Non-medical life insurance
Have you been declined for life insurance? Non-medical insurance may work for you. But tread cautiously and work with an honest and experienced broker.
An industry adage is that life insurance is a privilege not a right. It can be difficult to get if you have any health issues.
Non-medical insurance is life insurance that is issued without a medical exam. You just need to able to answer “no” to a series of questions. Generally it’s 150% to 300% more in premium than a medically underwritten plan. For this reason if you can qualify for a medically underwritten plan this is a better option. But it not, there’s non-medical to fall back on.
The leading carriers in the non-medical market are Canada Protection Plan, Assumption Life and Humania.
When choosing a non-medical plan it’s very important to be truthful. If there’s any confusion as to whether question is “yes or no” ask you broker. And make sure that your broker gets clarification in writing from the insurance company.
If the insured passes away and has non-medical life insurance, the insurance company may pull medical records to verify that the answers to the questions were truthful.
We’ll outline some of the most common issues people have in getting life insurance:
Cancer
If you’ve had one incidence of non-metastatic cancer and been cancer free for at least 3 years, you should qualify. Canada Protection will probably be your best bet.
High blood pressure/cholesterol/heart attack/stroke etc.
If you’ve been stable for at least 3 years you should qualify with most non-medical carriers.
Build/Obesity
Build is a tricky one and you must be cautious. There may be records of weight on file at the doctor’s office. Be honest.
Most companies have height and weight limitations except Humania; as at July 2019.
Alcohol/drug abuse
If you have had problems with alcohol or drugs in the past and have now abstained for at least 3 years, you should be insurable.
Diabetes
Diabetics in decent health and who are not very overweight can usually qualify for non-medical life insurance. This depends on type 1/type 2, severity and how long you’ve had the condition for.