Empire Life Blog Did you know Homebuyers can save up to 62% with Life Insurance instead of Mortgage Insurance?

Whether you’re a First Time Home Buyer (FTHB) with a First Home Saving’s Account (FHSA) or a property veteran renewing your mortgage, we all know of the financial responsibilities that come with owning a home. Down payments, property taxes, mortgages, and all the little unforeseen costs add up.

Buying a home in Canada is expensive, with the average new mortgage loan reported at $360,597, up from $271,895 reported just 10 years prior⁴. Keeping your costs low and money in your pocket can be challenging, but one way you can save is by understanding the types of mortgage insurance and evaluating your options. For example, with Empire Life’s Solution 25^® Term Life Insurance instead of mortgage life insurance from the banks, you get greater flexibility and coverage for less.

Term Life Insurance is designed to help protect your family for as long as necessary, not the financial institution issuing the mortgage. In comparison to traditional mortgage insurance, term life insurance from Empire Life provides the following benefits:

  You can save up to 62%¹ vs mortgage creditor insurance
  You own the policy, not your bank/lender.
 You choose your beneficiaries, and they decide how the money is used.
 Your coverage is portable. No need to re-qualify if you change lenders.
 Your coverage does not decrease with your mortgage balance.
 You can keep your coverage for as long as you need it, provided the premiums are paid

Contact a life insurance advisor to find out which option is best for you and find out how they can help you keep more money in your pocket when you need it most.

Browse our PDFs to learn more:

FAQs

What is Mortgage Insurance?

Traditional Mortgage Insurance is a type of policy you purchase through your bank or lender when you purhase a home. The amount of coverage is connected to your loan and usually goes down as you pay off your mortgage.

This is different from individual life insurance, which covers your mortgage and offers many other benefits. These policies are designed to help protect your family for the length of the term or for your whole life (depending on the type of policy). If you pass away, the life insurance death benefit can be used to pay off your mortgage and any remaining coverage will be paid to beneficiaries.

How does Empire Life’s Solution Series^® term life insurance handle it if I pay my mortgage off early—does my coverage just disappear as the bank’s mortgage insurance would?

No! You can keep your coverage for as long as you need it, provided the premiums are paid, regardless of whether your mortgage is paid off, you change lenders, or you move to a new home! Unlike bank mortgage insurance, which is tied directly to your debt, you own your Solution Series policy and determine how the death benefit is allocated.

Can an Empire Life Term policy cover more than just my house?

Empire’s Term Life Insurance policies are designed to be highly flexible and can help protect far more than just your home.

• Flexible Payout: Since you choose your beneficiaries, they receive the insurance proceeds directly and can use the money for any purpose, such as replacing lost income, covering education costs, or paying off other debts.
• Critical Illness^® (CI): You can also add CI Protect Plus^®, which is a rider that can provide a payout if you are diagnosed with one of 25 covered conditions, such as a heart attack, stroke, or life-threatening cancer.
• Disability Protection: You can bundle your life insurance with a Disability Credit Protect™ rider to help cover mortgage payments if you become disabled.

What’s the actual monthly cost for someone like me (a 36-year-old non-smoker).

Based on a $400,000 mortgage for a healthy 36-year-old non-smoker, the monthly premiums for Solution 25 term life insurance are:

In comparison, the average mortgage insurance cost⁴ in Canada for the same coverage from the top five banks is $90.40 per month³. By choosing Solution 25, a 36-year-old healthy, non-smoker female could save roughly 62% every month, while a 36-year-old healthy, non-smoker male could save roughly 56% as outlined in our brochures below.