Veterans Insurance Act

An Act to provide for the insurance of veterans Short title This Act may be cited as the Veterans Insurance Act. Definitions In this Act amount of insurance means the amount stated as such in the contract of insurance; (montant de l’assurance) brother includes a half-brother and sister includes a half-sister; (frère et soeur) child includes a legally adopted child, a stepchild who is designated by the insured as a beneficiary and in such designation is described either by name or as a stepchild, and a child acknowledged or maintained by the insured or for whom the insured has been judicially ordered to provide support; (enfant) common-law partner, in relation to an individual, means a person who is cohabiting with the individual in a conjugal relationship, having so cohabited for a period of at least one year; (conjoint de fait) discharge from service includes any termination of service; (libération du service) grandchild includes a child as above defined of a child as above defined; (petit-fils ou petite-fille) insured means any person with whom the Minister enters into a contract of insurance under this Act; (assuré ou personne assurée) Minister means the Minister of Veterans Affairs or such other Minister as the Governor in Council may from time to time determine; (Ministre) parent includes a father, mother, grandfather, grandmother, stepfather, stepmother, foster-father, foster-mother, of either the insured or the spouse or common-law partner of the insured; (parent) service means service in the naval, army or air forces of Canada by any person while in receipt of either active service rates of pay or of Permanent Force rates of pay, or active service in the naval, army or air forces of His Majesty by any person domiciled in Canada at the commencement thereof; (service) veteran means any person, male or female, who was engaged in service during the war and who has been granted discharge from such service; (ancien combattant) war means the war that commenced in September 1939, and which, for the purposes of this Act, shall be deemed to have terminated on the 30th day of September 1947. (guerre) Newfoundland veterans For the purposes of paragraph (a) of the definition service in subsection (1), service by a person in the naval or army forces of Newfoundland and service by a person recruited in Newfoundland in any naval, army or air forces raised in Newfoundland by or on behalf of the United Kingdom, shall be deemed to be service in the naval, army or air forces of Canada and, for the purposes of paragraph (b) of that definition, domicile in Newfoundland shall be deemed to be domicile in Canada. Eligible persons and amount of contract The Minister may, without requiring medical examination or other evidence of insurability, enter into a contract of insurance that provides for the payment in the event of the death of the insured of five hundred dollars or any multiple thereof not exceeding ten thousand dollars, with a veteran, on or before the 31st day of October 1968, or with any of the following persons, on or before the 31st day of October 1968, the widow or widower of a veteran, if the Minister has not entered into a contract of insurance with the veteran, the widow or widower of a person who died in service during the war, a member of the regular force who has not been released from such force and who was engaged in service during the war, a merchant seaman who received or was eligible to receive a bonus pursuant to The Merchant Seamen Special Bonus Order, or a seaman who received or was eligible to receive a War Service Bonus pursuant to The Merchant Seamen War Service Bonus Order, 1944, and any other person who is, under the Pension Act, in receipt of a disability pension relating to the war. Limitation Where a contract of insurance is entered into under this Act with a person whose life is insured under The Returned Soldiers’ Insurance Act, the amount of insurance under such contract shall be limited so that the aggregate amount of insurance in force on his life under The Returned Soldiers’ Insurance Act and this Act does not exceed ten thousand dollars. Mode of payment Payment under a contract of insurance shall be made on the death of the insured in an amount that, at the option of the insured, is the full amount of insurance or any lesser amount, and the remainder, if any, or the portion thereof to which any beneficiary is entitled shall, at the option of the insured, be payable as an annuity certain for five, ten, fifteen or twenty years; a life annuity; or an annuity guaranteed for five, ten, fifteen or twenty years and payable thereafter as long as the beneficiary may live. Variation by insured Any option as to the mode of payment chosen by the insured in his application for insurance may subsequently be varied by declaration of the insured. Variation by beneficiary The option as to mode of payment chosen by the insured may after the death of the insured be varied by the beneficiary with the consent of the Minister. Payment of annuity in a lump sum or otherwise Notwithstanding anything in this Act, where, at the death of the insured, any insurance money is being paid or is to be paid as an annuity to any beneficiary, such money shall, upon the request of the beneficiary, be paid in a lump sum or in any other manner provided for in subsection (3) as the beneficiary may request. [Repealed, 1974-75-76, c. 92, s. 3] Disability, waiver of premiums The contract may provide that if, before attaining the age of sixty years, the insured becomes totally and permanently disabled so that he is thereby rendered incapable of pursuing continuously any substantially gainful occupation, and if such disability is not deemed to be attributable to his service to such an extent as to entitle him to pension on the grounds of total disability under the Pension Act, the premiums thereafter falling due under the contract, during the continuance of such disability, shall be waived. Presumption of disablement The insured shall, for the purposes of this section, be deemed to be totally and permanently disabled where his total disability has existed continuously for a period of at