The Basics
Are you looking for a broad range of coverage at affordable pricing? If so, a Synergy policy from Manulife may be for you. This policy includes life, disability, and critical illness coverage, focusing on low cost.
The way it works is that you apply for a certain amount of insurance of up to $500,000. This amount of insurance can be seen as a “bucket of money” which you use whenever you make a claim for any of the 3 coverages. The life coverage is equal to the total amount of insurance you apply for, and the disability and critical illness coverages will come in a set proportion to that.
For example, if you apply and are approved for the maximum of $500,000 in coverage, you will have $500,000 in life coverage, $125,000 in critical illness coverage, and $2500/month in disability coverage. Say if you were to go on a disability claim and receive the monthly benefit for 6 months, your total ‘bucket of money would be decreased by $15,000 (6×$2500). If you later passed away with no other claims, a death benefit of $485,000 would be paid to your beneficiary. It’s important to note that if you require more coverage than what is available through Synergy, you can always get another policy to supplement it.
The policy can either be 10-year renewable to age 65 or level cost to age 65. With the first option, the premiums start low and increase once every 10 years. With the latter, you pay a set premium that doesn’t change throughout the life of the policy. One strategy that can sometimes be used is purchasing a 10-year renewable policy to take advantage of the low premiums in the early years, then have it switch to a level cost later before the premiums get too high. In any case, the policy ends on the policy anniversary nearest your 65th birthday.
A Synergy policy is available to anyone who could get rated as standard for life insurance and is able to get disability insurance. In other words, if you’re in good health, you’ll likely have no problem being approved for a Synergy policy.
Disability Coverage
The disability coverage uses the “regular occupation” definition of disability. This means that you’re considered to be disabled if you can’t perform the substantial duties of your regular occupation. If you do become disabled, there’s a 90-day waiting period before you start to receive the monthly benefit. This is to prevent people from trying to go on disability for very short-term injuries and is standard for most disability policies. The monthly benefits will continue until you are no longer disabled, the policy ends at around age 65, or your bucket of money is emptied. The disability coverage is priced at a 2A occupation class, so it’s particularly beneficial for anyone in riskier occupations, such as manual labourers.
Critical Illness Coverage
The critical illness coverage can be used to help pay for hospital or medical expenses that arise from a number of conditions. These covered conditions are:
• Kidney failure
• Loss of limbs
• Loss of speech
• Major organ failure (on waiting list)
• Major organ transplant
• Motor neuron disease
• Multiple sclerosis
• Occupational HIV infection
• Paralysis
• Parkinson’s disease & specified atypical Parkinsonian disorders
• Severe burns
• Stroke
• Aortic surgery
• Aplastic anemia
• Bacterial meningitis
• Benign brain tumour
• Blindness
• Cancer (life threatening)
• Coma
• Coronary artery bypass surgery
• Deafness
• Dementia, including Alzheimer’s Disease
• Heart attack
• Heart valve replacement or repair
There is no waiting period, meaning the benefit is paid as soon as the claim forms are processed. Additionally, there are early intervention benefits to help pay for the early intervention of certain conditions, and recovery benefits to help pay for rehabilitation services, if necessary.
One neat advantage of a Synergy policy is that even if you have a family history of critical illnesses, you can be rated as standard and avoid higher premiums. This is because Manulife focuses on the life and disability coverages during their Synergy underwriting.
The Bottom Line
A Synergy policy is a great bundle of life, disability, and critical illness insurance, which is cheaper than if you were to get an individual policy for each coverage. However, since the objective of the Synergy product is to combine these coverages into one affordable policy, there are less riders available to tailor the policy to your specific needs. And if you’re looking for only one type of insurance, you would be better off with a standalone policy that doesn’t charge you for 3 types of coverage. Talking to a licensed insurance representative is always the best way to get an insurance policy that suits you.
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