In the United States, people who were once in the military have a group life insurance policy called the Veterans group life insurance (VGLI) which can be carried down in the future. This also goes for other types of organizations and businesses, but the policies differ and remain unique to each company.
Veterans group life insurance has a lot of benefits and serves better than regular group life insurance. Policyholders on this plan experience better insurance policies even though they must maintain them individually at some point in life.
What is veterans group life insurance?
The veterans group life insurance (VGLI) is a term life insurance plan. It is offered to uniformed men and women who were once in service and had the Servicemen Group Life Insurance (SGLI). While in active uniform service, the military offers group life insurance coverage to ensure everyone has their life protected in case of an incident.
However, as these uniformed people retire and leave active service, they will be given the option of taking a veterans group life insurance in place of the one used while in active service. So, a veteran who accepts this policy may not have to start looking for individual life insurance now that they have aged or even live out the rest of their life without life insurance coverage.
How veterans group life insurance works
Service persons like those in the military are always provided with term life insurance in a group. It is known as the Servicemembers Group Life Insurance (SGLI). When they leave active service, they are offered a transitioning plan which means continuous protection. They will be given a time window of about one year and 120 days to decide on either going forward with the veterans group life insurance or leaving active service without any coverage.
Say they decide to go with the new policy, their coverage and everything in it will transfer together, and there will be no need to start signing a new policy.
The veterans group life insurance does not have an expiring date, so long as the policyholder keeps paying their premiums. The premium rates for policy are based on the policyholder’s age, and it does not discriminate between genders.
Also, the benefits from this policy can amount from $1000 to $400,000, but that depends on the amount that was once in the policyholder’s coverage before leaving the military.
The veterans group life insurance (VGLI) is not for all ex-military personnel; you must qualify before being offered the option. After the standard criteria, there are still health criteria for people interested in the VGLI policy.
Criteria for the veterans group life insurance
Rules and requirements guide the transition to the VGLI policy. Before qualifying for this policy and the benefits attached, you must
- Make it to the temporary disability retirement list
- Be within 120 days of getting released or separated from the military or the training
- Be retired or released from the National Guard or the Ready Reserves
- You must be assigned to the Individual Ready Reserves, a member of the United States Public Health Service Inactive Reserve Corps
- Veterans from the National Life Guard who suffered injuries in the line of work
- A member who once had a part-time Servicemembers Group Life Insurance while performing their duty or traveling to and fro for the assignment. Then had an injury that disallowed them from being uninsurable.
How to apply for the Veterans group life insurance
You may receive a mail stating the application procedure at the end of your separation from active service between the last 45 to 60 days. When this happens, you must take about one year and 120 days from the time of your separation to put in your application. You become disqualified when the date expires, and you did not take action.
However, eight months from your separation date, there will be another window of opportunity for you to apply, but the criteria will not be the same as when you were offered the option.
Benefits of Veterans Group Life Insurance
The VGLI is a great idea to keep the once-active persons covered. There are many benefits of having this policy which we will list below.
It is better than the coverage you buy yourself.
The VGLI has more beneficial policies than you can think of. Veterans who use it do not need to purchase additional coverage except on other issues.
No medical exam
The VGLI policy does not include conducting a medical examination on the applicant. However, applicants who decide on the policy after the application window may be subjected to a medical exam.
Low premiums
The Veterans group life insurance offers low premiums. It is also possible for you to gain more lower premiums than you already have.
Does not expire
This is a term life insurance policy, meaning it is not meant to last forever. A term life insurance has an expiry date, but the VGLI that is a term life does not expire. It stays active so long as the policyholder keeps paying the premiums regularly.
Flexibility
Policyholders of this policy can convert it to personal coverage if they wish for it. As a term life insurance, when it is converted, it stops being a term life insurance and becomes permanent life insurance. This is the only possible conversion; from term to permanent life insurance.
Benefits
The benefits in the policy can be up to $400,000, but it depends on the coverage the policyholder had before leaving the military. More so, the beneficiary benefits are fully paid in cash to the selected loved ones of the veteran. That is should the policyholder pass away.
Time option
Some policies are shoved into the faces of potential policyholders. This is different from the VGLI policy. The ex-active personnel will receive 120 long days to decide if they need to accept or decline the coverage offered.
Conclusion
There are so many life insurance coverage policies that are targeted to different groups. For you not to miss out on the benefits that your organization or work offers, be sure to do your research and know if it is a suitable offer for you if there are any.
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