Critical illness insurance

What is critical illness insurance?

Simply put, we’d all like to imagine a future with perfect health. But the right time to plan for the unexpected is when you're healthy. Why? Because once you become ill, your options might be limited.

Critical illness insurance is designed to help you pay costs that may be associated with certain life-altering illnesses.

It provides additional funds if you become seriously ill. This way, you can focus on your health and not your finances.

How does critical illness insurance work?

Let’s say you’re diagnosed with and survive one of the illnesses covered, as defined by your insurance policy. In such a case, you'll receive a one-time, lump-sum cash payment. You can then use that money any way you wish.

Do you need critical illness insurance?

So ask yourself:

• Do your other insurance policies like life, group health, or disability plans offer enough coverage?
• Would your retirement goals still be met if you had to take out, say, $50,000 for expenses related to a medical condition?
• Can you afford to take on the costs associated with being seriously ill? This includes things like:
  • loss of income,
  • travel to and from treatment, and
  • home-care costs.

How can critical illness insurance help you?

It can help with those additional costs that come up.

Chances are you know someone who's been affected by serious health issues. Critical illness insurance will provide you with the peace of mind of knowing you're financially protected in case it happens to you. And, it’ll allow you to focus 100% on your own recovery.

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It depends on the product you’re applying for. If you’re applying online for Express Critical Illness Insurance, then you won’t have to answer any medical questions or undergo a medical exam.

However, if you’re applying for Sun Critical Illness Insurance, which offers coverage up to $4,000,000, you may need to complete a medical exam during the application process.

In Canada, there are no specific tax laws governing CII policies. However, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has developed its own position on the tax treatment of a benefit paid under a CII policy.

Based on the CRA's current position, Sun Life understands that benefits for individually owned CII policies are paid tax-free.

Talk to a tax professional for more information.

The most common type of waiting period for CII is the survival period. In Canada, if included, the survival period is usually 30 days. This means that, in some cases, you are required to survive a minimum of 30 days after the diagnosis of the covered illness before you can submit a claim and receive the benefit.

Other covered illnesses or diseases, such as cancer, require your coverage to be in effect for a certain amount of time before you’re eligible for the benefit.

For full details, please familiarize yourself with your policy or connect with an advisor.

Our critical illness insurance products cover carcinoma, melanoma, leukemia, lymphoma and sarcoma.¹

To receive a payout, you must have a cancer diagnosis confirmed by a specialist. It’s important to note that the cancer definition has exclusions. Please refer to your contract or speak with your advisor.

Connect with an advisor for more detailed information

It depends on the product you buy.

Sun Critical Illness Insurance can cover you for your whole life but Express Critical Illness Insurance won’t.

Connect with an advisor for more detailed information

You may need critical illness insurance for a child if you think you can’t afford all the expenses that may arise if your child is diagnosed with a covered critical illness.

For example, you may need to take time off work (resulting in income loss) to take care of your child. In such cases, a critical illness insurance plan for a child will give you a lump sum of money if your child ever gets one of the illnesses covered in the policy.

Here’s how to find out if your children need critical illness insurance

The main difference between critical illness insurance and life insurance is how the insurance benefit is triggered.

CII benefits are paid out when you or the insured person is coping with or recovering from a covered critical illness as defined in the contract.

Life insurance benefits, however, are paid out to your estate or named beneficiary when you die.

Learn more about the difference between life insurance and critical illness insurance