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Imagine facing a life-changing diagnosis while worrying about medical bills and lost income. Critical illness insurance can be a lifesaver in such situations, providing a financial cushion during a difficult time. Sun Life is a prominent provider in Canada, but with various options available, are their plans the best fit for you?
This blog post will be your one-stop guide to Sun Life’s individual critical illness insurance plans. We’ll explore their comprehensive coverage, weigh the pros and cons, and compare them to competitors. We’ll even offer tips on choosing the best plan for your situation.
Don’t wait until it’s too late. Keep reading to ensure you’re financially prepared for anything life throws your way.
About Sun Life Insurance Company
Sun Life boasts a long and distinguished history in the financial services industry. Founded in 1865 by Canadian businessman Mathew Hamilton Gault, the company was initially called Sun Mutual Life Insurance Company. Shortly after in 1882, it changed its name to Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada.
By 1920, it had operations in an impressive 55 countries, including major markets like Hong Kong, the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Philippines. This international expansion solidified Sun Life’s reputation as a global leader in the financial world.
Sun Life wasn’t just about geographical reach; they were also pioneers in product innovation. In 1919, they became the first company in Canada to offer group insurance, a product that continues to be a cornerstone of employee benefit packages today.
The year 2000 marked a significant shift for Sun Life. They demutualized, transitioning from a mutual company to a publicly traded one. This move allowed them to raise capital and expand their offerings further. Today, Sun Life Financial trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX), the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), and the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE).
Beyond critical illness insurance, Sun Life has become a comprehensive financial services provider. Their product portfolio now encompasses a wide range of solutions, including:
- Term and permanent life insurance
- Health and dental insurance
- Long-term care insurance
- Travel insurance
- Group insurance
- Segregated funds
- Payout annuities
This diversification allows Sun Life to cater to a broad spectrum of financial needs across various life stages.
Key facts about Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada
AM Best Rating: A+
Head office: 227 King Street South, Waterloo, ON N2J 4C5
Website: https://sunlife.ca
Contact phone number: 1-877-786-5433
What Critical Illness Insurance Plans Does Sun Life Insurance Offer?
Critical illness insurance isn’t your everyday health insurance. It’s a specialized type of insurance designed to provide a financial safety net in the event you’re diagnosed with a serious medical condition. Imagine being struck by a critical illness like cancer, heart attack, or stroke. These events not only have a profound emotional impact, but they can also wreak havoc on your finances due to mounting medical bills, caregiver expenses, lost income, and potential modifications needed to your home.
Critical illness policies typically cover a defined list of major illnesses, including heart attack, cancer, stroke, kidney failure, and major organ transplants. It’s important to note that the specific illnesses covered will vary depending on the insurance company and the plan you choose, so comparisons based on price alone is generally insufficient.
The beauty of critical illness insurance lies in its flexibility. Upon diagnosis of a covered illness and meeting any policy stipulations (often surviving a certain period after diagnosis), you receive a tax-free lump sum payment. There are no restrictions on how you use this money, so you can use it to cover a variety of expenses, such as:
- Medical bills not covered by traditional health insurance
- Replacing lost income due to missed work
- Making modifications to your home to accommodate your condition
- Hiring a caregiver to take care of you during your recovery
- Supporting your family during a difficult time
- Fulfilling a lifelong dream or bucket list item
The statistics show that 9 in 10 Canadians have at least one risk factor for heart disease or stroke, while 2 in 5 Canadians will develop cancer in their lifetime. While these numbers may seem daunting, critical illness insurance can help you weather the financial storm associated with such diagnoses.
Next, let’s dive into Sun Life’s critical illness insurance plans and unpack the details of their coverage options.
Express Critical Illness Insurance
Sun Life’s Express Critical Illness Insurance caters to those seeking a simplified and affordable approach to critical illness coverage. Available for individuals aged 18 to 65, it offers three plan options to suit varying needs:
- Basic: This plan only covers cancer, the most common critical illness.
- Enhanced: This plan expands coverage to include the three major critical illnesses: cancer, heart attack, and stroke.
