Table of contents
In today’s fast-paced world, it’s crucial to safeguard your financial future and protect yourself against unexpected life events. Critical illness insurance plays a vital role in providing financial security and peace of mind in the face of a serious health diagnosis. This comprehensive review will delve into Beneva’s critical illness insurance plans, examining their key features, benefits, and how they compare to other leading insurers in the Canadian market.
By understanding the intricacies of Beneva’s offerings and comparing them to competitors, you can make an informed decision about whether their plans align with your specific needs and budget. Whether you’re seeking comprehensive coverage for a wide range of critical illnesses or looking for a more cost-effective options, this review will provide valuable insights to help you navigate the critical illness insurance landscape.
About Beneva Inc.
Beneva, a prominent insurance provider in Canada, has a rich history rooted in two mutual insurance companies founded in the 1940s, La Capitale and SSQ Insurance. In 2020, these insurers merged to form Beneva, uniting their expertise and resources to create a stronger, more comprehensive insurance provider.
This merger marked a significant milestone in Beneva’s journey. In 2023, the company further solidified its position by taking over the insurance policies, group benefits, and investment products previously managed by La Capitale and SSQ Insurance. This transition allowed Beneva to become the insurer, distributor, and employer, streamlining operations and enhancing its ability to serve its members and clients.
Today, Beneva stands as a leading insurance provider with a strong financial foundation and a commitment to providing exceptional service. The company manages over $25 billion in assets, has a vast customer base of over 3.5 million members and clients, and employs a dedicated team of over 5,500 people across Canada.
Beneva offers a comprehensive suite of insurance products tailored to meet the diverse needs of its customers, including:
- Term life insurance
- Whole life insurance
- Universal life insurance
- Disability insurance
- Home and auto insurance
- Segregated funds
- Payout annuities
With its strong heritage, financial stability, and comprehensive product offerings, Beneva is well-positioned to continue serving the insurance needs of Canadians for years to come.
Key facts about Beneva Inc.
AM Best Rating: A
Head office: 625 rue Jacques-Parizeau, Québec, QC G1R 2G5
Website: https://www.beneva.ca/
Contact phone number: 1-855-747-2233
What Critical Illness Insurance Plans Does Beneva Offer?
What is critical illness insurance?
Critical illness insurance is a type of policy that provides a tax-free lump sum payment if you’re diagnosed with a serious medical condition such as cancer, heart attack, or stroke. This payout can be used to cover a wide range of expenses, including medical treatments not covered by your health insurance, mortgage payments, or even daily living costs.
Unlike life insurance, which benefits your dependents after your death, critical illness insurance is designed to provide financial support while you’re alive and recovering.
Statistics on critical illnesses
The need for critical illness insurance becomes clearer when you look at the statistics. For instance:
- Cancer: 40% of women and 45% of men in Canada are expected to be diagnosed with cancer during their lifetime.
- Heart attack: Every year, 70,000 Canadians will suffer a heart attack, or around one every 7 minutes.
- Stroke: More than 50,000 strokes occur in Canada each year, making it one of the leading causes of disability.
These staggering figures highlight the importance of having financial safeguards in place to cover the cost of treatment, recovery, and maintaining your lifestyle during such an event.
What does critical illness insurance cover?
A typical critical illness insurance policy covers a broad spectrum of medical conditions, including but not limited to:
- Cancer
- Heart attack
- Stroke
- Organ transplants
- Coronary artery bypass surgery
- Neurological disorders (like multiple sclerosis or Parkinson’s disease)
Coverage can vary by policy, with some offering enhanced plans that include up to 25 conditions, while others may focus on covering only the most common illnesses. Children’s critical illness policies provide additional protection for childhood diseases.
Who needs critical illness insurance?
While everyone can benefit from the financial security critical illness insurance offers, it’s especially useful for:
- Self-employed individuals who don’t have access to group health plans.
- Families who need financial stability in case one parent has to stop working due to illness for either the parents or children.
