Lincoln Heritage Funeral Advantage Life Insurance Review 2024

This is going to be a review of Lincoln Heritage Life Insurance Company and their Lincoln Heritage Funeral Advantage plan. This is going to be an in-depth look at what they offer.

That being said we will not pull any punches when it comes to this review. We are passionate about our clients finding the best burial insurance plans with the most trustworthy companies.

Unfortunately, we do not consider Lincoln Heritage Funeral Advantage to be one of those plans. We consider Lincoln Heritage life insurance to be one of the worst life policies for seniors.

In this article, we will go over all of the factors that make Lincoln Heritage a bad option for burial insurance so you can make a properly informed decision for yourself to protect your loved ones from the burden of your funeral costs.

The two biggest factors with Lincoln Heritage Funeral Advantage are:

1. It is 20 – 300% more expensive than burial insurance with other companies.
2. Their Funeral Consumer Guardian Society is a complete sales gimmick to justify you having to pay such a high premium.

We will go over how the program works, how the gimmicks work, the pricing compared to other companies, and much more.

What is Lincoln Heritage Funeral Advantage?

First and foremost, Lincoln Heritage funeral advantage is a legitimate program. They are what we would call a “household name” in the United States.

Their Funeral Advantage product is final expense whole life with an FCGS membership. The Funeral Advantage program is a simplified issue whole life insurance plan which means there are no medical exams required to qualify for coverage.

Terms such as burial insurance for seniors, funeral insurance, cremation insurance and final expense insurance all refer to simplified issue whole life insurance or guaranteed issue life insurance. That being said Lincoln Heritage does not offer guaranteed issue life insurance.

That being said reputation doesn’t mean that what they offer is the best deal to protect your family members. In fact, we would rate them just as low as we have rated AAA, Colonial Penn, and Globe.

You might be asking, “is there any advantage to having this plan?”

The answer is a flat-out no absolutely not.

Lincoln Heritage is More Expensive Than Others

There is no reason for anyone to have to pay 20 – 300% more for burial insurance compared to other companies.

When it comes to Lincoln heritage life insurance reviews the core of their products is the funeral advantage program reviews.

A company is only as good as the insurance products they stand behind. This is why you need to be wary when just looking for cheap life insurance quotes and really make sure you are getting the right policy.

For example, you should research Lincoln Heritage funeral advantage program aids seniors reviews this will give you a good idea about their complaint index.

Again Lincoln Heritage reviews across the board are not very positive and for good reason. So in short, Lincoln Heritage insurance reviews are dictated mainly by this particular product.

This is why funeral advantage insurance reviews feature so many lincoln heritage funeral advantage complaints from their customers. Now everyone gets complaints one way or another but as we will continue to show in this review Lincoln Heritage is not very ideal coverage.

Underwriting is Not as Good as Other Burial Companies

Furthermore, their underwriting is not liberal compared to other burial insurance companies. Depending on certain health issues you may have, you could get stuck not only paying an outrageous premium but also a 2 year waiting period for benefits.

Here’s the thing, we help 90% of our clients get approved for day one affordable coverage even with severe health conditions like COPD, CHF, Diabetes, etc. in most cases. So why on God’s green earth would you want a policy 300% more expensive with a waiting period if it can be avoided?

Lincoln Heritage Funeral Advantage Life Coverage Details

They have 2 different plan options available:

• Level Benefit Plan
• Modified Benefit Plan

The level benefit plan is for applicants in optimal health that can answer “no” to all of the Lincoln heritage funeral advantage application questions. In addition to this passing the prescription and health history checks for the plan. If you qualify for this plan you will have burial insurance with no waiting period.

Now the modified benefit plan is for seniors with severe health conditions that will have to answer “yes” to the questions on the application. If you answer too many questions on the application with “yes” you can be denied because Lincoln Heritage Funeral Advantage does not offer a guaranteed issue policy. Now if you pass the prescription and health history checks but your health is poor you will qualify for the modified benefit plan.

Level Benefit Plan Details

• Age Availability – 0-85
• Coverage Amounts Maximum – Age’s 0-80 ($35,000) & Ages 81-85 ($15,000)
• State Availability – All States Except for NY & WA
• Medical Exam – None Required

Modified Benefit Plan

• Age Availability – 0-85
• Coverage Amounts Maximum – Age’s 0-85 ($15,000)
• State Availability – All States Except for NY & WA
• Medical Exam – None Required

Policy Riders Available for Both Plans

• Accidental Death & Dismemberment Rider
• Child Life Insurance Rider

FCGS Membership Justify High Lincoln Heritage Prices?

