5 Life Insurance Expert Tips

Buying life insurance can be a confusing and often intimidating process. The following are our five top tips to consider when buying life insurance:

1. Find the Right Amount of Coverage — The first step in the life insurance process is determining the right coverage. The LSM Insurance Needs Analysis Calculator considers variables such as current liabilities, the percentage of income that needs to be replaced, and other assets, including other life insurance coverage.

2. Get a Good Understanding of the Different Types of Plans Available — Life insurance can generally be broken down into two categories: Term Insurance and Permanent insurance. However, within those two types of plans, there are many subcategories. Permanent plans can take the form of Term 100, Whole Life, or Universal Life Insurance.

3. If You Are in Very Good Health, Look For a Company that Offers Preferred Rates — Preferred rates are given to individuals who have very good health and an equally good family health history, and those rates can provide savings of up to 35 per cent.

LSM Insurance Insider’s Tip: Only a handful of companies offer Preferred rates on Permanent plans.

4. If You are Looking for Term Insurance, Make Sure It is Renewable and Convertible — This means you can renew the plan or convert the coverage to a Permanent plan without a medical exam.

LSM Insurance Insider Tip: Look at the type of permanent products you can convert the plan to. With historically low interest rates, which negatively impact permanent policies, many insurance companies are trimming their overall permanent insurance product offering.

5. Work with an Independent Broker — Life insurance can be purchased directly from certain insurance companies via their call centre, website, or captive agent. In each of these scenarios, you will only see a limited number of options, but an independent broker can shop the market to make sure you get the best deal.

LSM Insurance Insider Tip: Make sure your independent broker workers with numerous companies and not just one or two.

LSM insurance’s Bonus Tip:

If you are in poor health, make sure you work with a broker who is experienced in the hard-to-insure market. They can direct you towards no-medical life insurance scenarios. These are plans where there are no medical tests and either no health questions or a short series of health questions. If you do go with a traditional life insurance application and are declined, this could limit your options. Your broker can always make an informal preliminary inquiry, which will give you an idea where you stand. Please note that the response is not binding and would be subject to a fully underwritten application.

For more details on life insurance, please contact us at 1-866-899-4849 or visit our Term Life Insurance Quote Page.

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  • jM
    August 30, 2013 at 8:02 pm

    Hi there. Is Partricpating Whole Life Insurance more expensive than no particpating plans.

    • LSM Insurance
      August 31, 2013 at 2:37 pm

      Participating Whole Life insurance would be more expensive. These plans produce a dividend and generally have an increasing death benefit and higher cash values.

  • georgina
    August 30, 2013 at 3:50 am

    I just moved to Ontario are life insurance rates cheaper in NB I took out a policy a few years and I want to take out another one but the rates quoted are hoigher

    • LSM Insurance
      August 30, 2013 at 8:19 am

      The rates are the same in each province. The premiums are higher now because you are applying at an older age.

  • Quest
    July 7, 2013 at 5:26 am

    How much commission is paid on a life insurance policy. Does it matter which broker I use?

    • LSM Insurance
      July 7, 2013 at 12:58 pm

      Thanks for the amount. The amount of commission paid out depends on the plan and the carrier. The commission is built into to the cost of underwriting the policy and the cost for a particular plan would be the same regardless of the brokers commission rate. i.e if the broker is getting less commission the MGA is getting more. The Insurance company is still paying out the same amount.

  • Eleanor
    June 28, 2013 at 1:25 pm

    Do you offer a spousal insurance for me and my husband.

    He is in good health and is a non smoker 53 and I’m 51 we are both in Good Health. thinking $325,000 to cover our mortgage and $100,000 for other expenses.

    • LSM Insurance
      June 28, 2013 at 2:44 pm

      Thanks Eleanor. We are happy to help. The premiums depend on the type of plan and the amount of coverage.

      Insurance companies also use age nearest pricing. We will be in touch by email now.

  • Jared
    May 14, 2013 at 7:59 am

    how much extra am I look for two life insurance plans rather than a Joint Term 10 policy. I smoke my wife doesnt thanks

  • Justin H
    May 6, 2013 at 11:51 pm

    My wife wife and I are in Scarborough and are both 27 and are thinking of $500,000 WL, my parents but a small policy on me when I was a kid would it better to add to that plan is their any savings if I do it that way? Thks

    • LSM Insurance
      May 7, 2013 at 7:38 am

      Thanks Justin. You could potentially save the policy fee if you add a plan with your existing. But the coverage itself is based on your new ages.

      Keep in mind in recent years many companies have removed their Whole Life policies from their product lineups or hiked the prices – so it’s a good idea to check around.

      We will send you a separate email now.

  • LSM Insurance
    April 26, 2013 at 7:32 pm

    Thanks for the note Christopher.

    Crown Life was purchased by Canada Life. You can contact Canada Life or your existing broker to verify if the plan is convertible and to which plans.

  • Christopher L
    April 26, 2013 at 7:27 pm

    How can I find out what policies my Crown Life Term policy is convertible to.

  • LSM Insurance
    April 25, 2013 at 10:04 am

    Thanks Robyn. There are different Permanent and Term plan for children. The costs are usually pretty reasonable. You can a ballpark of the costs here https://lsminsurance.ca/life-insurance-canada/2013/04/childrens-insurance-policy

  • Robyn Smith
    April 24, 2013 at 9:53 pm

    I’m think of getting a life insurance policy for my daughter. What is the difference in cost between Term and Whole. I don’t want a lot maybe $50,000.