Humania Assurance Reviews 2020: Are They the Insurer for YOU?

Like Equitable Life of Canada, Humania Assurance is a mutual life insurance company. This means policyholders share in the success of the company and there are NO traditional shareholders.

Humania was a fraternal society founded in 1874 by Father Louis – Zéphirin Moreau! Yes, you heard me right, they have quite a long history. I always like seeing this because it means the company was able to withstand periods of instability.

That gives me confidence that they will be there for my family if a payout is necessary. 

This insurer was originally called L’Union Saint-Joseph de Saint – Hyacinthe and it was created to protect member families if they became ill or died. A working-class organization, professionals were not admitted.

The religious and social approach was appealing to people during that time and by 1899 there were 25 branches and 2,583 members! 

In 1922 there was a change of direction for the company. Insurance rates were low and they had to pay numerous death claims due to the Spanish flu.

This created a need for a rate adjustment. That combined with the Great Depression made an overhaul of their business model a necessity.

L’Union Saint-Joseph de Saint – Hyacinthe took the leap and became a mutual insurance company. By 1937 the newly minted model was renamed La Survivance. 

La Survivance, later known as LS mutual life insurance, ceased to operate as a fraternal society that excluded professionals and went on to offer insurance for death, injury, and illness.

In 2013, on its 75th birthday, LS Mutual Life Insurance Company changed its name to Humania Assurance Inc.

The name change was driven out of a desire to modernize the company. Choosing a bilingual name that reflects the human values and principles of the company was part of the process.

As we all know the life insurance business is forever changing.

Humania Insurance is not taking this sitting down. In November 2018 they announced a move into the life insurance technology sector. Pretty cool eh? 

“Lead2action is an agency specialized in insurance technologies. Its objective is to improve customer loyalty. Using programmatic technology, it offers to its partners a new automated approach to promote insurance products to their customer networks,”

 

Stéphane Rochon

While I haven’t seen this before…

…I can’t find a traditional financial rating for Humania Insurance online with AM Best or DBRS. However, they do provide their financial statements yearly. Suffices to say, Humania Assurance is a stable small-sized company with about 150 employees.

In 2019, they had total assets of $11.9 billion.

If you were to rank all the insurance carriers in Canada by total assets, Humania would be in the middle of the list sitting around #45 out of 70. Net revenues in 2019 were approximately $4.6 million.

Most compelling to me is that 66% of their sales were online in 2019. This number is up 10% from 2018. Of their online sales in 2019, 80% were issued automatically through HuGO, their online application platform. Clearly Humania has a keen eye for the digital marketplace and is moving fast to become a leader in this area. 

This insurer has maintained its presence outside of Quebec with 38% of sales happening in other provinces. in 2018. Recent hirings hint that increasing business outside of Quebec is a priority. 

I think it’s important to check out what people have to say when it comes to the insurance company you’re thinking about signing on with.

BUT you should always mitigate this with some common sense. For the most part, I find consumer reviews concerning insurance companies to be negative. Honestly, I think it has more to do with human nature than it does with the companies.

The thing is, you should also remember that most of the people who take time to write reviews are unhappy.

The legions of customers who have smooth transactions take them for granted so you see those 5-star experiences less often than the 1-star complaints.

Another thing to be aware of is many companies carry a lot of different products. So if you’re looking for life insurance and all the complaints are concerning group insurance chances are you can overlook them.

Well on first glance 2.3 out of 5 isn’t so good but it’s not terrible. We also need to take a look at what the complaints are dealing with and keep in mind that this particular rating is based on only 6 reviews.

Most of the complaints are connected to claims issues. There also seems to be some general frustration that Humania call centre agents provide poor service. This is typical, I see these kinds of comments show up with every carrier I review. 

Term is the meat and potatoes of life insurance.

It’s the most suitable coverage for the majority of people and what I recommend to clients 90% of the time. That’s because it’s affordable protection and meets most peoples’ temporary needs.

For example, if you have a family and a mortgage, you want to make sure that your loved ones are protected for the period of time they’re most vulnerable. Usually, that’s the years when your children are still living at home, going to school and dependent on you financially.

After that, your need for insurance tends to diminish.

We can’t discuss Humania Assurance products without mentioning HuGO Life Insurance.

This online application platform analyzes your risk profile by asking questions specific to your particular situation in order to process your application and issue an insurance policy at lightning speed. I go into much more detail about Humania’s HuGO in the “Application Process” section.

Humania Assurance gives you two renewal options: Gold and Platinum. Gold is the default, which means you are eligible to renew your coverage without providing medical evidence at whatever the market rate is at the time.

