While not technically an investment, life insurance is an equally important financial protection tool. Just uttering the phrase may bring up visions of pushy brokers, reams of paper, and large monthly premiums, but it shouldn’t. Just as you’ve taken control of your investments in the modern age, you can take a DIY approach to your life insurance needs with an online broker.

The advantages?

  • You save time – your time is valuable and it doesn’t get sucked up by needless coffee meetings or face-to-face conversations for what should be an easy transaction.
  • Convenience – you don’t need to find a broker’s office, you can apply for life insurance from anywhere and any device. No more pen and paper – the entire process is digital.
  • More options – traditional brokers are usually aligned with only 1 or 2 different insurance companies. With an online broker, you can personalize offerings from as many as 20 companies.
  • Low-pressure sales – online brokers don’t deal through a commission-based remuneration structure. At PolicyAdvisor, our brokers are salaried and have only your best interest in mind – not the payday from a big policy.
  • Price comparisons – just like every other facet of online shopping, you can compare prices amongst the top insurers to make sure you get a competitive rate.

Whether one is new to life insurance and purchasing their first policy, or renewing coverage for the umpteenth time – Canadians are really searching for the same thing: A fair price deal for a competitive product they need to complete their financial protection.

And that’s exactly what an online brokerage delivers. Simple, intuitive tools walk applicants through the process of finding and then applying for a personalized life insurance policy in a little over 5 minutes. We suggest only the coverage you need, at the best available price – you shouldn’t have to completely exhaust yourself to buy life insurance.

First step – assessing your insurance needs

If it applies to the rest of your purchasing decisions, it applies to insurance as well: Why pay for a product you don’t need? As we mentioned above, many online insurance brokers are salaried, with no vested interest in earning commissions from an oversized and unnecessary insurance policy.

Rather, digital tools like an insurance check-up can identify areas in your life and finances where you may be underinsured. They provide an honest picture of your exposure to risks and reassure you where you already have adequate coverage.

While tools like these provide the whole spectrum of insurance needs, a digital brokerage like PolicyAdvisor only directly sells life, whole life, critical illness, and disability insurance. However, we can get you headed in the right direction for other types like home and auto.

You know what you need, but how much do you choose?

Traditionally, deciding on a coverage amount is a major pain point in the life insurance buying process. It’s an emotional decision, and more often than not fueled by one’s desire to leave a small fortune for their family should something happen to them. Unfortunately, that type of decision making is how people end up with expensive policies they either can’t afford or tie up part of your monthly budget better used saving and investing.

An online brokerage instead utilizes coverage calculators to take the emotional guesswork out of the equation. Instead of ballpark figures based on intuition, one is instead recommended a specific amount of coverage based on personal finances and family needs. Just answer a few simple questions, and these calculators can crunch the numbers and figures and provide the best, most educated guess of what your loved ones might require should you pass.

Disagree with assessment? No problem – you can usually adjust your coverage amounts and term lengths to where you think they make more sense. After all, this is your insurance.

An Online brokerage’s secret sauce? Customization

Once you have a coverage amount and term length you feel is adequate for your needs, it’s time to tinker. Answer a few more questions and the quoting algorithm can determine your insurability profile; thus allowing an online brokerage to instantly present you with qualifying insurance profiles.

Remember when we mentioned that a traditional broker only has access to plans and products from the insurance company they are associated with?  PolicyAdvisor’s custom algorithm lets us parse through hundreds of insurance products from the country’s largest and most trusted insurance companies. You get presented with the lowest premiums that best match your profile and suited plan.

Not just for cars and mattresses: Comparison shopping

Who’s your favourite insurance provider? *Crickets*

No worries. Not many Canadians show a ton of brand loyalty when it comes to life insurance companies. It’s not an everyday purchase.

So when presented with a long list of seemingly similar insurance quotes from several different companies can seem a little daunting. Your first instinct (and that of many others) may be to the cheapest option –  but the savings might be in lieu of a particular feature you want or need.

Online brokerages make picking a provider that much easier by offering a quick comparison tool. That’s right, they do the homework and you reap the rewards. Online brokerages like ours share notes from the insurance provider’s history and analyze the riders and optional extras offered with their insurance coverage.

And you’re not alone. If you need someone to bounce ideas off or ask some more complicated questions, online brokerages give you the option to book a quick phone call or open up the chat window and get instant answers.

The finishing touches

Even after you’ve selected a policy, there are a few details and steps where an online broker can save you time and busy work by gathering a few more pieces of information to save you from having to fill it out again and again.

After which your application is sent to a certified, secured database where a team like ours – real, live Canadian insurance brokers – review it. If everything checks out, someone will reach out to schedule a quick confirmation call. Why? In Canada we are required to double-check all your information together and confirm that we are your broker of record – it gives us the consent to submit your application to the insurance company on your behalf.

From there, it’s a classic waiting game. Underwriters need to approve your application, and in some cases, that may require a medical exam, which also we will arrange. But this is the longest you’ll wait, as opposed to the traditional, in-person life insurance experience; you just accomplished in 5 or 10 minutes what would have once taken you weeks or months.

 

As an online brokerage, help is only a webchat, call, or email away – even while you wait for approval. Once your application is approved, a digital broker must reach out again and help set up the payment schedule for your premiums with the insurer and do one final sanity check to ensure you’re completely happy with your insurance choices.

And as mentioned, your online broker is now your broker of record. If you need help or clarification about anything in your policy later in life, or you need new coverage, reach out in whatever way is most convenient and they are there to help.

Life insurance, the digital way

At the end of the day, by applying for a life insurance policy through an online broker, you cut your policy purchase time from weeks and months  to hours and days, you are rescued from countless unnecessary face-to-face meetings, and potentially you save some money. Much like your motivations for more control in your investments, taking charge and cutting out the middleman with an online life insurance broker can empower you to get the right coverage and understand exactly how your coverage works.

PolicyAdvisor.com is an Canadian online insurance broker providing a digital solution to an archaic industry. We combine technology, intuitive design, and real-world expertise to make insurance buying simpler, straightforward, and stress-free. Visit www.policyadvisor.com to access our free online insurance calculators and find out how you can save money when comparing and buying insurance online.

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