Life Insurance Blog Area

Life Insurance Blog Post Date: Mar 22, 2007

Getting Information From Life Insurance Companies

UPDATE: Getting information from Life Insurance Companies

I sent off a fax a few two weeks ago to 10 life insurance companies asking them for information about their companies and their products. I am interested to help Canadians better understand these life insurance companies in a little more detail. I knew it was going to be quite a bit of work to get any information out of a life insurance company, but I'm bracing for the actuals...

• Companies Main
  
• TransAmerica Life Ins
  
• AIG Direct
  
• Canada Life Assurance
  
• Empire Life Insurance
  
• Equitable Life Insurance
  
• Industrial Alliance Ins
  
• Standard Life Ins
  
• RBC Life Insurance
  
• Manulife Insurance
  
• Unity Life Insurance

Not surprising... I didn't hear back from one of these life insurance companies yet. I guess they don't understand that hundreds of people visit this site every day and that what I'm trying to do is help people understand them better!!

The frustrating thing was that I spent the better part of a day getting the fax numbers and contact information for the marketing / media people from each life insurance company.

That involved finding the main phone number for each company and then sitting on hold while the receptionist looked up the marketing / media's contact information for theri company. (It was also amusing when I asked for the ombudsman of each life insurance company.)

I am going to do my follow up calls with the marketing /media contacts that I have been given and see what the status is of their replies.

I get a strong feeling that I'm not going to be at the top of their list of things to do. I am going to see if I can get time and/or date when they will start to look at my life insurance questions, so that I can start to post the answers here for our readers.

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Life Insurance Blog Post Date: Mar 18, 2007

Life Insurance Industrial Alliance Pacific High Cholesterol Overweight

I received this story from one of our visitors:
I thought I should post it here:
A HARD LESSON - LIFE INSURANCE
UPDATE FROM READER:
I spoke with my life insurance agent from Industrial Alliance.
He indicated that even though I defaulted on my life insurance policy, I had 120 days to make up my payments and submit a SHORT health questionairre in order to reinstate my life insurance policy.

This is good news as I thought I would have to go through the whole approval process and get a new life insurance policy.

So... as it stands, because I'm still within the 120 day period, I can reinstate my existing policy by paying the outstanding amount and submitting a short life insurance questionairre.


PREVIOUSLY...
I learned about T100 or Term to 100 when I was about 30 years old from an life insurance agent who lived across the street. This fellow had been selling life insurance for years and was pretty successful with it.

I liked the concept of the policy in that I would have the same premiums for the next 70 years. The rate would never increase and I wouldn't have to get another medical for the life of the policy.

That was about 12 years ago when I purchased that Term 100 (T100) life insurance policy from Industrial Alliance Pacific, for both myself and my wife. At the time we were around 30 years old, making these policies very cheap and easy to pay for.

Just recently I have been under an enormous amount of stress and pressure with the task of rebuilding my business. I've been so tired and exhausted (and admittedly short of funds) that I forgot to remit my payments to Industrial Alliance Pacific.

Two months passed quickly as I've been working 7 days per week, completely immersed in my business.

MY POLICY WAS CANCELLED BECAUSE OF NSF
A few weeks ago I got a letter from Industrial Alliance Pacific saying that my policy was cancelled because of lack of payment!! I was horrified, but under the circumstances it seemed par for the course. Rebuilding my business has sapped all the money, emotional strength and physical energy that I've got.

I have paid my premiums faithfully every month for the last 12 years. The insurance company has been kind enough to accept my payment each month and send me a statement from time to time.

I HAVE TO REINSTATE MY POLICY- WITH CONDITIONS
I contacted my life insurance agent who indicated that while I can reinstate my policy and my premiums won't increase, I also have to answer a few medical questions to UPDATE my policy.

Here's where the problems come in..
Just a few weeks ago I went to the doctors to get a check up. As I've been feeling exhausted all the time I thought I should get a check up to make sure that my health is good.

The doctor reported about a week later that I had high cholesterol. High cholesterol?!!

I've also gained about 50 pounds since I took my policy out. So, being overweight, and having high cholesterol all of a sudden makes me a higher risk. And as such, my rates will probably be increased as a result.

These are health problems that I wouldn't have had to report if I had have kept up my payments to a current level.

HIGH CHOLESTEROL AND BEING OVERWEIGHT
Being overweight and having high cholesterol seem to go hand in hand. It bothers me that my weight problem and high cholesterol are starting to cost me more money.!!

Being overweight and having high cholesterol are not things that can be fixed over night. It's not like I can lose 50 pounds and get my cholesterol level to a proper level before my next medical in a few weeks. I'm going to be stuck with higher rates monthly for the next 30 years.

PAY ATTENTION TO PAYING FOR YOUR LIFE INSURANCE POLICY
Normally I would have paid my bills on time and current. I didn't really know about the consequences of not making payments for two months to Industrial Alliance Pacific. Honestly, I didn't know how long the insurance company would take before they cancelled my policy due to insufficient funds. Was it two months, three months? I didn't really think about it at all.

Because of that lack of financial management, I came face to face with my health problems due to overwork and high stress. I wouldn't have had to really think about those if I had made my payments on time to Industrial Alliance Pacific. (I have been thinking about my health lately, however, just not in relation to my insurance policy)

Insurance policies are those quiet services that take money out of your pocket each month, but you don't really pay too much attention to.

I LEARNED FROM THIS EXPERIENCE TO PAY ATTENTION!!

Contributed by: a visitor to www.quality-ins.com

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Life Insurance Blog Post Date: Mar 15, 2007

Don't Really Understand Your Life Insurance Policy?

