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COVID-19 has given Canadians plenty to fret about this year. Top among those are concerns about their own health and mortality in addition to the well-being of their loved ones. That has led many Canadians to take a closer look at life insurance.
Financial security advisors have been there to help. So too has SimpleProtect™, an innovative digital application from Canada Life™.
“Instead of taking upward of an hour, as it often does for traditional, paper-based applications, applying for coverage with SimpleProtect takes about 15 minutes,” says Jeff Adams, product owner at the New Business Onboarding Lab at Canada Life.
One reason why Canada Life has been able to slash the time required is because SimpleProtect’s question-and-answer section is much shorter than paper and even other digital applications, he says.
SimpleProtect was a hit for advisors since its launch in 2019, but it has become even more useful during the pandemic, when meeting face-to-face with clients has been more difficult.
Using the online tool, an insurance application can be done virtually, anywhere in Canada. Signatures can be completed using a smartphone and clients can be verified using video chat.
“We have a proprietary process for capturing the client’s signature remotely, securely and conveniently,” Mr. Adams says. “It’s an instant signature that is captured and sent back to Canada Life in real time.”
The fact SimpleProtect makes the entire application process easy for advisors and clients also makes it a useful tool, “but in the middle of a pandemic, it has become essential for many advisors challenged to meet face-to-face with clients,” Mr. Adams says. “That got a whole lot of advisors using SimpleProtect who weren’t before. It really speaks to the idea of it being the right app at the right time.”
Since the pandemic first hit, Canada Life has seen usage of SimpleProtect soar. Among advisors with access to the application, those using it jumped from about half in February to the majority of advisors using it by April.
“Insurance has definitely become a top-of-mind issue for many families as opposed to being previously an issue on the backburner,” says Mr. Adams, who was one of the leads in developing the online application.
As a liaison with advisors across Canada, Mr. Adams ensures that SimpleProtect is exactly what advisors want and, more importantly, need. SimpleProtect has become a go-to application for advisors signing up their clients, age 60 and under, for term and participating life policies up to $2-million. The app also can be used for critical illness coverage up to $250,000.
Herv Herceg, navigator of the New Business Onboarding Lab at Canada Life, says SimpleProtect works hand in glove with the firm’s underwriting processes. That leads to very quick turnaround times for approval of applications.
“Rather than the traditional paper application and approval process, which can take weeks, advisors using SimpleProtect can get their clients approved for insurance in as little as 24 hours – often instantly,” Mr. Herceg says.
Advisors are asking about how they can do more with this digital application, he says. SimpleProtect has been an evolving project at Canada Life, and it remains that way so it can better serve advisors and clients.
One of the latest enhancements, driven by advisors, is the ability to take remote electronic signatures of more than one person on an application. Other changes are pending, too, including expanding the amount of coverage available for plans and increasing the age range for applicants.
SimpleProtect’s current wheelhouse is for term and critical illness policies. The key market includes individuals with growing families to think about.
“People who are typically, ‘I don’t need life insurance, I’m young,’ are the perfect candidates for using SimpleProtect,” Mr. Herceg says. “Advisors can get them term life insurance very, very quickly.”
Canada Life and SimpleProtect are trademarks of The Canada Life Assurance Company.
Advertising feature produced by Globe Content Studio. The Globe’s editorial department was not involved.