“Aviva, is covid considered a critical illness?”
“If I died from covid, would my life insurance pay out?”
“I heard that getting the vaccine affects my insurability, is that true?”
It has become very clear that covid will remain an ongoing concern in 2022.
As each new variant extends the end date for the pandemic, I no longer even attempt to guess when this might officially be over.
In this continual state of uncertainty, how can we better prepare ourselves to move forward in the best way in 2022?
Here are 3 things to be aware of as we start the new year:
(1) Insurers have paid out millions to Canadians due to Covid
I have fielded many questions over the last 20 plus months from clients about covid and their insurance coverages. I wrote a dedicated blog post just for these sorts of questions listing each type of insurance and how insurers handle claims due to covid. You can read it here: https://insuranceevolved.ca/coronavirus-will-your-insurance-pay-out/
The fact is that life and health insurers paid out over $154 million in 2020 due to covid related deaths, $150 million in disability payments to support employees recovering from covid, and hundreds of millions more in related health claims on group benefit plans.
(2) Cost of living in Canada increased to 4.7%, an 18-year high
Inflation is higher than it’s been since 2003, and it is not expected to decrease anytime soon due to covid, supply chain issues and shortages. This means that our weekly bills will continue to climb, so we need to be strategic about our finances. It will also be important to reassess our financial plans to reflect these higher costs and determine what adjustments are needed, especially for those who are planning for retirement in the next 5+ years.
Getting a good handle on our expenditures, re-evaluating our monthly costs and seeing if we should make any changes to them are necessary steps to ensure we are still on track to achieve our financial goals for the future.
(3) Getting – or not getting – the vaccine does not change your insurability
A few months ago, rumors were circulating on the web that getting vaccinated for COVID-19 would negatively affect your existing life insurance and group benefits coverage. Or that getting a COVID-19 vaccine would impact your ability to get new life and health insurance coverage.
This is simply not true and insurers have issued statements to that effect (see Manulife’s reassurance here: https://www.manulife.ca/business/news/group-benefits-news/vaccination-and-insurance-coverage.html )
What DOES affect your insurability?
Insurers are concerned with the state of your health now and your medical history. The best time to get life insurance, disability and critical illness coverage is when you are in good health and since rates are based on your age, the younger, the better. These last few years we have encouraged families to get coverage for their children as well, to lock in their insurability during these uncertain times; and because they are so young, you lock in extremely low rates.
Questions about covid and your life insurance, disability or critical illness coverage?
Want to learn more about your options when it comes to getting insurance coverage?
Book a meeting with me!
Stay Healthy and Safe,
Aviva B. Abraham, CPA
Insurance and Group Benefits Advisor
