Manulife Mortgage Protection Insurance Review – Updated 2025

Buying a home is a significant milestone in one’s life. While navigating the process of setting up your mortgage, you are often offered mortgage insurance by your lender. Manulife Mortgage Protection is one such policy.

Is it worthwhile to purchase this type of coverage? Let’s find out!

This Manulife Mortgage Protection Plan Insurance review includes our ratings as well as details about their terms and coverage.

Head here for more details about mortgage insurance and mortgage protection.

Schedule a call for visitor insurance

Need insurance answers now?

Call 1-888-601-9980 to speak to our licensed advisors right away, or book some time with them below.

Manulife Mortgage Protection Plan insurance rating and review

PolicyAdvisor strongly recommends choosing individual term life insurance instead of a lender provided mortgage protection policy. This advice remains the same whether the policy be from Manulife or any other source. With term life insurance, the amount would be paid out to the beneficiary(ies) you choose, (in most cases, your loved ones). This ensures you have adequate coverage in place to cover not just your mortgage, but also any other liabilities and also provide security to your family in case of your unexpected death.

Term life insurance is generally significantly less expensive in the long term. You can ladder your insurance policy so that the coverage decreases as you pay off your mortgage and other debt obligations. As your coverage decreases, so do your premiums.

Another important factor is flexibility – term life insurance has options for riders and benefits to customize your policy and extend coverage to your spouse and children. And, the coverage remains in place even if you switch mortgage lenders.

Lastly, If you prefer the Manulife brand, Manulife offers term life coverage up to $20 million and term up to age 100 through their Family Term policy among many of their other life insurance options.

PolicyAdvisor Rating

Not Recommended

AM Best Rating A+

GET QUOTES

Pros and cons

Pros

  • Backed by the Manulife brand

Cons

  • Lower coverage limits compared to individually purchased insurance
  • Limited coverage terms available
  • Claim paid out to mortgage lender, not to your beneficiaries
  • Only covers mortgage, cannot provide security to family/loved ones or cover other obligations
  • Cannot be converted to other forms of insurance
  • Limited options for riders

Who is Manulife?

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company – but colloquially known and branded as Manulife –  is Canada’s largest life insurance company and holds over a trillion dollars in assets. It was founded by Canada’s first prime minister in 1887; today they are the first Canadian insurer to offer life insurance to HIV-positive customers (source: CBC), strive for gender balance in management, and invest billions in sustainable initiatives (source: Manulife).

Types of mortgage insurance policies Manulife Mortgage Protection Plan offers

Manulife Mortgage Protection Plan is a mortgage insurance policy offered by Manulife. It helps cover mortgage payments in the event of your unexpected death or disability.

It provides two options for mortgage protection: life insurance and disability insurance.

Life Protection

This is the basic feature of this policy. In the unfortunate case of your passing away, Manulife Mortgage Protection Plan will pay off your mortgage balance (up to certain maximums). This comes with a Bridge benefit: When a claim is made, payments are covered during the interim period when the claim is reviewed – like a form of balance protection.

Disability Protection

This is an additional paid feature. When you opt for this protection, Manulife Mortgage Protection Plan will pay your monthly mortgage payment if you are totally disabled for 60 days or more (also subject to maximum limits). If you recover and return to work, one extra payment will be made on your behalf.

Coverage and policy details

Manulife will provide up to $1 million per person of life insurance coverage and up to $10,000 per person for a 24-month period of disability insurance coverage. The actual benefit paid out will be the lower of the maximum benefit amount and the actual debt remaining.

For example, if you opt for Manulife Mortgage Protection Plan life insurance for a coverage amount of $1 million, but the mortgage balance remaining when the claim is made is $100,000, then Manulife Mortgage Protection Plan will pay out the lower of the two: $100,000.

The coverage ends as per the below time limits, based on whichever happens sooner:

  • When you cross 70 years of age (for life insurance) and 65 years (for disability insurance)
  • The end of the mortgage amortization period

Product Name Manulife Mortgage Protection Plan
Features Life Insurance
Optional Disability Insurance
Max Term Lower of mortgage amortization period and 70 years of age (for life insurance)/65 years (for disability)
Max Coverage Amount $1 MM (for Life) / $10,000 for 24 months (for disability insurance)
Benefit Paid To Lender
Renewability Not renewable
Conversion Not convertible
Increase/Decrease In Coverage With Change In Mortgage Amount May be possible, at insurer’s discretion
Additional Riders and Benefits Waiver of premium due to job loss, Terminal illness benefit
Other Riders None

More choice. Lower price.
PolicyAdvisor saves you time and money when comparing Canada’s top life insurance companies. Check it out!
GET STARTED

Does Manulife Mortgage Protection Plan offer additional riders or benefits?

The total disability protection coverage component of Manulife Mortgage Protection Plan is an optional feature which will raise your monthly premium, if chosen.

