News from Desjardins Insurance

We’re proud to be #1 on The Banker magazine’s prestigious ranking of top-performing Canadian banks— and best positioned to weather the current storms. Proof positive that our cooperative model pays off.

For more information, visit desjardins.com/ranked-first-the-banker.

Source: Silvia Pavoni. “Top 1000 World Banks – Desjardins out in front of Canadian field.” The Banker, July 2020.

In this issue:

• DSign: No more insurance maximums for remote sales and other improvements!
• Compliance and commercial practices | Reminder
• New process for re‑dating insurance contracts
• SOLO Essential Disability Income: Change to contract issuing process
• Faster payment: Benefit cheques sent directly to clients by registered mail
• SOLO Healthcare: We’re printing payment cards again
• Tax Reference Guides
• COVID-19: Business Continuity Plan

DSIGN: NO MORE INSURANCE MAXIMUMS FOR REMOTE SALES AND OTHER IMPROVEMENTS!

We’ve recently made improvements to some of the features in the DSign electronic application.

• There are now no insurance maximums for remote sales. But you still need to request a special quote if the requested insurance amount exceeds the following limits.

• You can select French or English for the prospective client before starting the insurability questionnaire and the display will automatically switch to your choice. Every insured can select their own language preference.
   
• The Sign in person e‑signature option is available to you and your clients. You can have your clients sign remotely and sign in person yourself. In these cases, you will receive an email inviting you to sign the application, please ignore it. No emails will be sent to clients that you choose to sign in person.
   
• You can offer a paper signature option when you’re making a remote sale only if the policyowner doesn’t have a cellphone or a personal email address.

COMPLIANCE AND COMMERCIAL PRACTICES | REMINDER

Provincial regulators and the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association require that controls be in place at the time of hiring and throughout the business relationship with advisors.

As a responsible insurer, we need to make sure you’re compliant when selling our insurance and investment products to clients.

It’s important to always follow best practices and do what’s right for clients. Here are some examples of unacceptable practices:

• Asking clients to sign blank documents
• Falsifying documents
• Supporting money laundering or terrorist activities
• Selling client lists
• Advising clients to do something that’s better for you than for them
• Asking clients to name you as their beneficiary when there is no insurable interest
• Failing to disclose contract replacements
• Churning
• Getting clients to make false declarations

Also, please note that some compliance documents must be included in your clients’ file like the financial needs analysis (FNA), acknowledgment and reason why letter.

NEW PROCESS FOR RE-DATING INSURANCE CONTRACTS

We’ve developed clear rules to better manage re-dating requests and ensure a simple, consistent and efficient process for handling your requests so you can better serve your clients.

New process

We have developed a form to ask us to re‑date contracts that are payable on delivery, or for which we’ve produced a Notice of Modification, a Notice of Modification and Premium Payment, or a Notice of Premium Payment.

Read the quick reference on requesting re‑dating for contracts for more information on:

• Eligibility criteria
• Instructions
• Next steps

Form included in the requirement

A link to the new Request to Change Initial Date‑20113E form will now always be provided in the Pending Business tool (PB tool) for files whose initial date may be changed. You’ll find it in the Notice of Modification, Notice of Modification and Premium Payment, and Notice of Premium Payment requirement.

That means you’ll be able to have all the forms signed (Notice of Modification, Pre‑Authorized Debit Agreement, etc.) and send them to us at the same time.

Contracts have a new look

You’ll notice as of November 9, 2020 that all new contracts are divided into 2 clearly identified sections:

• Part 1: Documents related to the contract (policy schedule, contract clauses, etc.)
• Part 2: Documents related to the insurance application (illustration, application, etc.)

If we produce a new contract (for example, to update the initial date), we’ll only send the new Part 1 – Documents related to the contract along with a cover letter. Your client can then simply replace the outdated Part 1.

Exceptions

For the time being, this change does not apply to contracts issued after a major change and certain insurance replacements or conversions.

SOLO ESSENTIAL DISABILITY INCOME: CHANGE TO CONTRACT ISSUING PROCESS

Right now, if your client chooses to purchase both accident and illness coverage, we start by issuing a contract for just the accident coverage. Once underwriting approves the illness coverage, we modify the contract and issue a new one with both coverage types.

The process will remain exactly the same for contracts that just contain accident coverage.

Will my client be covered while their application is being reviewed?
For now, we can’t offer a temporary insurance agreement that covers illness-related disability, but clients will have accident coverage as soon as they sign their insurance application SOLO Essential Disability Income Application - 15021E, as long as they:

• Meet the prerequisites listed in Section C
• Fill out Section K to pay the first contract premium (both coverages). We won’t charge any other premiums while the application is under review. The client will begin paying monthly premiums one month after the contract issue date.

SOLO HEALTHCARE: WE’RE PRINTING PAYMENT CARDS AGAIN

We’ve started printing payment cards and insurance certificates again!

Contracts issued or modified since March 16, 2020

We’re printing payment cards and mailing them to policyowners.

New Business – Our process is changing

From now on, payment cards and insurance certificates will be created on the effective date of the contract and automatically mailed to policyowners.

At the same time, we’ll send you their identification number through the Pending Business tool. That way you can forward it to your clients so they can sign up on the plan member site and benefit from their coverage before they receive their original documents.

TAX REFERENCE GUIDES

Please note that going forward we’ll no longer produce the Tax Reference Guides.

Following Desjardins’ digital shift and in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, we believe that printing copies is not an optimal solution. At the beginning of summer, we started discussions with our vendor to find a digital solution. Unfortunately, despite extensive testing, the solution is not viable in our IT environment. We are sorry for any inconveniences this will cause you. Please note that there will be no other alternatives.

We recommend you look for the information you need, online. That being said, we will continue to support you in other business development initiatives.