Frequently Asked Questions - Insurance

• This compulsory coverage is provided as a benefit of membership for all Regular (i.e. dues paying) Members. The premiums are paid by CFPA from the union dues that you already pay, so there is no additional cost to you, the member.
• No medical is required and coverage is automatic.
• You must submit an Enrollment Form (available here on the CFPA website) naming your beneficiary(ies) in Part 1, plus sign and date the form in the first signature block of Part 3.
• You must be under 65 to be eligible to join the Basic Life Insurance and coverage terminates on a covered member’s 70th birthday.

• When you name an individual as a beneficiary, death benefits are not subject to probate (the official proving of a will in court) or administration costs. As well, your creditors cannot make a claim against the proceeds.
• If you have not named a beneficiary, when you die your life insurance policy becomes an asset of your estate. This means the proceeds of your life insurance policy can (or may be) used first to pay your debts and any balance remaining will be distributed according to your will or, absent a will, according to intestacy rules.

• You may now enroll at any time for Optional Life Insurance. You are automatically pre-approved for this coverage if you are a member in good standing of CFPA, hold a valid Cat. 1 Medical and are a Canadian resident.
• This coverage is available to all classes of members in good standing: Regular, Associate and Honourary Members. Regular members who for whatever reason no longer work for the employer may maintain their eligibility as an Associate Member by paying the annual $25.00 Associate member fee.
• Note: If you don’t hold a valid Cat. 1 medical, you may still be approved for this coverage by going through medical underwriting (i.e. approval) by Industrial Alliance prior to the coverage coming into effect.

Optional Group Life Insurance

• Available to both you and your spouse.
• Can be purchased in units of $50,000 to a maximum of $500,000.
• Premiums for optional life insurance are based on gender, age, and smoker status of the person enrolling/applying, and on the amount of insurance. Premiums are paid monthly on the first of the month by pre-authorized debit (PAD).
• Coverage is available to age 70.
• Coverage is effective 24 hours per day, 365 days per year.
• If the member dies, his/her spouse will be able to remain in the plan to age 70.
• NOTE: At age 60 your level of coverage decreases by 50% with a cap of $250,000. e.g. $500,000 becomes $250,000 maximum, $150,000 becomes $75,000 maximum.

Accidental Death, Disease, and Dismemberment (AD&D) Insurance (includes critical illness)

• AD&D Insurance is available to members only (spouse excluded).
• AD&D coverage has a special aviation provision (see booklet for details).
• Pays an equal amount to the sum insured under the Optional Life Benefit in the event of an accidental death.
• Pays a portion of the death benefit for dismemberment, loss of use or paralysis due to an accident.
• Optional life must be elected prior to having AD&D coverage.
• Coverage is available to age 70.

Dependent Life

• This coverage is compulsory for all members who elect to participate in Member Optional Life Insurance and have eligible dependents (i.e. spouse and dependent children) and covers each for a $5,000 death benefit. Select “Family” on the Group Insurance Plan Enrollment and Change form.
• The beneficiary will automatically be the CFPA member.

• Yes, coverage is available for your spouse. Your spouse may apply for coverage at any time; however the application for coverage is medically underwritten and must be approved by medical underwriting prior to being in effect (see Application Form page). If the application is approved, premiums will be due the 1st of the month following.
• A common-law spouse is also eligible (12 month co-habitation rule applies).
• The beneficiary will automatically be the CFPA member unless otherwise stated.
• Coverage is effective 24 hours per day, 365 days per year.

Statistics indicate that Canadian families require insurance coverage at a level of at least 4 to 6 times annual household income. One of the most valuable assets that we as individuals possess is the ability to earn an income. Loss of income through untimely death or injury can have a devastating financial effect on a family’s lifestyle and dreams unless provisions are made to replace lost income.

No medical is required if the member in good standing holds a valid medical certificate (Cat. 1).

Your existing coverage remains in force as long as your monthly premiums are paid on time. Changes in medical status of you or your spouse or dependent children do not affect existing coverage.

• Most employer sponsored plans do not provide sufficient coverage and if you leave your employment you lose your coverage.
• CFPA Group Life Insurance is fully portable in that continued coverage is not tied to employment, career or medical status as long as you remain a member in good standing of CFPA. After a member has been enrolled, there are no ongoing requirements to retain this level of coverage as long as your monthly premiums are paid on time. The same applies to the member’s spouse after she has applied for coverage and has been approved.
• Many members will simply use our plan as a low cost alternative to mortgage insurance or as top-up insurance to their coverage through work.

