Does the thought of paying for life insurance make you not want to be an adult? Are you confused by all the options, and have no idea where to start? Meet Walnut, an insurance company on a mission to change the way young Canadian feel about life insurance.
Who Is Walnut?
Walnut Insurance Inc. is a life insurance company founded in 2020. It offers life insurance as a premium membership with extra perks. This means you get to take advantage of useful and interesting benefits in addition to having the life insurance coverage you want.
What sets Walnut apart from other life insurance providers is its small but effective range of simple and transparent coverage plans. Not only can you get instant access to affordable life insurance, but every customer is treated like they have a premium membership. Plus, a medical exam isn’t required to be eligible for coverage.
What Does Walnut Insurance Offer?
Walnut currently offers two main kinds of personalized insurance policies, along with some optional benefits:
Term Life Insurance As A Premium Membership
Walnut’s primary products are their term life insurance policies, which they acquire through the Royal Bank of Canada’s RBC Life Insurance Company. This type of premium life insurance policy comes with a number of benefits, including:
- Terms of 10 or 20 years
- Anyone aged 18 to 70 is eligible to apply
- $50,000 – $1,000,000 of coverage for clients under the age of 55
- $50,000 – $499,999 of coverage for clients aged 56 or older
- Optional benefits are available (ClassPass, Dashlane, Headspace, etc.)
Walnut term life insurance is meant to cover your dependents financially and pay your end-of-life costs (funeral fees, debts, etc.) after you die. However, it can also act as a safety net to protect you against certain financial losses for a limited period while you’re alive and have more significant expenses, such as your child’s education or mortgage.
Digital Protection Membership
If you want to safeguard the information you store online, like your identity, passwords or financial assets, Walnut’s Digital Protection Membership offers top security against cyber fraud for the low price of $12 monthly, with an introductory price of $5 monthly.
At the moment, Walnut is partnered with two companies; CyberScout and Dashlane. Each of these cyber-security providers offers different types of insurance coverage:
| Cyberscout | Dashlane Premium |
| – $1M of Identity Reimbursement Coverage – $25K of Social Engineering Coverage – $25K of Ransomware Coverage – Credit Monitoring Services – 24/7 Cyber Support Line | – Personalized Security Alerts – 1BG of Encrypted File Storage – Dark Web Monitoring – Secure Notes – Password Generator – Automatic Password Changer – Secure Password Sharing – Unlimited Password Storage – Password Health Checker – Form & Payment Autofill – Unlimited Device Access |
With a Walnut Digital Protection Membership, you also get My Friendly Lawyer, which allows you to connect with licensed Canadian lawyers and comes with features like:
- 24/7 Legal Advice
- Simple Document Review
- Identity Theft Assistance
- Demand Letter Preparation
- Several Types of Legal Support:
- Employment
- Small Business
- Personal & Civil
- Residential & Strata
- Immigration & Family
Optional Benefits
Don’t forget, you can access other benefits as part of your Walnut Term Life Insurance coverage, like these popular mental and physical health apps:
- ClassPass – Watch digital fitness classes and work toward any fitness goals you may have.
- Dashlane – As mentioned, Dashlane Premium is one of Walnut’s main digital protection partners and allows you to surf the web with less fear of cyber fraud.
- Headspace – If you wish to improve your mental health, sleep habits or focus, Headspace is a meditation and wellness app that can help you along the way.
What Makes Walnut Stand Out?
When searching for a life insurance policy, it’s essential to choose a provider that offers every kind of coverage that you and your future dependents might need. Fortunately, there are plenty of notable features that make Walnut Life Insurance unique, such as:
- Unlike with other insurers, a medical exam isn’t required to apply
- You can apply and get covered online without appointments or wasted time
- Policies give you access to digital security and holistic health solutions
- Your monthly premium won’t change during your coverage term
- Prices are transparent and lower than many other insurance companies
Walnut Pricing
While they don’t have an extensive range of insurance packages, one of the best things about Walnut is that they’re upfront with their prices. Insurance plans start at:
- Starting at $10.00 a month for Term Life Insurance as a membership (cost is based on the individual)
- This includes access to benefits like ClassPass Digital, Dashlane Premium, Headspace Plus (an over $30 monthly value)
- $5.00 a month for Digital Protection Membership (normally $12.00/mo)
When buying life insurance from Walnut, you can add benefits to your policy and pay higher fees or purchase a “standalone” insurance policy, which has no extra inclusions and a flat monthly premium. The same rule applies if you only want the benefits above.
