Pillar guide
Term vs permanent life insurance
The real trade-off in plain terms — what each actually does, and how to tell which one your situation calls for.
Life & critical-illness cover
The people who depend on you shouldn’t depend on luck.
Life insurance is really just a promise kept after you’re gone. We explain that promise in plain English, at your pace, and connect you with a licensed advisor when you want one.
Free, no-obligation conversation. Any advice about a policy comes from a licensed advisor, and no coverage is bound until the insurer approves your application.
No email wallNo account needed
A–ZPlain-English
life insurance glossary
life insurance glossary
Independent publisherPlain-English, always
Why LifeRate feels different
We explain the decision. You make it.
Most life-insurance sites are a form with a headline. We built the opposite: understand it first, compare honestly, and only talk to a human when you’re ready.
Explain, honestly
What each product actually does, what it costs you in trade-offs, and where the fine print bites — written to be checked, not taken on faith.
Understand, fully
Term or permanent, riders, the fine print — every term defined in the sentence it appears. If a guide can’t be understood by a normal human, it doesn’t go up.
Talk to a human
When you want a person, you get a licensed advisor — not a call-centre script. No pressure, no upsell, and the honest answer when a policy isn’t right for you.
Where would you like to start?
Two kinds of protection. One clear path to each.
Most people start here
Life insurance
Term or permanent coverage that pays your family a tax-free amount if you’re gone. The core promise — sized to what they’d actually need.
Compare life rates Protect your income tooCritical illness
A tax-free lump sum on diagnosis of a covered condition — money to focus on recovery, not bills, while you’re still very much here.
Explore critical illnessNot sure how much you need?
Answer five plain questions — income, debts, dependants — and see a coverage figure in under a minute. No account, no email.
Learn before you buy
Guides that respect your intelligence.
Written to be understood, and sourced so you can check our work.
Pillar guide
How much life insurance do you actually need?
Income, debts, dependants and the years that matter — a grounded way to land on a number that isn’t guesswork.
Guide
What critical-illness cover pays for
The conditions, the waiting periods, and how a lump sum on diagnosis fits alongside your life policy.
Talk to a real, licensed advisor
When you’re ready for a person, we’ve got a good one.
No call-centre queue, no script. A licensed advisor who’ll walk you through your options, answer the awkward questions, and tell you plainly if you don’t need what you came for.
LR
Licensed advisorsAny advice about a policy comes from a licensed advisor
- Licensed, independent, carrier-neutral
- Zero pressure — the honest answer, always
One family, four kinds of cover
Part of the Rate family
Same standards, same plain-English DNA. When your question is bigger than life insurance, there’s a sibling site for it.
LifeRateLife & critical-illness coverYou’re here
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The things people ask first
Does using LifeRate cost more than going direct?
Premiums for a given policy are set by the insurer. How pricing and any compensation work for your specific case is exactly the kind of question the licensed advisor will answer plainly before you commit to anything.
Do I need a medical exam just to see prices?
No. Nothing on this site requires a medical exam, because nothing on this site quotes or arranges a policy. If you go on to apply through a licensed advisor, whether an exam is required depends on the insurer and the product.
Term or permanent — which is right for me?
It depends on what you’re protecting and for how long. Term covers a defined period at a lower cost; permanent lasts for life and builds value. Our guides walk through the trade-off, and an advisor can talk it through with your situation in mind.
Are you independent, or owned by an insurer?
Independent. LifeRate.ca is operated by Webhub4u Inc., a publisher — it is not owned by an insurer and does not represent one. It also does not sell or arrange insurance; a licensed advisor does that.
What happens to my information?
The calculators run in your browser and don’t require an account. You only share contact details if you choose to speak with an advisor — and then only to arrange the coverage you asked about.