• Yes. One of the great features of our plan is that you may adjust your coverage level at any time and at any age up to age 65. To increase or decrease coverage, simply reenroll.
• Your spouse may also adjust his/her coverage level at any time and at any age up to age 65. To increase his/her coverage he/she must re-apply and go through medical underwriting again. To decrease coverage, he/she can simply mail in a new application.
  
  NOTE: At age 60 your level of coverage decreases by 50% with a cap of $250,000. e.g. $500,000 becomes $250,000 maximum, $150,000 becomes $75,000 maximum.

Yes. The optional life insurance coverage is in effect 24 hours per day, 365 days per year, anywhere in the world.

• This coverage is much less expensive if it includes a special aviation provision. To put this in perspective, on average, only four ATPLs per year are killed while flying out of over 12,000 ATPLs in Canada, so from a risk management and cost perspective, we felt it was far better value to take the coverage with the occupational limitation.
• Our ADD&D coverage includes a unique Critical Disease Benefit which will pay out 10% of your covered amount if you are diagnosed with one of 9 named critical illnesses (e.g. Type I Diabetes, Insulin Dependent) and are totally disabled for a period of 9 months. Also, in our plan the benefit for paraplegia, hemiplegia or quadriplegia is 200% of the benefit.
• So there is a huge advantage to being covered for the 8,000 hours a year that you are not flying! This becomes especially important if your happen to be seriously injured and not killed. For example, if you were involved in an auto accident on the way to work and ended up in a wheelchair without the use of your legs, you could potentially collect a $1,000,000 benefit, and your life insurance would still be in place!

• The first thing to understand is that Optional Life coverage and AD&D coverage are two separate and distinct insurance products covering different risks.
• The Optional Life Insurance coverage pays out for death caused by any reason except suicide in the first two years of coverage.
• The AD&D has exclusions which are covered in detail in the benefits booklet which you will receive when your coverage is approved.
• An easy way to understand this is with a few examples. If a pilot has $100,000 Optional Life Insurance coverage and $100,000 AD&D coverage:
  • If the pilot is killed in an airplane and is acting as an operating crew member:
    • Optional Life Insurance benefit: $100,000
    • AD&D benefit: $25,000
  • If the pilot is killed in an airplane and is deadheading to or from an assignment:
    • Optional Life Insurance benefit: $100,000
    • AD&D benefit: $100,000
  • If the pilot is killed while doing the walk-around while on duty:
    • Optional Life Insurance benefit: $100,000
    • AD&D benefit: $100,000
  • If the pilot is killed while driving to or from work:
    • Optional Life Insurance benefit: $100,000
    • AD&D benefit: $100,000
  • If the pilot is involved in an accident on the way to work and loses the use of both legs permanently:
    • Optional Life Insurance benefit: $0
    • AD&D benefit: $200,000
• The AD&D exclusion period for a member of the crew begins “from the moment the aircraft first moves under its own power for the purpose of taking off” and ends “the moment it comes to rest at the gate or designated dis-embarkment area at the end of the flight”.

• The coverage is very inexpensive if it is made compulsory for the entire group. In our case, the coverage only costs one low monthly premium of $2.30 per family, which covers the member’s spouse and all eligible dependent children for a benefit of $5,000 each.
• Another advantage of compulsory coverage is that the one premium covers the spouse and all dependent children. With compulsory coverage there is no need to submit a list of dependents to be covered and therefore no requirement to keep this information up to date.
• In the case of compulsory coverage no medical exam is required and all dependents are automatically covered regardless of health.
• Coverage is effective 24 hours per day, 365 days per year.

• We purchase the coverage for our group from the underwriter one month at a time. To cover this cost, we debit each member’s account on the first of each month by Pre-Authorized Debit (PAD). This is the same as making a car payment or a mortgage payment.
• Everything we did to start the plan was directed at trying to bring an excellent product to our members at an outstanding price. PAD is a way to help us keep your premiums low by reducing administrative costs.

• Our CFPA Group Life Insurance Plan which came into effect on 1 September 2005 is underwritten by Industrial Alliance. They are solidly behind our plan and we are working closely together to build a long-term relationship. The agent which represents iA is RBI Advisory Group, Okotoks, Alberta. RBI Advisory Group also acts as administrators of the plan on our behalf so enrollment and application forms are mailed directly to them.
• In the event of a claim, RBI Advisory Group works with CFPA to act as advocates on behalf of the beneficiary to ensure that the claim is handled tactfully and rapidly. Industrial Alliance handles all claims in a very helpful and expedited manner.

• E-mail RBI Advisory Group at general@rbiadvisory.com
• Call RBI Advisory Group toll-free at 1-888-724-1444.

If your mortgage insurance is up for renewal, or if you are shopping around for the first time, CFPA Group Life insurance is an excellent inexpensive option to consider.