does the Funeral Advantage Program assists Seniors? Let’s take a look at what this program really offers and what it cost.

Lincoln Heritage Life Insurance: Who Are they?

Founded by Jack Londen in 1963, Lincoln Heritage Life Insurance has been operating as a family-owned company for over 60 years. Lincoln Heritage has the “all-American” story of a man working since childhood as an entrepreneur and stayed within the final expense insurance niche ever since.  Jack’s son, Tom, joined in selling life insurance which led to the duo acquiring and consolidating over twenty-five life insurance companies into Lincoln Heritage Life Insurance. The company continues to be family-run and owned by three of Jack Londen’s descendants in prominent positions of power. 

With such a wholesome and humble start, what has caused Lincoln Heritage Life Insurance to gain such low Third Party Ratings? Jack Londen may have created Lincoln Heritage to serve and protect communities, but Lincoln Heritage reviews show their agents’ consistently annoying (and almost predatory behavior). 

Does the lincoln heritage funeral advantage program assists seniors 2023?

If you’ve heard of Lincoln Heritage Life Insurance, you might think that the funeral advantage program assists seniors. As a senior, we know that finding life insurance can be stressful and near impossible. Thankfully, there are funeral advantage plans that give seniors and their families exactly what they are in need of. With age, comes health issues. 

You may have heard that the  Funeral Advantage Program assists Seniors and their loved ones with final expenses by helping them plan and prepare for the future, well read on for our opinion.

We know that the funeral advantage program has an intense underwriting procedure, leaving many seniors feeling hopeless. Not only that, but Lincoln Heritage Funeral Advantage actually costs around 30% more than other leading life insurance companies.
Let’s take a look at the price breakdown, and find a funeral advantage program that assists seniors.

How much does A Lincoln Heritage Funeral Advantage Plan Cost?

For the purposes of seeing average pricing on the funeral advantage program, let’s start with a healthy 60 year old female.

Did you know the average funeral cost is $10,000? With that being said, for a funeral advantage program that provides $10,000 immediately, you could be paying around $44.86 per month. That is if you make it through the medical underwriting.

Here at Final Expense Benefits, we contract with only the top “A” rated senior life insurance companies with strong reputations. You get trusted names like Mutual of Omaha, Aetna, and Prosperity just to name a few. These carriers average closer to $33 for the same $10,000 of coverage. Not only that, the underwriting is much easier, there are no waiting periods and your coverage starts the next day.

The Lincoln Heritage Funeral Advantage insurance works similarly to other funeral and burial insurance companies. It’s open to applicants 50 to 80 years of age and is a permanent whole-life insurance policy. 

Sadly, the funeral advantage program costs 30%-150% more than the best funeral insurance carriers. This is due to the Lincoln Heritage underwriting process. Not only are their policies more expensive than leading companies, but their sales agents will also push you to purchase and convince you they are worth the extra cost. 

Why You Pay More for Lincoln Heritage Life Insurance

As we mentioned previously, Lincoln Heritage Funeral Advantage has some of the most difficult underwriting process there is. If you have any of the following, you might want to think twice about the funeral advantage.

  • Pulmonary Hypertension
  • Blood Clots
  • Heart Surgery
  • Stroke
  • Hepatitis A, B, or C
  • Cirrhosis
  • Kidney Disease
  • Bronchitis
  • Emphysema

Even if you were in pristine health and never touched tobacco a day in your life you will find yourself paying too much for your funeral advantage life insurance plan. Compared to other final expense insurance products you could pay 30% more for coverage. And if you are in poor health or suffer from a pre existing, condition you could pay more than double what other insurance carriers are charging.

Funeral Advantage Lincoln Heritage

Funeral Planning with Lincoln Heritage Life Insurance

You may have noticed that Lincoln Heritage Funeral Advantage policies all come with a membership to the Funeral Consumer Guardian Society (FCGS). The FCGS partners with the funeral advantage program as a senior advocacy organization that assists seniors with funeral planning and activation help.  This is a way the Funeral Advantage program aids seniors by taking some of the load off of funeral planning. What are ways the FCGS claims to help seniors and their families during some of the toughest moments of their life? 

