BMO Insurance’s term life, universal life, whole life, term 100, and select critical illness policy clients are gaining access to New York-based Empathy’s bereavement support service, the insurer announced earlier this month.
Empathy Loss Support guides estate executors and family members following a loved one’s death. This includes a step-by-step post-loss plan, such as writing an obituary, closing financial accounts, grief resources and support for benefits and insurance claims.
BMO Insurance said it’s bringing this service to guaranteed investment funds as part of its partnership with Empathy.
Its announcement comes months after TD Bank’s estate settlement services clients and iA Financial Group’s individual life clients gained access to Empathy’s post-loss support service.
Empathy’s care managers include licensed social workers, bereavement experts or palliative care specialists, said Ron Gura, CEO and co-founder of Empathy. Their expertise is localized to Canada with knowledge on probate and estate law across the provinces and provide Canadian French support.
Partnered insurers have back-office integrations with Empathy, so care managers can help direct inquiries on policy claims to the right person at the carrier.
“The first conversation comes with a death certificate,” Gura said. “[But insurers] are moving from sorry for your loss to we’re going to stick around … they want to see that we can shift transactions to relationships.”
Gura lost his brother during childhood and didn’t understand what his mother went through until years later. “Nobody starts an end-of-life company just for fun,” he said. “[Post-death] logistics are made harder by grief.”
Empathy is growing wholesale distribution support to help advisors boost relationships with clients. Last week, Seth Miller, former head of distribution at WFG in the U.S., joined Empathy as chief distribution officer.
Gura hopes that carriers using Empathy save advisors “time from dealing with the administrative action of making sure that family is supported.”
In addition to life policies, Empathy has launched disability support with MetLife in the U.S., and expects to introduce it to Canada in the next few quarters.