least one year. Who are the beneficiaries Where the insured has a spouse, common-law partner or children, the beneficiary is, subject to subsections (4) and (5), the spouse, common-law partner or children of the insured, or some one or more of such persons. Where the insured has no spouse, common-law partner or children, the beneficiary is, subject to subsections (4) and (5) and section 7, the future spouse, future common-law partner or future children of the insured, or some one or more of such persons. Apportionment of insurance money Where the insured designates more than one beneficiary, the insured may apportion, and may at any time re-apportion, the insurance money between or among them as he sees fit, and in default of any such apportionment the insurance money shall be paid to the designated beneficiaries surviving the insured in equal shares. Right to new designation Where a designated beneficiary dies in the lifetime of the insured, the insured may, subject to subsections (1) and (2), designate a beneficiary or beneficiaries to whom the share formerly apportioned to the deceased beneficiary shall be paid, and in default of any such designation, the said share shall be divided equally among the surviving designated beneficiaries, if any. If no designated beneficiary Where the insured does not designate a beneficiary, or where all of the beneficiaries designated by the insured die within the insured’s lifetime, the insurance money shall be paid to the spouse, the common-law partner and the children of the insured in equal shares, and if the insured survives the spouse, the common-law partner and all the children of the insured, and there is no contingent beneficiary within the meaning of section 7 surviving the insured, the insurance money shall be paid, as it falls due or otherwise as the Minister may determine, to the estate or succession of the insured. [Repealed, 2000, c. 12, s. 304] Designation of contingent beneficiaries The insured may designate as a contingent beneficiary a grandchild, parent, brother, or sister of the insured, or such other person as may by regulation be prescribed for the purposes of this section, to whom the insurance money or any portion thereof shall be paid in the event that the insured at the time of his death has no spouse, common-law partner or children. Payment to contingent beneficiaries or to estate or succession Where the insured survives the spouse, the common-law partner and all the children of the insured, the insurance money shall be paid to the contingent beneficiary or beneficiaries, if any, but in default of the designation of a contingent beneficiary, or in the event of the death of all the contingent beneficiaries within the lifetime of the insured, the insurance money shall be paid, as it falls due or otherwise as the Minister may determine, to the estate or succession of the insured. Apportionment Where the insured designates more than one contingent beneficiary, the insured may apportion, and may at any time re-apportion, the insurance money among them as he sees fit, and in default of any such apportionment the insurance money shall be paid to the contingent beneficiaries surviving the insured in equal shares. Death of designated beneficiary Where a contingent beneficiary dies in the lifetime of the insured, the insured may, subject to subsection (1), designate a contingent beneficiary or beneficiaries to whom the share formerly apportioned to the deceased contingent beneficiary shall be paid, and in default of any such designation, the said share shall be divided equally among the contingent beneficiaries, if any, surviving the insured. Change of beneficiaries Subject to this Act, the insured may at any time change the beneficiary or beneficiaries, or the contingent beneficiary or contingent beneficiaries, theretofore designated by the insured. Provision by contract for change of beneficiary Any designation of a beneficiary or of a contingent beneficiary, or any variation in the option as to the mode of payment or any apportionment of insurance money, other than is made by the insured in the application for the insurance, may be made in accordance with the provisions of the contract of insurance in that behalf. Terms for payment of premiums The contract of insurance may provide for payment of premiums during the lifetime of the insured for a period of ten, fifteen or twenty years or until the anniversary of the policy nearest the sixty-fifth or eighty-fifth birthday of the insured. Premiums as provided in Schedule A The premiums payable under the various plans of contract shall be as provided for in Schedule A. Refusal to insure The Minister may refuse to enter into a contract of insurance in any case where there are in his opinion sufficient grounds for so doing but, in the exercise of the powers conferred upon him by this section, the Minister shall be governed by Schedule B and he may require for this purpose that the applicant shall submit himself to medical examination or shall furnish such other information as the Minister may require. Insurance money unassignable etc. The insurance money payable under the contract of insurance is unassignable and is not subject to the claims of creditors of the insured or of the beneficiary. Death of applicant before completion of contract Where an application for insurance is made and the applicant dies before the contract of insurance is entered into, the contract shall be deemed to have been entered into if the initial premium is paid and the application is one that would have been approved if the applicant had not died. Payment to estate or succession of deceased beneficiary Where a beneficiary or contingent beneficiary survives the insured but dies before receiving all of the insurance money to which under the contract of insurance such beneficiary or contingent beneficiary is entitled, the remaining unpaid money shall be paid, as it falls due or otherwise as the Minister may determine, to the estate or succession of the deceased beneficiary or deceased contingent beneficiary. When insured treated as if dead If the death of the insured has not been proved in accordance with the regulations