It’s no secret that I love Critical Illness Insurance (CI), and it continues to amaze me that most insurance advisors in Canada have NEVER sold a policy! In my professional opinion, any insurance advisor who isn’t telling clients about CI is negligent.

When illness strikes, having CI often means the difference between losing a mortgage and losing the family home. It happens all the time.

The statistics are scary - you’ve probably seen them - 1 out of 3 Canadians will get cancer (and that’s just one of about two dozen covered conditions)

I could go on and on about the merits of CI – I have paid out many claims and seen firsthand how it can be even more important than having life insurance.

CI got started years ago in South Africa by Dr. Marius Barnard, the pioneering heart surgeon. Watch an interview with him here, and hear him explain the development.

Starting from South Africa, CI was introduced to Australia and the U.K. before reaching Canada.

Canadians now enjoy access to the BEST Critical Illness coverage in the world, with the most liberal and consumer friendly definitions, highest payout ($2m) and guaranteed premiums for life.

 Our huge advantage is the Return of Premium (ROP) - an option that returns ALL the premiums if no claim is made, typically after 15 years. Try that with your car or home insurer if you’ve had no claim (and please let me know how that works out).

 The ROP option existed (past tense deliberate) for CI policies in South Africa, Australia and the U.K. before they were withdrawn by insurers in each of those markets.

 I had a meeting the other day with an industry insider who predicted the coming demise of ROP in Canada. How soon? In the next 12 to 18 months, he said, because the insurers are hurting from low interest rates. They simply can’t afford to give people back all their money while earning 2% on the premiums which need to spread around to expenses, administration and advisor compensation.  

The time to buy CI is now.

 In the interim, expect the insurance companies to continue raising rates and count on the banks to further exploit the advantages of an existing client base.

 Timing IS everything

 What’s coming next?

 I will keep you posted