Canada Mortgage Insurance Glossary

Explanation of Common Insurance Terms

Hospital and Home Recuperation - Cash direct to you and generous home recuperation benefits, 3 times the number of days hospitalized. Maximum $100 a day up to 365 days with each accident or sickness. Guaranteed issue. No one turned down. No medical questions. No age limit. 18 years and over.

Extended Health Coverage - Dental, prescription drugs, vision, hearing aids, extended medical (chiropractors, osteopaths, naturopaths, physiotherapy, etc). Some coverages guaranteed issue. No age limit. Family coverage.

Term Insurance - Most commonly used for short term insurance needs i.e.. cover short term debts, protection a spouse's earning power, cover a mortgage. It is usually 'cheap' premium cost wise and the amount of coverage usually stays the same over the 'term' or time that the policy is in force. Most plans offer premium guarantee for 10 or 20 years. Benefits on term insurance are only paid if the person insured dies during the term of the policy. Most policies will 'end before you do' at ages 75 or 80. Some, that are very popular, guarantee that a premium will never increase in cost and will last all the way to age 100 (called Term to 100). Term insurance does not have any cash value savings or growth. And in Canada the death benefit is tax-free. When you renew the policy for, say, another 10 years, the premium will increase because your cost is more because you are now older. That's because as you age, your chances of passing away are greater. Again, term insurance is best suited to cover short-term expenses like mortgage payments or education tuition.

Mortgage Insurance - If you have a mortgage your ability to pay your mortgage payments would become extremely difficult if you ever were disabled or if you suffered from a life threatening illnesses (critical illness). A family could even lose their house by not being able to make mortgage payments due to the death of the main wage earner of the family. And, some lenders have even been known to 'call a loan' if any of the above occurrences occurred. Mortgage insurance can provide coverage that makes your mortgage payment for you while you are disabled OR will even pay off your mortgage loan upon you getting a critical illness or upon your death. And in Canada the benefit is tax-free.

Critical illness Insurance - Critical illness insurance attempts to bridge the gap between life and disability insurance. Where life insurance policies pay out upon death or diagnosis of a terminal illness, and disability insurance policies cover lost wages due to an accident or sickness, critical illness policies cover the insured upon diagnosis of a dozen or more illnesses on one policy. The main illnesses covered being cancer, heart disease and stroke, to just name a few covered. You don't have to die to get paid! You usually get a 'lump sum' i.e.. $100,000 within 90 days of diagnosis. And in Canada the benefit is tax-free. Critical illness insurance pays out when the policyholder is diagnosed with a serious, life-threatening illness. Such illnesses are not only life-threatening, they also change your life.

Disability Insurance - A type of health insurance coverage, it provides for the payment of regular, periodic income should the insured become disabled from illness or injury.

Long Term Care Benefits - The cost of staying in a long term care facility in Canada can cost as much as $40,000 per year! And this cost is paid with AFTER TAX dollars. Many families can be financially destroyed when a spouse needs to enter a long term care facility. Statistics say that the average stay is 2 years...sometimes more than 5 years... so the need for this type of coverage is obvious. A special rider or policy offered by some companies that will pay long term or catastrophic health care benefits as a supplemental benefit. These are called living benefit or care riders. Depending upon the policy, benefits may be for nursing home care and/or at home health care needs. All benefits received are tax-free.

Funeral Coverage or Final Expense Insurance - Expenses incurred at the time of a person's death. These include funeral costs, court expenses associated with probating his or her will, current bills or debt, and taxes. Depending on their circumstances, the survivors may also want to pay the outstanding balances of mortgage and loans.

Whole Life Insurance - Life insurance that is kept in force for a person's whole life as long as the scheduled premiums are maintained. All Whole Life policies build up cash values. Most Whole Life policies are guaranteed as long as the scheduled premiums are maintained. The variable in a Whole life Policy is the dividend which could vary depending on how well the insurance is doing. If the company is doing well and the policies are not experiencing a higher mortality than projected, premiums are paid back to the policy holder in the form of dividends. Policyholders can use the cash from dividends in many ways. The three main uses are: it can be used to lower or vanish premiums, it can be used to purchase more insurance or it can be used to pay for term insurance.

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