Besides this, Manulife offers two other benefits:

  • Waiver of premium due to job loss: Your premiums will be waived for 3 months if you (involuntarily) lose your job after 6 months from the insurance start date. This benefit can be claimed once per year.
  • Terminal Illness: If you are diagnosed with a terminal illness 6 months after the insurance start date, mortgage payments will be paid by Manulife (up to the maximum limits mentioned above).

How does Manulife Mortgage Protection Plan compare with term life insurance?

Manulife Mortgage Protection Plan Term Life Insurance
Benefit Paid to Lender Benefit paid to chosen beneficiary
Purchase Offered upon mortgage approval by the lender Directly by you
Free Look Period 60 days 30 days
Maximum coverage Lower of integrated $1 MM (inclusive of all term life and mortgage protection coverage the applicant has) and remaining mortgage amount Policyholder chooses from provider limits
Coverage Type Reducing Level
Renewal and Conversion N/A Typically renewable and convertible to permanent protection
Term Life of mortgage or policyholder turning age 70, whichever is sooner Chosen by policyholder
Riders None Usually comes with a variety of optional riders

How does Manulife Mortgage Protection Plan compare with disability insurance?

Manulife Mortgage Protection Plan Disability Insurance
Max Benefit Lower of $10K per month or monthly amortized debt payment Max coverage based on income and occupation (up to $25K/month)
Waiting period 60 days Chosen by applicant (0/30/90/120/180 days)
Benefit period 24 months Chosen by applicant (2 yrs/5 yrs/to-age-65, etc)
Coverage Term As long as mortgage debt exists or when policyholder turns 65, whichever is sooner Chosen by applicant

How do I apply for mortgage protection insurance?

You can schedule a call with our licensed advisors to find the best mortgage life insurance policy for your needs. Click below here to look up quotes or schedule a call with an advisor today.

Need help?
Call us at 1-888-601-9980 or book time with our licensed experts.
SCHEDULE A CALL

The information above is intended for informational purposes only and is based on PolicyAdvisor’s own views, which are subject to change without notice. This content is not intended and should not be construed to constitute financial or legal advice. PolicyAdvisor accepts no responsibility for the outcome of people choosing to act on the information contained on this website. PolicyAdvisor makes every effort to include updated, accurate information. The above content may not include all terms, conditions, limitations, exclusions, termination, and other provisions of the policies described, some of which may be material to the policy selection. Please refer to the actual policy documents for complete details. In case of any discrepancy, the language in the actual policy documents will prevail. A.M. Best financial strength ratings displayed above are not a warranty of a company’s financial strength and ability to meet its obligations to policyholders. All rights reserved.

If something in this article needs to be corrected, updated, or removed, let us know. Email editorial@policyadvisor.com.

/* Custom Archives Functions Go Below this line */ /* Custom Archives Functions Go Above this line */

State of the Nation: Canadian Life Insurance Trends 2019

Canadians are underinsured.

Our first State of the Nation: Canadian Life Insurance Trends 2019 seeks to determine consumer trends and attitudes about life insurance planning across the country, and it   uncovers several stunning findings about the lack of financial protection amongst Canadians in 2019.

Unlike most life insurance surveys that poll all Canadians as respondents, our study sought feedback only from those Canadians who actually need Life Insurance. Thus the results you see below are based on answers from those Canadians that have financial dependents (i.e. family members that depend on their income for settling debts such as mortgage and credit cards, or for support in paying for education, living expenses, and more).

The results – presented below – are eye-opening, with hard numbers revealing startling truths about the state of  Canadians’ financial protection and key takeaways around the national state of life insurance ownership, needs, knowledge, and appetite for change.

Canada: An uninsured nation?

Of those who have financially dependent family members, 16% do not have any life insurance coverage. But almost as problematic is the fact that 33% of respondents have coverage solely through their employer or group. This means 49% of Canadians with dependents have never purchased life insurance themselves.

While a life insurance policy through one’s employer or group affiliation is better than none at all, it can be problematic for a couple of reasons. Firstly, in most cases employer-provided coverage is minimal: a typical group benefit life insurance policy is equivalent to only one or two years of the policyholder’s salary. The bigger issue is that if the insured leaves the particular job, group, or association through which they have the policy, they mostly lose this insurance coverage. 

They also lose time; individual coverage is less expensive in one’s earlier years when there are fewer potential complications to medical underwriting. While a group policy is a nice top-up, it should not be the primary source of one’s coverage.

How did you acquire life insurance coverage?

Life insurance ownership rates

The biggest surprise was the extent to which Canadians are underinsured: The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada suggests that life insurance should cover between seven and ten years of the holder’s annual income, which is in line with many industry practitioners’ recommendation of ten years of annual income coverage. Yet, well over half of the study’s respondents (54%) have coverage equal to only two years or less of their annual salaries. A mere 22% had between two and five years’ worth of coverage.

