Accendo Insurance Company, part of the CVS Health family of companies and an Aetna affiliate
Final Expense Whole LifeEvery benefit below is transcribed from the Accendo Final Expense whole life brochure ACCFE05984. Benefits, amounts and riders vary by state; the policy issued to you governs.
Read this first: there is a level plan and a MODIFIED plan, and they are not the same promise Included
On the level plan the full face value is payable from the policy issue date whether death is due to an accident or to natural causes, in every policy year. On the modified plan the full face value is payable immediately only if death is due to an accident; for a non-accidental death, policy years 1 and 2 pay 110% of earned premium and the full benefit begins in policy year 3.
This is the graded death benefit our footer tells every reader to ask about, sold by name. It is a legitimate product and it exists because it will take people the level plan will not — but if you die of natural causes in month six, it pays back a little more than you have paid in and nothing else. Ask which plan you are being quoted, every time.
How much cover, and the ceiling falls with age Included
On the level plan the minimum death benefit is $2,000 and the maximum is $50,000 from age 40 to 55, $40,000 from 56 to 65, $30,000 from 66 to 75 and $25,000 from 76 to 89. On the modified plan the minimum is $2,000 and the maximum is $25,000 across the whole issue range of 40 to 75.
An annual policy fee Included
The brochure states an annual policy fee of $40.
Accelerated death benefit rider, on the level plan only Optional rider
Pays up to 50% of the death benefit, less any policy loan, if a physician certifies in writing that the insured meets the definition of a qualifying event — a medical condition resulting in a terminal, chronic or critical illness with a life expectancy of 12 months or less. The minimum benefit is $1,000 and the maximum is $15,000, and an administrative fee of $200 is taken from the benefit amount.
This is an acceleration of your own death benefit, not long-term care insurance and not a health policy. What it pays out now, it does not pay to your beneficiary later.
Accidental death benefits rider, on the level plan only Optional rider
Pays 100% of the base policy’s face amount for accidental death, for issue ages 40 through 70.
Children's term insurance rider, on the level plan only Optional rider
Covers a child, stepchild, legally adopted child, grandchild, legally adopted grandchild or great grandchild, from $2,500 up to $10,000 per child in $2,500 increments. The amount is the same for every covered child and may not exceed the face amount of the base policy. Issue ages run from older than 30 days to less than 18 years, and the policy becomes convertible to a whole life policy between the ages of 22 and 25 after two years in force.
All three riders are available on the level plan only. A buyer who can only take the modified plan cannot add any of them.
Cash value, and what borrowing against it costs Included
The policy builds cash value over time, and you can borrow against it with policy loans exceeding $1,000 for any reason. An annual interest rate and fees apply. The accelerated death benefit is itself paid less any policy loan.
Money borrowed and not repaid reduces what is left for the beneficiary. That is true of every whole life policy and it is worth saying out loud.
If you stop paying: the non-forfeiture options Included
Reduced paid-up insurance gives your beneficiary a death benefit reduced to the amount of life insurance the accrued cash value will buy. Extended term insurance gives level term cover for the full death benefit but for a shorter period. An automatic premium loan takes the accrued cash value and applies it toward the premium. You may elect the option at application and change it in writing at any time during your lifetime.
The brochure is explicit that in the early years there may be insufficient cash value for any of the three.
Premiums timed to the Social Security deposit schedule Included
If you are on Social Security, the carrier sets up automatic payments to line up with the Social Security benefit deposit schedule.
What this kind of care costs
None of the figures below is a policy benefit and none of them is ours. They are third-party research quoted in the company's brochure, and each one is shown with who produced it and when, because a statistic is only true of the year it was measured in. They are here because the policy above cannot be judged without them.
| What | Cost | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Average cost of a funeral, on this carrier's figure the other final expense brochure on our burial insurance comparison page quotes the same body at a higher figure and does not date it | $7,360 or more | National Funeral Directors Association, 2020, as this carrier's own citation dates it |
| How much less a cremation costs, on this carrier's figure the other brochure on our burial insurance comparison page cites the same body for about 30% less, comparing 2014 with 2019 — the same research, two different answers, which is why every figure here carries its own date | only 15% less | National Funeral Directors Association, undated in the carrier's 2022 brochure; its chart compares 2014 with 2017 |
Confirm these two before you sign
None of these appear in the sales brochure, and each changes what the policy is worth to you. Ask for them in writing, in the policy and the outline of coverage for your state, and do not take our word or anyone else's for it.
- The super preferred rate, and the 180 day condition on it The brochure says you may qualify for a super preferred rate on this plan, which it puts at 10% lower than the preferred rate, if an Accendo or Aetna Medicare Supplement policy was issued to you in the last 180 days. That is a narrow window and it is not the same offer the other Aetna-family policy on our burial insurance comparison page makes. Get the rate you are actually being quoted in writing before it decides anything.
- Which plan you are being quoted Level and modified are both sold under the same product name and the riders attach to the level plan only. The brochure does not say what puts an applicant on one rather than the other. Ask, in writing, which plan the quote in front of you is for.
- Issue ages
- 40 to 89 on the level plan and 40 to 75 on the modified plan, age as of last birthday. The minimum death benefit is $2,000 on both.
- Renewability
- Whole life. The brochure states a 30 day free look and non-forfeiture options if premiums stop.
Required disclosures from Accendo Insurance Company, part of the CVS Health family of companies and an Aetna affiliate
Not connected with or endorsed by the U.S. Government or the Federal Medicare Program.
Policy administered by Aetna Life Insurance Company and its affiliates
For complete details of all provisions or benefits, please read your policy carefully.