Immigrants, hard-to-insure market and those seeking faster underwriting provide client base for smaller operators
It’s Life Insurance Month in the US, a time of year when Americans are urged to buy coverage and protect their families. Launched in 2004 by the non-profit Life Happens group, the initiative has strived to reverse years of declining life insurance rates among the general public. The same can be said for Canada too, although 2016 was an anomaly in that sales actually increase significantly. That can be attributed to the new legislation reducing the tax sheltering capabilities of life insurance policies which came into effect on January 1. The rush to be grandfathered under the old rules facilitated a sales boom, particularly in the final quarter of 2016, but this was clearly a once-off shot in the arm for the industry.
Over the long-term, life insurance rates have been in decline, so providers are searching for new ways to attract consumers.
For the Canada Protection Plan, reaching new customers means making life insurance more accessible. The firm’s business is centered on providing coverage to those that may have ran into difficulties in the past, as CPP, SVP of Sales Michael Aziz explains.
“We are a niche player, but our niche is large,” he says. “Three companies control a large portion of the market, but there are opportunities for other companies as long as you can find your place. We are well-connected to the ethnic market. Immigration into Canada is causing a lot of growth in the life insurance market.”
Aside from new arrivals to the country, there are many other potential customers for providers like CPP. The firm has focused on the hard-to-insure market, as well as those who expect a much quicker turnaround time for underwriting. Then there are those for whom a trip to the doctor to provide a blood sample sounds quite unpalatable. “It is those who have white coat syndrome,” explains Aziz. “That might sound silly, but there are people that don’t want to have a nurse poking them, or having to get an APS from a doctor.”
Canada Protection Plan offers coverage up to $500,000 on no medical and simplified issue life plans and can issue policies in as little as two days. Consumers nowadays expect good service, but receiving it in a prompt manner is just as important for many. Another factor that is working in the favour of insurers is the price of property, as Aziz outlines.
“There is a need for higher coverage now,” he says. “The real estate market means that in Toronto people aren’t going to have a $300,000 mortgage anymore – it’s a $700,000 mortgage. We at CPP have grown because we have simplified the process and made it more accessible to people that couldn’t get coverage in the past.”
Related stories:
Millennials driving growth of simplified Issue insurance
The simplified life for policyholders
Over the long-term, life insurance rates have been in decline, so providers are searching for new ways to attract consumers.
For the Canada Protection Plan, reaching new customers means making life insurance more accessible. The firm’s business is centered on providing coverage to those that may have ran into difficulties in the past, as CPP, SVP of Sales Michael Aziz explains.
“We are a niche player, but our niche is large,” he says. “Three companies control a large portion of the market, but there are opportunities for other companies as long as you can find your place. We are well-connected to the ethnic market. Immigration into Canada is causing a lot of growth in the life insurance market.”
Aside from new arrivals to the country, there are many other potential customers for providers like CPP. The firm has focused on the hard-to-insure market, as well as those who expect a much quicker turnaround time for underwriting. Then there are those for whom a trip to the doctor to provide a blood sample sounds quite unpalatable. “It is those who have white coat syndrome,” explains Aziz. “That might sound silly, but there are people that don’t want to have a nurse poking them, or having to get an APS from a doctor.”
Canada Protection Plan offers coverage up to $500,000 on no medical and simplified issue life plans and can issue policies in as little as two days. Consumers nowadays expect good service, but receiving it in a prompt manner is just as important for many. Another factor that is working in the favour of insurers is the price of property, as Aziz outlines.
“There is a need for higher coverage now,” he says. “The real estate market means that in Toronto people aren’t going to have a $300,000 mortgage anymore – it’s a $700,000 mortgage. We at CPP have grown because we have simplified the process and made it more accessible to people that couldn’t get coverage in the past.”
Related stories:
Millennials driving growth of simplified Issue insurance
The simplified life for policyholders
