Have you heard? You can now get your first 4 months of your term life insurance paid for on new applications. But is it too good to be true? The short answer is, no. But it is worth understanding a little more before applying. 

It’s no secret COVID-19 took the world by storm. But many people don’t know how this affected the insurance industry and better yet, how you can take advantage of this. 

When the Canadian government first began restricting human contact this became a problem for insurance companies. I’m sure you will find this humorous but when COVID19 happened many insurance companies would only accept paper applications. In fact, there were only a few companies that allowed you to apply online or over the phone and most of those companies only offered a small policy ($25,000 or less) to be applied over the phone. This forced many companies to make changes in order to keep business. 

What happened next was companies began to roll out online or non-face-to-face applications but at this time many Canadian didn’t feel the full impact of this disease. People were still under the impression this would last for a few weeks at most and everyone was going back to normal. This is not great for the insurance business. So what some insurance companies began to do was offer incentives for new applications. One of those incentives were having the first 4 months of your application paid for by the insurance company. 

As you can imagine a few months go by and now many Canadians know the impact COVID-19 is having and many more Canadian realize they can not afford to lose their loved ones. This is when insurance became a popular conversation in many households.

As of January 2021, insurance companies have seen a massive inflow of new applications. You see we are right at the cusp of yet another shift but this shift, when it comes, will not be in your favour. With the increase in new applicants over the last few months these insurance companies will not have to give the same incentives because the demand for new applicants exceeds their need for new business. 

The good news, as I write this, you can still get the first 4 months FREE on new applications, but not for long. For anyone looking to purchase life insurance, now is the time! 

If you have any questions or would like to apply reach out to us and one of our non-commission staff members will happy to help. Don’t wait before it’s too late. 

Where does Life Insurance stand in 2021?

It’s no secret, life insurance has become more talked about and harder to get than ever before. With COVID-19 being a wake-up call for many, the importance of life insurance is clear. But with the rush of new policies in 2020, it has also become harder to get a life insurance policy. Here is our guide to help.

Start with your existing health conditions

Your health should always be the striating point when purchasing life insurance. Even if you have health concerns that make you hesitate to purchase life insurance, I have good news, there are some great choices. More on that to come. However, being honest with your health status is crucial to getting a policy that you can afford and can help protect the people you love. More insurance companies have become a little tougher with their approval process, which is why having an insurance advisor that can help you navigate the landscape is important.

Coverage

That would depend on a wide variety of factors. What are you looking to cover and how long do you need coverage for? Here is a simple to use Life Insurance Calculator that can help you understand how much coverage you need.

Cost

Cost is very important. It always comes down to the cost to own life insurance, and you should never purchase a life insurance policy that you cannot afford. However, what’s worse than that is not purchasing a policy altogether. It’s better to leave your loved ones with something than out of pocket.

Choice

There is a massive debate out there where you see people argue over term life insurance or permanent insurance. Which is better? Well, the correct answer would depend on your situation. Term life generally is better for covering short term debts.

TIP OF THE DAY

  Don’t be afraid to apply to multiple companies. With companies being tough on their application process you could always apply for guaranteed issue life insurance first, and at the same time apply for traditional coverage. That way if you are turned down from traditional coverage you will still have the guaranteed coverage.

There are many Canadian life insurance companies available to the public in 2021. Below you will find a list of companies and a link to each companies website.

In 2021 the largest life insurance companies in Canada were Great-West Life (which includes Canada Life and London Life), Manulife, and Sunlife.

Most of these companies offer a wide range of products and services.

 

Assumption Life

Assumption life has a wide variety of products, both in their life insurance and retirement planning services.

Assumption Life is well known for some of their guaranteed issue life insurance policies. Being one of the only companies to offer guaranteed issue whole life insurance.

 

Blue Cross

Blue Cross has been around for more than 72 years and is one of Canada’s largest providers of medical care.

Blue cross is the best to know for their dental, medical, and vision care. With some great products that also offer long term care.

 

BMO

The bank of Montreal is one of Canada’s premier banks. Although life insurance may not be one of their main focus they have significantly grown their business over the past 10 years.

BMO is most competitive with their term life insurance policies. They offer good rates and a variety of term plans.

 

Canada Life

Canada life is one of Canada’s largest insurance companies (which includes great west life and London life).

Canada life has been competitive in disability insurance. But also offer a wide variety of products.

 

Canada Protection Plan

CPP is one of the fast-growing insurance companies in Canada. CPP is the best to know in the guaranteed issue space. Offering no medical coverage.

 

Desjardin

Some people would be surprised that Desjardin didn’t make the list of the top insurance companies in Canada. However, if you were to look at Desjardins total business in North America they would be considered the largest of the group.

Desjardin is very competitive in corporately owned critical illness policies.

 

Empire life

Empire life has been a staple of Canadian life insurance companies for many years.

Empire life is most competitive in the annuity and guaranteed minimum withdrawal benefit space.

 

Equitable Life

Equitable life is one of the last mutual companies. Where most insurance companies are owned by their shareholders, equitable life is owned by their policyholders.

 

Foresters

Foresters is another insurance company that offers some living benefit options and is also strong when it comes to their term life insurance pricing. If you are looking for a term life insurance quote and are between ages 20-33 expect Foresters to be one of the more competitively priced companies.

 

Humania

Over the past 75 years, Humania (formerly LS Mutual) has grown to become one of the leaders in guaranteed insurance. Humania offers good coverage with a fast application process that can be done completely over the phone.

 

Industrial Alliance

IA has a very unique RESP product. For parents who are looking to put some money away for their Childs education, IA offers additional credits over and above what you would get from your government grants.

 

Ivari

Formerly known as TransAmerica, Ivari has a strong lineup. They do not offer a whole life insurance product but they have a Universal Life product that can be used as a level cost insurance thus giving you permanent protection. Where they are strongest is they have term 30 options, great for covering your mortgage. To see a full review of Ivari Term 30 CLICK HERE to read the article.

 

La Capitale

La Capitale has a very easy application process. You can apply using an IPAD (which is still relatively rare for the life insurance space). Their term prices are fairly competitive, although not the most affordable in many situations.

 

Manulife

Manulife is also one of the largest companies in Canada, which also offers a large variety of products. Being one of the first companies to offer up to $1,000,000 in coverage via a non-face-to-face term application. Because COVID 19 limited the number of times people spent in front of one and another, this option became very important for consumers.

Manulife is very competitive in the corporate life insurance space.

 

RBC

RBC offers specific term length on their term policies. Meaning, if you need coverage for exactly 23 years, you can get a 23-year term. Where most companies offer standard Term 10, 20, and 30.

 

Specialty Life

Great when it comes to final expense insurance.  Many Canadians wait too long when it comes to getting life insurance. Specialty Life Insurance offers affordable final coverage to cover the cost of a funeral.

 

SSQ

Very competitive in the Critical Illness space. Not only do they have a larger number of conditions but also very competitive on price. This is one good reason to look into this Quebec based company, SSQ.

 

Sunlife

SunLife for many years had been only available to their in house advisors. Meaning if you owned life insurance through Sunlife it was because you worked with a Sunlife advisor. However, in recent years they have opened up their product line up to the broker level. Now you can purchase Sunlife products through brokers as well as in-house advisors.

 

Wawanesa

Very easy application process. Wawanesa offers some great guaranteed issue products. Pricing wise, they are competitive with CPP and Assumption life.