With the Platinum renewal, you can elect to pay approximately 13% more in premiums over the life of your policy to get an even better renewal rate when your term ends. The Platinum rate is 40% lower than the renewal for the Gold option.

So for example, let’s take a 40 year old Male, non-smoker buying $1 million dollars of Humania 20 year term coverage. The gold renewal option costs him $99.45 per month. If he elects to take the platinum renewal, he forks out $112.95 per month or $13.50 more per month than the Gold Renewal.

This may not seem like a lot of money but over a 20-year term, he pays $3,240 more in premiums. The question is, how much exactly will his renewal rate be and is it worth the extra 13.5% in monthly premiums?

If you have an insurability issue, it may be worth it.

Yet another reason to contact an independent life insurance agent. We sharpen our pencils and help you do the math to make sure your decision is right for your bank account.

In the no medical life insurance market, there are a variety of carriers with different eligibility criterion.

Again, another reason why it’s really important to work with an experienced independent agent who understands the nuances between products. For example, someone who had cancer may have a completely different outcome depending on the insurer they decide to go with.

That’s where Humania comes in.

What’s really interesting about their no medical exam insurance is that the crux of eligibility is built around whether you are working. For example, even if you have Muscular Dystrophy you may qualify for up to $300,000 of Term 20 life insurance as long as you’re working.

How?

You must have worked at least 21 hours per week over the past 28 weeks. You also must not have taken time off work for more than 15 consecutive days in the last 2 years due to illness.

“That’s amazing. Muscular dystrophy with most of the other no medical carriers in Canada automatically limits you to $25,000 of coverage. With HumaniA, you’re eligible for up to $300,000 of simplified issue term life insurance.”

If you don’t have critical illness insurance, you should seriously think about it.

The truth is people get sick and with medical advancements, you are much more likely to live through a serious issue. So what happens when you can’t work?

I can assure you the bills don’t stop. That’s where critical illness insurance comes in. This coverage provides you with a lump sum payment to help you get through trying times. 

Humania assurance has 5 different critical illness products for us to review:

“Disability insurance should be a key part of your overall financial planning. Insurance is designed to cover losses that are too big to cover with your own out-of-pocket funds. Life insurance provides a benefit to your beneficiaries should you die. Health insurance covers the cost of medical care should you or your family need it. No less important is disability insurance that covers lost income in the event that you are unable to work due to a disabling injury or illness.” 

Disability Insurance: Definition, Why You Need It and How to Get It, The Street 

I think a lot of us live in denial. Did you know 1 in 3 Canadians experiences some sort of disability that will prevent them from working for 90 days or more?

This is quite an eye-opening figure. This is why disability insurance is so important. It protects you and your family from financial devastation if you are laid up for a period of time.

Let’s check out what Humania has to offer in this area:

Life insurance for children is one of those controversial topics.

Some people think it’s creepy and just a way for life insurance companies to make more money, while others feel its simply a pragmatic product.

Kids get sick and sometimes even die.

I personally understand why someone would decide to protect their family (including their children) with insurance. Life is unpredictable and insurance helps alleviate some of the burdens. 

If you’re thinking about insurance to protect your mortgage, read my article here first. It will save you time and potentially thousands of dollars!

Travel insurance is very important. If something happens to you and you incur medical expenses they will be yours to pay without it.

When you see the actual cost of treatment without insurance you will know why you absolutely need it. 

“Vacation Heart Attack in Mexico Costs Ontario Couple Their life Savings”,

 

Deborah Kelly, SooToday.com

Humania Tour+Med covers you for up to $5Million CAD for the following:

• Medical expenses
• Incidental hospital expenses
• Physician’s fees
• Medical appliances
• Private duty nursing care
• Diagnostic services
• Prescription drugs for emergency treatment
• Ambulance services
• Repatriation (emergency air evacuation)
• Transportation fees
• Paramedical fees

You also receive $25K if accidental death occurs and return of the deceased and vehicle.

OK, Humania is known for it’s cutting edge technology and easy approach to insurance. So I am excited to see what their application process is like…

…and these days you can’t talk about Humania without talking about HuGO.

Last year at Boston’s Innovation in Insurance Awards 2018, Humania won Bronze in the category Best claims, Underwriting, IoT or Ecosystem for its Smart Platform, HuGO. Previous to that, Humania was a 2017 Winner of IWTC’s Digital Transformation Awards which recognizes companies for their digital ingenuity.

HuGO is an online automated system that claims to be fast, efficient and affordable. It sets Humania apart in that it’s delving deeply into the world of tech-based internet sales.

