HOUSTON -- Life insurance is supposed to provide families with a security net in times of need, and there are few things more painful in life then the loss of a loved one. But for Carol Guillory, suddenly losing her father to cancer last week revealed another painful reality.

“All I had was the spray on his coffin,” she said. “I wasn’t able to buy him any flowers or anything.”

Which was surprising to Carol, because her father had a $25,000 life insurance policy.  He bought the plan back in 1993 at age 65 and paid close to $21,000 in premiums. 

“He said, ‘all you have to do, I have a $25,000 policy; you all put me away as nice as you can,’” Guillory said.

But the security net he bought had a gaping hole. It was a decreasing term life insurance policy, meaning each year its value declined. In the end, the Guillory’s were left with around $3,800, forcing them to borrow several thousand just to give their father a proper burial.

“I tried,” his daughter said. “That’s all I could do.”

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Turns out the Guillory’s are not alone. Experts say agents peddling policies like these often prey on the elderly and less affluent, employing pressure tactics to make a sale without necessarily explaining the fine print.

“Agents who want to market it are preying on the fact that you won’t study it, you won’t look closely, you won’t ask questions,” Better Business Bureau spokesman Dan Parsons said.

Families are left without answers until it’s too late to make a difference. 

“He was robbed,” Guillory said.