When you’re in the market for life insurance, the sheer number of providers and policy options can be overwhelming. Finding which insurance provider suits you best can be challenging. That’s where Manulife Life Insurance steps in.
Manulife is one of Canada’s foremost insurance providers, offering various insurance products, including life insurance. Their life insurance plans provide coverage for a set period, usually ranging from 10 to 30 years or for the entirety of the policyholder’s life.
Established in 1887, Manulife is a highly reputable life insurance company that delivers top-notch products and services to its clients. They offer a wide array of insurance policies tailored to meet diverse needs.
In this Manulife Life Insurance review, we will delve into the nitty-gritty of the Manulife life insurance policies, examining their coverage offerings, pros and cons, reviews and ratings, and associated costs. This will help you decide if Manulife is the right choice for you. Let’s get started!
What is Manulife?
The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company, colloquially called Manulife, is Canada’s largest life insurance provider and holds trillions of dollars in assets. The company was founded in 1887 by Canada’s first prime minister.
Today, Manulife Life Insurance is the first Canadian life insurance company to offer life insurance coverage to HIV-positive customers, invest billions in sustainable initiatives, and strive for gender balance in management.
Manulife Life Insurance offers electronic policy delivery. The company provides various term life products, such as Family Term, which is Manulife’s flagship term life insurance product, Family Term with Vitality, and Business Term.
Manulife’s Quick Issue Term and CoverMe Issue are online plans that offer coverage with no medical exams, though at higher prices. The company also offers a 3-in-1 life, disability, and critical illness plan through its Synergy product.
Pros of Manulife Insurance
- The company has strong financial ratings.
- They offer a wide array of life insurance products.
- You can convert your policies to permanent life insurance.
- They offer short-term plans like Term 10 and Term 20, which can be exchanged for longer-term plans like Term 20 and Term 65
- They offer electronic delivery of their policy.
- They offer early payment options.
- Their Vitality plan helps you earn credits if you participate in health and fitness programs and demonstrate healthy lifestyle habits.
Cons of Manulife Insurance
- The company offers limited term life insurance options
- The price of Manulife term life products is costlier than other term life insurance products in the market
Manulife Term Life Insurance
Term life insurance plans are for Canadians seeking coverage within a specified period. The coverage doesn’t last forever, so they are much more affordable than permanent life insurance policies.
Manulife term life insurance plans cover you for as long as needed. Also, they come without extras, like cash value, which only raises your premiums.
You can use your term life insurance plans to cover loans or debts, like mortgages, or as an income replacement tool.
CoverMe Term
This policy is for young Canadian couples looking for affordable coverage, business owners looking to cover overhead and start-up costs, and homeowners looking to cover the last few years of their mortgage.
Features
- The policy offers coverage to Canadians between the ages of 18 to 70
- It offers coverage of $100,000 to $1 million.
- The coverage is quick and affordable but only available for a 10-year term.
- It offers level and guaranteed premiums for ten years.
- You can renew the policy up to age 85
- You can convert your policy to permanent life insurance with no medical exam up to age 70
- It includes a 30-day money-back guarantee (the insurance company will refund your premiums if you return the policy within the first 30 days of its issue)
- If you develop a terminal illness and have less than 12 months to live, you will receive a one-time cash payment of $100,000 or 50% of your coverage.
Family Term
This Manulife flagship term life insurance policy is for Canadian families looking for greater flexibility to ensure their loved ones live comfortably after death. This policy helps cover home loans and other debts and can fund your children’s education.
Features
- The policy offers coverage for 10 years, 20 years, or up to age 65
- It offers coverage from $100,000 to $20 million.
- It includes a cash advance feature if you are diagnosed with a terminal illness.
- It covers family bereavement counselling costs up to $1,000
- It includes optional features to receive financial support if you suddenly become severely injured or die in an accident.
- It allows optional riders like disability premium waivers, children’s insurance, and more.
Business Term
This policy is especially for business owners. This policy helps to keep your business afloat and running smoothly when things don’t go as planned.
This policy protects your business if something happens to you (the main stakeholder). It provides key-person protection, buy-sell funding, estate tax coverage, and business collateral.
Features
- The policy offers coverage for 10 years, 20 years, or up to age 65
- It provides coverage from $100,000 to $20 million
- It includes a cash advance feature if you are diagnosed with a terminal illness.
- It covers family bereavement counselling costs up to $1,000
- It provides a discount if you buy a joint policy to insure more than one person
- It allows you to augment and modify your coverage without medical exams
Family Term with Vitality
This special term life insurance product allows Canadians to save on their life insurance premiums by demonstrating healthy habits.
The insurance company rewards you with gift cards depending on your level of engagement with the program and how healthy you live. The program requires participants to wear a free monitoring device to enable Manulife to check and record their progress.
Features
- The policy offers coverage for 10 years, 20 years, or up to age 65
- It offers coverage from $50,000 to $20 million.
- You can renew your policy up to age 65, 80 or 100
- It allows pile-on savings and earns rewards while improving your health, so the better your engagement, the more you save on future premiums.
- It allows optional riders like accidental death and more.
Quick Issue Term
This product is for Canadians with underlying health conditions that make it hard to qualify for traditional, fully underwritten policies.
