The world continues to shift and adapt to deal with the coronavirus, and numerous businesses are having to do the same. Many people are confronting their own mortality and how those they care about will be affected. As such, there’s no better time to think about getting life insurance than right now, but how has the industry been impacted? You might also be wondering how COVID-19 affects life insurance policies already in place and new ones as well. We provide the answers to those questions (and others) below.
How COVID-19 Affects Life Insurance—How It Impacts Existing Life Insurance Policies
Good news! As of right now in Canada, life insurance companies have not added additional fees or adjusted policies for existing owners of life insurance plans. You will still be able to receive coverage for any claims associated with the coronavirus.
To further clarify, if you happened to pass away from the coronavirus or a COVID-19-related illness, your beneficiary would still be able to make a claim. Essentially, it would be treated the same way as any other disease-related death under your current life insurance policy, so there’s no need to worry.
How COVID-19 Affects New Life Insurance Policies
The good news continues: if you get a new policy you will still be covered for any COVID-19-related death.
This being said, if you were to apply for a life insurance policy and are waiting for testing results about the coronavirus, or had actually been diagnosed with the illness, then you’ll probably have to wait. It’s unlikely that you’ll be able to get approval for your policy request until you’ve recovered or your testing comes back negative. The same applies for any other health conditions or major illnesses you might contract.
Because the Coronavirus Is Considered a Pandemic, Are There Any Pandemic Exclusions From Coverage for Insurance?
The majority of insurance companies in Canada don’t have a specific pandemic clause or exclusion that would suddenly prevent you from receiving life insurance. The exclusions that do exist that would prevent you from receiving coverage include those that pertain to suicide, self-inflicted harm, or criminal activity.
Right now, there aren’t any exclusions that have been put in place on COVID-19-related deaths. That being said, it’s important to keep in mind that while these exclusions haven’t been changed at this time it doesn’t mean they never will. Life insurance is still a product and insurers have the right to change said product as they see fit in the future.
How Life Insurance Companies Are Helping Consumers
Life insurance companies understand the difficulty in getting all the necessary paperwork together right now, especially for people facing existing challenges. Across the board for those on short or long–term disability insurers have waived the requirements for physicians to complete forms or provide medical info for new life insurance policies. In specific cases, self-assessments may be required, but by waiving the medical forms overall, people can get the coverage they need, faster.
One specific industry, commercial trucking – shipping goods back and forth between the U.S. and Canada – can also still expect to have truckers covered under life insurance with no changes. Although they face many health challenges to stay safe and healthy right now this comes as welcome news. Thanks mainly to the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association (CLHIA), the decisions to waive the short and long-term disability health documents and continuing to provide insurance for commercial trucking were made possible.
There is a lot of uncertainty right now, but it should bring some reassurance to know you can still be covered by life insurance. And you should definitely consider getting it, life insurance can bring financial relief to your beneficiaries and those you care about. Ensure they don’t have any additional stress during these times by contacting a life insurance provider today.