This is an obvious “NO” but this is how they justify their overpriced policies. The Lincoln Heritage agents that represent the product will try and sell you on the value of the FCGS which stands for Funeral Consumer Guardian Society.

Now this is how the funeral advantage program assists seniors with their funeral planning needs.

The truth is there is nothing the FCGS does that you cant do by yourself with your local funeral homes for free. In fact, all you have to do is go to Google and lookup a “final wishes guide”.

We will leave one linked here for you.

All it really is is a way of documenting how you would want your funeral to be planned out so when your family receives the death benefit they will know exactly what kind of funeral you wanted.

So naturally, it is a good thing to have everything pre-recorded and prepared so all your family would have to do is use the benefit from the insurance coverage to pay for each funeral arrangement you have listed.

Everything from the:

• Flowers and colors of them
• Memorial Service
• Casket
• Urn (if cremation)
• Any types of pictures displayed
• Music being played during service

It functions like a will that you leave to your family simply outlining how you would like everything to be done to honor your memory. The thing is like we said you can do this for free without having to pay extra on your premium with Lincoln Heritage.

This is why when it comes to Lincoln Heritage Funeral Advantage life insurance reviews this FCGS is a big highlight among gimmicks. This is because as experts we know that the FCGS is not worth the money a consumer is charged for their life insurance when the service is completely free elsewhere.

Lincoln Heritage Funeral Advantage Cost

Lincoln Heritage costs are determined by age, health, gender, health and lifestyle. The problem is they are more expensive compared to other companies like Mutual of Omaha’s Living Promise policy. in the tables below you will see Lincoln Heritage life insurance prices compared to Mutual of Omaha burial insurance.

Lincoln Heritage Life Insurance Cost for Males

Age	Lincoln Heritage $15,000 Male	Mutual of Omaha $15,000 Male
45	$50.70	$39.06
50	$60.15	$44.42
55	$70.95	$52.32
60	$87.30	$64.04
65	$100.50	$83.12
70	$128.10	$110.31
75	$183.75	$148.36
80	$273.30	$207.99
85	$299.85	$287.51

Lincoln Heritage Life Insurance Cost for Females

Age	Lincoln Heritage $15,000 Female	Mutual of Omaha $15,000 Female
45	$42.00	$32.31
50	$49.35	$34.86
55	$56.25	$39.96
60	$65.70	$47.70
65	$84.60	$59.91
70	$111.45	$78.26
75	$150.15	$107.01
80	$216.00	$146.05
85	$255.75	$202.25

Lincoln Heritage Funeral Advantage Underwriting

The underwriting for their plans is extremely strict. So not only do healthy applicants pay higher premiums but applicants that wind up qualifying for modified plans pay an even higher premium.

If you qualify for a modified policy then you have a waiting period guaranteed. They may not want you to do a medical exam but how they look at your prescriptions tells a lot about their strict underwriting.

Modified Plan

For clients under the age of 50:

• Year 1 is Return of Premiums Paid plus 10%
• Year 2 is Return of Premiums Paid plus 20%
• Year 3 is Return of Premiums Paid plus 30%

For clients over the age of 50:

• Year 1 is Return of Premiums Paid plus 10%
• Year 2 is Return of Premiums Paid plus 20%

As we list these keep in mind that these blood thinners tied to these conditions are accepted by our burial insurance carriers and will not require a higher premium from you or a waiting period for your benefits.

• Stroke
• Heart Attack
• TIA Mini Stroke
• Circulatory Surgery
• Aneurysm
• Blood Clotting
• Irregular Heart Beat (Afib)
• Peripheral Artery Disease
• Pulmonary Hypertension
• Heart Surgery

These are the conditions that can cause you to be on those types of medications. This is why Lincoln Heritage will issue you a modified plan with a waiting period while other companies that ask similar health questions may be able to get you approved for day one coverage.

This is where Lincoln Heritage Funeral Advantage becomes a disadvantage. You wind up overpaying and possibly getting stuck in a waiting period when you could possibly get day one coverage for a much cheaper policy.