- Comfort: This plan offers the most comprehensive coverage among the Express options, encompassing the three conditions in the Enhanced plan, along with four other illnesses: coronary artery bypass surgery, aortic surgery, major organ transplant, and major organ failure while on waiting list.
Express Critical Illness Insurance offers a benefit amount of $25,000 for the Basic and Enhanced plans or $50,000 for the Comfort plan, making it ideal for those seeking a smaller payout to supplement existing financial resources. The Comfort plan even allows you to add $5,000 of coverage to your children for a small cost, providing some peace of mind for parents.
One significant benefit is the streamlined application process. Unlike comprehensive critical illness plans, Express Critical Illness Insurance doesn’t require a medical exam or any medical questions. This allows for a quick and hassle-free application process.
With its easy application, range of coverage options, and flexibility in payout amounts, Sun Life Express Critical Illness Insurance is a strong contender for those seeking essential critical illness protection without the complexities of a comprehensive plan.
- Pros:
- No blood work or medical questions are required, making it a breeze to apply and secure coverage quickly.
- Feeling unsure? Sun Life offers a 30-day full refund window on your Express Critical Illness Insurance policy. If within 30 days you decide it's not the right fit, you can simply cancel and receive a full refund.
- The plan focuses on the critical illnesses most likely to result in claims, including cancer, the leading cause of critical illness claims in Canada.
- Cons:
- Sun Life Express Critical Illness Insurance only offers two coverage amounts: $25,000 or $50,000, which may not be sufficient if you’re looking for a higher payout.
- Several other insurance companies offer higher coverage limits for simplified products than Sun Life’s plan.
- The premiums are not guaranteed to remain the same throughout the policy term, so there's a possibility that they could increase over time.
Sun Critical Illness Insurance
Sun Critical Illness Insurance stands out for its comprehensive approach. This plan goes beyond the basics, offering between $25,000 and $3,000,000 of coverage for 26 critical illnesses. This extensive list includes all the conditions covered by Express Critical Illness Insurance, plus illnesses like blindness, deafness, severe burns, kidney failure, and motor neuron disease.
Besides these illnesses that provide a full payout, the plan also covers eight less severe illnesses, providing a 15% payout of your chosen coverage amount, up to a maximum of $50,000. This ensures you receive some financial support even if your diagnosis doesn’t fall under the full coverage category.
Insuring your children is also possible, with child-specific plans covering an additional five childhood illnesses, such as type 1 diabetes and cerebral palsy.
Sun Life’s commitment to your well-being goes beyond just financial support. The plan includes access to Teladoc Medical Experts. These medical professionals can provide valuable guidance on your condition and treatment options, empowering you to make informed decisions about your healthcare journey.
- Pros:
- Sun Critical Illness Insurance offers a unique 10-pay option for its term-100 plan. This lets you pay your premiums over 10 years, securing lifetime coverage without the burden of ongoing payments for decades.
- Covering 26 critical illnesses for a full payout and eight less severe illnesses for a partial payout, the plan is among the leaders in terms of covered conditions within the industry.
- Unlike some competitors who reduce the full payout if you've already received a partial benefit, Sun Critical Illness Insurance pays the full amount for your covered condition, even if you've previously claimed a partial payout for a less severe condition.
- It offers a rare conversion option to long-term car insurance, which protects your nest egg by providing coverage for long-term care needs without relying solely on your savings.
- You don’t need to satisfy a survival period for non-cardiovascular conditions, ensuring you receive your benefits more quickly during a critical time.
- Sun Critical Illness Insurance stands out with child policies offering up to $1,000,000 in coverage. This surpasses most insurers who typically limit child critical illness insurance coverage to $250,000.
- Cons:
- Sun Critical Illness Insurance does not provide term-20 or term-65 options that many competitors have. These shorter-term plans can be appealing to those who want coverage for longer than 10 years but shorter than to age 75.
- The conversion option to long-term care insurance comes at an additional cost, while other insurance companies offer this feature built-in to their plans.
- Children automatically switch to smoker rates upon reaching age 18 unless they declare themselves non-smokers.
