Group Life Insurance
Group life insurance is a product in which a single contract covers an entire group of people. Typically, the policyholder is an employer, or an entity such as a labor organization, and the policy covers the employees or members of the group. Group life insurance is often provided as part of a complete employee benefit package. In most cases, the cost of group coverage is far less than what the employees or members would pay for a similar amount of individual protection.
As the policy owner, the employer or other entity keeps the actual insurance policy, known as the master contract. All of those who are covered typically receive a certificate of insurance that serves as proof of insurance but is not actually the insurance policy. As with other types life insurance, group life insurance allows the employee to choose their beneficiary.
Term insurance is the most common form of group life insurance. Group term life is typically provided in the form of yearly renewable term insurance. When group term insurance is provided through an employer, the employer will pay for most (and is some cases all) of the premiums.
Group term coverage remains in force until employment is terminated or until the specific term of coverage ends. Employees may have the option of converting their group coverage to an individual policy if they leave their employer. However, most people choose not to do this because these conversion premiums tend to be much higher than premiums for comparable policies available to individuals. Usually only those who are otherwise uninsurable take advantage of this option.
At DFA, we work with some of the best providers in the nation. These include:
- American General Life
- Hartford
- LifeWise
- MetLife
- Principal
- Standard Insurance
- The Guardian
- UNUM
All of these companies provide unique solutions and we can discuss which would best fit your organization's needs.