Your Guide to Term Life Insurance in Ontario

Term life insurance in Ontario is a product designed to protect you for a defined period of time. You can get policies in term increments of 5-years, 10-years, all the way up to 30-years and sometimes even 40-years. For example, if you buy a 20-year term policy, your rate will be locked in for 20 years. It will not go up or down during the term. If you die within the 20 years, your dependents will receive the death benefit. However, if the 20-year term ends before you convert it to permanent insurance or renew the coverage, you won’t be covered when the policy expires.

Term life assurance in Ontario is a great way to protect yourself and your family against temporary financial risks such as your mortgage, your children’s college tuition, etc. Once you get older, your need for life insurance changes. Thus, if in 20 years your mortgage will be paid, and your kids will be finished college, a 20-year term policy may be ideal.

Keep in mind most good term life protection in Ontario products come with an option to convert the policy to a permanent product. The downfall to converting your coverage is that there will be a price adjustment, and because you are older at the expiration of the term or the time of conversion, the premium might be very expensive.

Who Looks for Term Life Insurance?

Typically, people who need life insurance in Ontario for a specific time are young families, people on a budget, and business owners looking for life assurance coverage on key employees.

Features of a term life insurance policy include:

The cost of the policy and the coverage is guaranteed for the term.

Premiums determined by the insurance company are based on your general health status.

Terms are typically available for 5, 10 and 20-years.

Multiple people may be insured under the same policy.

Average Cost of Life Insurance in Ontario

There are many factors that affect the cost of term life assurance in Ontario. These include the type of policy, amount of coverage, the insured’s age, driving record, smoker status, health, occupation and gender. On average in Ontario, an individual may spend close to $700-$900 per year for a term life insurance policy.

What Factors Affect Your Term Life Insurance Premiums in Ontario?

Your life protection premiums are calculated based on the following individual factors:

Age: This is the primary factor that affects how much you pay in premiums for term life insurance in Ontario. The younger you are, the lower your premiums will be. Since a life assurance policy is paid out when the insured dies, the insurance company wants to be assured as they can that this won’t happen too soon.

Family Medical History: Certain health conditions are hereditary and can affect the lifespan of the insured. Any medical issues that have a genetic nature mean a higher risk for an insurance company. So, the insurance company may assess your family medical history when deciding how much to charge you for term life insurance in Ontario.

Gender: As per statistics, women often outlive men, so they often pay cheaper premiums for term life assurance in Ontario.

Health condition: Your insurance company may base the calculation of your premiums for term life insurance in Ontario on your weight and other health conditions. For example, a lean healthy person with no known health problems will pay cheaper premiums that an obese smoker. The ideal healthy weight ratio may vary from one insurance company to another.

Medical History: Most importantly, any existing medical issues will affect the premiums you pay for term life protection.

Smoking: Term life insurance in Ontario and premiums are closely related to lifestyle. Since heart disease and other life-threatening diseases are linked to smoking, smokers’ rates are much higher than non-smokers. In fact, smokers’ rates can be double or more!

Type of Occupation: If your occupation comes with a high risk of injury or death, expect to pay a higher premium.

Contact an Experienced Broker

The key to purchasing affordable term life assurance in Ontario is working with an experienced independent life insurance broker who has access to a wide variety of life insurance companies. It’s like having a personal shopper. If you’re healthy, you can use an online quote engine to find the best rate. However, if you have health problems or participate in risky activities, you need an agent familiar with high-risk clients. You can find broker ready to provide a no-obligation quote at InsurEye.com.

Hi! I'm Stevie, and I'm interested in everything that surrounds the topic of personal finance. I hope my articles will be of some use to my readers!