When I started driving, I had no qualm in getting a car insurance. It’s a necessity, but when it comes to life insurance it took me a lot of reading to finally choose the right term insurance that fits my needs.
So I became a buy term invest the difference (BYID) advocate. I walk the talk by separating my insurance and ETF investing.
My goal is to also influence my family. And now that my siblings are on board, I’m all pumped up to help them find the right term life insurance.
Confusing Names
Because my insurance is from Sun Life Financial Canada, I thought that it would be a good place to start for my siblings to have a look at what is being offered in the Philippines in the same company . (I’m not affiliated or anything; it’s also not an endorsement.)
I love to have many choices when it comes to a bucket of Halloween chocolates. But not when it comes to insurance.
It’s hard to find a term insurance on the website of Sun Life Philippines and other companies. After lurking on Reddit and more reading on the Internet; I discovered the truth that set us free.
Note: Term insurance in the Philippines comes with critical illness, accidental death benefits, and whatnot. It’s not a standalone product.
So that explains the superfluous definition with a celebrity photo. Am I becoming Ella Enchanted? Somebody snap me out of it. OK. There has to be a better way on how to find a term insurance in the Philippines.
Searching for the Right Referral
I’m not usually on Facebook, but when I do, I spend my time asking questions to companies and people. Till one day, we found a referral for a Sun Life insurance advisor through a relative.
Agent had a bad rap for me in the past, but now I still believe that there are agent or advisor who wants to help people in their financial journey.
My sibling had a meetup with the insurance advisor after getting some tips from me.
No prodding was necessary. My sibling was gung ho with the idea of getting a term insurance with critical illness etc.
Of course, as a meddling, concerned sibling, I asked a copy of the quote. Mind you, I’m not fond of reading policy. Because my family’s future is at stake, I read it like there’s no tomorrow. Never again will I set my eyes on it afterwards. (Come to think of it; I never read a novel twice.)
Settling on Term Insurance with Critical Illness
The goal is to find a term insurance with critical illness and accidental death benefit. Initially, I want my sibling to to be covered for critical illness ONLY, or have it separate from term insurance, like what I did.
But that’s seem impossible; still, we have to choose from what are available. The information below were part of the insurance quote for my sibling; isn’t it much easier to relate with real life examples.
Related Post: Term Life Insurance Plans in the Philippines
1. Sun Fit and Well
Sun Fit and Well might not be a term insurance because of the fixed paying period, but this is what the advisor recommended to my sibling.
It offers a “comprehensive life and health protection.” The insured has a coverage for any of the 114 covered critical illness with a life insurance protection and annual dividend earnings at the end of premium paying period.
Sample quote for a non-smoker female who will pay the insurance in full within 15 years.
Sun Fit and Well Advantage 15
Annual Premium: Php 43,530.00
Quarterly Premium: Php 11,970.85 x 4 mos = Php 47,883.40
Total of 15 Years Premium: Php 652,950.00
Take note the discount of Php 4,353.40 if you will pay annually as opposed to quarterly. Well, I say if there’s a cash to cover for the entire premium without putting any strain on the budget, then pay it once.
Payment period: 10, 15, and 20
Paying period: monthly (after payment of initial quarterly), quarterly, semi-annually, and annually
Benefits:
Face Amount: Php 1,000,000.00
Life Insurance Coverage: Php 1,000,000.00
Specific Cancer Booster Benefit: Php 500,000.00
Accidental Death Benefit (ADB): Php 500,000.00
Total Disability Benefit (TDB): waiver of premium
I think you get the idea with the sample quote above. If you requested a quote, you might pay more or less depending on your age and health conditions.
Being a non-smoker has an advantage in getting an insurance other than avoiding lung-related disease.
The dividend earnings is the huge selling point for my sibling.
Not getting any amount of the premium for my term insurance is fine by me while my sibling wants a guaranteed, decent return for extra income or trip. (I’ll happily tag along for free, of course.)
2. Sun LifeAssure
If you want an affordable version of Sun Fit and Well that is definitely a term insurance with critical illness benefit (coverage for any 36 major and minor illnesses), then Sun LifeAssure is what you might need.
It automatically renews every five years with a premium adjustment every 5th anniversary of the policy. The benefits are provided until age 70 regardless of your health condition.
The Downside: No dividends. You wouldn’t get anything once the policy is terminated after claiming the death and critical illness benefit.
