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Servicemembers' and Veterans' Group Life Insurance Handbook
5.01 GENERAL
5.02 REQUEST FOR ACCELERATED BENEFITS
5.03 EFFECTIVE DATE
a. The Accelerated Benefit Option permits terminally-ill policyholders under the SGLI and VGLI programs access to the death benefits of their policies before they die. The member may receive in a lump-sum payment a portion of the face value of the insurance.
b. A member is eligible to receive an Accelerated Benefit if he or she has a valid written prognosis form a physician of 9 months or less to live.
c. The amount of Accelerated Benefit available to a member is up to 50% of the face value of the member's insurance coverage. If a member elects less than the maximum, the amount requested must be in increments of $5,000. The Accelerated Benefit paid to the member will be the amount requested, minus an interest deduction, which is the amount OSGLI actuarially determines to be the amount of interest lost due to early payment.
d. The portion of the face value of insurance which is not paid in a lump sum as an accelerated benefit remains payable to the member's designated beneficiary(ies) upon his or her death. Monthly deductions for SGLI and premiums for VGLI shall be reduced in a manner consistent with the percentage reduction in the face value of the insurance as a result of payment of the Accelerated Benefit.
e. Members insured under the SGLI program who elect an Accelerated Benefit and who thereafter convert their SGLI coverage to VGLI are eligible only for a reduced amount of VGLI coverage based on the amount of the Accelerated Benefit they received.
f. The amount of the Accelerated Benefit received by the service member or veteran shall not be considered income or resources for purposes of determining eligibility for or the amount of benefits under any Federal or federally-assisted program or for any other purpose.
a. Only the insured member may apply for an Accelerated Benefit. No one else can apply on the member's behalf.
b. The application form entitled "Claim for Accelerated Benefits" is available by request by writing the Office of Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance, 80 Livingston Avenue, Roseland, New Jersey 07068-1733 or calling the office toll-free at 1-800-419-1473. The application is also available for downloading on our forms page.
c. The application contains one part to be completed by the insured and a second part to be completed by the insured's physician. In addition, the branch of service for active duty service members must complete part of the form. The member must submit the completed application form to the Office of Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance, 80 Livingston Avenue, Roseland, New Jersey 07068-1733.
a. The election to receive the Accelerated Benefit becomes effective at the time the member cashes or deposits the Accelerated Benefit.
b. A member may cancel his or her request for benefits prior to cashing or depositing the Accelerated Benefit by informing OSGLI in writing of the request to cancel and by returning the check if the member has received it. If a member wants to change the amount of benefits requested or decides to reapply after canceling the request, he or she may file another application.
c. If a member dies prior to cashing an Accelerated Benefit payment, the payment must be returned to OSGLI.
d. Once an election becomes effective (by cashing or depositing the Accelerated Benefit payment), it can not be revoked. A member is not eligible for additional Accelerated Benefits.
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