{"id":375,"date":"2023-11-27T13:52:41","date_gmt":"2023-11-27T13:52:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/policyarchitects.com\/CN\/is-assurant-life-of-canada-purple-shield-right-for-your-funeral-needs\/"},"modified":"2024-08-19T18:04:54","modified_gmt":"2024-08-19T18:04:54","slug":"canada-purple-shield","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/policyarchitects.com\/CN\/canada-purple-shield\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Assurant Life and Canada Purple Shield Rebranded as Trustage Life of Canada"},"content":{"rendered":"

Checking out Assurant Life of Canada reviews online?<\/strong> Well then, we have some great info…<\/p>\n

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Important Notice:\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>In January 2022, Assurant Life of Canada was rebranded as Trustage Life of Canada.\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>Read<\/em><\/span>\u00a0more about it below.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

If you didn’t already know, Assurant is directly connected to Canada Purple Shield. Hopefully,<\/em>\u00a0this will clear up any confusion that may ensue.<\/p>\n

As the country’s most prominent funeral insurance provider, Assurant Life of Canada is one of the top 15 life insurance companies in terms of policy sales volume.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

If that\u2019s the case, why have so many consumers never heard of them…<\/span><\/p>\n

…and are they the RIGHT funeral insurance company for you?<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Funeral Insurance Canada = Big Business<\/strong><\/h2>\n

End-of-life or funeral pre-planning is a hot topic. As seniors in Canada become a more significant segment of our population, the demand for services geared toward them continues to increase dramatically<\/strong>. Statistically, every single day, one thousand Canadians reach the age of 65. Wow, now that\u2019s a lot of birthday candles!<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cIn 2016, the number of seniors… in the total population surpassed the number of children…for the first time in Canada\u2019s history. According to all scenarios, this situation would continue\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Stats Canada, Population Projections for Canada (2018 to 2068)<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Final expense planning is becoming one of the fastest-growing areas in the insurance industry today. This means increased competition between carriers to get a bigger piece of this ever-increasing pie. <\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Assurant Life of Canada has long held a place at this table\u2014one could argue that they built it. They\u2019ve been entrenched in the funeral funding business for decades,\u00a0and with increased competition, it will be interesting to see if they can hold on to their market share.\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

If you want to know more about final expenses or funeral insurance, check out my post here.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

A Few Words About Assurant Life of Canada<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Assurant Life of Canada is the single largest provider of preneed life insurance plans in Canada that fund final expenses or funeral costs.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

This long-standing insurer began as the Pierce Brothers Family Mortuaries in 1902. As a family-owned business, they pioneered funeral pre-planning in Canada as we know it<\/em>. They saw firsthand the grief and financial strain their clients experienced, so they innovated a better and more affordable way for people to plan burials. <\/span><\/p>\n

Their new approach involved purchasing a life insurance company and offering consumers portable funeral insurance policies that pay tax-free benefits in cash.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Over many decades, this company evolved into Assurant Life of Canada, which now has almost $2 billion assets. Their parent company, Assurant Inc., offers similar pre-need services in the US through American Memorial Life Insurance. <\/span><\/p>\n

They also have substantial international holdings in other risk management market sectors. Assurant distributes <\/b>its<\/b> final expense plans through 3,000 funeral homes in Canada and the U.S.<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Canada Purple Shield <\/strong><\/h3>\n

They operate through three brand names in Canada: Canada Purple Shield, Assurant Preneed, and TruStage Life of Canada. Purple Shield is associated with Assurant’s final expense business, primarily in Atlantic Canada and Western Canada. \u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

Nobody in Ontario or Quebec uses the name Purple Shield, but TruStage Life of Canada underwrites both brands\u2019 funeral plans. For example, if you go to the domain purpleshield.ca, you will be taken to the trustage.ca homepage.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

TruStage Life of Canada\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n

TruStage Life of Canada is a division of CUNA Mutual Group. As a leader in providing financial products and services to credit unions and their members,\u00a0 TruStage was established in 2013 when CUNA Mutual Group purchased Assurant Life of Canada.<\/p>\n

Fast forward to 2022, and CUNA has rebranded Assurant Life of Canada as TruStage Life of Canada.<\/p>\n

Assurant Life of Canada Financial Ratings<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Assurant Life of Canada has excellent financials, with assets approaching $2 billion and $1.9 million in final expense plans sold. <\/span><\/p>\n

AM Best rates them A\u2014(Excellent), and their parent company, Assurant Inc., is rated \u2018A\u2019 and has assets over $30 billion.\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Assurant’s US burial insurance marketer, American Memorial Life, also received a financial strength rating (FSR) of “A” from AM Best. Therefore,\u00a0if you purchase a funeral insurance plan through Assurant or Purple Shield Canada, your loved ones will safely receive their payout.<\/p>\n

Assurant (Purple Shield): What Do Customers Think?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Having scoured the web, I see that Assurant Solutions or Canada Purple Shield have no Google reviews. It\u2019s hard to find any positive or negative reviews anywhere.<\/strong> But of course, if you look hard enough, you can always find some complaints.<\/span><\/p>\n

Did you know that only 15 out of 1000 people leave an online review of a product or service? Is it good to base your buying decision on what 1.5% of people think? Not to mention, how do you know they used the product or service?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

For example, a son who thought his mother paid more for a plan than her estate received said, \u201cDon’t get ripped off by Canada Purple Shield (Assurant Life of Canada).\u201d This is not necessarily Assurant’s fault,\u00a0as they have a distribution system with thousands of advisors and <\/b>licensed<\/b> funeral pre-planners across Canada.<\/b> Is it fair to paint Assurant badly because one of their distributors didn’t meet a client’s expectations?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We don’t know all the details of the plan or the money received.<\/p>\n

You should take some time to read reviews and compare them with the other information you gather when doing your homework.<\/p>\n

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What Is The Elephas Group?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Some independent vendors selling final expense plans underwritten by Assurant include My Final Wishes<\/strong>, Funeral Protection Plus<\/strong>, and the Elephas Group<\/strong>. <\/span><\/p>\n

Several negative reviews are directed toward the Elephas Group. Some consumers voiced concerns regarding their marketing tactics, including brown craft envelope mailouts that imitate government documents.<\/span><\/p>\n

Other complaints directed towards the Elephas group allege that their policies are insufficient to cover the actual cost of a funeral. According to sources, Assurant Life of Canada has received several complaints\u00a0regarding these practices through the\u00a0Financial Services Commission of Ontario<\/a> (FSCO)<\/span>. Still, I don’t know if the situation has been resolved.<\/p>\n

The advisor or agent is responsible for ensuring clients understand the product they purchase. Sadly, many consumers appear to have plans they don\u2019t understand, can\u2019t afford, or have substandard guarantees.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Assurant Life of Canada Products<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Assurant Life of Canada\u2019s entire product range is focused solely on funeral pre-planning solutions.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

There is a lot of confusion among seniors regarding these types of products. Advisors and funeral providers alike use all kinds of different language when marketing these plans:<\/p>\n