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BMO Life Insurance Review – Updated 2024
BMO Life Insurance is a competitively priced term life insurance with the ability to convert into a broad suite of proprietary permanent products. Options for BMO’s life insurance include term lengths of 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30 years, as well as Term 100, permanent life insurance, critical illness insurance, and more at reasonable prices.
Term life insurance is the most affordable type of policy, and we’ve rated BMO Insurance as the most affordable company in Canada.
Read our full review below to find out more about the company, which features they offer, and what we rate their life insurance products.
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Our BMO life insurance rating and review
BMO Insurance’s term life insurance is a great option for individuals, couples, or business owners. It can cover mortgages and other debts, final expenses like funeral expenses, replace future income, and provide for dependents. The plan can also be used to protect businesses and their key employees. Lastly, the death benefit can be used to leave a financial gift to a favourite charity.
BMO Insurance term life insurance policies offer terms ranging from 10 to 30 years. Death benefits (tax free payments to a beneficiary) can go all the way up to $10,000,000. All term life plans can be converted to a permanent life insurance policy at any time before age 70. Term 10 plans can be exchanged for longer terms: Term 15, 20, 25 or 30. Term 10, 15 and 20-year plans are renewable and convertible. Term 25 and 30 plans are convertible, although not renewable.
There are riders for critical illness insurance, accidental death insurance, waiver of premium in case of disability. One can also add a children’s life insurance rider.
Another great feature of BMO Insurance is its unique Compassionate Benefit Program. This is a non-contractual cash benefit offered by BMO Insurance to term life policyholders with a limited life expectancy who may require a source of funds to help them manage their medical bills and unexpected financial costs.
For term life policyholders, an initial advance of up to 50% of the base coverage (maximum of $250,000) may be paid out if the policyholder is diagnosed with a terminal illness with a life expectancy of 12 months or less. This is available on individually-owned single and joint life policies as well (max of 2 insure with joint ownership policies).
Pros and cons
BMO life insurance pros
- Value for money pricing
- Multiple term life insurance lengths, flexible coverage options
- Ability to exchange 10-year policy into a longer term policy (15, 20, 25, and 30 year coverage options)
- Comprehensive benefits like the compassionate benefit program allow advance of term life insurance coverage amount for policy holders needing financial support while dealing with a terminal illness
- Options to convert into multiple types of permanent insurance policies
BMO life insurance cons
- No online account
- Only issues paper policies, no digital option
- Longer-term products (Term 25 and Term 30) are not renewable
Who is BMO Life Insurance?
BMO Insurance is a member of the BMO Financial Group, which was founded in 1817, and is another of Canada’s largest financial institutions. Operating as a separate business unit, BMO Insurance offers term and permanent life insurance, accident, travel, and critical illness insurance. BMO Insurance also offers income annuities and guaranteed investment funds. The BMO Life Assurance Company portfolio was bolstered by the acquisition of AIG’s life insurance business in 2009.
Key facts about BMO Life Assurance Company
- When was BMO Insurance founded? 1817
- Where is BMO Insurance’s headquarters? Toronto, Ontario
- AM Best Rating: A (Excellent)
- Better Business Bureau Accreditation and Rating: N/A
- Assets: $11.2-billion
- Annual Premiums: $2.0-billion
- Website: bmo.com/insurance
How much does life insurance from BMO Insurance cost?
Representative values. Insurance premium based on non-smokers in good health. $500,000 life insurance benefit coverage, 20-year term.
| Age | Male | Female |
|---|---|---|
| 20 | $31.95 | $21.60 |
| 25 | $32.40 | $22.05 |
| 30 | $32.85 | $22.95 |
| 35 | $33.30 | $26.10 |
| 40 | $49.05 | $36.90 |
| 45 | $76.95 | $55.80 |
| 50 | $131.40 | $91.80 |
| 55 | $242.10 | $166.95 |
| 60 | $427.50 | $305.10 |
| 65 | $681.75 | $479.25 |
What types of term life insurance policies does BMO Insurance offer?
BMO Insurance offers their simply named Term Life insurance product with many options to personalize coverage for those applying.
- Medical underwriting is generally required depending on age of the applicant and amount of insurance applied for
- Premiums are guaranteed
- Term 10 plans have an exchange program, where the policyholder can renew for another eligible term policy after 1 year but before 5 years of their initial term 10 coverage.
There are riders for critical illness, accidental death, waiver of premium in case of disability. One can also add a children’s life insurance rider.
Coverage and policy details
- Available Term Lengths: BMO Insurance offers term lengths of 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30 years. BMO also offers a term 100 permanent product
- Available Term Types: Guaranteed level premiums
- Maximum Amount of Coverage: Up to $10,000,000 death benefits
- Convertibility: All policies are convertible to a permanent life insurance policy before the policyholder reaches an age nearest of 70.
