In September, Assumption Life launched a simplified issue whole life insurance line based on its previous product line. Its goal: To improve and simplify sales of this type of product.

The Moncton, New Brunswick-based mutual has lowered the average price of this long-standing product. It also raised advisors' compensation 5 per cent.

At the same time, Assumption Life has modified its Golden Protection product and added a new one, Silver Protection, to accommodate clients who could not obtain the Golden level.

According to information available on InsuranceINTEL, a sister company of Insurance Journal, Golden Protection provides more life insurance coverage than Silver Protection. For example, people between the ages of 40 and 70 can purchase coverage of up to $100,000 at the Golden level, and up to $50,000 at the Silver level.

The insurer has withdrawn also its Golden Protection Deferred and Total Protection products. The line now offers a harmonized underwriting questionnaire. These additions continue the line launched in July 2021 with Platinum Protection and Golden Protection Elite whole life products.

Time for an update  

The time had come to update this line of products, Luc Bossé, Vice president of Sales and Marketing at Assumption Life told Insurance Portal. He mentions that Assumption Life launched its first simplified products in 1994 and its first online insurance sales platform in 2003. Its current platform, Lia, was rolled out in 2013. This platform promises “a hassle-free process with policies issued in a matter of hours," Bossé says.

Reduced prices  

“We wanted to make the purchasing process more user-friendly by focusing on a single product line,” Luc Bossé points out. The line includes different levels of protection and pricing and uniform question wording. He adds that Assumption Life's selection tool can help advisors pinpoint the product best suited to the client's situation in about 10 minutes.

“We also tried to make the lineup more competitive. We lowered prices across the board in almost every segment,” Bossé continues. He stopped short of disclosing the extent of those reductions, but he did say that most products were aligned with the competition. The insurer's release calls the rates "some of the lowest in the industry, especially for clients aged 45 and over."

For example, the removal of one question in the underwriting process has increased access to better prices. The harmonized questionnaire no longer asks if the client has been refused life insurance in the last two years, Bossé says. The old “no exam” and “no exam plus” products asked for this information.

“This barred some clients from getting lower premiums. With the elimination of this two-year denial issue for all our products, a client can now qualify more easily for less expensive products,” Bossé explains, giving the examples of Golden and Platinum products. 

The new line targets the segment of people with medical histories up to age 85. Assumption Life says it is the only insurer to go up to that age. A product comparison InsuranceINTEL provided on October 18, 2010 shows that the closest competitors offer coverage up to the issue age of 80.