CLHIA consumer brochures go mobile in support of financial literacy

TORONTO, Nov. 26, 2013 /CNW/ - The life and health insurance industry is committed to doing its part in helping to increase the financial literacy of Canadians by making access to consumer information on the industry's products and services as easy and convenient as possible.

"A complete financial toolkit includes life and health insurance products and we wanted to make sure that Canadians can literally have this information at their fingertips whether they're at home, on the way to an appointment with their financial advisor, or wintering in Florida," said CLHIA's President Frank Swedlove.

With Canadians being amongst the earliest adopters of new technologies, the Association has modernized its full suite of consumer brochures -- topics include: life insurance, supplementary health insurance, disability insurance, long-term care insurance, segregated funds and others -- so that they are now also accessible on mobile devices. These resources are available on the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association's website at www.clhia.ca.

One relatively new resource that has proven to be extremely valuable is the CLHIA's Virtual Shoebox Guide. Since it was launched by the Association two years ago, Canadians have downloaded this on-line tool that helps keep track of personal and financial documents and related information more than 17,000 times. "We hear that Canadians love this tool.  They can get all their financial information organized in one place. And if they pass away or can no longer look after their financial affairs, it's so much easier for a loved one to step in", added Mr. Swedlove.

About the CLHIA

Established in 1894, the CLHIA is a voluntary association whose member companies account for 99 per cent of Canada's life and health insurance business. The industry provides a wide range of financial security products such as life insurance, annuities (including RRSPs, RRIFs and pensions) and supplementary health insurance to almost 27 million Canadians. It also holds close to $615 billion of assets in Canada and employs about 142,600 Canadians.

SOURCE: Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association Inc.

Wendy Hope, Vice President, External Relations [phone]