Best No Medical Life Insurance: Top 6 Companies in Canada (2023)

Peer reviewed by
Ivana Govedarica
,
Certified Life Insurance Advisor
In This Article

Key takeaways: 

  • The best life insurance companies for no medical applicants are Canada Protection Plan, Humania and PolicyMe.
  • These policies are for those that have been denied coverage, have a pre-existing condition, are seniors or want to skip the medical exam.
  • No medical life insurance tends to be more expensive than traditional coverage.
  • Apply for traditional life insurance first because if you’re approved, you’ll net a much lower rate.
  • No medical can also be referred to as guaranteed, simplified issue or specialty life insurance.

Best no medical life insurance companies in Canada

Let's review the best no medical life insurance companies in Canada. You'll also get some tips on choosing the right company and policy for you.

Canada Protection Plan Term Life Insurance

Canada Protection Plan (CPP) is the leading insurer for no medical life insurance in Canada.

Unlike traditional Canadian insurers during the application process, CPP may not:

  • Ask extensive health questions
  • Require a medical telephone exam
  • Require physical exams

They has a variety of guaranteed no medical and simplified issue life insurance products, with both term and whole life policy options.

And if you aren't able to get regular term insurance, a simplified issue or guaranteed issue life insurance policy could be an excellent way to get some life insurance coverage and a small death benefit for your family.

This makes CPP a solid option for seniors and those who previously couldn't get coverage. The trade-off is that no medical life insurance policies are more expensive and have coverage caps compared to traditional term life insurance.

Here’s what you can expect to pay for no medical life insurance from Canada Protection Plan:

Pricing based on publicly-available rates as of Mar 2023. Terms and conditions may apply.

Pros and cons of Canada Protection Plan term policies:

  • Need to apply over the phone: Application must be done over the phone, not online. You can get a quote online.
  • Not for everyone: Canada Protection Plan offers many options for elderly customers and those that have not been able to get insurance in the past. If you're young and healthy, this is probably not the right insurance for you.
  • No medicals required: A Canada Protection Plan application requires no fluids, no doctor’s notes, and no medical exams
  • Fast time to approval: Given there are no fluids or medical tests, Canada Protection Plan has some of the fastest approval times in the industry. Often, customers will be approved within as little as 48 hours.
  • Limited coverage options: They only offer up to $750,000 in coverage for no medical and $1M for underwritten products.

When asked about CPP, Life Insurance Advisor, Ivana Govedarica, explains:

Canada Protection Plan Permanent No Medical Life Insurance

Canada Protection Plan has four different permanent no medical life insurance plans, the most in Canada. Each policy is designed for a different level of insurability: from the hardest to insure to those in good health.

This type of no medical life insurance covers you for your entire life, so it's a good bet if you're looking to cover expenses that will never go way, like final expenses.

Canada Protection Plan's four permanent no medical plans are:

  1. Guaranteed Acceptance Life: Anyone who applies will be approved, get up to $50,000 in coverage.
  2. Deferred Life: Accumulates cash value. Get up to $75,000 in coverage if you're 18 to 60 years old.
  3. Deferred Elite Life: For those with less-serious health conditions. Get up to $350,000 in coverage.
  4. Simplified Elite Life: For those in good health. Get up on $500,000 in coverage if you're between 18 to 60 in age.

Pros and cons of Canada Protection Plan permanent policies:

  • Lots of options. There are permanent options for even hard-to-insure applicants.
  • No medical: No medical exams, no fluids and no doctor's notes.
  • Limited coverage options. Up to $500,000 in coverage available for those in relatively good health, but only up to $75,000 in coverage for those with more serious health conditions.
  • Cash value. Policies tend to accumulate cash value starting in the fifth year.
  • Waiting periods. There is a two-year waiting period before your beneficiaries can make a claim on some policies.
  • Refund on premiums. Your beneficiaries can get a refund on premiums paid plus three per cent interest if you pass away before the two-year waiting period.
  • Quick coverage: Get immediate coverage with no waiting period.

PolicyMe Term Life Insurance

PolicyMe term life insurance is a good option for minimal health questions. We use technology to assess your risk with a 26 question online application. Most eligible applicants complete this process in 20 minutes or less.

Other underwritten life insurance companies on the market require a lengthy application, with a 45 minute medical interview.

With PolicyMe, you'll know instantly if you're approved, declined or we need more information. This may be a note from your doctor or a quick health exam (we pay for and set this up for you).

Our term policies are also more affordable because it's risk-assessed, backed by insurance giant Canadian Premier. Our term life insurance is around 5-10% cheaper than similar policies on the market.