I am of two minds when it comes to this. First of all, I think their system is awesome. It’s innovative and in fact, delivers on a lot of what it says…

…but that’s not my only feeling. Although there seems to be a huge move toward automated insurance sales, I strongly believe the human touch cannot be replicated and that’s not because I am an insurance salesperson.

My personal advice has played a huge role in saving clients a ton of cash. Small details other agents missed or alternative insurance products that better suit their needs can cost you a lot.

I also contact underwriters to find out what their thoughts are. All of this requires contact with a human being.

Sure you are in a rush and possibly you don’t like dealing with people but that’ not the only consideration. It’s worthwhile to speak with an independent Life insurance Agent to get a second opinion before you apply for any life insurance including HuGO. 

Why? Because you get:

1. More Advice: What you think you need and what you do need is often revealed after probing. Far too many underestimate their insurance needs.
2. Follow Through: If you have any medical issues speaking with an independent agent who goes the extra mile typically results in savings of both time and money.
3. One Point of Contact: Our clients are clients for life – so if your circumstances change we are just a quick call away. It’s nice to have an agent that you know.

That being said, let’s check out Humania HuGO now! 

Humania figured out a way to automate the decision-making process of risk assessment as it relates to a life insurance application.

HuGO is an underwriter that uses predictive analytics. As you work your way through the application questions, based on your answers, HuGO selects only the necessary questions from a list of 4000.

HuGO then uses the information it gathers to render a decision in minutes. To me that’s mind-boggling!

If your answers early on indicate a lower risk profile, HuGO will ask you fewer questions and the result will be a shorter application process. Likewise, a medium risk profile requires answering more questions and therefore more time.

Humania claims 65% of customers are approved in 15 – 45 minutes and only 35% of applicants require additional underwriting.

The site claims Humania may insure you up to $5 Million but it’s clear that amounts above the $1 Million mark require the human touch. Not a big surprise.

“This [Hugo] is a very impressive application. In fact, it’s a David vs Goliath example of a Canadian success story of digital transformation.” Gary Davenport, CIO Mentor and Board Advisor

Okay, so you scroll down the first page and click on “Calculate Your Premium Right Now!”

Fill in your details and a bunch of options come up. You can play around with your coverage amount, length of term and see what your Gold and Platinum renewal rates are at a glance.

It all seems very intuitive until you look around for the “Apply Now!” button. There isn’t one. On the right side of the page, there’s a graphic box that says, “interested in purchasing Hugo? Find an advisor“.

All the branding and language, “Hyperjet“, “Express“, gives one the impression that you can just hop online very quickly and apply.

That’s not the case.

Obviously, anyone in the insurance biz knows you have to involve an advisor at some point to facilitate a life insurance application. It’s the law.

Personally, I think Humania could do a better job of communicating this or designing the experience to prepare online users for this in advance.

It’s not obvious to someone who doesn’t know anything about life insurance exactly how to apply and that you need an advisor. Having said that, I must point out that this is an area where other carriers come up short as well.

“Note: Humania distributes its products through a network of independent advisors NOT tied agents, which is ultimately good for you the customer.”

Having said that, once you are doing an application with an advisor, HuGO is fast!

I always like to share basic rates in my reviews. They give you an idea of what to expect. Please remember, Humania may not be the company that works best for your particular set of circumstances. Never buy life insurance based on online quotes.

Consulting an independent agent saves you time and hassle in the long run. 

Age	$500,000.00	$1,000,000.00
35 Year Old Male	$34.65	$62.55
35 Year Old Female	$26.10	$45.45
40 Year Old Male	$51.30	$95.85
40 Year Old Female	$36.00	$62.25
45 Year Old Male	$84.60	$155.25
45 Year Old Female	$56.70	$106.65
50 Year Old Male	$133.45	$264.15
50 Year Old Female	$91.80	$192.15
55 Year Old Male	$242.55	$478.35
55 Year Old Female	$171.00	$335.25
60 Year Old Male	n/a	n/a
60 Year Old Female	n/a	n/a
65 Year Old Male	n/a	n/a
65 Year Old Female	n/a	n/a

*Quotes above are for Humania Assurance’s Term 20, monthly, Standard Health Class, non-smoker, Gold Renewal. Your rates may differ depending on your unique circumstances. June 2020.

*NOTE If you’re 60 or above, you’re not eligible for Humania Assurance’s Term 20 product. However, you can still purchase a term 10 or term 15 policy.

Humania Insurance is a solid insurance company, with a very modern approach to underwriting.

They are moving toward fast, smart, electronically based applications. I think this is what a lot of consumers want and with HuGO, Humania proves that a small company can have a huge impact on customer experience.

However, even though Hugo can save you some time and provide immediate coverage – it’s always good to consult an independent life insurance agent in the process.

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