- Primary breadwinners who have dependents relying on their income.
If you’re in one of these categories, critical illness insurance could help fill the gaps that health and disability insurance may not cover.
How much coverage do you need?
Determining the right amount of coverage depends on your financial situation and expenses. Common recommendations consider the following factors:
- Monthly living expenses: Multiply your essential monthly costs (mortgage, utilities, groceries) by the number of months you expect to be out of work.
- Existing health insurance: Evaluate how much your current insurance covers and where there might be gaps, especially for treatment-related costs like physiotherapy and drugs.
- Out-of-country travel: If a specialist abroad offers better treatment options, having the funds to travel outside Canada for a second opinion or medical treatment can provide financial flexibility.
- Home modifications: Some serious illnesses or surgeries could permanently affect your mobility. In such cases, you may need money to modify your home for accessibility, such as adding ramps, stairlifts, or widening doorways for wheelchair access.
Coverage limits can range from $10,000 to $3,000,000, allowing you to customize the plan to your needs.
Is it worth it?
For many people, critical illness insurance is worth the investment due to the potential financial strain that a serious illness can bring. Treatment costs, time off work, and rehabilitation expenses can quickly add up. The one-time lump sum payment will provide crucial financial relief.
However, it’s essential to weigh the cost of premiums against your likelihood of needing such coverage based on family history, lifestyle, and existing insurance.
Next, let’s delve into the specific features, benefits, and potential drawbacks of Beneva’s critical illness insurance plans. We’ll also compare these offerings to similar products from other leading insurance providers in Canada.
Critical Illness Insurance – Basic, Enhanced, and Child
Beneva offers two tiers of critical illness insurance for adults—Basic and Enhanced—each designed to meet different coverage needs. Both plans are available for individuals aged 18 to 65 with the benefit paid after a 30-day survival period. Beneva also has a product designed specifically for children.
Basic Plan
Beneva’s Basic plan covers the three most common critical illnesses:
- Cancer
- Heart attack
- Stroke
This entry-level option is ideal for those seeking essential protection against these high-risk conditions. You can select a lump sum benefit between $25,000 and $2,000,000, depending on your financial needs.
Enhanced Plan
The Enhanced plan extends coverage to 25 critical illnesses, including the three covered under the Basic plan plus 22 additional conditions. This plan offers more comprehensive protection for individuals looking to cover a broader range of potential health risks. Like the Basic plan, the lump sum payout can range from $25,000 to $2,000,000, ensuring flexibility in coverage amount.
Supplementary Benefit
The Enhanced and Child plans also include a Supplementary Benefit feature, which pays out 10% of the benefit amount (up to $50,000) for the early stages of four non-life-threatening conditions. These include early-stage cancers like breast cancer and prostate cancer, allowing you to receive partial benefits even before the illness becomes more severe.
Children’s Endorsement Rider
For the Basic and Enhanced plans, Beneva offers the option to add the children’s endorsement rider, which provides up to $50,000 in coverage for children diagnosed with any of 15 illnesses, including childhood-specific conditions like cerebral palsy and type 1 diabetes.
For those seeking even more comprehensive coverage for their children, Beneva also offers a separate Child plan, which covers a wider range of conditions and allows for higher payout limits compared to the rider. This plan covers 28 illnesses up to $250,000, making it a strong alternative for parents looking for higher coverage or broader policy terms.
This flexibility enables parents to choose the right level of protection for their family’s needs, whether through the rider or a standalone policy.
Coverage Terms and Premiums
Both the Basic and Enhanced plans offer flexible term lengths with guaranteed level premiums for:
- Term-10: Premiums guaranteed for 10 years, increasing every 10 years until expiry at age 75
- Term-20: Premiums guaranteed for 20 years, increasing every 20 years until expiry at age 75
- Term-75: Premiums guaranteed until age 75
- Term-100: Premiums guaranteed until age 100
- Term-100 20-pay: Premiums guaranteed for 20 years, upon which the policy is paid-up
This flexibility allows you to choose a term that best suits your long-term planning and budget. Only the term-75 and term-100 plans are available for children.
