Equitable Life Insurance Review

Equitable Life is one of Canada’s largest mutual insurance companies and one of the best life insurance companies in Canada, with great financial stability and market presence for their policyholders. Equitable Life offers both life insurance products and group benefit plans. They offer multi-policy and bundling discounts with options for child and critical illness riders. Although Equitable Insurance has a strong lineup of permanent products, its lack of term products and a 20 year term for critical illness products, thus leading us to the rating of 2.5/5 Stars from Protect Your Wealth in our review.

In this article:

• Company Overview
• Pros and Cons
• Equitable Life Insurance Products
  • Equitable Life Term Life Insurance
  • Equitable Life Permanent Life Insurance
  • Other Equitable Life Insurance Products
• Equitable Life Customer Reviews

Company Overview

Originally named The Ontario Equitable Life and Accident Insurance Company, the company was founded in 1920. In 1936, the company changed its name to the Equitable Life Insurance Company of Canada, and is now one of the largest federally regulated mutual life insurance companies in Canada. As a mutual company, Equitable Life is owned by participating policyholders, which allows the company to focus on the interests and well-being of its policyholders.

Equitable Life Insurance Pros

Equitable Life Insurance Cons

Equitable Life Insurance Products

Equitable Life Term Life Insurance

Term life insurance provides coverage for a fixed span of time (a term). The term can last for a specific number of years, like 10 or 20, or until you reach a certain age. Equitable term life insurance offers 10-year and 20-year term products that can be renewed every term until age 85. With Term 30/65, premiums are paid for 30 years or until you turn 65, whichever is later. 

Equitable 10-Year Term Life Insurance

This product is a 10-year term product that helps you with your shorter term financial needs or is suited for those who would like to pay a consistent premium that only increases after every 10-year period.

Key Highlights:

• Renewable after every 10 years until age 85
• Maximum coverage amount is $10,000,000
• Available as a joint or single policy
• Convertible to a 20-year term life plan up to age 70 without proof of good health
• Convertible to a permanent life insurance product up to age 70 without a medical exam or health questions
• Preferred underwriting available for amounts of $500,000 or greater

Optional riders:

• Child protection rider
• Riders for critical illness, disability accidental death insurance
• Disability waiver of premium rider

Equitable 20-Year Term Life Insurance

This product provides coverage for 20 years, which can be used as an ideal solution for young families looking for a safety net in place until their kids become financially independent.

Key Highlights:

• Renewable after every 20 years until age 85
• Maximum coverage amount is $10,000,000
• Available as a joint or single policy
• Convertible to a permanent life insurance product up to age 70 without a medical exam or health questions
• Preferred underwriting available for amounts of $500,000 or greater

Optional riders:

• Child protection rider
• Riders for critical illness, disability accidental death insurance
• Disability waiver of premium rider

Equitable 30/65-Year Term Life Insurance

This product provides coverage for 30 years, which can be used as an ideal solution for families looking for a safety net to cover estate taxes, final expenses, or personal loans.

Key Highlights:

• Premiums payable over a 30-year term or until you turn 65, whichever is later.
  • For example, if you buy Term 30/65 at age 42, you will pay premiums up to age 72 (for 30 years)
• Maximum coverage amount is $10,000,000
• Convertible to a permanent life insurance plan up to age 65 without medical underwriting
• Preferred underwriting available for amounts of $500,000 or greater

Optional riders:

• Child protection rider
• Riders for critical illness, disability accidental death insurance
• Disability waiver of premium rider

Equitable Life Permanent Life Insurance

Permanent life insurance provides coverage for life, and can build cash value overtime, which you can access during your lifetime. Equitable Life offers both whole life and universal life insurance options.

Equitable Life Whole life Insurance

Equitable Life offers two participating whole life insurance policies: Equimax Estate Builder®, which can cover taxes and expenses after your death, preserving your estate for your beneficiaries, and Equimax Wealth Accumulator®, which is recommended for building wealth that you can enjoy during your lifetime.

Equimax Estate Builder®

The Equimax Estate Builder is designed to provide lifetime insurance protection with a focus on higher long-term cash value and death benefit increase over time. This is an excellent whole life plan for those seeking permanent life insurance to cover long term expenses or estate difficulties such as taxes at death, estate issues, and final expenses. 

Key Highlights:

• Coverage amounts from $11,000 to $20,000,000
• Can pay premiums for life or pay policy up in 20 years
• Provides guaranteed death benefits, cash values and premiums
• Policy types include single coverage, joint first-to-die and joint last-to-die
• Ability to increase policy values by making additional deposits into the policy (Excelerator Deposit Option)
• Five dividend options to choose from
• Ability to add optional riders and benefits to the policy such as term life insurance, critical illness, child insurance, accidental death, disability waiver of premium

Equimax Wealth Accumulator®

The Equimax Wealth Accumulator is designed to provide lifetime insurance protection with a focus on early cash values. This product is a great solution for those needing access to the cash in the early years of the policy for education purposes, business needs or to help supplement income in retirement. This whole life policy is focused on building cash value in an accelerated manner during the earlier years of coverage. 

