Foresters Life Insurance Review 2024

You'll learn:

‍

Products and Features

Foresters offers three life insurance options: term and permanent life insurance, and critical illness.

Term Life Insurance

For most people, a term life insurance policy is sufficient. It is the traditional form of  insurance, having only one aim — to pay the death benefit. It is also usually the cheapest and used for replacing an income or covering debts.

Foresters offers the following four term policies:

Term 10

As the name suggests, the insurance coverage lasts for 10 years. A 10-year policy may be a good option for couples or individuals looking for affordable coverage. It may also make sense for those who have only ten years or so left on their mortgage.

You can take out a Term 10 policy to cover a single life or as a joint life policy.

Features

• Available for people aged 18-75
• Coverage amount available is $100,000 - $5 million
• Guaranteed level premium (That is, your premium rate will remain the same throughout the policy term)
• Automatic renewals available after every 10 years
• Convertible to a permanent insurance policy before you turn 71 without a medical exam
• Exchange for another 20-year or a 30-year term on or after 2nd policy anniversary without a medical exam
• Covers family’s bereavement counseling costs up to $1,000

Term 20

With this policy, the insurance coverage lasts 20 years, during which the premium rate and death benefit amount will remain unchanged. A term 20 policy may be right for young families and business owners looking to cover overhead and startup costs.

You can take out a Term 20 policy to cover a single life or as a joint life policy.

Features

• Available for people aged 18-65
• Coverage amount available is $100,000 - $5 million
• Guaranteed level premium
• Automatic renewals available after every 20 years
• Convertible to a permanent insurance policy before you turn 71 without a medical
• Covers family’s bereavement counseling costs up to $1,000

Term 30

Thirty years is the longest term available with the Foresters Life Insurance plan. If you are young and healthy, you can lock in low rates with a 30-year policy. This plan covers your loved ones until they are truly independent. After all, these days, many parents help their kids pay their college tuition fees and mortgages.

Features

• Available for people aged 18-55
• Coverage amount available is $50,000 - $5 million
• Guaranteed level premium
• The insurer will automatically renew the coverage for 5-year terms once the initial 30-year term expires
• Convertible to a permanent insurance policy before you turn 71 without proof of insurability
• Covers family’s bereavement counseling costs up to $1,000

E-Z Term

This is a simplified issue term life policy. That means you will not need to undergo a medical exam to qualify.

Many simplified issue plans are designed for people with medical issues — but not this one. It is geared towards healthy applicants with no underlying insurability issues. If you have high blood pressure or high cholesterol, you will not be an appropriate candidate for this policy.

Features

• Available for a 10 year term
• Guaranteed level premiums (your monthly premiums will remain the same during the policy term)
• Renewable up to age 75 without evidence of insurability
• Convertible to a permanent life insurance policy up to age 65 without a medical

Find the best rates

Compare quotes from Canada's top life insurance companies in no time.

Compare Rates

Other Life Insurance Coverage Offered by Foresters

Whole Life Insurance

A whole life insurance policy comes without an expiry date and accumulates cash value over time. You can borrow against, surrender, or make a withdrawal from your policy’s cash value for any purpose. Whole life insurance policies are not only complicated but are also costlier than term life plans. However, in certain situations, they can be a good option.

Foresters offer the following four whole life insurance plans:

• Advantage Plus Whole Life
• Non-Par Whole Life
• Simplified Non-Par Whole Life
• Child Non-Par Whole Life

Critical Illness Insurance

Thanks to advances in medical science, many people are able to survive a critical illness. However, their finances might not.

This is where critical illness insurance can prove to be beneficial. It provides additional coverage for medical emergencies such as stroke, heart attack, or cancer and helps reduce the financial stress incurred along with these illnesses. The insurer pays you a lump-sum amount if you are diagnosed with a covered illness.

Foresters offer two critical illness policies:

Live Well

• Maximum coverage amount is $100,000
• Provides protection from four conditions — heart attack, stroke, life-threatening cancer, and coronary artery bypass surgery
• Available terms: 10 year, 20 year, or up to age 80
• Ability to exchange Live Well Term 10 or Live Well Term 20 for Live Well Term to Age 80 without evidence of insurability
• Non-life threatening illness benefit. The insurer will pay 15% of the benefit amount — up to $50,000 — if you develop a non-life-threatening illness
• Return of Premium at Death. The insurer will refund the premiums if the insured passes away without receiving a benefit
• Ability to access some of the world’s top doctors who will review your case and advise your physician.
• Add riders like Juvenile Critical Illness Insurance Riders, Disability of Waiver Premium, and Return of Premium on Surrender or Expiry