Assistance Benefit
Additionally, Beneva includes an Assistance Benefit that provides policyholders with 24/7 access to medical support, consultation services, and assistance following the diagnosis of a covered condition. This feature ensures policyholders have immediate access to expert medical advice and guidance during what can be a stressful and uncertain time.
Overall, Beneva critical illness insurance offers a high degree of flexibility, allowing you to tailor your coverage to your specific needs.
- Pros:
- Beneva provides a variety of term lengths to choose from, including term-10, term-20, term-75, and term-100, as well as term-100 paid up in 20 years option. This flexibility allows you to customize your policy to your specific financial goals and budget, offering both short-term and long-term coverage with guaranteed level premiums
- It allows you to insure up to six people under one policy, significantly reducing the overall policy fees. This feature makes it a cost-effective option for families looking to protect multiple members with comprehensive coverage, all while consolidating the management of their insurance into one plan.
- Beneva lets you to convert a term-10 or term-20 policy into term-75 or term-100 without requiring additional medical evidence of insurability. This feature provides you the flexibility to extend your coverage as your needs evolve, without worrying about health changes affecting your eligibility for extended protection.
- Cons:
- While Beneva offers partial payments for certain conditions, the 10% payout is lower than the 15% that you will find with most other insurers.
- Beneva’s plan imposes a 30-day survival period for all covered illnesses before benefits are paid out. In contrast, many other insurers apply this waiting period only to specific conditions like cardiovascular diseases.
- The Child plan covers only three childhood-specific illnesses, which is fewer than what some other insurers offer, with competitors covering up to six childhood conditions.
Here is a table comparing the features and benefits of the Beneva critical illness insurance plans:
Basic | Enhanced | Child | |
|---|---|---|---|
Age eligibility | 18-65 | 18-65 | 30 days to 17 years old |
Number of illnesses covered | 3 | 25 | 28 |
Plan types | Term-10, Term-20, Term-75, Term-100, Term-100 20-pay | Term-10, Term-20, Term-75, Term-100, Term-100 20-pay | Term-75, Term-100, Term-100 20-pay |
Guaranteed premiums | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Expiry | Age 75 or 100, depending on the plan | Age 75 or 100, depending on the plan | Age 75 or 100, depending on the plan |
Coverage limits | $25,000 to $2,000,000 | $25,000 to $2,000,000 | $25,000 to $250,000 |
Survival period | 30 days for all illnesses | 30 days for all illnesses | 30 days for all illnesses |
Partial benefits | None | Pays 10% of the chosen benefit amount, up to $50,000, for less severe illnesses. Covers four illnesses. Only pays once | Pays 10% of the chosen benefit amount, up to $50,000, for less severe illnesses. Covers four illnesses. Only pays once |
Conversion privileges | Term-10 and term-20 can be converted to term-75 or term-100 | Term-10 and term-20 can be converted to term-75 or term-100 | No |
Type of underwriting | Fully underwritten. A medical exam may be necessary | Fully underwritten. A medical exam may be necessary | Fully underwritten. A medical exam may be necessary |
Riders | Return of premiums on death, return of premiums at expiry, return of premiums on cancellation or expiry, children’s endorsement, disability waiver of premium, benefit in case of fracture | Return of premiums on death, return of premiums at expiry, return of premiums on cancellation or expiry, children’s endorsement, disability waiver of premium, benefit in case of fracture | Return of premiums on death, return of premiums at expiry, return of premiums on cancellation or expiry, owner disability waiver of premium |
Value-added service | Assistance benefit | Assistance benefit | Assistance benefit |
How to purchase | Through a licensed insurance advisor | Through a licensed insurance advisor | Through a licensed insurance advisor |
What Illnesses Does Beneva Critical Illness Insurance Cover?
