Life Insurance in Canada

US life insurance sales took their greatest six-month drop since 1942, reported by LIMRA International. Bloomberg News reports that individual life insurance sales have nose dived 20% in the second quarter of 2009 because savers turned their backs on investments linked to stocks.

In Canada, LIMRA tells a different tale. In Canada these drops were only reported at 14% for universal life policies, a massive 6% difference to the US, using Steady Term Life and Whole Life policies to compensate for the losses. All told, there has only been a 1% drop in annualized payments so far in 2009.

Most financial planning consists of at the bottom line one type of Life Insurance even if the family cash flow is tighter in the US. Most households would find that there is a financial nightmare to contend with, if a family member dies without leaving adequate life insurance. For family members left behind, life insurance policies supply security from monetary problems.

Life Insurance plans don’t have to destroy the bank, there are ways to save on your premiums. We have put together some cash saving hints to get the utmost out of your life insurance.

Refrain from accidental death insurance. Lots of Canadian insurance companies heavily market accidental death insurance to unsuspecting consumers. Accidental death is extremely profitable for these companies, but produces only rare benefit to the consumer because less than 3% of all life insurance claims are paid out thanks to death-by-accident. Accidental death insurance can usually cost more than a comparable term policy.

Be wary of sales people that only sell for one company. They can only sell that business’s goods. Independent brokers often charge less expensive premiums set side by side to companies that employ captive agents. When an representatives is tied into one company’s policies they are unable to look for policies that best meet your needs or your pocket.

Less expensive policies can work out more expensive for you. The early premiums could be cheap, but work out the overall cost as it could be more expensive than purchasing a slightly higher priced policy in the first place. A gimmick insurance companies use to acquire your business is offering reduced premium introductory offers. Term insurance policies, which offer low initial premiums that rise as the insured ages, are appropriate if used for temporary insurance needs. The main problem with this attitude is we are not all the same, nor do we all have the same needs. A speedy sale without finding out what is the best policy and best price for your circumstances is something few brokers and representatives concern themselves with.

organizations that offer preferred rates are what you need to be searching for. The difference between preferred and standard rates can be very significant, notably for term policies. For example, buying a standard rate $500,000 Term 20 policy with Equitable Life would setback the normal 40 year old, non-smoking male just over $62 per month. Taking the equivalent details, using the preferred rates this policy would cost just about $20 less

Establish whether you are not over insured. By utilizing our Needs Analysis Calculator you can find out at a flash whether you are over or under insured.

Independent brokers are there to support you - employ them. However you must be certain he/she has access to a full breadth of companies not just two or three.

Regarding the commission payment for the insurance brokers, it doesn’t make a difference whether they are captive (working for only one company) or independent (for more companies), as all of them get their commission when an insurance policy is activated. Two advantages of working with a broker are that they can advise you on the best type and amount of coverage and they can search the market for the best premium. Of course, the agent receives his/her commission paid from the insurance company. Nevertheless, the media and consumer scepticism has done a lot to create misunderstanding. The main points regarding the payment process that are most commonly misunderstood will be described in the following paragraph.

“Life insurance commissions drive up the price of the policy.” Life insurance policies, whether sold by salaried employees or self-employed advisors, have distribution costs. The insurance company includes the price of distribution inside the price of their products. It usually doesn’t make any difference how the consumer buys the product. Some companies, for instance RBC Insurance or Manulife, charge the same premiums for the same life insurance sold via multiple distribution models. If you buy a $200,000 Term 10 policy from Manulife, you will always pay the same price - whether you get it via their call centre, website or use the services of an independent broker. “It is possible to negotiate the life insurance commissions.” That is not true, they are not. The situation is different from when you are buying a car or a house. Once again, the commissions are built into the distribution costs of the policy and cannot be changed.

“The commissions for Whole Life or Universal Life insurance are higher than for Term Life insurance.” In reality, the price of a life insurance policy influences the height of the commission for the agent - the higher the premium, the higher the commission. Whole and Universal policies have higher initial premiums than Term policies, but the Whole and Universal policies are bought once. Term policies increase in cost as the insured gets older, so they will buy multiple term policies over their lifetime. A commission is paid for each new policy, but what is crucial for the consumer is that each time he/she purchases a new policy, he/she is also older, so the policy price is therefore higher. The insurance rate also depends on the health status of the applicant - in case it has changed, the insurance rate will increase or the coverage won’t be available. For the applicants it is really crucial that they understand the difference between all the life insurance policies and that they know which one is the optimum choice for them. “The commissions paid by some insurance providers is better than from others.” It is true that one carrier might pay a slightly higher commission than another one, but the differences are only small. And the customer doesn’t need to care about this anyway, since the commissions are a fixed cost within the policy. It is however very important that your adviser has access to insurance from multiple carriers, as some of them, while independent, work only with two or three. Our advisors have access to 15 different life insurance carriers, ensuring you get the a best possible price.

Photo source: Tim Dorr

Primerica Financial Services is financial company, based in the USA, with subsidiaries in Canada (from 1986) and Spain (2000). Its “problematic” Multi Level Marketing structure is the main topic of many articles, blogs and discussions.

Their efforts to have a quantity of advisers for any price creates a lot of negative responses. But I want to write now about something different. I don’t want to write about their employees. I want to write about their products.

I has been in life insurance Canada business for 15 years and I think I have enough skills to point out 5 importante remarks about Primerica’ policies and their disadvantages.

1. It’s expensive. If you check prices of  competitors and prices of Primerica policies, you will recognize most of their products are overpriced - simply because there are too many people involved.
2. Stuck to the term life. I have nothing against term life of course, it’s very important part of my business, but it doesn’t fit everybody
3. Captive sales force - do you believe some company’s products can fit ANYBODY? Range of clients’ needs is much wider than any offer of one company. But Primerica advisers can/t offer you anything else…
4. Part-time advisers. Do you think it’s a good choice? Do they know more than you know about finance? go and read some articles about their “seminars” on the web!
5. Non convertible policies. don’t you want to think on the back door? Primerica doesn’t offer permanent policies, so if you are unlucky with health - you have problem!