Funeral Home Insurance
Funeral home businesses need protection against possible lawsuits, professional errors, vandalism, and more.
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Christine Lacagnina has written thousands of insurance-based articles for TrustedChoice.com by authoring consumable, understandable content.
Families place their trust in funeral homes during very emotional times, and your business needs to be able to deliver results. Funeral homes and funeral directors need the right business insurance to protect them against possible losses caused by fires, weather events, vandalism, lawsuits, and more. Since your business's exposures are not the same as those of a retail shop, manufacturer, or any other small business, you need coverage that's tailored to your unique niche.
Luckily, an independent insurance agent knows exactly which type of policy to get you set up with. They'll get you matched to the right coverage in no time. But first, here's an overview of funeral home insurance.
Quick Funeral Home Industry Statistics
When you're ready to find coverage for your funeral home, it can be helpful first to get an overview of the industry as a whole. Here are just a handful of fast funeral home industry stats to help paint a better picture.
- In a recent year, there were a reported 24,636 funeral homes in the U.S.
- The funeral home industry has grown by 0.1% annually over the past five years.
- New York has the most funeral homes of any state in the country, with 1,926 total.
- About 117,780 people in the U.S. are currently employed by funeral homes.
- The average funeral home business in the U.S. has four employees.
Now that you have more of an overview of the funeral home industry, it can be easier to understand the need for the right coverage. Each funeral home business and every employee working for them must be protected by funeral home insurance against potentially devastating financial losses due to many threats ranging from injuries to theft and beyond.
Common Risks Faced by Funeral Homes
As you serve grieving members of the public, your business faces many different risks that could cause possible financial harm or suspend operations without the right coverage. Some of the most common risks faced by funeral homes are:
- Slips and falls by members of the public
- Weather events (e.g., wind, hail, lightning, etc.)
- Fire and smoke damage
- Theft and vandalism
- Employee injuries and illnesses
- Auto accidents involving hearses or other company vehicles
- Lawsuits filed by grieving customers or other members of the public
Your business is vulnerable to all these risks and more. That's what makes having funeral directors insurance essential to helping maintain smooth operations.
What Does Funeral Home Business Insurance Cover?
Insurance for funeral homes includes coverage designed to protect multiple aspects of your unique business. Some of the core coverages funeral homes need are:
- Commercial general liability insurance: This covers the costs of lawsuits filed against your business by a third party for claims of personal property damage or bodily injury.
- Commercial property insurance: This covers replacements or repairs for damaged or destroyed company property after a covered loss caused by threats like a fire, weather event, theft, or vandalism.
- Business interruption insurance: This covers temporary shutdowns of your business caused by a covered hazard like a fire or break-in by providing a continued stream of income and employee wages.
- Business owners policy (BOP) insurance: This provides three essential components of business insurance that would benefit your funeral home, including commercial property coverage, business interruption coverage, and general liability coverage.
- Commercial auto insurance: This covers company-owned vehicles, like hearses, against possible lawsuits related to accidents as well as incidents of vehicle damage or theft.
Your funeral home insurance policy will likely need to include each of these types of coverage. An independent insurance agent can help you get equipped with all of them.
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Specialty Funeral Home and Director Liability Coverage
Funeral homes and directors may need additional liability protection in the form of endorsements to your general liability coverage or several stand-alone policies. These coverages often include:
- Professional liability insurance: This coverage is necessary for funeral directors in case a deceased person's family claims you caused them financial harm due to negligence, errors, or omissions.
An independent insurance agent can help you get set up with a policy from a funeral directors insurance company in your town.
Additional Funeral Home Insurance Coverage Types to Consider
In addition to basic funeral home business insurance, you may need to add more types of coverage to your policy for it to truly be complete. Discuss the following types of coverage with your independent insurance agent:
- Workers’ compensation insurance: This protects your employees from the costs of work-related illnesses and injuries related to job duties or the work environment.
- Commercial umbrella insurance: This provides supplemental liability protection beyond the limits of existing policies in increments of $1 million.
- Pollution liability insurance: This coverage may be needed if you use and dispose of certain chemicals, medical waste, or other pollutants that could cause harm to others or their property.
- Employment practices liability insurance: This covers your business if an employee sues you for discriminatory employment practices.
- Crime insurance: This covers incidents of theft from the business and other dishonest acts.
There may still be gaps in your coverage, depending on the size and scope of your specific funeral home. Work with your independent insurance agent to determine if you need extra coverage for any of these items:
- Money and securities
- Employee theft and crime
- Loss of refrigeration
- Property of the deceased
- Valuable papers
- Signs and glass
- Floods and earthquakes
- Sewer backup
Your independent insurance agent will be able to get you equipped with every type of coverage your funeral home business needs the most.
Assigning Life Insurance Proceeds to a Funeral Home
The assignment of life insurance proceeds to a funeral home is a process involving the beneficiary of the policy. After a loved one passes, the beneficiary of their life insurance policy can choose to assign some or all of the policy's benefits to the funeral home to help pay for funeral expenses.
This can be a more direct way of covering the typically high costs of a funeral. Your independent insurance agent may be able to help you assign a life insurance policy to a funeral home.
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How to Find Funeral Home Insurance Tailored to Your Business
Like any small business, funeral home owners and directors need a trusted adviser who can help them find the best insurance coverage to protect their livelihood from the many potential and costly problems that can arise. Whether it's dangers to the general public or your employees or unforeseen events like fires, storms, and theft, you need the right combination of coverage that addresses whatever your business might be exposed to.
An independent insurance agent can get to know you, your family, and your funeral home business. These agents work with multiple reputable companies that specialize in funeral home insurance, so they can provide you with only the best options.
Ultimately, they'll get you set up with a policy that offers the overall best blend of coverage and cost. And they'll be there for you down the road when claim time comes or if you need to update your coverage.