Beneva’s critical illness insurance plans provide coverage for a range of illnesses depending on the plan chosen. Here’s a breakdown of the conditions covered under the Basic, Enhanced, and Child plans.
Basic
The Basic plan covers the three most common critical illnesses:
- Heart attack
- Life-threatening cancer
- Stroke
Enhanced
The Enhanced plan covers the three conditions from the Basic plan, plus an additional 22 illnesses:
- Alzheimer’s disease
- Aortic surgery
- Aplastic anaemia
- Bacterial meningitis
- Benign brain tumour
- Blindness
- Coma
- Coronary artery bypass surgery
- Deafness
- Heart valve replacement
- Kidney failure
- Loss of independent existence
- Loss of limbs
- Loss of speech
- Major organ failure on waiting list
- Major organ transplant
- Motor neuron disease
- Multiple sclerosis
- Occupational HIV infection
- Paralysis
- Parkinson’s disease and specified atypical Parkinsonian disorders
- Severe burns
Child
The Child plan covers the same 25 illnesses as the Enhanced plan, plus an additional three childhood-specific conditions:
- Autism
- Cystic fibrosis
- Muscular dystrophy
Suppplemental Benefit
Beneva’s Supplementary Benefit is a valuable feature included in both the Enhanced and Child critical illness insurance plans. This benefit provides an early payout for non-life-threatening conditions, offering 10% of your total benefit amount, up to a maximum of $50,000. It covers the following four conditions:
- Coronary angioplasty
- Ductal carcinoma in situ of the breast
- Stage A (T1a or T1b) prostate cancer
- Stage 1A malignant melanoma
How Much Does Beneva Critical Illness Insurance Cost?
The cost of critical illness insurance is influenced by various personal and policy-specific factors. Understanding how these factors impact your premium can help you tailor a plan that meets your needs and budget.
- Age
Age is one of the most significant factors affecting the cost of critical illness insurance. The older you are when you apply, the higher the risk of developing a serious illness, resulting in higher premiums. Younger individuals pay lower premiums because they are considered lower risk.
- Gender
Insurance premiums differ based on gender. Women may be at higher risk for conditions like breast cancer, while men are more likely to develop heart disease.
- Smoking status
Smoking dramatically increases the cost of critical illness insurance. Smokers are at a much higher risk of developing health conditions like cancer, heart disease, and stroke, which translates into significantly higher premiums compared to non-smokers. Insurers will require a minimum period of cessation before considering you a non-smoker.
- Medical history
Your personal medical history plays a crucial role in determining your premium. If you have a history of chronic diseases or previous diagnoses of serious illnesses, insurers view you as a higher risk and will adjust your premiums accordingly. Even pre-existing conditions, such as high blood pressure or diabetes, can influence the cost.
- Family history of major hereditary diseases
Insurers consider the health history of your immediate family members. If there is a family history of hereditary diseases like cancer, cardiovascular disease, or diabetes, you may face higher premiums because of the increased likelihood that you could develop these conditions.
- Lifestyle choices
Lifestyle choices that impact your overall risk profile, such as participation in hazardous activities, driving infractions, and drug and alcohol consumption, can also influence your premium. People with high-risk behaviors or those who engage in dangerous activities (like extreme sports) might see their premiums increase. Maintaining a low-risk and healthy lifestyle can help keep premiums lower.
- Coverage amount
The amount of coverage you choose directly affects your premium. The more coverage you opt for, the higher the premium will be. Coverage amounts for Beneva’s critical illness insurance range from $25,000 to $2,000,000. Selecting a higher payout amount ensures more financial protection but comes at a greater cost.
- Optional riders
Finally, adding optional riders to your policy, such as the children’s endorsement or return of premium, increases the overall cost of your policy. While riders enhance the policy’s flexibility and protection, they also raise the premiums.
Below is a sample table illustrating the monthly premium rates for a $100,000 term-10 Enhanced plan based on different ages for both male and female non-smokers.
