Life Insurance and Swine Flu: Minimizing Your Risk

As highlighted in our recent article Swine Flu and Life Insurance, the Canadian life insurance industry is continuing to monitor how the H1N1 Virus is influencing mortality risk. Most companies have added underwriting guidelines for dealing with the global epidemic and these are discussed in our previous article.

Swine Flu by U.S. National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases

But how can you reduce your risk for catching the virus, so that Swine Flu never becomes part of your profile for the life insurance company considering your application? Dr. Oz has the answer.

The following are his tips for taking the fight to the H1N1 epidemic:

Group Insurance in Canada: Are You Paying Too Much?

Your employees will be happier
if group insurance costs are kept down
photo by Simon Law

Thanks to increasing pressures on the current healthcare system, the consolidation of the Canadian insurance industry and a growing demand from employees for increased and expanded coverage, group health plans across Canada have risen by 15%, while dental plans have risen by 7%, according to exit planning strategist Peter Merrick. However, there are several things employers can do to keep their costs down. In light of this, you can utilize the following five strategies to help keep your premiums affordable:

(Group Insurance in Canada: Are You Paying Too Much? continued...)

Manulife Living Care Underwriting Made Easy

The following is a snapshot of Manulife's underwriting requirements on their Long-term Care plan called Living Care. They do have the right to alter those requirements depending on the insured's health history.

BMO Insurance’s Critical Illness Insurance Plan: Life Recovery Plus

BMO Insurance's Life Recovery Plus is a Critical Illness plan marketed directly to consumers.The plan is available in either a basic plan, which pays up to $25,000 in insurance benefits, or an enhanced plan, which pays up to $50,000 in insurance benefits upon diagnosis of life threatening cancers, stroke or heart attack.

Health Insurance Without a Medical from the Canadian Freelancer Union

For the first time ever, thanks to its status as a division of the Communication Energy and Paperworkers Union, (Local 2040) the Canadian Freelance Union for independent media workers is offering a series of medical insurance plans.

Manulife’s Long-term Care Plan LivingCare

Manulife's Long-term Care plan, called LivingCare, is unique to the industry in that it is available on a single-life basis or a shared coverage option. Additionally, rather than having a set weekly or monthly benefit, Manulife allows the insured to choose a maximum benefit of up to $1,000,000 for single-life coverage or $2,000,000 for shared coverage between couples. The insured then chooses a benefit amount for single-life between 0.5% and 2% and for couples, between 0.25% and 1%. The amount is paid out for as long as the insured is on claim and it's to the point where it doesn't exceed the coverage amount. Waiting periods (how long until the funds are paid out) of 90 days and 180 days are available. Premiums can be payable for the insured's lifetime, or there is also a quick-pay option.

Random Facts About Long-term Care Insurance Everyone Needs to Know

Before you buy Long-term Care,
there are some things you should know.
image courtesy Ian Mackenzie

There are certain things all potential applicants should know before buying Long-term Care Insurance. It's our hope that the following facts will arm you with the valuable information you need to make the right decision for you and your family:

Life Insurance and Obesity

Obesity and its complications
don't have to prevent you
from getting life insurance.
image courtesy ThinkPanama

Much like the rest of the world, Obesity rates in Canada are steadily increasing. In 2004, the Canadian Community Health Survey reported that 23.1% of those 18 and older (an estimated 5.5 million adults) had a Body Mass Index of 30 or more, making them obese. Another 8.6 million, or 36.1% were overweight.

With so many more Canadians facing the reality of Obesity and the complications that go with it, such as high blood pressure, diabetes and coronary heart disease, this new reality can have a direct impact on their classification and their ability to get life insurance. The four classifications of traditional life insurance are as follows:

(Life Insurance and Obesity continued...)

What You Always Wanted to Know About Life Insurance (But Were Afraid to Ask)

There are facts about life insurance
you may want to know before you buy.
image courtesy Luciano Meirelles

The following are a series of life insurance facts, which you may find useful in your pursuit of the best possible life insurance policy:

Desjardins Disability: Solo Living Expense Plan

Solo Living Expense is a niche plan within Desjardins' Solo Disability product portfolio.

The policy is geared towards homemakers, part-time workers or people in occupations that would have a hard time getting traditional disability coverage. The maximum monthly indemnity on the policy is $1,500/month and it's available with a 30-day elimination period and a 12-month benefit period. However, there is not a critical illness or life insurance component on this policy.

You can get a Solo Living Expense Quote, as well as quotes from other carriers besides Desjardins at our Disability Instant Quote Page or feel free to contact us at 1-866-899-4849.

Banks prohibited to sell insurance online

photo by Benson Kua

Canadian banks are shocked about the new initiative from the finance minister Jim Flaherty. He wants to amend the Bank Act, which prohibits banks from selling insurance at their branches and also through their websites.

Seniors Life Insurance: Six Factors to Consider

There is a plethora of
insurance options out there for seniors.

The Canadian marketplace has changed dramatically for seniors looking for life insurance. Premiums have gone down in most instances, but at the same time, insurance companies are looking more closely at certain risk factors such as lifestyle and travel.

The following are six factors to look into when considering life insurance as a senior:

(Seniors Life Insurance: Six Factors to Consider continued...)