- Renewability: Available on term 10, 15 and 20 year coverage products
What other insurance policies does BMO Insurance offer?
In addition to Term plans, BMO Insurance also offers:
Permanent Life Insurance
Permanent life insurance provides you with coverage from the day the policy is settled until the day you die. As long as you pay premiums into the policy, BMO life insurance coverage never expires.
BMO Insurance offers several different permanent life insurance policies:
EasyOne Life
- Available to Canadians between the ages of 50 and 80 who have no serious illnesses
- No medical exam required and immediate permanent life insurance coverage from the day BMO Life Insurance receives your application
- Life long coverage with a tax-free benefit between $5,000 and $50,000
Guaranteed-Life Plus
- Available to Canadians between the ages of 45 and 75
- Guaranteed life insurance coverage and no medical exams or health questionnaires required
- Lifetime coverage as long as payments are paid up to age 95
- $50,000 in basic coverage (after 2 years without claims) and $250,000 accidental death coverage
Term 100
- Lifelong permanent life insurance coverage
- Fixed level premiums which you pay until age 100
- Coverage amounts available between $50,000 and $5,000,000
- Much like BMO Insurance’s term life insurance policies, many optional riders are available for Term 100 to meet varied insurance needs
BMO Insurance Whole Life Insurance
- Guaranteed cash value, and guaranteed premiums payable for 10 or 20 years or to age 100
- Non-participating permanent life insurance
- Unique features like premium switching, premium offset, additional payments and policy loans make it a very flexible BMO life insurance coverage option
- Two plan options (Estate Protector and Wealth Accelerator) to service different end-of-life financial needs
Read our full review of BMO Insurance Whole Life Insurance.
Universal Life Insurance
Universal life insurance is like whole life insurance, except there is a self-directed long-term investment component: your insurer gives you options for investing the cash value of your policy.
BMO Life Insurance’s universal coverage offers three different universal life insurance policies: Life Dimensions, Life Dimensions (Low Fees) and Wealth Dimensions.
All these options boast:
- Flexible premiums and terms
- Extensive investment options
- Early access to cash-value
- Optional riders for more BMO life insurance coverage:
- term life insurance rider
- accidental death rider
- waiver of premium
- children’s term life insurance rider
- critical illness insurance rider
Critical Illness Insurance
Critical illness insurance is a living benefit insurance policy that pays out a tax-free lump sum if you develop a specified illness, health event, or undergo treatment while under its coverage, after a minimum of 30 days from when you are first diagnosed (90 days for cancer). This coverage is available for a period of time also known as term length; and you determine it when purchasing the policy.
BMO Insurance offers 2 different critical illness insurance policies.
Life Recovery Plus
- Basic and enhanced plans that offer $25,000 and $50,000 in coverage, respectively
- Guaranteed acceptance when you provide a declaration of health
- Cash benefits are a mix of one-time, monthly, and daily benefits to help you financially while you recover
- The survival period is 30 days
Living Benefit
- Offers enhanced coverage (25 life-threatening medical conditions)
- Maximum coverage is $2 million
- Offers coverage for loss of independent existence and partial payouts for 7 different conditions
- The survival period is 30 days
- Available in 10 and 20-year terms or coverage up to 75 or 100 years of age
- There is a 15-pay option available on some policies
For more information and an in-depth look at their critical illness coverage, read our BMO Insurance Critical Illness Insurance Review.
BMO Travel Insurance
BMO Insurance offers travel insurance on a per-trip and annual basis, with different plans offering coverage for medical emergencies, trip cancellation, flight delays, lost baggage, and more.
Investment Products and Other Financial Products
Besides insurance, BMO Financial Group offers countless investment solutions and personal financial products as well as business banking solutions.
Is BMO Insurance right for you?
BMO Insurance offers unique life insurance coverage products that are a great fit for many Canadians. As insurance advisors for BMO Insurance’s life insurance products, we can help you decide if BMO Insurance products are the best fit for you and find you instant quotes.
Canadians commonly use BMO Life Insurance policies to cover lines of credit, funeral costs, the outstanding balance on credit cards, provide peace of mind, secure future education for dependents, or augment their current life insurance plans. If you’re not sure how much coverage you need, check out our life insurance calculator or read more in our insurance learning centre.
As Canada’s best online insurance advisor, we can assist you in comparing and choosing products across all our partner companies. Speak to our licensed insurance advisors and we will be able to help you find the best coverage for your needs and answer any questions you have about BMO term life insurance, permanent life insurance, critical illness and disability protection, simplified coverage without medical exams and more.