What Affects The Price Of A Life Insurance Policy?
The monthly cost of your life insurance policy can vary according to your personal situation, overall health and provider. For instance, Walnut uses the following factors when calculating someone’s monthly term life insurance premium:
- Age – Since aging can lead to a greater probability of health problems in the future, applicants who are 56 or older will qualify for less coverage.
- General Health – Life insurance premiums can be lower if the client has a clean history of healthy living and few (ideally no) pre-existing conditions or illnesses.
- Occupation & Hobbies – However, even if you’re healthy, premiums may go up if your job or lifestyle choices are hazardous (firefighting, extreme sports, etc.).
- Weight – Keeping your weight down is another way to get a lower life insurance premium since being obese can increase someone’s risk of health problems too.
- Substance Use – Obviously, higher monthly premiums may apply if the person being insured consistently smokes, drinks alcohol or takes certain drugs.
- Amount of Coverage – Although it can be worthwhile, it’s important to know that purchasing more life insurance coverage can also increase your premium.
Benefits Of Walnut Life Insurance
As you can see, there are many notable perks you can access when you purchase your term life or digital insurance through Walnut, including but not limited to:
Priced Transparently
There are no obligations until you buy insurance. This means the client has time to consider their budget and pick a policy that works, instead of buying one, only to get a higher premium than they were expecting.
Good Coverage At An Affordable Price
In addition to their transparency, Walnut charges lower monthly premiums than many other life insurance providers in Canada, particularly for younger, healthier and more responsible individuals.
Fast Application & No Medical Exam
You can apply for Walnut insurance and get covered for up to $1M entirely online, within 20 minutes. Plus, you don’t need to go through the hassle of getting a medical exam from a third-party physician.
Optional Mental Health Benefits
When you purchase a life insurance bundle you will receive access to benefits like Headspace Plus, ClassPass Digital, and Dashlane Premium. On their own, these benefits are worth over $30 a month.
How To Apply For A Digital Protection Membership With Walnut
Another great thing about Walnut is that you can insure all your digital information in less than a minute by following these 4 steps:
- Enroll – Since a Digital Protection Membership involves fewer personal details than term life insurance, you simply need to create a Walnut account, select a product and billing method, then finish the payment process to get insured.
- Prevent – Once you’ve enrolled and have Dashlane Premium on your side, your passwords will be fully secured. Furthermore, a password manager will autofill any passwords you create on your protected home or mobile devices.
- Get Cyber Support – Remember, a Digital Protection Membership gives you 24/7 access to a cyber support system through CyberScout. You can then use this network to get incident reports, resolutions, and answers to all your questions.
- Get Reimbursed – If you should become a victim of identity fraud or digital theft, a Walnut Digital Protection Membership can provide you with up to $1 million in Identity Reimbursement Coverage and other types of security.
How To Apply For Term Life Insurance With Walnut
With Walnut, applying for Term Life Insurance is also easy and involves 4 basic steps:
- Get Your Insurance Quote – Begin by visiting the Walnut website and clicking the blue “Get a Quote” button at the top-right corner of the homepage.
- Complete Your Application – When prompted, fill out the relevant personal information, then answer questions about your lifestyle and everyday health.
- Choose Your Coverage – Select the type and amount of coverage you want, submit your application, then wait for a quote to show up in your email inbox.
- Confirm & Buy Your Policy – If you qualify and are happy with your quote, finish by entering in your payment information (for now, only credit cards are accepted).