made under paragraph 16(b) but the Minister is satisfied, after efforts satisfactory to the Minister have been made, that the insured has died or cannot be located, the Minister shall, subject to this section, apply this Act as if the insured had died on a date specified by the Minister. Definition of Ministerial payment In subsection (3), Ministerial payment means an amount of insurance money that is payable by virtue of the operation of subsection (1) and would not be payable in the absence of its operation. Agreement to repay Minister The Minister shall not make a Ministerial payment unless the person to whom that payment is to be made agrees in writing, in such form as is prescribed by the Minister, to repay to the Minister the amount of that payment in the event that the insured referred to in subsection (1) is subsequently determined by the Minister to be alive. When beneficiary or contingent beneficiary treated as if dead If, after the insured’s death, the death of a beneficiary or contingent beneficiary has not been proved in accordance with the regulations made under paragraph 16(b) but the Minister is satisfied, after efforts satisfactory to the Minister have been made, that that beneficiary or contingent beneficiary died within the insured’s lifetime or cannot be located, the Minister shall, subject to this section, apply this Act as if that beneficiary or contingent beneficiary had died within the insured’s lifetime. The Minister shall not make a Ministerial payment unless the person to whom that payment is to be made agrees in writing, in such form as is prescribed by the Minister, to repay to the Minister the amount of that payment in the event that the beneficiary or contingent beneficiary referred to in subsection (1) is subsequently determined by the Minister to be alive. Insured or beneficiary may be Member of Parliament Notwithstanding the Senate and House of Commons Act, or any other law, no person, by reason only of his entering into a contract of insurance or receiving a benefit under this Act, is liable to any forfeiture or penalty imposed by the Senate and House of Commons Act or disqualified as a member of the House of Commons or incapable of being elected to, or of sitting or voting in the House of Commons. Regulations The Governor in Council may make regulations prescribing the form of contracts and such other forms as he may consider necessary under this Act; prescribing the mode of proving the age, identity and existence or death of persons; prescribing the mode of paying money under contracts of insurance; for dispensing with the production of letters probate or letters of administration, either generally or in any particular case or class of cases; prescribing the accounts to be kept and their management; respecting the cases or classes of cases in which a contract of insurance may be surrendered and a cash surrender value paid therefor, or a paid-up contract of insurance issued instead thereof, and for prescribing the manner in which such cash surrender value or amount of paid-up insurance shall be determined; prescribing the cases, not otherwise provided for in this Act, in which a person not originally named as, but who is eligible under this Act to be a beneficiary, may be made a beneficiary; prescribing the cases, not otherwise provided for in this Act, in which an apportionment of the insurance money may be made or varied; prescribing the class or classes of persons other than those mentioned in sections 6 and 7 who are entitled to be beneficiaries; prescribing the cases in which a dependant, other than the spouse, common-law partner or child of the insured, may be named as a beneficiary under the contract; prescribing, in cases not otherwise provided for by the contract of insurance or by declaration or by this Act, the person or persons entitled to whom the instalments, if any, of insurance money remaining unpaid at the death of a beneficiary shall be paid; and for any other purpose for which it is deemed expedient to make regulations in order to carry this Act into effect. C.R.F. The moneys received under this Act form part of the Consolidated Revenue Fund, and the moneys payable under this Act are payable out of the said Fund. Annual statement The Minister shall cause a statement to be prepared within three months after the end of each fiscal year showing the premiums received during the fiscal year; the insurance moneys paid during the fiscal year; the number and amount of contracts entered into during the fiscal year; the number and amount of contracts in force at the end of the fiscal year; and such further information as the Minister deems advisable. To be laid before Parliament Every such statement shall be laid before Parliament as soon as may be after it is prepared. NOTE. — Rates for ages above 65 will be computed on the same basis as those shown above. REMARQUE : — Les taux des âges au-dessus de 65 ans seront calculés sur la même base que les taux ci-dessus indiqués. CLASS I — Applicants who are not seriously ill. An applicant with dependants, ill with a pensionable disability. Application is to be accepted. An applicant with dependants, ill with a disability that is not pensionable. An applicant without dependants, ill with a pensionable disability. An applicant without dependants, ill with a disability that is not pensionable. CLASS II — Applicants who are seriously ill. An applicant with dependants, seriously ill with a pensionable disability. An applicant with dependants, seriously ill with a disability that is not pensionable. Application is to be refused. An applicant without dependants, seriously ill with a pensionable disability. An applicant without dependants, seriously ill with a disability that is not pensionable. CLASS III — Applications from persons in so serious a condition of health that they have no reasonable expectation of life. Applications are to be refused. CLASS IV — General. In cases where an applicant with or without dependants whose health has become impaired as a result of immoral conduct prior to enlistment, or as a result of refusal of treatment for such condition during service or after discharge from service.