Diabetes in Canada is on the rise. The 2019 data from the Diabetes Canada Cost Model show that currently, one in three Canadians have diabetes or are prediabetic. Around 90 per cent of those cases are type 2 diabetes. The difference between type 1 and type 2 is this: with type 1 your body does not produce insulin. With type 2, your body does not respond to or produce enough insulin.
So, what about life insurance and diabetes? Can you have diabetes and still qualify for a policy? The answer is yes and, depending on your condition, there are even several options available to you: from traditional life insurance to no medical life insurance.
Further below we will look in detail at which factors determine your ability to qualify for life insurance with diabetes and what types of insurance best suits your situation.
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Yes, you can get life insurance with diabetes and, depending on your condition, there are multiple options available to you. The following factors will typically determine which life insurance policy you can qualify for:
The more health pre-conditions you are experiencing, the higher the chance that you will not be able to qualify for traditional life insurance. |
Expert tip from Alex Skilton “In the last 5 years the industry has become a lot more welcoming to individuals with diabetes. As an advisor when I used to hear “I have diabetes…” from a client I knew that there were very limited options for them when it came to coverage. Nowadays if you are managing your diabetes with diet and exercise, your BMI is good and you don’t have other major health issues, we can generally get you covered through most providers. |
Yes, you can get life insurance with diabetes and, depending on your condition, there are multiple options available to you. The following factors will typically determine which life insurance policy you can qualify for:
The more health pre-conditions you are experiencing, the higher the chance that you will not be able to qualify for traditional life insurance.
“In the last 5 years the industry has become a lot more welcoming to individuals with diabetes. As an advisor when I used to hear “I have diabetes…” from a client I knew that there were very limited options for them when it came to coverage. Nowadays if you are managing your diabetes with diet and exercise, your BMI is good and you don’t have other major health issues, we can generally get you covered through most providers.
Depending on your particular situation, if you have diabetes, you will be able to apply for one out of four insurance types. Each of them comes with their own coverage limits. Below we list the typical scenarios.
| Insurance Type | Typical Scenario | Maximum Coverage Limit | Coverage Cost (based on the same coverage amount) |
| Traditional life insurance with medical exam | Pre-diabetes or initial stage of diabetes, w/o other health conditions, stable insulin levels | Up to several millions | Very low |
| Traditional life insurance without medical exam | Pre-diabetes or initial stage of diabetes, w/o other health conditions, stable insulin levels | Typically, up to $1,000,000 for select customer groups | Very low |
| No medical life insurance, simplified issue | More complicated diabetes cases, long history of diabetes, inability to control insulin levels, combination of a few pre-conditions | Typically, up to $250,000 – $350,000 | Medium |
| No medical life insurance, guaranteed issue | Very heavy condition, uncontrollable insulin levels, extensive renal damages or failure, combination with multiple other pre-conditions (e.g. overweight, history of heart attack, cancer etc.) | Typically, up to $25,000 – $30,000 | High |
It is important to mention that working with an experienced life insurance broker who has access to life insurance policies from different providers and who knows how each provider treats diabetes cases can be crucial when looking for the best life insurance policy.
Various insurance companies treat health preconditions (e.g. diabetes) and different customer segments (e.g. young people, middle-aged people, seniors) differently.
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Type 1 diabetes is considered more severe than diabetes type 2. Type 1 usually begins in childhood and is, in some cases, genetic. It can also be due to issues with the pancreas. Type 1 treatment usually means the injection of insulin on an ongoing basis. Since type 1 is more severe and requires more intervention than type 2, no medical life insurance (simplified issue) is the best solution. Simplified issue combines coverages of $250,000 – $350,000 with policy costs that are lower than guaranteed issue insurance. In some cases, such as, if you are able to control blood sugar levels through diet and exercise only, you can still access a traditional life insurance policy (i.e. higher coverage levels) but it might be on a rated basis. Rated means that your life insurance rates will be higher (between 75% and 150% higher rates) than for somebody who does not have diabetes. |
Expert tip from Lorne Marr “The type of diabetes can influence the type of plan you qualify for and if your policy with a rating and / or be a policy declined. It is important to work with a broker who has access to multiple carriers and is familiar with the different underwriting protocols. A broker can make a preliminary inquiry. This is an informal inquiry made by an insurance advisor to an insurance company when the broker does not want to submit a formal application. Preliminary inquiries can be a great way to gauge a client’s rating or potential decline.” |
Type 1 diabetes is considered more severe than diabetes type 2. Type 1 usually begins in childhood and is, in some cases, genetic. It can also be due to issues with the pancreas. Type 1 treatment usually means the injection of insulin on an ongoing basis. Since type 1 is more severe and requires more intervention than type 2, no medical life insurance (simplified issue) is the best solution. Simplified issue combines coverages of $250,000 – $350,000 with policy costs that are lower than guaranteed issue insurance.
In some cases, such as, if you are able to control blood sugar levels through diet and exercise only, you can still access a traditional life insurance policy (i.e. higher coverage levels) but it might be on a rated basis. Rated means that your life insurance rates will be higher (between 75% and 150% higher rates) than for somebody who does not have diabetes.
“The type of diabetes can influence the type of plan you qualify for and if your policy with a rating and / or be a policy declined.
It is important to work with a broker who has access to multiple carriers and is familiar with the different underwriting protocols. A broker can make a preliminary inquiry. This is an informal inquiry made by an insurance advisor to an insurance company when the broker does not want to submit a formal application. Preliminary inquiries can be a great way to gauge a client’s rating or potential decline.”
Diabetes type 2 is considered less severe than diabetes type 1 and approximately 90% of all diabetes cases in Canada fall into this category.
Type 2 is a growing issue in Canada, largely among young people, due to lifestyle factors. In many cases, maintaining a healthy diet, exercising and keeping a proper weight is enough to regulate blood sugar.
Given that this diabetes type is less severe than type 1, a wider range of life insurance policies are available to people with type 2. These policies include:
Actually, diabetes is more favourable for seniors than for younger people as it is much more common among people over 60 than people who are 35. So a 60-year-old with diabetes is way more likely to get standard rates on a traditional plan than a 35-year-old. The reason for that is that there are very few 35-years-olds who are diabetic.
Working with an experienced life insurance broker will allow you to have access to a wide array of life insurance policies and companies that could be a potential choice for your situation.
Prediabetes is when your blood sugar is higher than it should be but not high enough for your doctor to diagnose diabetes. This precondition is less severe than diabetes and you should be able to get standard life insurance rates if you have prediabetes under control.
Whether you have type 1 or type 2 diabetes or a concern about a pre-diabetic condition, work with a life insurance broker. Brokers shop the market on your behalf and have access to a range of policies so they can find the best coverage within your budget. Similar coverage varies among providers, so having a broker on your side that knows the policies and their application questions (where applicable) is your best bet to getting the level of coverage you need.
