Funeral Insurance With No Medical Exam: How It Works

Most funeral insurance does not need a medical exam. NerdWallet says approval is usually based on a health questionnaire, and some policies are guaranteed issue, which means you are accepted without any health questions if you meet the age rule. Guaranteed issue policies typically carry a waiting period before the full benefit is paid, and no-exam cover costs more per dollar than ordinary life insurance.

What does "no medical exam" mean?

Funeral insurance, also called burial or final expense insurance, is a small life insurance policy meant to pay for a funeral. "No exam" means no nurse visit, blood test or doctor's report. It does not always mean no health questions. There are two main types, and the difference affects your price, your chance of acceptance and what your family receives.

All figures are from NerdWallet's guides on simplified issue and guaranteed issue life insurance and vary by insurer and state. NerdWallet also notes that a policy sold as "no exam" with a short health questionnaire is usually simplified issue, not true guaranteed issue.

What do insurers check if there is no exam?

They still check records. NerdWallet says insurers offering simplified issue use third-party reports, including your file at MIB, a database used by insurers that shows whether you have applied for individual life insurance before. They also check databases that compile prescription drug records from health insurers, pharmacies and health care providers. If your medicines point to a condition you did not mention, the insurer may ask you to take a medical exam.

MIB says you will only have a file if you applied to a member insurer in the last seven years and something of underwriting significance came up. You can request your own file once a year for free. MIB also lists guaranteed issue life insurance as cover that is not individually underwritten, so you may have no file from applying for it.

How much does no-exam funeral insurance cost?

It costs more for the same cover than ordinary life insurance. Washington's insurance commissioner lists higher premiums and lower benefits among the drawbacks, and warns that what you pay in premiums may cost more than your funeral.

NerdWallet's September 2026 figures from the broker Choice Mutual give a sense of the gap:

• A 60-year-old woman could pay about $1,008 a year for a $20,000 guaranteed issue whole life policy.
• The same woman could pay about $744 a year for a $20,000 simplified issue policy if she is healthy enough to qualify.
• NerdWallet says someone in good health who answers a few medical questions might pay 26% less than for guaranteed issue.

These are examples, not quotes. Your age, sex, state and health answers all change the price. Our guide to how much funeral insurance you need helps you choose a benefit, and the calculator below gives an estimate.

Which should you try first?

Try simplified issue first if you can answer the health questions. If you are accepted, you usually avoid the waiting period and pay less. Move to guaranteed issue if you are declined or your health makes the questionnaire a poor fit. NerdWallet says you can often buy life insurance with a pre-existing condition, that it may be cheaper than guaranteed issue, and that each insurer handles health issues differently. Our guide to funeral insurance with pre-existing conditions explains how that works.

If you are a smoker or in your 70s or 80s, see our guides on funeral insurance for smokers and funeral insurance for seniors.

How to apply for no-exam funeral insurance

1. Decide the benefit. Add up the funeral you want, using local prices, and consider what else your family could draw on.
2. Get quotes for both types. Ask each insurer for a simplified issue and a guaranteed issue quote so you can compare the waiting period and price.
3. Ask for the waiting period in writing. Find out what is paid if you die in that time, and whether accidental death is paid in full. See our guide to the funeral insurance waiting period.
4. Read the exclusions. Suicide in the first two years and the contestable period apply to most policies. See funeral insurance exclusions.
5. Use the free look period. Washington gives new life insurance policies a 10-day free look, and Texas says policies have at least 10 to 20 days. You can cancel for a full refund in that time.
6. Tell your family. Give your beneficiary the insurer's name, policy number and where the paperwork is kept.

What are the alternatives?

If the price or waiting period doesn't suit you, other ways to prepare include a savings account set aside for the funeral, a payable-on-death bank account, a prepaid funeral plan or a larger life insurance policy. Each has trade-offs, covered in our guides to prepaid plans vs funeral insurance and funeral insurance vs life insurance. If cost is the main worry, Medicaid and other funeral assistance may help your family at the time.