We help you choose the best policy for your needs. We have access to all of the major companies in Canada. We are truly independent, have no bias like bank owned firms, and we work closely with you to show you the best options while answering your questions along the way.
With life insurance, your family and/or loved ones receive a financial payout in the event of your death. Two basic types of life insurance are available: permanent and term. The former provides cost-effective, temporary coverage often during pre-retirement years. The latter meets life-long protection to cover estate taxes or charitable gifts, it never expires, and the premium can be level for life. In addition to the death benefit, permanent plans give you access to cash values that can be invested over and above the cost of insurance which can be invested for tax-sheltered growth and can be used for financial emergencies, or to supplement retirement income.
Health insurance provides the policyholder with financial security in times of medical need, with protection typically covering drugs, dental, and hospital expenses not covered by government plans, disability, and other issues (accidental death or dismemberment, long-term care, and critical illness). These are typically covered through group employee benefit plans.
Property insurance has a singular goal of protecting one’s assets, including primary or secondary homes and the belongings within. Policies can cover renters as well as owners, and they also protect the insured in the event someone is injured on the property and legal action is launched.
Easy! You call or email us. We will coordinate the paperwork and supporting evidence to process the claim and payout. The life insurance company should be notified as soon as possible and we can do that for you.
You may be required to provide a copy of the insurance policy along with the claims form. So remember to keep your policy in a safe but accessible place. You must also submit a certified copy of the death certificate.
Typically, the claims are paid within 5-10 business days of all of the documents being submitted.
It depends. Employers usually aren’t motivated to make significant changes to benefits plans because they require a lot of effort as well as financial investment. You’re basically stuck with what is provided.
Most companies offer fixed plans because they are relatively simple to implement; they have not yet embraced flexible benefits plans, whether set up as optional components in a traditional plan, as a Health Care Spending Account (HCSA), or as a modular plan, all of which can be tailored to meet diverse needs.
Another drawback with group employee benefits is that sometimes those in the plan pay twice for the benefits (due to the same benefits being covered by other plans for a spouse).
If employees are paying into a plan that allows opt-outs, they should carefully examine their other plans (health, life, etc.) for overlap and proceed accordingly.
If you are an employer and want to get a market quote from a group employee benefits specialist contact us today or would like more information
Term Life
Term is a fairly inexpensive form of insurance that provides protection over a pre-defined time period and gets more expensive every time that time period “renews”. Renewal prices are predetermined and built into your contract, it’s not something the insurance company can change after your contract is issued. Renewal prices are intentionally exorbitant expensive, you are meant to cancel your term contract after the initial period, which is why it’s crucial to get the term right, or you might be facing a renewal at a time when you are no longer insurable and are forced to pay the renewal prices. These plans are also “convertible” which means at any point while the policy is in-force, you can choose to convert the plan to a permanent plan offered by the same company, and costs are based on your age at the time.
Universal life
Universal life (UL) insurance is permanent life insurance that was born out of Whole Life from consumers demanding transparency and more flexibility. With UL you have the ability to invest in a tax-sheltered cash or fund value, the premium payments above insurance costs are deposited to the tax-sheltered investment account, which can then be invested in cash, GIC’s, or bond, balanced or equity mutual funds, which can be determined based on your risk tolerance. This requires active management of the investment portfolio and there is risk if your life insurance agent doesn’t do that job well. The key to UL is:
1. Transparency; you know exactly where your money is going,
2. Flexibility; you can adjust your planned premiums at any time, and
3. Plan structure; you can change a lot of aspects of these plans to suit your needs
UL is good for people who want life insurance to help their children pay estate taxes, for charitable gifts, in an estate freeze situation, or for corporately owned situations like funding buy-sell agreements, or taking advantage of some additional tax savings available to business owners of private companies for investment purposes. If you are considering a permanent plan and you are a business owner, it warrants a conversation with a seasoned professional and we can help you with that. Please let us know if you need to discuss your particular situation and get the appropriate advice. If it’s not right for you, we will let you know!
Whole Life
Whole life (WL) insurance is more of a black box, you don’t really get a clear look under the hood. But it comes with some perks that UL doesn’t have.It contains a savings component that is already included in what is referred to as the cost or premium. But you can make additional deposits if you want to put more of your savings in this tax-shelter. And you don’t have to manage the funds, the portfolio is actively managed by the insurance company and doesn’t require any investment decisions by you. It’s very much like a pension plan. But even pension plans don’t have access to three things Whole Life does:
1. Tax-sheltered growth
2. Smoothed returns
3. The CDA credit
The tax sheltered growth is written into Section 148 of the income tax act, the same way you’re able to invest in RRSPs and TFSAs, these are gifts from the Canadian federal government that have been in place for decades. The smoothed returns feature allows insurance companies to choose a dividend rate that is an average of 4-7 years of market performance, which has resulted in conservative positive returns for more than 100 years. The CDA credit is a gift in the income tax act that allows business owners to use low tax corporate income or savings to invest in permanent insurance and unlock that investment to personal beneficiaries without any tax. This is a very high level summary of truly complex sections of the act, so please get advice from an experienced insurance and tax professional when contemplating this.
Given that a mortgage is a loan, mortgage insurance helps cover your mortgage payments to the bank if you become seriously ill or die unexpectedly. In Canada, most banks require such insurance only when the borrower makes a down payment on a home of less than 20 percent.
It’s important to note that banks generally try to sell homeowners this type of insurance when they sign up for a new mortgage, and insurance premiums are then added to their monthly mortgage payments. These kinds of policies have many drawbacks such as:
1. You get declining coverage for a level price
2. Often the banks insurance is more expensive than if you shop the market and buy your own
3. The bank is the beneficiary, so you don’t have flexibility to invest the proceeds and continue mortgage payments
4. The term is equal to the term of your mortgage NOT the amortization, and expires after 1 term, so after the first 5 year term, you may be uninsurable but still need the coverage·
4. It is underwritten at claims time not time of applying so there is a much higher possibility of non payment than if you purchase your own personal and portable policy
Choosing the best life insurance company is just as important as choosing the right policy, and the only way to do so is to undertake due diligence. Determine each insurer’s financial stability through credit agencies. This is public knowledge and easy to find through Standard & Poor’s or Moody’s credit rating agencies.
Common questions are:
Do they relay information clearly? How affordable are their rates? What reviews have they earned? How easy are they to work with after your policy is in force? Are they responsive? What is the company’s policy reserves?
Some companies even offer an expedient underwriting process or higher non-medical limits, especially since the COVID-19 outbreak early in 2020.
