Life Insurance Vancouver: Intro
Welcome to your Life Insurance Guide for Vancouver, BC. This page will give you an idea of Life Insurance Premiums people choose to pay in British Columbia and across other provinces, will inform about key factors that impact your Life Insurance Rates, and share some savings opportunities when choosing Life Insurance.
How Much Do Others Choose to Pay for Life Insurance in BC and in Canada
The chart shows a comparison of term life and universal life insurance premiums that consumers pay for Life Insurance in Canada. Please consider that though these are are self-reported data, we found out that many consumers in British Columbia are underinsured. Life Insurance premiums will also strongly depend on number of factors – these are average premiums.
Overall there are several important questions to answer before choosing Life Insurance:
- How much coverage (e.g. $100,000 or $$2,000,000) do I need and how long (e.g. for the next 25 years to insure my mortgage vs till end of my life to ensure that my family is safe)?
- What type of life insurance product do I need (e.g. Term Life, Whole Life, Universal Life etc)?
- What provider should I choose?
When you are getting a quote with us, we not only calculate the best rate for you based on your needs but also give an opportunity to speak with an experienced adviser who can answer all your questions, address your concerns and explain all insurance details.
Life Insurance in Vancouver: Expert Summary
“If you are living in Vancouver, you are probably aware that the average property value is gone up pretty significantly. In the last year alone, it has gone up over 14% and it is sitting at over $1.2 million. If you have a house in Vancouver, it is even a lot more than that. And with those high property values, there are also pretty high mortgages out there and that’s where life insurance can come in play because if you were to pass away and you do not have that mortgage protected, it is gonna create a lot of havoc on your family.
But mortgage is just one of the needs you need to protect, you may have a line of credit, you may have an education for your children where you want to set money aside for, emergency funds – these are things you need to cover and how you determine the need is to make sure that you go through a needs-analysis where you determine how much coverage you need, you look at your life insurance needs we just talked about, assets that you have in place. If those assets are less than the need, then you have a shortfall and that where life insurance can really come in and a broker can help you to come up with that number so you can make sure that your family is adequately protected.
Once you have the number, you have to determine do you want a Term policy where the rates start off lower and go up as you get older or you want a permanent policy where the rates start up higher but never go up as you get older. And once again, a broker can determine which company is going to provide you with the best solution for you and your family. We work with a great team of brokers in Vancouver who can certainly help with that.”
How Do Different Aspects Impact Your Life Insurance Rates?
| # | Aspect | Rate Impact |
| 1 | Smoking | Increase of 200% |
| 2 | Drinking | Increase of 50% |
| 3 | Your Family History | Increase of 50 – 250% |
| 4 | Your Medical History | Excludes coverage for some deseases |
| 5 | Your Depression History | Increase of 50 – 200% |
| 6 | Your Physical Build | Decrease of 25% to Increase of 200% |
| 7 | Your Driving Record | Increase of 25% to 50% |
| 8 | Your Gender | Decrease of 25% for Women |
How Can You Save on Life Insurance?
- Avoid insurance agents: Insurance agent is not equal to insurance broker. Agents typically work for one company only and can offer only products of this company. That does not leave too many options.
- Got Life, Disability and Critical Illness? Cancel Mortgage insurance: Mortgage insurance is a fascinating product created by money lenders. Simply said, it is a different name of Life, Disability and Critical Illness insurance policy associated with payments for your mortgage. Got a mortgage of $500k together with mortgage insurance for that? Well, if you have a Life policy large enough, you can save yourself mortgage insurance.
- Get rid of unnecessary riders: Check additional riders offered with a life policy to decide if you need them e.g. Accident death benefit (higher payouts in case of death through an accident), term conversion rider (in case you want convert your Universal policy into Term).
- Rounding mathematics matters: If you decide to buy a life insurance policy, make sure that your age rounds down and not up, i.e. if you are going to be 30 years old on December 31, buy the policy in the first 6 months of the year where your age is still rounded down to 29 and not 30.
- Time goes by, driving offenses disappear (almost): If your driving record improved while you have a life insurance policy, you can review your premiums with your insurer and get them reduced (typical time for smaller offenses to come off your driving record is 3 years).
- Say no to guaranteed issue life policy: People with good health do not need a guaranteed issue life insurance policy (these are policies that do not require a medical exam but they cost more) – do a health check / exam and enjoy lower life insurance premiums.
- Don’t drink excessively and reduce your low insurance rates: If you do not have any drinking issues, you can benefit from lower insurance rates – otherwise your premiums can increase by up to 50%. An intensive drinker would be considered somebody who drinks 3-4 beers a day.
- Smoking impacts your health and insurance rates: Stop smoking well in advance (at least a year) before applying for a policy – otherwise your premiums will double. Like cigars? Well, many life insurance companies consider smoking more than 1 cigar per month and you won’t be able to get non-smoker rates.
- Ladies, you rock: Female policyholders pay on average 25% less than male policyholders. Changing your gender will not really help – insurers consider the gender you were born with.
- Interested in more saving tips for Life Insurance? Get an insurance quote below and connect with an experienced insurance professional to get more tips.
Life Insurance Regulation Body in British Columbia
Similar to other provinces there is s regulation body in British Columbia that regulates life insurance matters, The Insurance Council of British Columbia. Council’s mandate is to provide a level of protection to the public pertaining to the sale of insurance products and services under the framework provided by the Act. The key objectives of The Insurance Council of British Columbia are:
- Ensure education requirements for licensing meet the minimum standards necessary to protect the public
- Provide licensing ensuring that all licensees are competent, trustworthy, financially reliable and intend to carry on the business of insurance in good faith and in accordance with the usual practice
- Discipline licensees when there has been a breach of the Act or Rules
Link: The Insurance Council of British Columbia
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Life Insurance by Province