Age | Male | Female |
|---|---|---|
25 | $26 | $26 |
30 | $30 | $30 |
35 | $35 | $37 |
40 | $48 | $50 |
45 | $69 | $66 |
50 | $102 | $94 |
55 | $154 | $134 |
60 | $241 | $189 |
65 | $412 | $288 |
How Do You Buy A Beneva Critical Illness Insurance Plan?
Purchasing critical illness insurance can be a straightforward process if you understand the key steps involved. Here’s a guide to help you navigate the process of buying a policy:
- Find a licensed insurance advisor
The first step in buying critical illness insurance is to find a qualified insurance advisor who is licensed in your province. An advisor can help you assess your coverage needs, recommend appropriate products, and guide you through the application process.
- Preliminary assessment of eligibility
If you have pre-existing medical conditions, a family history of illness, or certain lifestyle risks, it’s a good idea to conduct a preliminary assessment. Your advisor can help you determine if you qualify for coverage and what premium rates to expect. This step can prevent delays or surprises later in the process.
- Apply for coverage through your advisor
Once you’ve chosen the type of coverage that suits your needs, your insurance advisor will help you apply for coverage. Beneva offers an online application system, but it is only accessible through the advisor. Your advisor will submit your application, ensuring all necessary details are included for smooth processing.
- Underwriting process
After submitting your application, Beneva will begin the underwriting process to assess your eligibility. This process may require a review of your medical history, including attending physician statements (APS) and a medical exam. The doctor’s report will provide details about pre-existing conditions that will aid the underwriter in assessing whether you’re at a higher risk of making a claim.
- Underwriting decision
Following the underwriting assessment, Beneva will make an underwriting decision. The insurance company may offer you coverage at standard rates, or they may apply an increased premium (known as a rated policy) if your health condition poses a higher risk. In some cases, Beneva may decline or postpone your application, especially if there are significant health concerns that need to improve before you can be covered.
- Accept and pay for your policy
If you are offered coverage, the final step is to accept the policy and pay the initial premium to activate your coverage. Once payment is made, your policy is in force, and you will be protected under the terms of the critical illness insurance contract.
Following these steps with the guidance of an advisor ensures that you make informed decisions and find the right policy to protect yourself and your loved ones.
Need A Beneva Critical Illness Insurance Quote?
Critical illness insurance is an essential safety net, protecting you and your family from the financial strain that comes with a serious illness.
With Beneva’s flexible coverage options, including Basic and Enhanced plans, as well as the ability to add protection for your children, you can customize a plan that fits your specific needs and lifestyle. However, it’s important to compare plans from multiple insurers to ensure you’re getting the best coverage at the most competitive rates.
We can help you navigate the options and provide a detailed comparison with other insurance companies, so you can be confident in your decision. We offer a free, no-obligation consultation to help you find the best coverage for your situation. By providing ongoing support, you can be certain that your policy continues to meet your needs as your financial and personal circumstances evolve.
To get started, email us at info@briansoinsurance.com or call 604-928-1628 to schedule a free consultation. You can also use the form below to request a personalized quote delivered straight to your inbox.
Additionally, we can design a complete insurance solution that includes life, disability, health and dental, and critical illness insurance, ensuring that you are fully protected against life’s risks. Don’t wait—reach out today to secure your financial future.
Get Your Critical Illness Insurance Quote Now
While we make every effort to keep our site updated, please be aware that timely information on this page, such as quote estimates, or pertinent details about companies, may only be accurate as of its last edit day. Brian So Insurance and its representatives do not give legal or tax advice. Please consult your own legal or tax adviser. This post is a brief summary for indicative purposes only. It does not include all terms, conditions, limitations, exclusions, and other provisions of the policies described, some of which may be material to the policy selection. Please refer to the actual policy documents for complete details which can be provided upon request. In case of any discrepancy, the language in the actual policy documents will prevail. A.M. Best financial strength ratings displayed are not a warranty of a company’s financial strength and ability to meet its obligations to policyholders.