Live Well Plus

• Maximum coverage amount is $2 million
• Provides protection from 25 medical conditions
• Available terms: 10 year, 20 year, or up to age 80
• Ability to exchange Live Well Plus Term 10 or Live Well Plus Term 20 for Live Well Plus Term to Age 80 without evidence of insurability
• Non-life threatening illness benefit. The insurer will pay 15% of the benefit amount—up to $50,000—if you develop a non-life threatening illness
• Return of Premium at Death. The insurer will refund the premiums if the insured passes away without receiving a benefit
• Ability to access some of the world’s top doctors who will review your case and advise your physician.
• Add riders like Juvenile Critical Illness Insurance Riders, Disability of Waiver Premium, and Return of Premium on Surrender or Expiry

Riders Offered by Foresters

Riders are extra features that you can add to your policy — usually by paying a small additional fee — to enhance coverage to suit your needs.

Foresters Life Insurance policy offers several riders, such as:

• Children’s Term Rider: With this rider, you can buy term assurance for your children, as long as they are in the age group of 15 days – 25 years. The premium will remain the same throughout the term and is payable for 20 years. At the end of the term, every insured child can convert the coverage into a permanent life policy without a medical exam.
• Waiver of Premium: The insurer will waive off the future premiums in the event of total disability.
• Accidental Death Benefit: Most life insurance companies will issue an additional cash benefit to your beneficiary if you die due to an accident. The maximum benefit payable under this rider is $300,000 or the death benefit of the base policy, whichever is lower.
• Term Riders: This rider allows the purchase of additional term insurance policy on the life of the insured or their partner.

Foresters Term Insurance Rates

When shopping for life insurance, some important questions to ask are:

What is the cost of this protection?

Are the term assurance rates competitive?

To find out, we got quotes from Foresters. Our quotes are for a $400,000 policy with a 20-year term for healthy, non-smoking men and women of different ages.

Forester’s website claims its term life insurance policies help you face life’s unexpected challenges with confidence. So, let’s put them to the test.

‍

Term Life Insurance Review - Price Comparison vs. Competitor Products

If you want the best value, compare quotes from multiple providers. This is the only way to find the cheapest life insurance policy. We twice compared premium rates of Forester with those of SunLife. And guess what? Forester was the winner on both occasions.

Example 1: 40 Year Old Male, Non Smoker, Regular Health, 20 Year Term:

Foresters Term Insurance $400K - $41.22

Sun Life$400K - $50.13

Cost Savings over 20 years: $2138

Example 2: 60 Year Old Female, Non Smoker, Regular Health, 20 Year Term:

Foresters Term Insurance $250K - $163.57

Foresters $250K - $168.07

Cost Savings over 20 years: $1200

Why We Like Foresters

Solid Foresters Financial Rating

Let’s face it. The last thing you would want is to pay thousands of dollars of premiums only to find the insurer has gone under a decade down the line. That would mean not only a loss of investment but also having to buy coverage all over again at a higher rate. Thankfully, with Foresters you will not have any such worries. It is on solid financial footing — reflected in its AM Best rating of “A” — meaning it would keep its end of the bargain.

Multiple coverage terms available

The insurer gives plenty of options when it comes to picking a policy term. You can buy life insurance for 10, 20, or 30 years or up to a certain age, such as 75.

Term life plans convertible to permanent life plans

You can convert your term life plan into a permanent life insurance plan. Foresters offers a range of whole life insurance policies— including participating and non-participating — so you will have plenty of options at your disposal.

Unique community member benefits

Foresters Canada has made a name for itself on the basis of its strong fraternal benefit society heritage. You automatically become a member of the fraternal benefit society when you buy a policy from the insurer. Foresters member benefits includes emergency assistance programs, financial counseling, and competitive academic scholarships.

Foresters Orphan Benefit

No Foresters Financial Life Insurance review could be complete without a mention of its orphan benefit program. In addition to the death benefit, the insurer will pay $900 per month per child if both you and your spouse pass away. After your kids turn 18, Foresters will provide a higher learning scholarship — up to $6000 a year — for four years.

What We Did Not Like About Foresters

• Term life plans are not among the cheapest

While competitively-priced, Foresters term life insurance policies are priced higher than some comparable products.

• No online quote

Foresters does not provide online quotes. You will need to connect with an advisor to get one.

• No digital policy option

You will receive only a paper policy on approval.

Conclusion – Is Foresters Term Life Insurance Right for You?

Our Foresters Term Life Insurance review found that the company is financially strong and offers a range of life insurance, among other things. Its premium rates, however, are not among the cheapest, though it offers unique member benefits. Foresters member benefits may make the cost worth it.

See our top choices for life insurance