Does Your Employer Offer Group Term Life Insurance: Why You Should Know

If you work in a high risk environment, your employer may be covering their employees with group term life insurance. Group life insurance itself is an obvious phrase, but what is term insurance? A term policy is one that only lasts through an amount of time determined prior to the coverage. Many insurance companies also offer extension plans for those who are covered by term policies.

The fact that the coverage ends at a specific time rather than lasting all the way until death is a benefit to some, as some insurers allow those who leave the "group" to pick up coverage immediately after leaving under their own terms.

This is a benefit because most insurers of group term life insurance do not give medical exams and the entire underwriting process is skipped. This gives people who could not get insurance before due to their medical record raising the price can be covered with no difficulties or hikes in premiums through a group policy.

Underwriting in these circumstances is simply examining the employee turnover rate of the company as well as amount of employees. This is not a rule, however, and some insurance companies may run things differently.

Anyone not sure about the ins and outs of insurance may wonder how term coverage varies from other types. After all, there is no need to know the information unless it's an immediate necessity, correct? A term policy is different from what's known as a "term policy," which is the type of coverage normally associated with life insurance that lasts indefinitely until death. Term insurance only lasts for the period of time the policy is for, which can be anywhere from 1 to 20 years.

It's more prudent for an employer to purchase group term life insurance because the premiums for term are much lower than permanent and it would be a waste to purchase a more expensive policy for employees who may only be at the company for a few years. A cheaper policy does not mean the coverage is any worse than more expensive coverage. It is only directly related to the benefit cash out rate of term policies, which ranges in the 1 to 2 percent range.

Anyone receiving group term life insurance through their employer should not be worried about the coverage. Being covered by a term policy is just as good as a permanent policy and will serve its purpose if there is indeed an accident.