Toronto, Canada -- The Canada Life Assurance Company is pleased to announce that it has received court approval of its settlement of premium offset class action lawsuits in Canada. The lawsuits were initiated by policyholders that own participating whole life insurance policies from Canada Life sold using the premium offset concept.

The court approvals follow hearings held in late March and early April in the Quebec Superior Court, the Supreme Court of British Columbia and the Ontario Superior Court of Justice. In approving the settlement, the courts found it to be fair, reasonable and in the best interests of the affected policyholders.

The agreement provides an independent review process for those policyholders that feel they were given insufficient information about premium offset when they bought their policy. It also provides general benefits for all eligible policyholders.

The settlement applies to all Canadian participating policyholders that bought their policy from Canada Life between 1980 and 1997, not just those in the three provinces where lawsuits had been started. Every eligible policyholder will receive the general benefits without having to do anything.

Implementation of the agreement will begin with eligible policyholders receiving a personalized information package in mid July. This will outline the details of the agreement and the options available to them.

The Canada Life Assurance Company, Canada's first domestic life insurance company founded in 1847, has total assets under administration in excess of $63 billion. Headquartered in Toronto, the Company operates across Canada, the United States, the Republic of Ireland, the United Kingdom, Brazil, Germany, Hong Kong and the Caribbean. Canada Life Financial Corporation, established in 1999, is the holding company for The Canada Life Assurance Company and is traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol "CL" and the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "CLU".