Pros and cons of PolicyMe Term Life Insurance:

  • Ease of application: Fully online process. Dynamic online application form to only ask for medical information we need, no more, no less.
  • Free child coverage: $10,000 in free child coverage with each policy.
  • Couples discount: Couples who apply together get a 10 per cent discount in the first year.
  • No upselling: Our licensed non-commissioned advisors are available seven days a week to give advice via email or phone.
  • You may need a health exam: 22 per cent of our total applications were referred for medical follow-up, as of 2022: a medical exam, a doctor's note or other information.
  • Fast time to approval: All online applications get an instant decision.
  • Affordable: PolicyMe offers some of the best life insurance rates in Canada.
  • Great coverage options: $100,000 to $5M in coverage, for terms from 10 to 30 years in length.
  • No whole life insurance: We believe most Canadians only need life insurance for a specific time in their lives, so we don't sell whole life.
  • No renewable or convertible options: You can't renew your policy after the first five years, or convert it to whole life insurance.

Ivana Govedarica why you might want to start the life insurance process with term:

best no medical life insurance - start with a regular term policy

Humania Insurance Without Medical Exam

Humania, an insurance company from Quebec, aims to provide accessible insurance and is one of Canada's oldest life insurance providers.

Humania's Insurance Without Medical Exam product asks just six eligibility questions online and is issued immediately. There’s the option to get $5,000 to $300,000 in no medical life insurance coverage for 10, 20 or 100 years.

This plan can include life insurance, critical illness and disability insurance. You can sign up for one product, or all of them.

Another option is their HuGo Life Insurance product. It’s designed to accept applications quickly, but you won’t be approved if you have a pre-existing condition.

Pros and cons of Humania Insurance Without Medical Exam:

  • Coverage options: Get from $5,000 to $300,000 in coverage for a 10, 20 or 100-year policy.
  • Policy bundling: Policies can include life insurance, critical illness and disability insurance. Sign up for up to five total.
  • Renewals: guaranteed up to age 80.
  • Convert to permanent: up until age 65. 
  • Payout exclusions: They will not give a death benefit for a pre-existing condition for 1-2 years. More stringent than others on the market.

Sun Life Go Guaranteed Life Insurance

Sun Life Go Guaranteed Life Insurance is a permanent no medical life insurance product with coverage for your entire life.

It would be a decent product for someone looking for non-medical coverage. But it's much more expensive compared to fully underwritten coverage like with PolicyMe.

Their website promises no medical questions, however if you go through the application process they do ask for a health history.

Pros and cons of Sun Life Go Guaranteed Life Insurance:

  • Ease of application: Simple online application process with 20 to 30 health questions.
  • Less coverage options: You can only get $5,000 to $25,000 in coverage, and there are only 10 to 20 year term options.
  • No medical exam: No health questions, no health checks, no health exams.
  • Guaranteed acceptance: You're guaranteed to qualify no matter your health and even if you have pre-existing health conditions.
  • Online option: Get a quote and apply online.
  • Instant coverage: Get covered instantly when you apply.
  • Level premiums: Your premiums will stay the same until you turn 95. They're free after that.
  • Waiting period: Coverage or claims can be limited if you die within the first two years of your policy being, unless your death is accidental.
  • Exclusions: Read the fine print. Sun Life will not pay out in certain instances.

Life Insurance Advisor Ivana Govedarica's take:

Are you 60+? Check out our guide to the best life insurance companies for seniors in Canada.

Cover Direct Life Insurance

Cover Direct Life Insurance is a life plan that renews every year. They ask about 12 health and lifestyle questions over the phone but there are no medical exams or blood tests.

Because Cover Direct's policies renew yearly, this means that you can't lock in your premiums. The premiums start off cheap and get more expensive every year.

This is because Cover Direct is not fully underwritten (not fully risk assessed); they take on more risk not knowing your full health profile, so they charge you more.

Whereas with a fully underwritten product like PolicyMe term life insurance, the monthly price you start with is locked in for the entire duration of your term, even if it's for 30 years.

Pros and cons of Cover Direct Life Insurance:

  • Phone-only application: Everything's done over the phone with an advisor. No online application option.
  • Decent coverage options: You can get up to $1.5M in coverage depending on your age.
  • No medical exam: No health exams or blood tests are needed to be approved.
  • Affordable ... at first: Prices start at $9.28 per month but they go up every year. Automatic inflation benefit (+ three per cent) each year.
  • Fast: If you're looking for coverage ASAP, Cover Direct fits the bill.

This type of life insurance policy isn't for everyone. Life Insurance Advisor Ivana Govedarica breaks it down:

Cost comparison: no medical vs. term life insurance quotes

The industry average rate for applicants with pre-existing conditions, for $500,000 in coverage for a 40 year-old, start at:

  • $42.75 per month for a woman.
  • $56.70 per month for a man.

The application for no medical life insurance still includes a medical review component, but it's not as thorough as a medical exam. So your insurer won’t learn as much about your health and how risky it makes you as a policyholder.

What do insurance companies do? They charge you more (sometimes much more) for coverage. If you were waiting to hear about the catch or trade-off of no medical life insurance, this is it.

Here’s how quotes for no medical life insurance compare to standard life insurance quotes:

Pricing based on publicly-available rates as of Mar 2023. Terms and conditions may apply.