Don't really understand your life insurance policy?
We have a post on Canadian Money Advisor- Life Insurance Canada where the reader is talking about the fact that she purchased her life insurance policy 7 years ago and can't really remember the terms of the policy.

I'm sure this happens to every body who has purchased life insurance over the years.

THE SCENARIO:
You purchased your life insurance policy several years ago and have been paying on it, and are happy with it ever since.

All of a sudden you have health issues which might be a problem when you have to renew the policy in the next little while. You go to call the life insurance company such as TransAmerica Canada, Industrial Alliance, Manulife Life Insurance, and they all mention that you would have to visit your original agent in order to get the information you're requesting on diabetes, overweight, high cholesterol, or what ever the problem may be.

If you can remember the agent's name and phone number, you'll probably get a vague answer about your health problems.

OUR MISSION TO FIND OUT THIS INFORMATION
That's why we're taking the time on this site to start to investigate these issues for you.

If you have a question about your current Canadian life insurance policy, please ask us in the comment section of this post. Either I or one of my colleagues will do some research and give you the answer.

Life does change on a very constant basis.
You situation regarding your life insurance policy will change as well as the years go by.

I know for a fact that there are millions of people who purchased their life insurance policy 10 or more years ago and have recently had health issues or some other change of life status that will change their rating factor for when they go to renew their life insurance policy.

Let us know if you have any questions.

Also, if you just Need a Quote , let us know that as well.

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Life Insurance Blog Post Date: Mar 15, 2007

Empire Life Insurance Reports 1Q Results

Empire Life Insurance reports 1Q results.

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Life Insurance Blog Post Date: Mar 15, 2007

Feature Stories About TransAmerica Life Insurance

Feature stories about TransAmerica Life Insurance

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Life Insurance Blog Post Date: Mar 13, 2007

Why God Created Life Insurance Agents!

Why God Created Life Insurance Agents!

I spent the better part of today calling 10 life insurance carriers in Canada to get their marketing / media department contact numbers.
I am starting to work on the following pages to fill them up with good valuable pieces of information for our readers.

Companies Main
TransAmerica Life Ins
AIG Direct
Canada Life Assurance
Empire Life Insurance
Equitable Life Insurance
Industrial Alliance Ins
Standard Life Ins
RBC Life Insurance
Manulife Insurance
Unity Life Insurance

What a painful situation:
Just getting through to the reception of the life insurance company was difficult in some cases. These are not easy people to get a hold of.

One fellow at Unity Life didn't want to give me his fax number and wanted me to get some clearance from the Director of Marketing to get their fax number!!

Another fellow at AIG Life Insurance told me straight off that any information that I was asking them about their life insurance company would probably have to be cleared through their legal department.

You think that I was asking these companies for the Coca Cola's or Colonel Sanders secret recipe for their products.

I'm simply asking them a few easy questions about their company background, the benefits of their products etc.

I'm sure the process of talking to these life insurance carriers will get progessively easier, however, at this moment, I'm having to practice my diligence just to get to first base with these companies.

GOOD TO KNOW FOR CONSUMERS
This is important to know when you're looking for life insurance. Some of the factors involved in purchasing life insurance from a certain company is how quickly they respond to your questions, and how well they give your agent service.

I hate to say, but Canadian Life Insurance companies are big and bulky.
It will be my pleasure over the next few weeks to be in contact with them and report back to our readers what I find.

WE WANT TO MAKE IT EASY FOR OUR READERS
Ultimately My goal is to discover the "personality differences" between each life insurance carrier. From the outset, each company looks the same.

I want to make it easier for our readers to choose a life insurance company to buy from by using the information given on our website.

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Life Insurance Blog Post Date: Mar 01, 2007

Canadian Life Insurance Is About More Than Just Prices.

On my journey to research more information about life insurance, I was talking to a life insurance agent who said that while most people want the best life insurance prices, he doesn't necessarily encourage going with the lowest price.

Over the next little while I want to report about the differences between 10 life insurance companies in Canada.

• TransAmerica Life Insurance - Canada
  
• AIG Direct - Canada
  
• Canada Life Assurance - Canada
  
• Empire Life Insurance - Canada
  
• Equitable Life Insurance - Canada
  
• Industrial Alliance Insurance - Canada
  
• Standard Life Insurance - Canada
  
• RBC Life Insurance - Canada
  
• Manulife Insurance - Canada
  
• Desjardins Life Insurance - Canada
  
• Unity Life Insurance - Canada
  

These are all well known companies in Canada who have been around for quite some time. They're all big, credible and sell lots of life insurance.

But is price the only difference between the life insurance companies and their products. At first glance it would be easy to say that price is the only differentiating factor.

This agent that I talked to said that Manulife Canada was hard to get a hold of on the phone in some cases. If you need quick answers about your life insurance policy, it's important to know that you're going to at least be able to get through to their company.

This agent mentioned that many times Manulife Canada's prices are the lowest. He won't sell their policies because they're hard to deal with. In this case service is more important than price.

I am in the process of sending out a questionnaire to the life insurance carriers listed above. In that questionaire I will be asking some good questions that I'm sure our readers will find valuable.

It's my mission to get to the bottom of the question: Is price the only important factor when purchasing a life insurance policy.

I would be interested to hear from some readers about their experiences with life insurance companies in Canada.

• Are you happy with the service you're getting from your life insurance company?
  
• Are you unhappy about anything.
  
• Do you fully understand the contract you signed with your sales agent?
  
• What can these life insurance companies do to help you better understand your life insurance product.

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