Sample quote for a smoker male who can continuously pay until age 70.
Benefits:
Face Amount: Php 1,000,000.00
Critical Illness or Life Insurance Coverage: Php 1,000,000.00
Accidental Death Benefit (ADB): Php 500,000.00
Total Disability Benefit (TDB): waiver of premium
Annual Premium: Php 14,785.00 (first 5 years)
Quarterly Premium: Php 4,065.88
Difference: Php 1,478.52
Total Premium for 5 Years = Php 73, 925.00
Payment Period: renews every 5 years
Paying Period: quarterly, semi-annually, and annually
How much will the premium be with every renewal after 5 years?
1 – 5 years = Php 14,785.00
6 – 10 years = Php 21, 670.00
11 – 15 years = Php 31, 370.00
16 – 20 years = Php 45, 680
21 – 25 years = Php 60,505.00
26 – 30 years = Php 91,690.00
Total = Php 265,700.00
After squinting my eyes, reading the fine print, I thought you should know this.
Note: The Critical Illness must occur more than 90 days after the date the policy comes into force and the diagnosis must occur before the insured’s 70th birthday.
Know Who You are Dealing With
Although the insurance advisor was recommended to us, being the person who prefers sending written messages, I inquired to Sun Life Financial Philippines on Facebook to verify if the financial advisor is a legitimate and licensed Sun Life Advisor.
And our financial advisor is indeed legit. There goes a big sigh of relief.
If you don’t know any advisor, you can search online. I found the search result, quite limited. Sun Life should list all the advisors and not only the top agents with years of experience.
I can’t give our advisor’s name for privacy. But I would suggest her to create a simple website for branding and accessibility.
Is that All?
Sun Life offers many life insurance with health protection such as Healthier Life, Maiden, and First Aid. But what I included above, I guessed will suffice for others.
You can check the Insurance Commission for legitimate insurance companies and from there you can narrow the research from many choices.
Don’t Sign Anything Just Yet
Under any circumstances, don’t sign anything until you ruminate with all the information dump to you in a meetup. Ask quotes for different types of insurance with riders (eg. critical illness, accidental death benefit etc.)
It doesn’t matter whether it takes you days to make an informed decision. You are making a commitment to pay for protection for your family and future you.
Although there’s nothing wrong with cancelling an insurance (which I did in the past), wouldn’t it be nice to do it right the first time. You can have peace of mind and allocate money to a better use early on.
Final Thoughts
The search for insurance has become a family affair. We can now talk about possibilities of loss and sickness without cringing or knocking on the wood.
We become comfortable but not complacent. As years go by, priorities will change. The important thing is to adapt.
Don’t get to hang up in finding a term insurance if that’s what you need. Other insurance are also available. Do your own research, ask around for referrals, and raise questions.
At some point, get an insurance. Add riders if you wish. Get it while your young and healthy.
Are you stuck in finding the right insurance? What’s your experience good or bad in getting insured?
Other Resources
For this post, I read a lot of blogs that I thought might help you as well. Some of the bloggers are insurance agents and again I have no relation or commission to gain so take their advice with a grain of salt.
- Federico Suan of The Wise Guy PH
- Raymund Camat of Money Talk PH
- Striving Writer: The Decision to Stop Paying My Kaiser Health Plan
If you are a blogger and would like to share your experience, let me know, I may add your site to the resource.
This really got me confused when I went around window shopping for insurance. Term insurance was supposed to cost less (at least in other countries) but it wasn’t the case in the PH. And it can get annoying when I face agents that keep shoving VUL…
This also annoyed me and made me sad. The high cost of insurance and persistence of agents to sell VUL, discourages Filipinos to protect their family and themselves with insurance.
This is very interesting. I didn’t know that Term Insurance is unreasonably expensive in the Philippines. It’s supposed to be the most affordable form of life insurance. The only one that I’d consider recommending. Other types, e.g., whole life, cash value etc., with investing option are usually just scams. But why on earth would anyone pay 43K in annual premiums just to get a 1M in death benefit? That’s a ratio of only 1:23. In contrast, we pay $250 annually to get $500,000 or 1:2000! That’s probably the reason why they’re hard to find– nobody is buying. Thanks for sharing.
That’s what baffled me. It makes me feel lucky to pay affordable insurance abroad with free healthcare in Canada. Well I guest it would be my mission to find term insurance in the Philippines from now on and of course write about it.