Interested to see how much you could save by going with term life insurance? Get a quote in just a few clicks – your rate might surprise you!

How does no medical life insurance work?

No medical life insurance (also known as simplified life insurance) works by letting applicants skip a medical exam, but they come at much greater cost when comparing quotes to traditional life insurance providers.

Although no medical life insurance might appeal to lots of people, it’s best for those who don’t qualify for a standard life insurance policy.

No medical life insurance is a good choice for Canadians who have:

  1. A chronic illness (e.g., heart disease, diabetes, or cancer)
  2. A family history of serious medical issues
  3. Substance use problems
  4. A dangerous hobby (e.g., scuba diving)
  5. A dangerous job (e.g., logging)

Yup, swimming with sharks can be enough to exclude you from coverage even if you’re perfectly healthy. But if you can't qualify for traditional policies, a payout can still be important for your family's financial future.

No medical life insurance is used to:

  • Cover funeral expenses, which can cost thousands of dollars
  • Leave a small legacy for your children or grandchildren
  • Cover any end-of-life medical expenses

Normally, when you apply for traditional life insurance, the insurance company completes an underwriting process to understand how likely you are to get an illness or die while holding your policy.

Most insurance companies will do some form of medical review to learn the nitty-gritty details about your health. This is often done by way of a medical exam (or paramedical exam) where a nurse comes to your home or office.

This process is sidestepped when you apply for no medical coverage; at a cost.

What can disqualify me from no medical life insurance?

What disqualifies you from getting no medical life insurance differs from company to company. It can be as simple as not being a permanent resident or Canadian citizen.

Before disqualifying you, most life insurance companies will first vet your application, which includes a medical review.

A medical review is just a questionnaire instead of an exam or interview. So you won’t automatically qualify for no medical life insurance if you apply for it.

You still need to fill out the questionnaire. And based on your responses, you can still get denied coverage from no medical life insurance providers.

Here's how the life insurance health questionnaire typically works:

  • It's usually organized into sections.
  • The farther you make it through these sections without answering “yes” to a question, the better your chances are of getting more coverage for a lower cost.
  • Answering “yes” to certain questions will just reduce the amount of coverage you’ll be eligible for or increase the amount you’ll have to pay in premiums.
  • With other questions, answering “yes” could mean that you’ll be out of luck for coverage.

For example, you could get disqualified for no medical coverage if you’ve had a recent health scare (e.g., heart attack or stroke), have an upcoming surgery, are living with complications due to an illness like HIV, or been recently charged with impaired driving.

FAQ: Best guaranteed no medical life insurance Canada

Do you have to have a medical exam to get life insurance? 

No. Not every life insurance applicant is required to get a medical exam to get their policy.

For example, if you apply for term life insurance through PolicyMe, you might have to undergo a medical exam. In your application, you’ll be asked a series of questions related to your medical history and lifestyle. 

Most healthy applicants will be approved without having to visit a doctor if they’re: 

  • A Canadian citizen or permanent resident
  • Of average health for their age and gender
  • Between 30 to 50 years old and looking for a policy under $1 million 
  • Between 50 to 60 years old and looking for a policy under $500,000

How much life insurance can I get without a medical exam? 

Depending on whether you opt for simplified issue or guaranteed issue life insurance, your coverage will range anywhere from $50,000 to $500,000. 

However, it’s important to note that term life insurance doesn’t always require you to complete a medical exam, either. 

In order to maximize your coverage and minimize your premiums, it’s best to start with a term life insurance policy.

If your application is denied, or if you’re asked to complete a physical health exam, you can always opt out and move forward with no medical insurance instead. 

When should I buy a no medical life insurance policy? 

The best time to get any type of life insurance is as soon as possible. As you age, your premiums will increase. The longer you wait to apply, the more expensive your policy will be. And if you have people in your life who rely on your income, it's worth it.

No medical is also a good option for those needing coverage quickly or those that want to skip a medical exam. But if you're in good health and can qualify for a traditional policy, it may be more cost-effective in the long run. Ultimately, the decision of when to buy a no medical life insurance policy depends on your individual needs.

Should I get no medical life insurance if I’m healthy with no pre-existing conditions? 

In general, you shouldn't get no medical insurance if you are healthy without pre-existing conditions. But you can if you really don’t want to get a medical and you’re willing to pay much more to avoid it. And if you’re willing to pay almost double to avoid the nurse visit. But in most cases, shoot for the best with regular life insurance and, if it doesn't work out, you always have other options.

While this is ultimately a personal decision, it’s important to know exactly what no medical insurance means for your premiums and coverage. 

Can I be denied a no medical life insurance policy? 

Guaranteed acceptance no medical policies will approve anyone regardless of their medical status or history.

While you can’t technically be denied, sometimes no medical policies some with such heavily restricted coverage and expensive premiums that they don’t make financial sense for you to take on. 

If you choose a no medical policy, evaluate the coverage, premiums, and terms carefully to ensure it provides you with the benefits you need.

Laura McKay

COO & Co-Founder

About the Author

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