Here is a table comparing Sun Life’s critical illness insurance products:
Express Critical Illness Insurance | Sun Critical Illness Insurance | |
|---|---|---|
Age eligibility | 18-65 | 30 days to age 65 |
Number of illnesses covered | 1, 3, or 7, depending on the plan | 26 |
Plan types | Term-70 | Term-10, Term-75, Term-75 15-pay, Term-100, Term-100 10-pay, Term-100 15-pay |
Guaranteed premiums | No | Yes |
Expiry | Age 70 | Age 75 or 100, depending on the plan |
Coverage limits | $25,000 or $50,000 | $25,000 to $3,000,000 |
Survival period | 30 days for cardiovascular diseases only | 30 days for cardiovascular diseases only |
Partial benefits | None | Pays 15% of the chosen benefit amount, up to $50,000, for less severe illnesses. Covers eight illnesses. Can pay up to four times |
Conversion privileges | No | Term-10 can be converted to term-75 or term-100. All plans can be converted to long-term care insurance with an optional rider |
Type of underwriting | Simplified underwriting. A medical exam is not necessary | Fully underwritten. A medical exam may be necessary |
Riders | Child critical illness insurance benefit | Return of premium on death, return of premium on cancellation or expiry, total disability waiver, owner waiver death and/or disability benefit, long-term care conversion option |
Value-added service | Teladoc Medical Experts (Comfort plan only) | Teladoc Medical Experts |
How to purchase | Direct online | Through a licensed insurance advisor |
What Illnesses Does Sun Life Critical Illness Insurance Cover?
Here’s a list of conditions covered by Sun Life’s critical illness policies.
Express Critical Illness Insurance
This policy pays out full benefits according to your chosen plan type.
Basic:
- Life-threatening cancer
Enhanced:
- Heart attack
- Life-threatening cancer
- Stroke
Comfort:
- Aortic surgery
- Coronary artery bypass surgery
- Heart attack
- Life-threatening cancer
- Major organ failure on waiting list
- Major organ transplant
- Stroke
Sun Critical Illness Insurance
This product pays out full benefits for the 26 illnesses listed below, one more than some other companies, which either don’t cover acquired brain injury or loss of independent existence:
- Acquired brain injury due to external trauma
- Aortic surgery
- Aplastic anaemia
- Bacterial meningitis
- Benign brain tumour
- Blindness
- Coma
- Coronary artery bypass surgery
- Deafness
- Dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease
- Heart attack
- Heart valve replacement or repair
- Kidney failure
- Life-threatening cancer
- 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
- Stroke
For certain conditions, early diagnosis can lead to less invasive and highly successful treatments. In these cases, while you wouldn’t receive the full critical illness benefit, Sun Critical Illness Insurance provides a financial safety net through its partial benefit option.
If you’re diagnosed with a covered illness on the partial benefit list, you’ll receive 15% of your chosen coverage amount, up to a maximum of $50,000. Also, you can make up to four claims for partial benefits if you’re diagnosed with a different condition each time.
Receiving a partial benefit doesn’t diminish your eligibility for the full benefit amount. Your coverage remains intact, so if you’re diagnosed with a different critical illness later that qualifies for a full payout, you’ll still receive the entire benefit amount. This ensures you have continued protection throughout the life of your policy.
Here are the eight illnesses that qualify for a partial payout:
- Coronary angioplasty
- Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) Rai stage 0
- Ductal carcinoma in-situ of the breast
- Papillary thyroid cancer or follicular thyroid cancer stage T1
- Gastrointestinal stromal tumours classified as AJCC Stage 1
- Grade 1 neuroendocrine tumours (carcinoid)
- Stage 1 malignant melanoma
- Stage A (T1a or T1b) prostate cancer
Policies that cover children include the following five illnesses until they’re 24 years old for a total of 31 covered conditions:
- Cerebral palsy
- Congenital heart disease
- Cystic fibrosis
- Muscular dystrophy
- Type 1 diabetes mellitus
How Much Does Sun Life Critical Illness Insurance Cost?
The premiums for a Sun Critical Illness Insurance will depend on your individual profile, like your age and gender. Your choice of optional riders also affects the cost. Here’s a brief description of key factors that affect your rate:
- Age: The younger you are when you buy a critical illness policy, the lower the premium. Since premiums are locked in, you could save a lot of money if you bought it sooner rather than waiting.
