Beneva (SSQ) Life Insurance Review

Beneva (formerly known as SSQ Insurance) is one of the best insurance companies in Canada. With a financial strength rating of A from AM Best Company, they’re reliable and financially stable with flexible and highly customizable policies that can be accessed online. Our Beneva (SSQ) Canada life insurance review will showcase the pros and cons of Beneva life insurance, the overview of Beneva, the different life insurance packages that Beneva offers and customer reviews of Beneva. Although these policies are flexible, Beneva Insurance lacks a robust term life insurance product lineup, leading us to our rating of 4 stars.

In this article:

• Company Overview
• Pros and Cons
• Life Insurance Products
• SSQ Term Life Insurance
• SSQ Permanent Life Insurance
• SSQ Universal Life Insurance 
• SSQ Simplified Whole Life Insurance
• SSQ Guaranteed Issue Whole Life Insurance
• Other SSQ Life Insurance Products
• SSQ Customer Reviews
• Frequently Asked Questions about SSQ Insurance

Company Overview

SSQ Insurance, founded in 1944 in Quebec City, is one of Canada’s newest insurance companies. It is also one of the largest, with over 3.5 million policyholders and $25 billion in assets. SSQ Insurance is also known for its auto insurance, group insurance, investment products, and property and casualty insurance. The company has recently merged with La Capitale Life Insurance in January 2020, and has slowly been transitioning their name to Beneva. La Capitale began its change to Beneva in 2022, and SSQ has officially started to transition their name to Beneva in January 2023. They have a team of over 5,000 employees, and as SSQ continues to grow they aim towards being socially responsible, charitable and earning themselves rewards. With the stable financial overview they current have, they are projected to continue to grow their financial strength for years to come. We are fans of SSQ and do work with them at Protect Your Wealth, to know about who we think are the best Canadian life insurance companies click here and check out our guide! Now lets get into the SSQ Life Insurance Review!

SSQ Life Insurance Pros

SSQ Life Insurance Cons

SSQ Life Insurance Products

To start our SSQ Life Insurance Review, lets begin with an overview of the life insurance products that SSQ offers. SSQ life insurance offers some term life insurance options, a few permanent life insurance options which are their traditional life insurance options, they also have a universal life insurance, simplified life insurance and guaranteed life insurance option, finally their other insurance products are group life insurance and critical illness insurance.

SSQ Insurance Term Life Insurance

SSQ Insurance has two term life insurance product: its flagship Term Plus, and a new Simplified term life product.

Term Plus

The Term Plus is their flagship product that insures you for up to $10,000,000 for terms of 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35 or 40 years, and you can exchange your policy for a higher term without having to provide proof of insurability within the first 5 years. It can be combined with an optional disability and critical illness coverage for a robust combination package.

Key Highlights:

• Coverage up to $10,000,000 for a term of 10, 15, 20, 30, 35, or 40 years
• Convertible into permanent life insurance until age 70
• Policy can be renewed every 5 years after the initial term to match any changes to your mortgage plans
• Includes a built-in guaranteed insurability benefit that allows you to increase coverage by up to 25% (or $100,000)
• Built in Extreme disability benefit that allows you to receive a portion of your life insurance benefit (up to $250,000) in advance, in the case of the event of a prolonged extreme disability

Additional benefits:

• Total disability coverage
• Critical illness coverage
• Life insurance coverage for children
• Waiver of premium in case of disability
• Accidental death and dismemberment
• Benefit in case of fracture

Simplified Term Life Insurance

SSQ offers a simplified term life insurance, designed for those who are looking to be insured right away, are looking for simple temporary coverage without additional benefits, or for those who have difficulty getting approved for traditional coverage.

Key Highlights:

• Coverage up to $500,000 in terms of 10 or 20 years
• Renewable up to age 80 and convertible to simplified permanent life insurance up to age 71
• Extreme disability benefit included
• No medical exam

Beneva (SSQ) Insurance Permanent Life Insurance

Continuing with our SSQ Life Insurance Review, there are three permanent life insurance options available with SSQ: traditional (also known as their whole life product), simplified and guaranteed issue (receive your policy is as little as 60 minutes with no medical exam), and universal life insurance. The simplified issue and guarantee issue were launched in the summer of 2020.

