Humania launched Income Insurance - Accident in late December 2020 across Canada. The new product reportedly stands out by offering to cover all occupations. For example, the insurer targets high-risk occupations in sectors such as entertainment, mining, forestry, fisheries and aquaculture.
The product fact sheet also states that seasonal, part-time and home-based workers are eligible, as are entrepreneurs, including new business owners. The offer also covers students, retirees and people who are unemployed or on unpaid leave.
Accident only
For the moment, only accident coverage is available. "Disability insurance coverage in case of illness will follow in a few months," Humania Assurance CEO Stéphane Rochon told the Insurance Portal.
The insurance pays monthly benefits in the event of disability due to an accident or soft tissue injury (muscle or tendon injury). The monthly accident benefit ranges up to $6,000. It covers the insured's usual occupation for 36 months. Injury coverage is for 60 days per event and 365 days for the duration of the contract.
Seasonal or part-time workers, students and retirees can receive benefits of up to $1,000 per month if they become disabled. The choice of waiting period ranges from 1 to 14, 30, 90 or 120 days. The premium is level until age 70 and is guaranteed for the first five years of the policy.
Innovative product
"We have just launched a highly innovative salary insurance product," Stéphane Rochon says. He also lauded the product's digital advantages. For one, a transaction can be completed in less than 15 minutes, with no medical exam.
"A single question is enough to determine eligibility for the product," he adds. Insured are asked if they currently have any restrictions due to illness or injury that prevent them from performing activities of daily living.
The insurer is also breaking ground by covering disabilities that result from soft tissue injury along with disabilities up to age 70, he adds. The other benefit periods offered are 2 years or 5 years. "It's a fairly new type of coverage, which is going to make claims easier. This launch clearly signals our desire to change the way we do business in income insurance," Rochon says.
Integrating partial disability for six months for any occupation also makes the product stand out, he adds. Partial disability entitles insured to receive 50% of the monthly benefit. "We have integrated partial disability into the policy so that all insured benefit from it. In fact, this coverage is generally offered as a rider in the market.”
Insured centered
Stéphane Rochon points out that another way the product is innovative is that it focuses on the insured rather than on an occupation category. It can thus more easily cover workers in specific and non-traditional sectors such as truck drivers, or seasonal workers such as fishers. The product can also be customized to meet the needs of a professional association.
In the product sheet, Humania says it covers the following industries: agriculture, retail, construction, daycare, catering, personal care and transportation, among others. The insurer also gives examples of the non-traditional types of employment it is targeting with the new product. They include seasonal and part-time workers in entertainment, mining, forestry, fisheries and aquaculture.
A low-cost product
What’s more, the product is priced very competitively. Rochon explains that for $44.69 per month, a worker can obtain coverage of $2,000 per month in case of an accident payable for 5 years, with a 30-day waiting period. In its product sheet, Humania defines its target clienteles as people with a more limited budget, and people who are hard to insure, who do not qualify for illness coverage.
The product is the latest addition to the 5575 digital product platform portfolio. Launched in 2019, 5575 is designed to ease the online migration of the insurer's existing products (including HuGO and Insurance Without Medical Exam) and fuel new product development. "The 5575 platform lets us launch products more quickly and in real time, and to be responsive to advisors. We can change the outer framework and design specialized features.”
According to Humania, an employee earning $50,000 who becomes disabled at age 40 can lose more than $1.8 million in income. This figure represents income up to age 65, including a 3.1% increase per year.
