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Life Insurance
Best Life Insurance for Seniors: Best Policies and Companies (2022)
June 28, 2022
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7 minutes
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As you apply for a mortgage, your lender may be pushing something called mortgage life insurance. Buying a home is costly enough, you probably want to know if mortgage life insurance is mandatory in Canada. If it's not mandatory, is it needed?
Fortunately, mortgage life insurance is not mandatory in Canada. That said, it's smart to think about what might happen if you can’t pay your mortgage. To protect your family and your new digs, mortgage life insurance can be a good option.
An important distinction: mortgage insurance, which is a different product, is sometimes mandatory in Canada. Read on to learn more about how mortgage life insurance is different from mortgage insurance and whether you, dear reader, might actually need it.
Mortgage life insurance is not mandatory in Canada. You might still want to consider some form of life insurance, though, just in case you can’t make your payments anymore.
That said, if your deposit is less than 20%, mortgage default insurance or CMHC insurance is mandatory. Mortgage default insurance is very different from mortgage life insurance, which helps cover payments for your new home (and its gorgeous oak floors). Mortgage default insurance protects your lender in the event you can’t pay. This is so lenders can protect their cash flow.
Mortgage default insurance is issued by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). The lender pays the premium and then passes on the costs to you.
Confused? Watch this two minute video and let Marc explain how different types of mortgage insurance work.
The good news is you don’t need life insurance to get a mortgage.
Mortgage insurance products provided by your bank or mortgage lender will just pay off debt related to your mortgage. Your beneficiaries can't use the funds for anything else. Your lender usually will add the mortgage life insurance premiums on top of your regular mortgage payments.
To get more perspective, let's run through all the options for mortgage life insurance so you can decide what you might need.
Mortgage life insurance is not a must-have in the eyes of the law.
Mortgage life insurance also has a major downfall: it’s a one-trick pony because it only pays off your mortgage. And that’s why you may want to consider another kind of policy that will give your beneficiaries more flexibility and let them use the payout for more than the mortgage.
Term life insurance is exactly that flexible option. It lets your beneficiaries choose how to spend the death benefit: on the mortgage, replace your income, pay for your kids' education, take time off work etc.
Term life insurance also tends to have lower monthly premiums than mortgage life insurance, which we're sure you'll appreciate.
Just so you know: term life insurance is provided by insurance companies, not your mortgage lender.
Read our ultimate guide to how term life insurance stands out against mortgage life insurance for even more details.
There’s more to life than paying your mortgage.
Mortgage life insurance can be costly. That's why a term life insurance policy is the smarter option, because it’s budget-friendly and it puts the various financial needs of your loved ones first. We’ve already shown how it saves you money, now let’s count the ways term life insurance works even harder for your family:
When comparing policies, think of it as a battle royale between the constant coverage of term life insurance and decreasing coverage of mortgage life insurance. The charts below compare the two (and you can see which policy is the clear winner here).
The truth is ensuring your loved ones have the cash flow to pay for their home ultimately makes financial common sense. But while many parents think they need mortgage life insurance to do this, that's often not the case.
To help plan your budget, we’ve put together the dollars and cents to show the difference between the costs of mortgage life insurance and term life insurance.
Meet Christine, a 30-year-old non-smoker with a $300,000 mortgage living in Windsor, Ontario. Here is what she’ll pay for mortgage protection insurance:
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Here is what she’ll pay for term life insurance:
This is when term life insurance really outshines mortgage insurance because it pays out your family instead of your lender.
If your loved ones choose to pay off the mortgage, they can keep the remaining death benefit to cover immediate and future costs, from daycare to your little one’s college education.
Curious about how wallet-friendly term life insurance is? We've taken the fuss out of finding an affordable quote with our online calculator.
Mortgage life insurance isn't necessary. It is the last resort when you can’t qualify for a term life insurance policy due to your medical history.
The upside to pure mortgage protection is that it can be easier to get approved because there’s no medical exam required.
Since mortgage insurance doesn’t require a complete picture of an applicant’s health, providers blend rates to accommodate high and low-risk folks.
Using Christine’s $300,000 mortgage as an example, here’s a snapshot of how rates differ between mortgage insurance and term life insurance:
There’s more to lose with mortgage life insurance.
Both the mortgage balance and coverage will decline over time, as you get older the cost will increase, and once the mortgage is paid off, you won’t have any benefit for your loved ones.
With term life insurance, there’s less to lose and you’ll win more peace of mind. The coverage and premiums remain the same for term duration. And in the event of your passing, your family—instead of your lender—receives the benefit, which means they’re empowered to use the money where and how they need it most.
Life insurance that’s affordable, flexible and made to fit your life is just a click away. Discover how PolicyMe can help you stress less and live more. We provide life insurance in British Columbia, Ontario, Alberta and 8 other Canadian provinces and territories.
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