Senior Life Selling Caskets?

[rousemark]

I always take anything posted by (ex)agents on ripoff reports with a grain of salt, thinking it was probably an agent that wouldn't make it anywhere. However, there is one report that caught my attention about Senior Life, Thomasville, Ga. The agent claimed the company was involved in selling caskets, had a display in their home office and was using the agent force to promote the sales, implying the client could lock in the price today even though the casket might not be needed for 20+ years down the road. It seemed they were implying this was a benefit derived from the purchase of Final Expense insurance.

Does Senior Life or their agency force sell caskets? Any truth to any of the representations made?

 

[Staggs]

The program is called Legacy Assurance and is owned and operated by Senior Life The website is legacy-assurance.com

 

[Newby]

I always take anything posted by (ex)agents on ripoff reports with a grain of salt, thinking it was probably an agent that wouldn't make it anywhere. However, there is one report that caught my attention about Senior Life, Thomasville, Ga. The agent claimed the company was involved in selling caskets, had a display in their home office and was using the agent force to promote the sales, implying the client could lock in the price today even though the casket might not be needed for 20+ years down the road. It seemed they were implying this was a benefit derived from the purchase of Final Expense insurance. Does Senior Life or their agency force sell caskets? Any truth to any of the representations made?

They are doing it similar to funeral preened BUT with no inflation protection. They left a lot of loopholes in the contract. It won't work out long term but they may not be thinking long term.

 

[Rearden]

Scott -- has there been any downward pressure on funeral homes to lower casket pricing due to increased market competition?

I would only think it's marginal, with life insurance paying the funeral, which results in reduced price sensitivity.

I ask because now you see Wal-Mart, Senior Life, and these Mom and Pops selling caskets with quite the reduced mark-up.

I've had many clients locally tell me about a man in East Chattanooga who was selling caskets at only a several hundred-dollar mark-up. These allegedly were the same caskets customers would find at Dignity Funeral Homes, Lane's, Buckner's, etc., but for thousands less.

Eventually, the story goes the local funeral homes here in Chattanooga sued the man and it went to the State Supreme Court; he went out of business, but the protections put in place to allow funeral homes to practice price collusion is now history.

 

[Newby]

Scott -- has there been any downward pressure on funeral homes to lower casket pricing due to increased market competition? I would only think it's marginal, with life insurance paying the funeral, which results in reduced price sensitivity. I ask because now you see Wal-Mart, Senior Life, and these Mom and Pops selling caskets with quite the reduced mark-up. I've had many clients locally tell me about a man in East Chattanooga who was selling caskets at only a several hundred-dollar mark-up. These allegedly were the same caskets customers would find at Dignity Funeral Homes, Lane's, Buckner's, etc., but for thousands less. Eventually, the story goes the local funeral homes here in Chattanooga sued the man and it went to the State Supreme Court; he went out of business, but the protections put in place to allow funeral homes to practice price collusion is now history.

At one time a huge portion of the funeral homes profit was in the casket. Funeral directors by nature are not salespeople so it was easier for them to build the price into a tangible item rather than sell the intangible part. The internet changed their business model like it did a lot of industries. Once people could research and compare the prices, they had to get more in line with the threat of the casket discounters.

About 10 to 15 years ago most of the funeral homes converted over to service based pricing. This just means the raised their service charges way up and lowered their casket prices way down. This did two things for them. It made it where if someone shopped the casket price, they wouldn't find a drastic savings over the funeral home's price plus if they did buy the casket elsewhere the funeral home didn't care as much because their big profits were now built into their service charges.

It worked. Even though caskets are sold on ebay, AmVets, Catholic Monks, Costco, Wal-Mart, and hundreds of discount casket websites and stores, people who buy a casket away from the funeral home is still a very small percentage of people. Hardly anyone does it. The funeral home always has the best chance at the casket sale because no insurance policy will release funds without a signed form from a funeral director at a minimum. Many insurance companies still require a certified death certificate which isn't going to be available until after the funeral is over in most cases.

If the funeral home has last crack at the casket sale, they are going to get it over 99% of the time. No one could beat them on price unless they allow them to. Funeral homes can go as low as $495 if they want to. Plus any reasonable person understands that if they bring the casket in from a 3rd party seller, they are going to be the treated as the red-headed step child. They will definitely get the smallest, least desirable chapel. They will get last choice of days and times for their funeral. And they will be treated the same way that any business owner would treat a customer that was their least desirable customer.

Let's say you spend two hours with a customer explaining everything about life insurance and health underwriting the couple and you determined that the husband could get your favorite company at Prefered rates but the wife needed to go with Gerber GI. They tell you they will buy tomorrow but they want to sleep on it to decide how much. When you sit with them the next day they tell you, we went online and signed up with your favorite company on the internet but we still want to buy the GI from you. That same feeling you would have is the same feelings the funeral home would have toward you bringing a casket into their funeral home. You are a customer but you are an azz. If you wouldn't cancel your casket order and allow the funeral home to sell it for you at the same price, you will not be a valued customer. And you will know it.

The biggest dent in casket sales has definitely come from the Catholic Church. The monk replica caskets sold by the Catholic Monks do get used occasionally. And when people want to use them, it's like they have been commanded by the Pope to use it. They aren't cheap either. Around $2,000.