CAEAS-ECAB

Naming Beneficiaries

By submitting a form to name your beneficiary (beneficiaries) for your Life and/or AD&D insurance, the insurance company can pay your insurance benefits directly to your beneficiaries without the delay of settling your estate. It also ensures that your estate won’t be reduced by additional probate fees, and that the insurance money is provided to your beneficiaries tax-free.

You can view your beneficiary designation on Cowan’s Member Access site. Here you will also find the Life and AD&D beneficiary designation forms to make changes to your designation at any time.

  • If you’re an active member, you will need to complete two beneficiary forms: one for Life insurance (with Canada Life) and one for AD&D (with Chubb).
  • If you’re a retiree, you only need to fill out the Canada Life form (for Life insurance).

You can have different beneficiaries for Life and AD&D if you wish, and you can choose to have your beneficiary designation as “revocable” or “irrevocable.” This simply refers to whether or not your named beneficiary needs to sign off on any future changes you make to this designation. Revocable means you can make changes without their signature. Irrevocable means they must sign off on your changes.

Your designations will be revocable unless you choose to make them irrevocable. To make a designation irrevocable, you will need to:

  • Life insurance: Fill out an additional Canada Life form
  • AD&D insurance: Write “irrevocable” on the Chubb beneficiary form and initial it

Please note, if you are appointing a minor (under age 18) as a beneficiary, then you will also need to complete the section on Trustee designation on these forms.

All beneficiary designations must be signed in ink and mailed to:
Cowan Insurance Group
700-1420 Blair Place
Ottawa, Ontario
K1J 9L8

If you have questions or need help with beneficiary designations, please contact Cowan.

Beneficiary designation forms are available on Cowan’s Member Access site.

© 2022 Ontario Non-union Education Trust