FEGLI Program Booklet For U.S. Postal Service Employees

General Information

Miscellaneous Provisions

Assignment

Assignment means that you give ownership and control of your Basic, Option A, and Option B life insurance coverage to someone else. You cannot assign Option C. The insurance is still on your life and you must continue to pay for the coverage, but someone else "owns" and controls your coverage. You may assign your life insurance coverage to an individual, a corporation, or an irrevocable trust. If you want to assign your life insurance, you can do so by completing an Assignment, Federal Employees' Group Life Insurance (RI 76-10). Your decision to assign your life insurance coverage is irrevocable; you cannot cancel your assignment if you change your mind.

Only you can assign your life insurance coverage; a court-appointed guardian or someone with your power of attorney or other fiduciary may not. Your assignee(s) may reassign your life insurance coverage.

Enrollees generally assign insurance to comply with the requirements of a court order upon divorce, for inheritance tax purposes, to get money before death (such as for terminally ill and chronically ill persons), or to satisfy a debt.

If you assign your insurance, you give up your rights to convert your coverage (see Conversion on page 19), to designate beneficiaries, and to cancel your coverage. Only your assignee(s) may convert your coverage, designate beneficiaries, and cancel your coverage.

If you assign your life insurance coverage, neither you nor your assignee may elect Living Benefits (see page 20).

A court decree, court order, or court-approved property settlement agreement incident to your court decree of divorce, annulment, or legal separation may direct you to assign your life insurance coverage to a specified person, unless you have previously made an assignment. However, such a court decree, order, or agreement would not serve as the assignment itself. You must still complete a valid Assignment, Federal Employees' Group Life Insurance (RI 76-10). If you do not, the life insurance may not be paid according to the court decree, order, or agreement.

See Assignment, Federal Employees' Group Life Insurance (RI 76-10) for more information, or the FEGLI Handbook (RI 76-26), which is available in electronic format only, at www.opm.gov/insure/life.

Break in Service

When you return to work after a break in service of less than 180 days, your local personnel office will automatically give you the same coverage that you had in your prior position. You can elect other coverage during an Open Season, by providing satisfactory medical information or by experiencing a qualifying life event as described on pages 11 and 12.

When you return to work after a break in service of 180 days or more, you will automatically get Basic insurance (even if you previously waived it) and the same Optional insurance (if applicable) that you had in your prior position. In addition, you may elect Optional insurance or increase the multiples of Optional insurance (if you don't already have the maximum) within 31 days of your appointment to an eligible position. If you don't make an election regarding Optional insurance, your local personnel office will automatically reinstate the same coverage you had in your prior position.

If you experienced a qualifying life event during your break in service, you will have 31 days from the date of your reinstatement or 60 days from the date of the event, whichever gives you more time, to elect or increase the multiples of Option B or Option C.

Conversion

When Federal Employees' Group Life Insurance (FEGLI) coverage as an employee stops and you are entitled to a 31-day extension of coverage (as stated on page 14), you may convert your FEGLI coverage to an individual policy. The conversion coverage is effective at the end of the 31-day extension of coverage, regardless of when you apply. You will not have to answer any medical questions. You may wish to convert your life insurance coverage if you do not qualify to carry it into retirement or compensation.

You may convert to an individual policy an amount less than or equal to the total of your Basic and Optional insurance (if applicable). However, you may not convert coverage if (1) you continue that same coverage as a retired employee or compensationer, or (2) you return to Government service in a position in which you are eligible for FEGLI coverage within three calendar days after you left Government service, or (3) your insurance ends because you voluntarily waive/cancel coverage, or (4) the Government's life insurance contract ends, or (5) your annuity or compensation stops.

If you assign your insurance, you give up your right to convert your coverage. Only your assignee(s) may convert your insurance coverage.

The U.S. Postal Service should notify you of your conversion rights when your life insurance coverage ends. However, you are responsible for finding out whether you qualify to convert your insurance coverage and for getting the necessary forms and information from your local personnel office. You must act promptly, since you only have 31 days in which to convert your coverage.

Direct Payment of Premiums

If your pay is too low to allow a withholding for life insurance premiums and your local personnel office expects this situation to last more than six months, you will have a choice. You can choose either to terminate some or all of your insurance coverage or to continue the coverage and pay the premiums directly. Contact your local personnel office for further details.

Incontestability

If the U.S. Postal Service enrolls you in some FEGLI coverage by mistake, the Incontestability provision may apply. If your erroneous coverage and the applicable premium withholdings have been in force for at least two years in your lifetime before the error is discovered, then that erroneous coverage becomes valid. Please see your local personnel office if you think that the Incontestability provision applies to you.

Living Benefits

You may elect to receive a full or partial lump sum payment of your Basic insurance (living benefits) if you are terminally ill and your treating physician provides a documented medical prognosis that your life expectancy is nine months or less. To apply for living benefits, call OFEGLI at 800-633-4542. See the FEGLI Handbook (RI 76-26), which is available only in electronic format, at www.opm.gov/insure/life for more details.

Nonpay Status

Your life insurance coverage continues automatically at no cost to you for the first 12 months in nonpay status. Exception: If you are receiving workers' compensation benefits during these first 12 months, your continued coverage will not be free . The U.S. Department of Labor will withhold premiums from your workers' compensationpayments. Your coverage as an employee will terminate after 12 months of nonpay status, or when you separate from the U.S. Postal Service, if earlier. The 12 months may be continuous or broken by periods of less than four consecutive months of pay status. When your coverage terminates, you will have the right to convert your coverage to an individual policy or continue coverage as a compensationer, if eligible.

For military reservists who separate from service for military duty, your life insurance ends at the end of 12 months in nonpay status, or 90 days after your military service ends, whichever comes first. During this period, your coverage is free.

Please see your local personnel office for more details. It is your responsibility to know when your coverage terminates.

Reconsideration

You are entitled to reconsideration of a U.S. Postal Service decision to deny your election of one or more life insurance coverages or the opportunity to change coverage multiples. The reconsideration process applies only to enrollment issues. You have 30 days from the date of the U.S. Postal Service's initial decision in which to request reconsideration.

You should send your request for reconsideration to the U.S. Postal Service address shown in the initial decision letter you receive from your local personnel office.

Workers' Compensation

You may be eligible to continue your group coverage while receiving workers' compensation payments from the U.S. Department of Labor, under certain conditions. These conditions are:

• You had the coverage for:

  • The five years of service immediately before the date your workers' compensation benefits started (Note: You do not start counting the five years from when you began leave without pay), or

  • All periods of service during which that coverage was available to you if it's less than five years, and

• You did not convert the coverage to a private policy (see Conversion on page 19).

If you meet the rules for continuing coverage while in receipt of workers' compensation benefits, you will have several choices of how much insurance you wish to carry after you are age 65. Please see your local personnel office if you are receiving workers' compensation benefits.

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