LifeInsurance.ca: Five Reasons Not to Buy Your Life Insurance Policy Online

Sitting down with a broker
is much better than buying online.

LifeInsurance.ca 101: a basic grounding in the realities of buying insurance or any other financial product online

With the title above, it may seem like we're shooting ourselves in the foot as a life insurance brokerage that specializes in the online marketing of life and health insurance. We have thousands of people visit our website daily, and many visitors constantly approach us about whether they can buy an insurance policy directly through our website. While we have tinkered with and marinated on this idea, we feel buying life insurance online is a disservice to our customers.

Some Canadian life insurance sites like lifeinsurance.ca aren't even real businesses but belong to domain speculators. They just send you to whoever is advertising that week.

The following explains our reasoning behind why buying a life insurance policy online just doesn't make sense:

Funny Insurance Commercials 3

The first six humorous TV spots with insurance as the main point comes to an end with the last two videos. This time the entertainment comes from the USA and the Netherlands.

Nationwide

Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company groups together a number of insurance companies that deal with everything from life to fire insurance. Anything can happen to you - and that's exactly what their advert is about.

Would you like to replay the video or share the link to it with your friends?

Desjardins’ Enhanced Term 10 Policy

Desjardins' Enhanced Term 10 policy is an innovative life insurance policy with a unique critical illness component.

The premiums are fixed for the first 10 policy years and the plan is guaranteed renewable.The critical illness feature is a unique part of the policy, in that the policy pays out immediately upon diagnosis. Most other critical illness policies have a 30-day waiting period, but since the critical illness benefit is paid out as an advance on the life insurance policy, no waiting period is required. Be aware that there are two exceptions -- there is a 90-day exclusion for cancer or benign brain tumours.

Penncorp Life: One Step Long-term Care

Penncorp Life Insurance specializes in disability insurance for self-employed individuals and small business owners. On Nov. 14, 2008, the company announced the launch of their Long-term Care plan, called One Step Long-term Care.

Other Long-term Care plans in the Canadian marketplace require that the insured is unable to perform at least two basic activities of daily living. (washing, dressing, feeding, transferring, toileting and continence) With the One Step Long-term Care Plan only one incapacity, including cognitive impairment, allows the insured to take advantage of the best possible coverage. Given the aging population and a public health system increasingly under pressure, Canadians are becoming increasingly concerned about the issue of Long-term Care. 40% of those who are already receiving Long-term Care are not yet age 65 and after age 65, close to 50% of all Canadians will need this type of care.

A Competitive Review of Engineer Canada’s Term Life Insurance Program

Engineer Canada offers a sponsored term life insurance plan that is underwritten by Manulife.

On the surface, it seems like a very easy and cost effective way for members to receive affordable term insurance coverage, but, when compared to indvidual term life policies, the rates may not be as attractive as they may seem at first. The Engineer Canada plan offers coverage up to $15,000,000. Members receive discounts of 5% on face amounts in excess of $500,000 and a 10% discount on face amounts of $1 million or more.

A 52-year-old, male non-smoker applying for $500,000 of Term 10 coverage with Engineer Canada's program will pay $117.04/month.

(A Competitive Review of Engineer Canada's Term Life Insurance Program continued...)

RBC Long-term Care Insurance: A Closer Look

RBC is a leading provider of Long-term Care insurance in Canada. The plan that puts them ahead of the competition is divided into two components. The first is facility care, available to applicants from 30 to 80-years-old, and the second is home care, for applicants from 30 to 75-years-old.

Thee benefit amounts are paid on a daily basis and are available with minimum benefit amounts of $10/day and maximum benefit amounts of $300/day. The plan pays out if the insured is unable to perform two or more of the following six activities for daily living: bathing, transferring, toileting, eating and maintaining continence.

O.M.A. Long-term Care Insurance

O.M.A.'s Long-term Care plan is there
if doctors require assistance due to illness or injury.

Ontario Medical Association [O.M.A.] offers a long-term Care insurance policy to members and their family members between ages 21 to 80. The plan is underwritten by Sun Life Financial and the pricing is identical to the Long-term Care plans available to Sun Life's broker network.

Desjardins Solo: A Unique Disability Insurance Program

Desjardins' disability insurance program is branded Solo, but, despite its name, it insures you will not be going it alone should you gain a disability due to illness or injury. Solo's unique features help separate it from other disability insurance plans available on the market.

One major distinction between Solo and its competitors is it has built in a life insurance and critical illness insurance feature. In the event that the insured passes away or, develops a critical illness, they receive five-times their monthly disability benefit as either a life insurance, or critical illness insurance payout.

Funny Insurance Commercials 2

As promised, we continue our funny insurance commercials mini-series with another two episodes, this time with insurers from the Netherlands and South Africa.

A Closer Look: Term 30 Life Insurance

Have your broker look over
which Term 30 policy is right for you.

Term life insurance provides a level, tax-free death benefit with premiums fixed for a stated term. Traditionally, most term policies are either five, ten or 20 years, but recently, as Canadians have begun to increase their debt load and the amortization period of their mortgages, Term 30 policies are on the rise. On the surface, the coverage is straight forward, but rates can vary substantially between carriers. The following chart looks at the main features and pricing from five of the top Term 30 life insurance carriers in Canada: