Government Life Insurance
Veterans were eligible to purchase two types of insurance after discharge:
- Service-members’ Group Life Insurance (SGLI) or
- Veterans’ Group Life Insurance (VGLI)
Additional insurance may be protected for certain veterans after discharge, they are:
- Veterans’ Mortgage Life Insurance (VMLI)
- Service-Disabled Veterans Insurance (S-DVI)
- Traumatic Injury Protection Under Service-members’ Group Life Insurance
- Family Service-members’ Group Life Insurance
Not all Veterans elected to purchase this type of insurance, so benefits are not guaranteed to all.
The amount and method of payment is determined by the veteran, as is the beneficiary designation. Thusly, it is beneficial to you to be sure that the beneficiary and optional settlement designation on file with the VA is the one you desire.
Our office will assist you in finding out if a policy is in force and completing a designation form that distributes your insurance in the manner that you wish.
Dividends are payable to holders of the following types of insurance: “K, V, RS, W, J, JR, and JS”. No application is necessary as they are paid automatically on the anniversary date of the participating policy. Dividends are not payable to holders of “Term or RH” policies.
Insurance Hoax
For forty years there has been a story making the rounds, that states in varying ways that, “Congress has recently passed legislation that grants an insurance dividend to all veterans who served in time of war (WWII, KOREA, VIETNAM)”. The hoax says that you will receive the insurance money based upon the number of months that you were in the service and that it doesn’t matter if you still make payments on your insurance… WRONG!
NO ONE WILL PAY YOU AN INSURANCE DIVIDEND FOR THE TIME YOU WERE IN THE SERVICE. VA INSURANCE DIVIDENDS GO TO THOSE PEOPLE WHO HAVE ACTIVE POLICIES IN FORCE AT THIS TIME.
The VA’s insurance programs were developed to provide insurance benefits for veterans and service members who may not be able to get insurance from private companies because of the extra risks involved in military service, or a service connected disability.
For more information, visit our website at http://www.insurance.va.gov/miscellaneous/.