What does an in force illustration tell me?
It restarts the arithmetic from what your contract is actually worth today, at the scale in effect now, and carries that forward. The document you were shown before you bought began at zero and rested on assumptions made that year. This one begins with what happened instead, which is why the two seldom agree and why the newer one is the useful document.
What kind of answer this is
- Claim type: Contract fact
- Claim type: Depends on the policy
- Jurisdiction: Contract dependent
That an in force document starts from actual values is a property of how it is produced. What it prints, and which scenarios it will run, varies by insurer.
How it works
The insurer takes the contract as it stands on a given day, with the coverage actually in force, the value actually accumulated and any balance actually outstanding, and projects from there. Nothing before that day is assumed, because it no longer needs to be.
The cost or the catch
The difference between the two documents is often read as a loss, and it is not necessarily one. Part is a scale that has moved since issue, part is money never deposited, and part is a balance drawn and left outstanding. Until those are separated, the gap says nothing about whether the contract is working.
Where this answer may not apply
- An in force document is still a projection above the guaranteed row, and the assumption inside it can be wrong in the same way the first one was.
- Insurers differ in what they will run, and some will not produce every scenario you would like to see.
- It reflects the contract as administered, so an error in how a change was recorded appears in it as though it were intended.
- It says nothing about whether the contract suits your circumstances now, which is a separate question from how it is performing.
What to verify in your own contract
- The date the values were taken, since anything produced weeks ago has already moved.
- The scale used, and whether a reduced scale version was produced beside it.
- Whether the run assumes payments continue, and for how long, because that assumption changes every figure below it.
- How any outstanding balance is treated in the projection, and at what interest rate.
- The guaranteed row at five, ten and twenty years, read on its own before anything above it.
Continue to the full explanation
Use the illustration reading guide.
Sources
- Illustration and in force illustration practice, insurer specific, verified 2026-08-30
- Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association, illustration guidelines, verified 2026-08-30
Accountability and disclosure
- Written by
- José Salloum
- Professional capacity
- Financial security advisor, Canadian Wealth Creation Centre Inc., operating as IBC Financial
- Reviewed by
- Insurance and contract education tier, reviewed under a licensed insurance professional's own authority
- Jurisdiction
- Contract dependent
- Last reviewed
- 2026-08-30
- Version
- 1.0
- Compensation disclosure
- Canadian Wealth Creation Centre Inc., operating as IBC Financial, may receive insurer paid compensation if a policy is purchased. It takes the form of first year compensation followed by renewal compensation, and the amount varies by insurer, product, age, premium, contract design, riders and the arrangement with the managing general agency. No single figure would describe every contract honestly, and none is published here.
- Report a correction
- Info@ibcfinancial.com. Write without a policy number, medical information or account details.
Last reviewed 2026-08-30. By Jose Salloum, Financial Security Advisor.