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Veterans Benefits Administration »
Life Insurance
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Should I Convert my Coverage to an Individual Policy?
Life Insurance
Should I Convert my Coverage to an Individual Policy?
If you’re healthy, you may not need to convert your policy. You can go directly to the insurance company you choose and apply for any type of life insurance policy you want, including term, variable or universal life insurance which may be less expensive than whole life.
If You Have Health Conditions that may make it difficult to get an individual policy on your own, then you should consider using the conversion option which guarantees you the ability to convert your coverage.
If you have SGLI, FSGLI or VGLI coverage, you (or your spouse in the case of FSGLI) have the option to convert your coverage to an individual permanent plan of insurance with a private insurer without providing evidence of good health. Note that you can only convert to a permanent plan (such as whole life) policy which tends to be more expensive than term insurance but has cash value.
Deadlines to convert SGLI and FSGLI
- SGLI must be converted within 120 days of separation.
- FSGLI must be converted within 120 days of:
- Service member’s separation from military
- Divorce
- Member’s election to cancel their SGLI or FSGLI spouse coverage
- Death of the service member.
- VGLI coverage can be converted at any time.
Disclaimer: The purpose of this site is to provide education on life insurance and financial resources, not to recommend specific products.
