A great life insurance policy is essential for protecting your family against life’s what-ifs.
If you are looking for a top life insurance company in Canada, you may want to consider ivari Insurance. ivari is a well established insurer that carries a wide range of life insurance products to suit the unique needs of different people.
Keep reading our ivari Life Insurance Review to find out if they are the right choice for you.
Who is ivari?
ivari, formerly known as Transamerica Life Canada is owned by Canada Pension Plan (CPP) through their Wilton Re acquisition. A reinsurance company, Wilton Re specializes in the acquisition and management of investment and mortality risk. ivari has a long history and offers a full range of life insurance options as well as critical illness plans through independent advisors.
ivari Insurance Facts & Financial Information
- Founded in 1927
- Headquartered at 500-5000 Yonge St, Toronto, ON
Financial Information
$12 billion in Financial Assets
~$850 billion in annual insurance premiums
AM Best Financial Strength Rating: A+
Trusting in the financial stability of your chosen life insurance company is important, but if you buy a policy from ivari you can rest easy knowing your investment is in good hands. ivari has a long history of reliability as they received the second-highest financial strength rating of A+ from the credit-rating agency AM Best in 2021, similar to competitors like Canada Protection Plan.
ivari Life Insurance Reviews
Online insurance reviews are not always a good representation of an insurance company as a whole. You cannot be sure how much you can trust these reviews to be accurate as statistically speaking, people share their bad experiences more often than their good ones.
All the same, ivari manages to maintain a high score and good reviews (2.7 out of 5) from their customers on Google Reviews. Which is not insignificant as many top insurers fail to manage this, often receiving scores of less than 2 stars.
Google Reviews rating: 2.7 / 5 ★★★
Dundas Life rating: 4.0 / 5 stars ★★★★
ivari Term Life Insurance Products and Features
There is a limited range of life coverage options offered by ivari in the usual formats: term life insurance, critical illness insurance, universal life insurance. Ivari has term policies for these periods — 10, 20, and 30 years. All the term life insurance options come with level and guaranteed premiums for the term policy duration. That is, your premium rate will remain the same throughout your term. These term insurance products are available as a single or joint policy (maximum five insured lives).
ivari Term 10
A 10-year term policy could make sense for:
- Homeowners who want to cover the last few years of their mortgage
- Couples looking for a cost-effective insurance option
- Business owners looking to cover start-up and overhead costs
Features
- Convertible to permanent life insurance
- Can be renewed every 10 years to age 80
- Coverage amounts available from $50,000 - $10 million
- Option to add the critical illness rider
ivari Term 20
The term 20 plan may be a good option for:
- Individuals looking for affordable insurance coverage with future flexibility
- Families with a mortgage
- Business owners who want to cover start-up and overhead costs
Features
- Convertible to a permanent life policy
- Can be renewed every 20 years to age 80
- Coverage amounts available (for single life) from $50,000 - $10 million
- Option to the add critical illness rider
ivari Term 30
The longest of all term life insurance products offered by ivari, Term 30 is designed for:
- Individuals looking for affordable insurance coverage with future flexibility
- Families or individuals looking to cover their mortgage
- Young families looking for cost-effective coverage
A carryover from Transamerica Life Canada, the Term 30 plan features three interesting inbuilt options that become available between policy years 15 and 20.
- Select 30 – Lets you reduce the benefit amount and suspend premium payments until the term ends.
- SelectLIFE – Lets you suspend premium payments for less coverage for the rest of your life.
- SelectValue - Gives you the option to access cash value attributed to your policy.
Features
- Convertible to a permanent insurance policy
- Renewable at the end of the policy term
- Coverage amounts available (for single life) from $50,000 - $10 million
- Option to add the critical illness rider
ivari Universal Life Insurance
Universal life insurance provides coverage for life, builds cash value, and a lot of flexibility. For example, you can increase or reduce your premiums and adjust the death benefit — within certain limits — according to your needs. Ivari also has the Compassionate Assistance Program (CAP) as a benefit which can allow you to take out a loan against your death benefit if your life expectancy is below two years or if you have a terminal illness. You can buy ivari Universal insurance as a single or joint policy.
