Let’s face it, insurance companies don’t have the best reputation out there, and you may have heard some horror stories : insurance companies that do everything they can to avoid honoring their policies, complicated contracts, hidden fees, etc.

Plus, if you’re already discouraged by the traditional underwriting process, you may forgo purchasing a life insurance policy altogether for all these reasons.

If you’re in that position, don’t despair! There is another option for you: a soumission assurance vie en ligne.

Here are 4 things you need to know to make sure you’re getting the best online life insurance deal.

1. Don’t Buy More Coverage Than You Actually Need

Some of you may be rolling your eyes right now and thinking “Thanks, Captain Obvious”, but unless you also happen to be a financial professional, don’t be so certain that you wouldn’t fall into this trap.

First, unless you need life insurance to cover a very specific item of your financial life — your mortgage, your children & education, the repayment of a large consumer debt, etc.

You may both be aware that you should purchase life insurance and have no idea which amount of coverage you should go for.

Finding the right coverage can require some guesswork and if you’re dealing with an agent, try to make sure you’re not getting upsold.

2. Don’t Try to Get Coverage for Every Little Thing

Being careful is certainly a virtue, but even that can be overdone. Better be safe than sorry, indeed, but you’ll never be perfectly safe and it would be foolish to try to get financial coverage for every potential negative scenario that could arise between now and a distant future.

Before sitting down with an agent or looking for an insurtech online, write down the specific risks you want to protect your family and other beneficiaries from.

Once it’s done, look for the best coverage for this or these precise risks, and no other!

Insurance companies are first and foremost skilled sales-entities and if you’re not paying attention, you may find yourself paying dozens of dollars a month to be protected from risks that are very unlikely or that you could perfectly live with.

3. Don’t Get Locked It On Long Term Policies

Term (or temporary) policies are generally the option by default of online life insurance companies and that’s a good thing because they’re usually more affordable than permanent life insurance policies (all other things being equal).

That being said, even temporary policies can last for quite a long period of time (like 25 years, or even more), which may effectively turn them into whole life policies.

It may be a good idea to purchase a temporary life insurance policy for a shorter amount of time (5 to 10 years).

You’re going to get lower premiums, more flexibility and if you’re afraid of getting a sharp increase at the time of renewal (because you’d be older, for example).

You should know that most temporary life insurance policies come with an early renewal clause — and you should definitely take advantage of it if you foresee changes in your situation that would negatively impact your profile from an insurance company standpoint.

4. Don’t Mistake Insurance for an Investment

This one requires a bit of nuance in the explanation. Yes, some life insurance policies can definitely be regarded as investments, especially whole life’s ones since they carry a cash value that consists in the sum of all the premiums paid plus the interests accrued on said premiums.

To the untrained eyes, this characteristic of permanent life insurance makes them attractive investment vehicles with the added benefit of leading to tax-free lump sum payment should the insured party die.

It’s a simplistic view of traditional investment and the wrong way to approach life insurance.

First, the multiple fees and taxes that are deducted to the cash value to your name will eat away a significant portion of your earnings, leaving you in worse shape that if you had simply put the equivalent of your premiums into a traditional investment.

And second, looking for returns when you should be focused on coverage will lead you to commit some of the mistakes we’ve laid out here, more specifically buying more coverage than you actually need.

While the insurance world and lingo can seem scary for those who are not familiar with them, you shouldn’t let that feeling get in the way of you protecting your family.

Keep these 4 recommendations in mind, trust your judgment, and you will be fine.