Some other conditions that would get you put into their modified policy are:

• Irregular Heartbeat
• Hepatitis A, B, and C
• Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
• Chronic Bronchitis
• Sarcoidosis
• Tuberculosis
• Diabetes Blindness

If you manage to pass all of these health issues in their underwriting and get their level plan it will have all of the benefits of a normal burial insurance such as:

• Level Premiums
• Level Death Benefit
• Policy Never Expires

However, this does not change the fact that you are paying 20 – 300% more on your premium than with more affordable and liberal underwriting carriers.

Now Lincoln Heritage does not have a height and weight chart for their policies which is beneficial, however, one of our top burial insurance carriers, Royal Neighbors of America does not as well and their rates are much more affordable.

Tobacco Rates

A tobacco rate is an increased premium due to tobacco usage for the insured and Lincoln Heritage will give you this rate regardless of the tobacco you use.

That can be any of the following:

• Pipe Tobacco
• Cigars
• Chewing Tobacco
• Vape or smokeless tobacco
• Cigarettes

Here is another advantage to working with us, we have burial insurance companies that will not give you a higher premium for things like cigars, chew, vape, or pipes. The only exclusion is cigarettes they will always charge you a higher premium for cigarettes so the best thing you can do is quit cigarettes in those cases.

Is The Funeral Advantage Program Legitimate?

Yes, the funeral advantage program is a legitimate whole life final expense insurance policy. That being said Lincoln Heritage’s funeral advantage program is overpriced. In addition to this everything that comes with their program is something you can easily do on your own without paying the high premium of their life insurance policy.

Lincoln Heritage Life Insurance Company Background

Now Lincoln heritage was founded in Phoenix Arizona in 1963 by Jack London.

• Their HQ is located in The Londen Center in Phoenix Arizona
• Lincoln Heritage Life Insurance Company Address: 4343 E Camelback Rd #400, Phoenix, AZ 85018
• Lincoln Heritage Company Phone Number: (800) 433-8181
• Lincoln Heritage Life Insurance Google Reviews are 4.2 out of 5 stars with 763 reviews as of 5/6/2023

Lincoln Heritage Funeral Advantage Final Expense Ratings

Lincoln Heritage has financial ratings with AM Best, NAIC, BBB.

Their AM Best rating is an A-(Excellent) which is a good financial strength rating. Now they had a 1.75 complaint index from the NAIC in 2021 but now have gotten it down to 0.75 as of 2022. That means they had an above average number of complaints for a carrier in 2021 but have now brought those complaints down as of 2022.

Lincoln Heritage is accredited with the Better Business Bureau and holds an A+ Rating.

Lincoln Heritage Funeral Advantage Insurance Complaints

They have had 64 complaints in the last 3 years from customers regarding their funeral advantage program. Lincoln Heritage has closed 26 complaints in the last 12 months according to their BBB profile.

You can read the full thread of Lincoln Heritage customer complaints on the BBB.

Is Lincoln Heritage Funeral Advantage Legit

Their customer service, coverage, and financial ratings may be legit.

However, we do not consider them a great option for burial insurance considering the 20 carriers we work with. There is no reason for a consumer to pay 20 – 300% more for a premium compared to what all the other burial insurance companies that we work with offer.

To add insult to injury let’s examine the “24-hour claim payment”.

The advertising for their funeral advantage makes it seem like they pay claims within 24 hours of the death claim. But is this really true? According to their website, it is a little more detailed than that.

Their website and screenshots indicate that the exact phrase used is “24 hours of claim approval”.

This “claim approval” is far different than “within 24 hours of a death claim”. This is what you could refer to as the sleight of hand. Its a play on words that makes a client think one thing and does another.

With all of these gimmicks, we do not recommend Lincoln Heritage Funeral Advantage to anyone.

Lincoln Heritage Life Insurance Rates

As we have mentioned throughout this article Lincoln Heritage rates are overpriced.

Let’s do a comparison with Mutual of Omaha one of the best carriers that we work with.

A Lincoln Heritage policy for a 50-year-old female $10,000 of coverage would be $33.90 a month.

A Mutual of Omaha policy for a 50 year old female $10,000 of coverage would be $24.67 a month.

See the difference?

Frequently Ask Questions

What type of insurance is Lincoln Heritage?

The type of insurance Lincoln heritage sells is simplified issue whole life insurance. This is called final expense insurance.

Does Lincoln Heritage pay out?

Lincoln heritage claims they pay claims within 24 hours but this may not always be the case.