Group Life Insurance

Group Life Insurance at Affordable Rates

Group life insurance is a popular form of life insurance for members of a large group. These are usually offered by employers as part of their benefit plan. Other groups can also receive group life insurance. For example, worker's unions or civic organizations. The coverage is offered under what is called a master policy. The master policy is owned by the employer or group.

Members of the group are issued proof on insurance certificates. These policies are usually one year contracts between the employer and the insurance companies. By law, a group life insurance employer cannot benefit from the policy itself. It is only the individual who can benefit.

With the increasing strength of labor unions, group life insurance has become almost a standard benefit for employers. To qualify for group life insurance, the insured group must be of at least 10 people.

Costs for group life insurance can be paid for in three ways. First, the employer may pay the entire premium for the employee. Secondly, the cost of the policy is shared by the employer and the employee. Third, the cost of the policy can be paid by the employee, who benefits from a lower premium than he or she could get with an individual policy.

The most common payment method is one where the employer and the employee split the cost of premiums. However, there are still many employers, especially large corporations that still pay 100% of the premium. With the rising costs of doing business however, it is becoming more and more likely that the employee shares the cost of the premiums for group life insurance.

Some of the drawbacks of group life insurance are that the employee is usually only covered for the time he or she is employed by the employer. Once the employee leaves the company, whether through termination, resigning position, or retirement. However, conversion options are available for most group policies. That is to say that when a member leaves the group he or she has the opportunity to convert their group life insurance to an individual policy. However, the individual policy is almost always more expensive than the employer group insurance policy.

Group insurance policies are governed by many state and federal laws. Most policies must provide a listed group of instances and codicils. These provisions include; a grace period for payment of the premium, which is usually 30 days, provision for conversion options, and provide certificates of insurance. With these rules the government is trying to protect the employee from being taken advantage of by the employer or the insurance company.

A certificate of insurance must be provided to every covered member of the group. This certificate must contain all the information and details of the policy, as well as the cost and covered amount. The certificate must also inform the employee of all the codicils and other agreements between the employer and the insurance company that are contained in the master policy.

As part of the benefit package offered to employees, group life insurance, in most cases, will include coverage for the employee's spouse and children. While not mandated by law, this provision is very common.
Usually, through group life insurance, there is a limit to the amount of coverage, or payout that the individual can purchase. For the employee this is usually equal to one or two years of their annual salary. For dependants, the maximum is usually much less, usually enough to cover funeral expenses, and not much more.

The two most popular types of group life insurance are group whole insurance and group term insurance. Almost all group life insurance policies are group term, meaning that the employee is covered only while employed by the company, and the master policy expires after a year and then renewed.

Some employer offer group whole life insurance. This type of insurance covers the employee or group member until the policy must be fulfilled by the death of the insured employee. Group whole life insurance is usually a benefit that can be borrowed against, because it is considered a permanent policy.

Group life insurance is the most affordable life insurance available today. If your employer offers this benefit, it is wise to take advantage of, even if you have to pay part or even the entire premium.