- Gender: While pricing for younger age groups may be similar between men and women, men can expect to pay a higher premium than women.
- Smoking status: In some cases, smokers can pay double the premium compared to non-smokers, reflecting the significant risk smokers pose.
- Health history: Not only can pre-existing medical conditions lead to higher rates, they can also affect your ability to qualify for coverage.
- Lifestyle habits: Engaging in high-risk activities can potentially influence your eligibility or lead to a higher premium.
- Family history: If you have an immediate family member with a hereditary disease, it could increase your risk of developing the condition yourself. While this doesn’t necessarily disqualify you from coverage, the underwriter may take this into account when determining your premium.
- Benefit amount: Your premium increases with the amount of coverage you choose.
- Plan term: Shorter terms like term-10 will be less expensive than longer terms like term-75 or term-100 that provide coverage for a longer period. Also, shortening the payment period will also increase the premium. For example, a 10-pay term-100 policy will be more expensive than the lifetime payment option, since you’re cutting the payment period to 10 years.
Here’s a sample of what you might pay for a Sun Critical Illness Insurance term-10 policy for $100,000 in coverage. These rates are for healthy non-smoking men and women in the first 10 years of the policy:
Age | Male | Female |
|---|---|---|
25 | $26 | $26 |
30 | $31 | $31 |
35 | $36 | $36 |
40 | $49 | $50 |
45 | $70 | $71 |
50 | $107 | $92 |
55 | $180 | $139 |
60 | $259 | $193 |
How Do You Buy A Sun Life Critical Illness Insurance Plan?
Choosing the right critical illness insurance plan depends on your specific needs and budget. Here’s a breakdown of how to secure coverage with Sun Life:
Express Critical Illness Insurance
Designed for speed and convenience, the Express plan is perfect for those seeking a streamlined application process. You can easily purchase coverage online without the need for a medical exam or any health questions. Simply choose your desired plan (Basic, Enhanced, or Comfort) and complete the online application.
Sun Critical Illness Insurance
For a more comprehensive plan with wider coverage options, Sun Life Critical Illness Insurance offers a customizable solution. However, this plan requires working with a licensed life insurance advisor, who acts as your personal guide throughout the critical illness insurance journey.
The advisor will conduct a thorough needs analysis to understand your health history, family history, financial goals, and risk tolerance. Based on the needs analysis, your advisor will help you determine the ideal term length, coverage amount, and explore the benefits of adding optional riders to tailor the plan to your specific circumstances.
Your advisor will guide you through the application process, explaining the steps involved, including medical underwriting and policy approval.
The underwriting process assesses your risk profile based on factors like your health, lifestyle habits, and family history. If it determines you are a higher risk of suffering a critical illness than the average person, the underwriter may decide to apply a rating to your policy, which is a higher premium. In some cases, an underwriter may decline your application if it deems you to be too high of a risk to insure. Your advisor will be there to explain any ratings and explore alternative options if your application is not approved.
Once Sun Life approves your application, you’ll receive a policy offer outlining the details of your coverage. You can then review the offer and accept to officially begin your critical illness protection.
Need A Sun Life Critical Illness Insurance Quote?
Sun Life offers a robust suite of critical illness insurance options, but it’s not the only player in the field. As independent brokers, we take pride in being advocates for you, the consumer. We can guide you through the entire critical illness insurance selection process, tailoring a solution that aligns perfectly with your needs and budget.
Don’t settle for a one-size-fits-all approach. Whether Sun Life’s plans are the ideal fit, or another insurer offers a better match, we’ll leverage our expertise and market knowledge to find the best possible critical illness insurance product for you.
Our commitment to you goes beyond the sale. We offer ongoing policy reviews to ensure your coverage continues to meet your evolving needs. As your life circumstances change, we’ll be here to re-evaluate your plan and make adjustments if necessary.
Ready to take control of your financial security? Contact us today for a free, no-obligation consultation. We’re here to answer your questions and guide you towards a brighter, more secure future. Send us an email at info@briansoinsurance.com or give us a call at 604-928-1628. If you prefer a quick quote, use the form below and we will send one directly to your inbox.
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.