If you have a pre-existing health condition and are ineligible to buy life insurance, the quick issue life insurance policy may be right for you. This policy requires no medical exam or lengthy approval process. Mostly, you can get your coverage approved within a business day.
Features
- The policy offers coverage for 10 years, 20 years, or up to age 65
- It offers coverage from $100,000 to $500,000
- It guarantees a fast approval process
- It doesn’t require a medical examination
- It only requires an electronic application and no paperwork
- You can convert your policy to a permanent one
- It covers family bereavement counselling costs up to $1,000
Manulife Permanent Life Insurance
Permanent life insurance offers lifelong coverage. Whatever your age, health, or history, you can find Manulife permanent life insurance to suit your needs and financially secure your loved ones.
Manulife Par Whole Life Insurance (Participating life insurance)
- This policy offers immediate growth of policy cash values and long-term protection
- It provides coverage from $100,000
- It provides guaranteed cash values in the early years of your policy
- It allows you to choose how long you pay premiums and how frequently you pay
- It offers annual dividends
- It provides limited pay options: 10-pay and 20-pay
Performax Gold Whole Life Insurance (Non-participating life insurance)
- It provides coverage from $25,000
- It offers Life Pay and 15 Pay options
- It allows you to add Term life insurance riders
- You can add other riders like Disability riders and Children’s insurance riders.
Manulife Universal Life Insurance
Universal life insurance products are best for Canadians looking to invest their cash value. The policy allows self-directed long-term investments.
Manulife offers three universal life insurance products:
InnoVision
- The policy is best for your wealth accumulation and estate planning goals
- It offers full features and flexible life insurance protection
- It provides you with 50 investment accounts to choose from
- It provides coverage from $100,000
- It allows optional riders like term life insurance riders, disability riders, child’s insurance, and many more.
Manulife UL
- It provides coverage from $50,000 to $100,000, depending on your preferred option.
- It offers a wider range of investment options and low management fees.
- It offers guaranteed rate enhancements if you let the policy manage your account.
- The policy is automatically eligible for Vitality Go
Manulife UL with Vitality Plus
- This policy offers many investment options to link to the Performax Gold Investment Fund.
- It offers bonuses for living healthy, like lower premiums, management fees, gift cards, etc.
- Optional riders are available
- You can set personalised health goals for reward eligibility
CoverMe Guaranteed Issue Life Insurance
Older Canadians with health concerns seeking affordable coverage will find this product beneficial. The policy provides you coverage regardless of your health history.
- The policy offers coverage from $5,000 to $25,000
- It lets you choose the coverage amount that suits your budget
- You can save money with the level premiums provided by this policy
Manulife Synergy Combination Insurance
Manulife Life Insurance offers 3-in-1 life, disability, and critical illness insurance from Synergy. This policy helps safeguard the life you live and the people you love.
The policy allows you to draw money through your Synergy if you can’t work due to injury, illness, or premature death. You can use this money to replace your income, cover your mortgage, and supplement gaps in your employer’s group plan.
Manulife Insurance Reviews
We have extracted some of the customer reviews for Manulife Insurance across several online platforms to help you make an informed decision.
Positive Manulife Reviews
- Yes, the phone wait times are long but they’re very helpful and we got our refund within 60 days of making the claim which is great for COVID times.
Negative Manulife Reviews
- “My dad passed 2 months ago. We called in to make the claim and were told 19 business days for policy funds to be deposited. Nothing was deposited after that time, so we called back twice and were told a rush would be put on it. Still nothing. Called the broker and he talked with them. They told him it would be 5-7 business days. Still nothing. It’s now 2 months and Manulife says an adjuster will call us back. Manulife is a joke. Never use them. There are policies with 2 other companies, both of which have come through immediately.
Don’t waste your time with an unprofessional company like Manulife.” – InsurEye Review - “My wife was making a claim on her deceased father and she was one of the beneficiaries of three sisters. Communication with Manulife is bad. It does not matter if you get the agency to communicate with Manulife or do it yourself, they put you through to the call center that has limited training and when asking for a manager or supervisor level for Manulife they will not pass you on to them.” –InsurEye Review
Final Thoughts on Manulife Life Insurance Review
Manulife is a trusted choice for many Canadians, with strong financial ratings and the option to convert policies to permanent life insurance.
Their Vitality plan is an innovative approach that allows customers to save on their life insurance premiums by adopting healthy habits.
However, the company offers limited term life insurance options, and their prices for term life products are relatively high compared to other insurance providers.
Manulife’s life insurance policies offer flexibility, affordability, and security, making it an excellent choice for those seeking reliable life insurance coverage.
FAQs on Manulife Life Insurance Review
Is Manulife a good company?
Yes. Manulife Life Insurance is ranked top among Canadian insurers on the World’s Best Employers list.
Are SunLife and Manulife the same?
SunLife and Manulife are two different Canadian insurers. However, both companies offer life and health insurance, a variety of investment products, and annuities. The only thing that Manulife has that SunLife doesn’t is mortgages and banking products.
Who Owns Manulife?
Manulife is a Schedule I federally chartered bank and a wholly‑owned subsidiary of The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company.
Is Manulife a Canadian Company?
Yes, Manulife Financial Corporation, based in Toronto, is Canada’s largest insurance company and one of the largest in the world.