  • Helps Find Affordable Funeral Services
    The FCGS helps the insured family by finding and comparing the costs of funeral services for your loved ones.  Through the FCGS, the funeral advantage program assists seniors and their families by finding the most cost-effective way to honor the deceased wishes. The cost of funerals increases every year with expenses reaching costs of $9,000 or more and this service allows for someone else to search for deals while the family grieves.  
  • Education on Funeral Services
    When researching funeral planning options, the FCGS and funeral advantage program assists seniors and their families by educating them. The FCGS helps families to understand all of their options when buying so they can make informed decisions on behalf of the deceased. For example, they will teach families about different casket options and where to buy them at more affordable prices rather than buying from a funeral home. The same goes for cremation and cremation services. They will educate you about urns and urn alternatives to help your family save money. 
  • Funeral Contract Review
    FCGS works with your chosen funeral home to ensure that you can pay the bills. They will review any contract you sign with the funeral home to ensure that everything is correct, paid, and accounted for.  
  • Document Final Wishes
    Lincoln Heritage Funeral Advantage policyholders are given a form to fill out to document their final wishes before passing. This allows for the insured to be a part of the funeral planning process before their passing and ensured that all of their wishes will be followed by surviving loved ones. 

Lincoln Heritage Funeral Advantage Rates

Lets take a look at the price difference with Lincoln Heritage funeral advantage program and Mutual of Omaha funeral insurance. We want to emphasize exactly how much more you would spend for the same coverage through top rated funeral insurance companies. 

Funeral advantage Lincoln Heritage Male rate chart

Male-Age Lincoln Heritage $10,000 Top A+ Rated Carrier $10,000
50
$41.16
$30.68
55
$48.36
$35.95
60
$59.26
$43.76
65
$68.06
$56.48
70
$86.46
$74.61
75
$123.56
$99.97
80
$183.26
$139.73

These figures were obtained from the NFDA and are estimates only. For a detailed quote, please contact an agent. 

As you can see, funeral advantage Lincoln Heritage is about 35% more than leading A+ rated insurance companies. This could be thousands of dollars you would save by NOT going with Lincoln Heritage funeral insurance. 

Now, lets go over the female rates. 

Funeral advantage Lincoln Heritage Female rate chart

Female-Age Lincoln Heritage $10,000 Top A+ Rated Carrier $10,000
50
$33.96
$24.31
55
$38.56
$27.71
60
$44.86
$32.87
65
$57.46
$41.01
70
$75.36
$53.24
75
$101.16
$72.41
80
$145.06
$98.43

These figures were obtained from the NFDA and are estimates only. For a detailed quote, please contact an agent. 

The female savings are no different. Over the course of a year, that’s upwards of $500 you could potentially save by not going with Lincoln Heritage funeral insurance. 

Does The Lincoln Heritage Funeral Advantage Program pay claims in 24 hours from death?

A Funeral Advantage plan from Lincoln Heritage claims to pay benefits in 24 hours after death.

Despite Lincoln Heritage Funeral Advantage complaints, the truth is, no funeral insurance company pays death benefits in 24 hours. They earliest is normally 48 hours after death. Even other senior life insurance companies like, Colonial Penn 995, Mutual of Omaha and Aetna burial insurance can’t offer payouts 24 hours after death.

So why does Lincoln Heritage Life Insurance make this claim? It is all over their website and is one of their biggest slogans for getting a final expense policy with them.  The secret lies in the wording of their slogan. Approved. Lincoln Heritage Life Insurance states that for most of their death claims, they will need a certified copy of the insured death certificate along with the original policy. They state that you will receive your death benefit within 24 hours after they receive and approve those items. This process could be far more complicated however due to the fact that most of their insured have a guaranteed life insurance policy. 

Should you die within the first two years of a Lincoln Heritage Funeral Advantage plan your beneficiary will need to submit a certified death certificate along with copies of the insured’s medical records. They do this to try and deny you for possibly lying on your insurance application. Lincoln Heritage Life Insurance underwriters know that dying within the first two years will allow you to get a graded death benefit so they will try to claim your policy lapsed or that you were never eligible in the first place. This will allow Lincoln Heritage to then only payout a percentage of premiums paid for the life of the policy. 

Lincoln Heritage Life Insurance Pros and Cons

Pros of Lincoln Heritage Life Insurance

  • No Medical Exam Required
    As advertised, Lincoln Heritage Life Insurance has no medical exams so almost anyone can get approved just by answering a few medical and health questions. 
  • Funeral Preparation Assistance at No Additional Cost
    One of the best features of having a policy through Lincoln Heritage Life Insurance is its partnership with the Funeral Consumer Guardian Society. This allows your loved ones the peace of mind of knowing that your funeral planning needs are taken care of. 