SSQ’s Traditional Life Insurance is their whole life (permanent) insurance product. It provides:

• A higher insurance amount
• Choice of having a cash surrender value that increases over time and may be used to finance your projects
• Option of adding other coverages like life insurance for your children or critical illness insurance
• Option of paying over 20 years or up to age 100, if desired

This product has 3 plans, but all three plans include the following benefits:

• Guaranteed premiums: your premiums are guaranteed and payable according to the plan type chosen
• Guaranteed protections: you know in advance of the amount you will receive or leave to your beneficiaries
• Extreme Disability Benefit (EDB): allows you to obtain an advance payment of 50% of the life insurance amount in case of an extreme disability

The following benefits are only included in Whole Life 20 and Whole Life 100:

• Guaranteed cash values allows you to obtain guaranteed accumulated cash as of the 10th policy anniversary
• Reduced paid-up protection allows you to free your insurance policy from any premium payments as of the 10th policy anniversary, provided that a reduced insurance amount is maintained for the rest of your life

Additional benefits for all three plans include:

• Critical Illness Rider: $20,000 coverage for the 3 most common illnesses
• Child Rider: a life insurance protection for your dependent children up to age 25
• Waiver of Premium in case of total disability
• Accidental Death and Dismemberment
• Benefit in case of fracture

Whole Life 20

Whole Life 20 is one of SSQ’s traditional life insurance plans. This plan allows you to be free from any premium payments after 20 years, while your loved ones will be protected for the rest of their lives. Ideal for giving to any children or grandchildren, who can use the cash value of their insurance policy for their own needs, such as buying a car.

Whole Life 100

Whole Life 100 is ideal for business owners, being designed to help you minimize the financial contingencies caused by the sudden loss of a partner. It offers Individual, Multi-Life, Joint First to Die and Joint Last to Die policies that will help preserve the stability of a business, and to help keep your business going. The guaranteed surrender values after the 10th year of your policy can also be used as compensation when a partner leaves for retirement.

Term 100

Term 100 is a more traditional permanent life insurance, ideal for families with young children and long-term obligations. This plan offers Individual, Multi-Life, Joint First to Die and Joint Last to Die policies that can help safeguard your family’s financial security.

Universal Life Insurance

SSQ offers a Universal Life Insurance product. It provides:

• Coverage up to $10,000,000 for life, with increasing or level death benefits
• Tax-free investments, even if you have maxed your RRSP and TFSA contributions
• Flexible coverage: you can change the amount of coverage in your policy and the premium payment amounts
• Access to accumulated funds for withdrawals
• Includes life insurance benefits for children, with insurability benefit and critical illness insurance

Optional additional benefits:

• Critical illness rider
• Child rider
• Waiver of minimum premium;
• Waiver of billing premium;
• Accidental death and dismemberment;
• Benefit in case of fracture

Simplified Whole Life Insurance

SSQ Insurance offers a simplified whole life insurance product, which asks fewer questions and includes no medical exam, allowing you to be insured in 60 minutes or less.

This product is ideal for you if you are:

• In good health
• Between age 18 and 80
• Looking for simple lifetime coverage without additional benefits
• Preferring a remote purchasing method with no medical exam
• Want to be insured right away

Key Highlights:

• Coverage up to $249,999
• Reduced paid-up coverage as of the 6th year
• No cash surrender value
• Extreme disability benefit included (up to $250,000)

Guaranteed Issue Whole Life Insurance

SSQ offers a guaranteed issue life insurance, which is designed for those who may have trouble getting insurance or are in poorer health. They can get whole life insurance without a medical exam in 60 minutes or less, with guaranteed acceptance. This product is ideal for older clients who are more difficult to insure, or those who are looking for simple basic lifetime coverage without additional benefits (such as just to cover funeral expenses).

Key Highlights:

• Coverage up to $50,000 for life
• Reduced paid-up coverage as of the 5th year
• Deferred period of 2 years in the event of non-accidental death
• No cash surrender value

Other Life Insurance Products

SSQ Insurance also offers Group Life Insurance for employers and employees, and critical life insurance.

SSQ Insurance Customer Reviews

Many SSQ clients are satisfied with their experience with the company:

However, some customers have been found that:

Frequently asked questions about SSQ Life Insurance

Get In Touch With Us Today

If you have read our SSQ Life Insurance Review and are not sure of what’s the best insurance plan 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 life insurance, 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 you and 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, British Columbia, and Alberta, including areas such as London, Cambridge, Kelowna, and Medicine Hat.