On Reservists and Insurance
At first glance, this Globe and Mail story would seem to be an example of how hard-luck Canadian Forces reservists are. Dr. Andrew Kirkpatrick, a reservist thinking about taking a tour in Afghanistan, was applying for life insurance from Sun Life.
Instead, he was incensed when a letter came this month from insurance company Sun Life Financial.
“We have been advised that your plans for the near future include travelling to Afghanistan. We have therefore declined your application for life coverage,” the underwriter wrote.
“I know the military has problems recruiting surgeons,” Dr. Kirkpatrick said. “It’s just one more roadblock to our troops getting proper care.”
Actually, life insurance is in fact available for class-A and -B reservists, though SISIP Financial Services. This agency serves Canadian Forces members exclusively, and offers a term insurance plan for reservists.
The main problem with SISIP, however, is that they don’t advertise their services very well to reservists. So it’s entirely possible that Dr. Kirkpatrick may not have known about them. He also may have wanted to compare premium rates from other companies.
I have to wonder, though: is having a dedicated agency for reservists, which offers specially-targeted insurance, the most effective way of delivering this service? Or should private insurance companies try to create new policies for this population, to foster the notion of a competitive market? What do you think?
posted by VW at 5:49 p.m.
1 Comments:
There are a couple of issues with this story - unfortunately I didn't have time to get to them today.
One of the problem with SISIP, from a doctor's standpoint at least, is that the maximum insured limit is only $400K. That might cover a year or two of earnings for a trauma surgeon and UofC professor, which isn't enough if you have a wife and kids to think of.
Having said that, there are options. When I get a moment, I'll lay them out in a separate post.
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