We encourage you to call us when you want to discuss your
own life insurance or the life insurance program in general. Our Retirement
Information Office is staffed with Customer Service Specialists trained to
provide information and assistance to you in a wide variety of situations. You
can request many of the services you need by telephone. This includes mailing
and payment address changes.
To reach the Retirement Information Office, call
1-888-767-6738. With the exception of Federal holidays and weekends, this office is open from 7:30 a.m.
to 7:45 p.m. Eastern time, Monday through Friday. Annuitants with hearing impairments who have TDD
equipment should call 1-800-878-5707. If you are calling within the local
Washington, DC, area, dial 202-606-0500. To use TDD equipment on local calls,
dial 202-606-0551.
When you call, you will be greeted by an automatic
answering system which will guide you through a menu that lists the topics our
customers call about most frequently. This system allows you to record requests for services (such as asking for forms you need
or reporting a death — features that are available even after business hours).
If you call during our business hours, you will
have the opportunity to speak to a Customer Service Specialist.
To authorize changes to your life insurance coverage, you
will need to write to us. We need your written instructions so that if there is
any question about your life insurance after your death, we will have your intentions documented.
Whether you call for information or write, be sure to give us your civil service retirement claim number (CSA number). This number is shown on all correspondence from us. If you write, please give us your full name and your date of birth or your social security number as well as your claim number.You may wish to visit us at www.opm.gov/insure/life/ for the most current Federal Employees’ Group Life Insurance Program information.
If someone writes on your behalf, we still must have your
signature in order to provide information about your life insurance coverage. Unless you have
assigned your coverage, you are the only person with the ability to cancel or decrease your life insurance
coverage or designate a beneficiary. These are your personal rights under the
Federal Employees’ Group Life Insurance Program.
If you become mentally incompetent, no one can make any
change in your life insurance. Our policy in this area is designed to protect your
entitlement to the life insurance benefit. Actions that you cannot undo if you regain competence, or actions that can be made in favor of another person to your detriment, are your personal rights that may not be exercised by court-appointed guardians or others. If you have assigned your life insurance, these rights extend to the assignee (the person who owns the life insurance).
Address your correspondence about life insurance to:
U.S. Office of Personnel Management
Retirement Operations Center
P.O. Box 45
Boyers, PA 16017-0045
Note to employees:
This pamphlet is written for retired persons. Because the
U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) does not have access to employees’ personnel records,
employees need to contact their agency human resources offices for assistance and specific
information about insurance.