Features
- Coverage amount available from $25,000 to $10 million
- Option to add critical illness rider and other add-ons
ivari Critical Illness Insurance
Thanks to modern medicine, these days many people can survive a serious illness — but the financial impact can be devastating. This is where critical illness insurance comes in. It ensures medical bills do not drain your retirement savings if you develop a terminal illness.
ivari offers two plans: 4-condition coverage and 25-condition coverage. The 4-condition coverage is a more affordable option and covers:
- Heart attack
- Cancer
- Stroke
- Coronary artery bypass surgery
The 25-condition coverage covers all these conditions and 21 others, including blindness, severe burns, and loss of speech. If you are looking for a comprehensive critical illness policy, this may be the right option for you.
Features
- Level premiums
- Coverage amount available from $25,000 to $2,000,000
- Early Detection Benefit - Provides a lump-sum payment if you are diagnosed with certain conditions
- Return of Premium on Death Benefit - Provides a lump-sum payment in the event of the insured’s death
- Expert Medical Opinion Service – Access some of the world’s top doctors who will review your case and advise your physician
ivari Life Insurance Riders
Riders are add-ons that allow you to tweak your insurance coverage to suit your needs, usually for a small fee.
- Critical Illness Protection – The insurer pays a lump-sum benefit if you are diagnosed with a covered critical illnesses (e.g. a heart attack).
- Child Insurance Rider – Offers affordable coverage for the insured’s children. Once the child turns 18, they have the option to convert to whole life without a medical exam.
- Accidental Death and Dismemberment – Pays an additional death benefit to your beneficiary in the event of death or dismemberment due to an accident.
- Waiver of Premium – Waives off future premium payments if the insured becomes disabled.
- Payor Waiver of Premium – If the insured is minor and the payor stated in the policy becomes disabled, this rider waives any future premiums.
- Term riders – You can buy additional term coverage for a specific term over and above your basic coverage.
ivari Term Life Insurance Rates
Term insurance is more affordable than other life insurance products and provides coverage for only those years when you need it most. Here we've gathered some ivari life insurance quotes for comparison. These are the monthly premium rates for non-smoking, healthy men and women of different ages. These life insurance quotes are $400,000 coverage over a 20-year term length.
ivari Term Insurance Review – Price Comparison vs. Competitor Products
We compared ivari insurance company against Sun Life to find out who is cheaper. What we found was there is really not much to choose between the two price-wise.
Example 1: 40 Year Old Male, Non Smoker, Regular Health, 20 Year Term:
ivari Insurance $400K - $49.86
Sun Life $400K - $50.13
Cost Savings over 20 years: $65
Why We Like ivari Insurance
Financially Solid
ivari has been in the business for over 80 years. AM Best has rated them A+. To top it all, ivari (formerly known as Transamerica Life Canada) is owned by the Canada Pension Plan, one of the world’s best retirement funds. Need we say more?
Unique Term 30 options
No ivari life insurance review would be complete without mentioning their Term 30 plan. It features three interesting inbuilt options that give policyholders a lot of flexibility. Between years 15 and 20 of your policy, you can choose to:
- reduce the benefit amount and suspend premium payments until the term ends
- suspend premium payments for less coverage for the rest of your life
- access cash value attributed to your policy
Joint insurance option for up to five insured lives
With ivari, you can take a joint life policy to cover the lives of five people. Most insurers, in contrast, provide coverage for only two individuals.
What We Did Not Like About ivari Insurance
Pricier Term Insurance
The costs for ivari’s term life insurance products are above average when compared to competitors.
No Digital Policy
ivari does not provide electronic delivery of documents and online access. Most other insurers do.
No Whole Life Policy
A whole life plan is missing from ivari’s product range.
Conclusion – Is ivari Insurance Right for You?
ivari Insurance has some good term, universal life, and critical illness plans. Its financial strength also is almost as good as it gets. However, it rates for some insurance products are above average when compared to its competitors. If you do not mind that, ivari is definitely worth considering.
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