Only nine percent of those surveyed are solidly within the recommended range.

Overall, this means 77% of Canadians are dramatically under-insured, with policies that will only cover their obligations for at most five years, a full two years less than the minimum recommendation.

How much of your annual income would your life insurance cover?

Life insurance average years of coverage

Key life insurance ownership takeaways

  • 49% of Canadians with dependents have never purchased life insurance
  • 54% of the same group have only covered 2 years or less of their salary should they pass
  • 91% of Canadians are dramatically under-insured

Life insurance needs: Canadians not honest with themselves

Just how significant is this life insurance shortfall? When asked for hard numbers, the average shortfall among respondents was $256,000. What is even more startling is that this is a self-acknowledged shortfall that respondents know exists but they haven’t started bridging it yet. 

There are several potential reasons for a shortfall like this to exist. First, many may not realize how underinsured they really are, until they are asked the question. When asked how often they reviewed their life insurance coverage, less than a quarter (22%) of respondents indicated they did so annually (the recommended frequency). 

Twenty-eight percent said they review life insurance coverage either every two or three years, but more than a third (36%) say they have never reviewed their life insurance coverage and needs. All in, almost 80% of Canadians fail to sufficiently review their life insurance coverage.

Suggested reading

How often do you review your life insurance coverage?

Life insurance coverage checkup frequency

And, despite more than three quarters of Canadians being significantly under-insured, nearly half of respondents (43%) say they are confident that they have adequate life insurance, with 57%knowing about or unsure of the adequacy of their coverage.

How confident are you in the adequacy of your life insurance coverage?

Life insurance coverage confidence

This shows a definite disconnect between the perception and reality of the country’s financial protection. Canadians are either misinformed, or simply don’t understand what their life insurance needs are. Traditional advisors and brokers don’t make it easy to educate ones’ self in regards to the ins and outs of life insurance. 

Regardless, it’s clear Canadians require more education when it comes to making life insurance decisions – and luckily PolicyAdvisor.com is dedicated to giving them the answers they seek.

Key life insurance needs takeaways

  • The average self-acknowledged life insurance shortfall for Canadians with financial dependents is $256,000
  • Almost 80% of Canadians fail to adequately review their life insurance coverage.
  • Fifty-seven percent don’t know or acknowledge they don’t have enough life insurance coverage.

Life insurance literacy – not a thing yet

Only 35% of Canadians claim they understand how their life insurance policy works “very well,” versus the balance who only understand their coverage “somewhat” or not at all.

Do you understand how your life insurance policy works?

Life insurance knowledge confidence

In light of this knowledge deficit, Canadians offered many reasons for not obtaining additional life insurance, with almost half indicating cost and 20% the aforementioned lack-of-understanding as a barrier.

This further underscores the need for better education and transparency around life insurance. There is a clear misconception that life insurance policies are unaffordable and complicated. This is unfortunate, as there are potentially many ways Canadians can provide themselves with financial protection within their budget with straightforward terms and coverage.

Other reasons for not obtaining additional insurance included procrastination (29%) and lack of a trusted advisor (10%).

Why have you not purchased life insurance?

Life insurance reasons for not getting

Key life insurance knowledge takeaways

  • Sixty-five percent of those surveyed don’t totally understand how insurance works
  • Almost half of those surveyed think life insurance is prohibitively expensive
  • Twenty percent of those surveyed put off purchasing life insurance because they think it is too complicated

Appetite for digital disruption

Thanks to an evolving digital landscape and a tech-savvy population, Canadians are able to better educate themselves about their insurance needs. However, while they are happy to seek information online, they are slower on the uptake when it comes to purchasing life insurance digitally.

This is gradually improving. Although 29% of respondents said they prefer a traditionally fulfilled in-person process with an advisor, 60% indicated a preference for an online process with  some support to complete the transaction. The main takeaway? Over 70% of Canadians crave an online component to their life insurance buying journey. 

How would you prefer to purchase life insurance?

Appetite for digital offerings in life insurance

While globally, digital fulfillment for life insurance is quite common, this is still new territory for Canadians. Despite some hesitations, we see a definite appetite amongst Canadians to add life insurance coverage, if supported through online pathways, and PolicyAdvisor.com is here to help guide them through their life insurance buying journey. One life insurance purchase at a time.

Download the report below, or check it out and pass it along using Slide Share.

The survey was conducted via Survey Monkey’s Canadian panel in September 2019 and included 500+ qualified respondents. All graphs rounded to the nearest percentage point.

Need help?
Call us at 1-888-601-9980 or book time with our licensed experts.
SCHEDULE A CALL
/* Custom Archives Functions Go Below this line */ /* Custom Archives Functions Go Above this line */