Life Insurance Reviews

Equitable Life of Canada Life Insurance Reviews

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(14 reviews)
Equitable Life of Canada
2.3 out of 5 stars:
Customer service:
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policy problem

by Daniel on Jun 14, 2020
1 out of 5 stars

The company does not respond properly to customer problems. The company does not even try to resolve issues. They love to take the premiums but do not even listen to the customer. They sold us a non-smoking policy for our son and then changed it to a smoking policy without even informing us. Nothing on the premium notice showed the change or even when it was changed. The insurance application form clearly states he was a non-smoker and he has never smoked!

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Constructive cancellation

by Havingsaidthat on Jun 28, 2017
1 out of 5 stars

We returned from a trip last Friday and were shocked to find a letter dated June 5th from Equitable Life informing us that our life insurance policy had lapsed due to underfunding of "monthly administration charges".
We were further informed that our $165 monthly payments (referred to as "premiums" in the sales pitch and on the policy), were now $438 a month and a "shortage" amount of $1029 is owed by June 28th or we would be required to apply for reinstatement. The reinstatement would require us to requalify for life insurance on the basis of good health to the company's satisfaction.
We signed on to this Equation Universal Life policy on the advice of a so called financial advisor, who had been referred to us by a mortgage broker, due to our need at the time for mortgage insurance on an $80,000 mortgage. We still have the
We were 33 and 37 years old when we began with Equitable life, and we have paid $41,580 over 21 years for a $250000 insurance policy.
Having dutifully paid our premiums over 21 years, up to and including May 30, we are stunned to find ourselves suddenly uninsured with little time to react and come to grips with a staggering 165% premium increase.
We were a simple hardworking Canadian family in 1996 just trying to do the right thing in purchasing insurance. We didn't sign on to play the stock market, and we are not trained or well versed in financial matters. We trusted the experts and just kept on paying our premiums.
Given our evident longstanding loyalty, I am surprised that no financial advisor or customer service representative affiliated with our account bothered to contact us or otherwise give us advance notice of our looming situation.
We certainly were contacted with additional accident insurance offers from time to time.
To me, this appears to be a sort of constructive cancellation of our policy.
I contacted an Equitable Life Individual customer service representative on June 26 to request more specific details regarding the underfunding matter and the administration charges in writing.
I provided an email address and telephone number. I have received nothing to date.
I sincerely hope that this sort of thing never happens to anyone else.

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Stalling tactics at work

by Distraught on Apr 6, 2017
1 out of 5 stars

My brother in law died over 4 months ago and his wife was told today it will take a year to adjudicate the paper work on his life insurance policy. It is not a large amount but is needed to pay bills like the funeral. We don't understand. The man is dead and all paperwork is completed. What are we not understanding? Be aware of the stalling of payouts.

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Did you know that mortgage insurance is the same as life insurance but more expensive and offers less protection? By cancelling it and getting life insurance, you would typically save around 30%-40% for the same coverage.

Don't Buy from this company

by Mag on Oct 19, 2015
1 out of 5 stars

I tried to cancel my insurance from this company and they will not reply to my cancellation request. I had to put a stop payment block in order to stop them taking funds from my account. Will not recommend.

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Very poor communication

by Peter on Jun 29, 2015
2 out of 5 stars

Tried to purchase a term Life Insurance with The Equitable. Despite sending a nurse who did a detailed health evaluation (including blood-work), they requested additional information to my Dr. who took over 60 days to respond. Once Equitable got the report, they sent my file to reassurance and then came back saying I had a pending exam (just a regular physical I had pre-booked with my Dr.), so they needed to wait for those results. I tried to explain this was an ordinary annual check-up and that the nurse had already tested me for all the same stuff. Didn't matter.
I had the exam done the following week, and the day after I get a letter from the insurance company saying they were closing my file because they didn't get all the requested information.
If they manage to screw up the sign-up process, I don't want to imagine what filing a claim and getting paid must be like! Doesn't feel too equitable to me!!!

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Customer service

by Ba wang on Feb 9, 2023
1 out of 5 stars

Waited more than an hour before somebody picked up my call, I understand they are backlogged but the agent is rude and not helpful at all. It is so frustrating they always tell the same thing that doesn't make sense. So rude and unhelpful that lady whom I spoke to. Been calling them 5 times regarding my claim since December 2022 but until now no progress. You need to retrain your customer service! So rude...

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Do not recommend

by Mimiwo on Jan 12, 2021
1 out of 5 stars

This insurance company was bought out in the early 2000s after almost collapsing and it has been said that some policyholders lost their investments. A quick google will show all this info. After it was bought off from the brink of collapsing, they are now using third-party insurance and investment agents from a multi-level marketing company called World Financial Group (WFG). WFG has been sued multiple times for unethical practices and is a Multi-level marketing company that makes profits off recruitment with a facade of selling insurance and investments. After I became a client to an advisor some time ago and recently found out they had their license revoked for fraud allegations. There were hidden fees and documents that were not signed by me. The advisor placed my investments in a locked term with penalties if I were to withdraw them. I asked to not be in any sort of locked-in investment. Equitable reps said there is nothing they can do and they cannot control what advisors do.

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Horrible every time I deal

by Carolorac on Sep 9, 2020
1 out of 5 stars

Easy to connect to customer service BUT the tone of their representatives are sarcastic and unhelpful. They changed their app structure and it is impossible to find the break down of my coverage. Before it was easy and helpful. I could check what I have used and what I still haven't used now I can NO... I have to study what I have used and guess what is yet to be used. It is frustrating to have to call the customer service to find out why my payment % was so low as they can give you any explanation and how can you argue back if you can't see your benefits explanations. I got this from work of course. BUT I would not recommend this company to anyone, Anyway, disappointed is the word for this service!

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DO NOT BUY FROM THIS COMPANY

by C. Johnson on Apr 22, 2024
1 out of 5 stars

We had an agreement for a 10-year term for life insurance coverage for $120 a month. Ten years later they are taking over $1000 a month out of my account WITHOUT my authorization and without contacting me, I was in Mexico for the winter, not expecting to have someone’s hands in my bank, so I didn’t notice for 3 months. They REFUSE TO GIVE IT BACK.

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