Group Term Life Insurance – Scam or The Real Deal?
Question by schlarg: Group Term Life Insurance – Scam or The Real Deal?
My employer allows me to purchase life insurance through payroll deduction. Basically the coverage is term and 1x or 2x my salary, depending on how much I want to pay. I’ve heard, but not been able to substantiate, that beneficiaries often have trouble claiming payouts for these policies upon death. My question to the Yahoo! Answers crowd is, “Does anyone have experience with, or know of documented cases where people have had issues with payouts for these types of policies?”
Best answer:
Answer by Rachel
I have group term life insurance and don’t know of anyone who has had issues with it.
Give your answer to this question below!
Tags: group term life insurance, payout policies, payroll deduction, purchase life insurance
No experience with these except to say they are typically much more expensive then getting your own policy. If you have a health condition that prevents you from qualifying on your own, then its a good deal, but if you are healthy, then you can get a better rate for more coverage with a company that has a better reputation by shopping outside of what your employer offers.
Not true. It pays out just like any other active life insurance policy. The big thing is, most people don’t die while actively employed – which is the only time they are covered. So, if you had this plan and retired 20 years ago, and didn’t convert it to a policy for you, it expired, 20 years ago.
It is legit. I have personally collected benefits as a beneficiary of a relative’s group life insurance policy. It is usually a good idea to look at having some other life insurance that is not tied to your job. Check with your insurance agent for more information.
You heard wrong. It’s insurance and they pay off all the time. I’ve never heard of anyone having an issue. BUT, that being said group insurance is generally more expensive than individual coverage so look at locking in a rate on an individual plan instead.
The only issues that I know people have had is that your beneficiaries may have problems initiating the claims process just because they’ll have to go through your company hr department. Usually with these payroll deducted group plans they won’t even deliver you a policy and so you and your beneficiaries may not even know who the insurer is and how to make claim directly with them.
I’ve also heard horror stories of companies collecting the premiums but not being very good about passing the premiums on to the life insurance company. Then someone dies and their family finds out that the insurance company isn’t going to pay because the employer was 2 months late on the premium payments and the coverage lapsed. You are essentially counting on your employer to pass along your premium payments when they are due.
Also, as someone else stated, the employer group plans are more convenient, but usually more expensive than a product you could find on the open market. If you are in reasonably good health you should qualify for a cheaper policy that you clearly own and isn’t dependent on your employment status.