Key Highlights:

• Coverage amounts from $11,000 to $20,000,000
• Can pay premiums for life or pay policy up in 20 years 
• Provides guaranteed death benefits, cash values and premiums
• Policy types include single coverage, joint first-to-die and joint last-to-die
• Ability to increase policy values by making additional deposits into the policy (Excelerator Deposit Option)
• Five dividend options to choose from
• Ability to add optional riders and benefits to the policy such as term life insurance, critical illness, child insurance, accidental death, disability waiver of premium

Equation Generation IV

Equation Generation IV is their universal life insurance policy that comes in two types: Bonus, which provides guaranteed incentive and investment bonuses and Low Fees, which has an incentive bonus and lower management fees. 

Equation Generation IV has a built-in tax-advantaged savings and investment component, as well as permanent life insurance protection. With a wide selection of investment options to hold inside your policy, you have complete control over the features and performance of your insurance. It allows you to adjust your rates, insurance coverage quantity, and investment options over time to match your needs.

Key Highlights:

• Coverage amounts from $50,000 to $10,000,000
• Cost of insurance options available are Level, YRT (yearly renewable term) and YRT to Level
• Policy types include single coverage, joint first-to-die and joint last-to-die
• Wide range of investment options for the tax-advantage investment account
• Ability to add optional riders and benefits to the policy such as term life insurance, critical illness, child insurance, accidental death, disability waiver of premium

Other Life Insurance Products

Along with term and permanent life insurance, Equitable Life offers critical Illness insurance and group insurance. Critical illness protection helps you pay medical bills so that you do not drain your retirement savings if you develop a serious illness. Group insurance refers to insurance that is provided by an employer to their employees. Your employer will either pay some of or the whole amount of your monthly premiums and answer any questions you have about your policy.

EquiLiving Critical Illness

Critical illness insurance guarantees a lump-sum payment if you are diagnosed with one of the covered illnesses. The payout can help you cover costs not included in your health, disability or life insurance.

Equitable Life offers Critical Illness Protection with EquiLiving, which pays a benefit to the insured if you are diagnosed with a covered critical illness and survive the waiting period. 

Key Highlights:

• Coverage lengths are Term 10 (renewable at the end of the term), and Term to age 75
• Covers 26 health conditions, including stroke, cancer, and heart disease
  • Covers 5 additional childhood conditions until age 25
• Maximum coverage is $2 million
• Can add EquiLiving critical illness insurance to your term, whole life, or universal life plan to protect your life and health needs in one policy

Equitable Life Group Insurance

Group insurance from Equitable Life can help with a variety of financial concerns, such as group life and accident insurance, health and dental coverage, disability management, and health care spending accounts (HCSA).

Employees can choose from a variety of plans with Equitable Life’s myFlex benefits, which includes a built-in HSCA and allows employers to choose their coverage while employees can purchase their own add-ons. 

Group benefits for companies include:

• Health and dental: Health insurance providing additional coverage to supplement government-provided universal-healthcare plans. These plans can include coverage for: prescription drugs, paramedical care (chiropractor, physiotherapy etc), medical supplies and devices (hearing aids, insulin pumps, etc), eye examinations, travel medical insurance, and dental care.
• Life insurance for employees or their dependents
• Disability insurance where employees receive part of their salary in the event of disability
• Accidental death and dismemberment insurance covering workplace accidents

Equitable Life Insurance Customer Reviews

Finding reviews for insurance companies can be tricky, as taking online life insurance reviews at face value will not always be a good representation of an insurance company as a whole. Statistically speaking, people share their bad experiences more often than their good ones, which means, in a review section, you are likely to come across many customers who were not fully satisfied with something or encountered a bad experience. Despite this, Equitable Life manages to maintain a score of 3.8 and receives some good reviews from their customers on Google Reviews, compared to many other insurance companies who often receive scores of less than 2 stars.

Clients with Equitable Life have noted that they have:

Some major frustrations with Equitable Life clients found are:

Get In Touch With Us Today

If you’re not sure of what’s the best insurance product or company for you, working with a life insurance specialist can help you find the best solution to fit your particular situation. At Protect Your Wealth, we’ve been providing expert advice for all types of life insurance, including for no medical, term life, or permanent life insurance, since 2007. As your Life Insurance broker and financial planner, we work with you to create a personalized plan for your family or business that covers and meets your needs. 

Contact Protect Your Wealth or call us at 1-877-654-6119 to talk to an advisor today. We’re proudly based out of Hamilton, and service clients anywhere in Ontario, Alberta, and British Columbia, including areas such as Brampton, Maple Ridge, Lethbridge.