Cons of Lincoln Heritage Life Insurance

  • Waiting Period 
    Lincoln Hertiage Funeral Advantage program claims there is no waiting for a death benefit but this is not completely true for policyholders with poor health. If you only qualify for the modified plan then you will have a waiting period of 2-3 years before you can get your total death benefit. Even then, you may need to submit medical records after the policyholder passes in order to prove their eligibility again. 
  • No Online Quotes or Claims
    Lincoln Heritage Life Insurance Company is still rather dated when it comes to their methods of communication. There is no online tool to get a quote nor can you start a quote online. 
  • High Prices
    Lincoln Heritage Life Insurance Company has some of the highest prices for what you are getting compared to other top final expense insurance companies. Make sure you are comparing several companies and their price points before making a decision. 
  • Door to Door Agents
    Another way that Lincoln Heritage is a bit old school is that they will send a live agent to your house. There have been a number of Lincoln Heritage Funeral Advantage complaints related to this style of marketing. 

Lincoln Heritage funeral advantage reviews

Lincoln Heritage is in fact a well know company with decent financial ratings to support them however, their agents are consistently reviewed for being too aggressive with potential customers. Not only that but based on consumer experience and complaint data from National Association of Insurance Commissioners, Lincoln Heritage Funeral Advantage complaints received a 2.5 out of 5 stars for overall performance. Lincoln Heritage Funeral Advantage reviews also got the same rating from well known company NerdWallet.

We believe if you are purchasing something as important as life insurance, you should hold the funeral insurance company to higher standards. For example, one of our top A rated carriers Mutual of Omaha is number 5 out of 21 companies in J.D. Power’s 2021 for overall customer satisfaction.

***Warning, do not purchase from this company*** They scam old people! My father paid $200 a month and when he went to cancel the policy, they did not return any of his money!!! 5 years of payments down the drain and he's on a fixed income!
African woman
Leticia S. ✓
Rancho Cordova, CA⭐
My father had payments on 2 policies deducted from his bank account every month. He passed two months ago and we still haven't received a dime from them after being told they are on the way. 
Pretty older woman
Marie W. ✓
Springfield, MO ⭐
I'm a former policy holder who had to cancel my policy due to loss of income. After a year of making monthly payments, was told I would only get .61 back. I find this very ridiculous. Was sending $66 monthly which means I've sent over $792. Customer rep said only .61 had accumulated. Why wasn't I told all this when the policy was written up? In response to Lincoln Heritage, why would I want to talk to a company that's gonna send me 61 from over $792 that I sent over the past year in good faith? Isn't that called blatant theft?
John L. ✓
Springfield, MO⭐

Conclusion

After an extensive analysis, we determine that if you are looking for a final expense insurance to cover a funeral, burial or cremation, we have plenty of industry leading companies that will approve you regardless of your medical history AND give you a significantly lower premium that you can afford. Lincoln Heritage Funeral Advantage Complaints are just too numerous. 

On average, we will be able to provide you or lower your current monthly rate more than 30% vs funeral advantage. 

The reality is, seniors are on fixed incomes and have medical conditions. Again, no matter your state of health, we will have you approved and a plan starting the next day. Our licensed agents are standing by, ready to assist!

Funeral Advantage FAQ

How Long Has Lincoln Heritage Been in Business?

Lincoln Heritage Life Insurance Company was founded in 1963.

What is Lincoln Heritage Funeral Advantage?

Funeral advantage by Lincoln Heritage is a whole life, final expense life insurance. Typically, these policies are purchased by seniors in need of low cost life insurance to cover their funeral costs. 

How Much Help Can You Get With Funeral Costs?

Lincoln Heritage Funeral Advantage not only has a strict underwriting procedure, but if you are looking for more than $35,000 in coverage, you will have to look elsewhere. 

The amount that you qualify for depends on a few factors. Age, gender, and location are just a few of the things that determine what you qualify for. 

Is Lincoln Heritage Life Insurance Legit?

Yes, Lincoln Heritage is a legit company that offers a real life insurance product. However, Lincoln Heritage is not our first choice when it comes to senior life insurance to cover your funeral costs. 

"Funeral Advantage Program Assists Seniors?"

Technically yes, although we’d argue you could get better rates elsewhere. 

How Are Lincoln Heritage Funeral Advantage Reviews?

Overall they are near average, if not below average. 

What is a Funeral Advantage Plan?

This is Lincoln Heritage’s own version of a burial insurance policy. 

Funeral Advantage Cost?

Overall, the cost of Funeral Advantage isn’t particularly competitive. Also, the plan maxes out at $20,000 without any special qualifications, such as if you were to utilize an accidental death benefit. 

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