Life insurance with a service-connected condition

Do this first

Before comparing anything, write down what you already hold and what deadline sits on each. Most veterans lose options to a calendar rather than to their health.

• Still serving? SGLI covers you now, and the clock on replacing it starts the day you separate.
• Recently separated? The 240-day VGLI window is the single most valuable thing on this page.
• Have a rating, any rating? VALife has no deadline while you are 80 or younger.

VALife: guaranteed, capped, delayed

VALife is guaranteed-acceptance whole life from the VA for veterans with a service-connected rating, and a 0% rating qualifies just as a 100% rating does.

• No medical exam and no health questions. Nobody is turned down on health.
• Up to $40,000, in $10,000 increments.
• Premiums lock at your age when you enrol and never rise afterwards.
• A two-year waiting period before the full amount is payable.

Age 80 or younger and rated: there is no time limit to apply. Past 81, eligibility is narrow and depends on when you filed and when the rating arrived.

VGLI: the window that closes

VGLI takes no account of your health at all, and it is the larger of the two federal options: up to $500,000, matched to the SGLI you carried.

The catch is timing. Inside 240 days of separation there are no health questions. After that you must prove good health, which is exactly the hurdle a service-connected condition creates. For anyone leaving service with conditions on record, applying inside that window is the decision, and you can cancel later if something better appears.

What private underwriting actually does

The common belief is that a rating means a decline. Usually it does not. Underwriters price the medical facts, not the VA percentage, and the two are not the same thing.

• A rating is not a diagnosis. Tinnitus or a knee rated at 10% tells an underwriter very little about mortality.
• Treated and stable beats untreated. Sleep apnea with documented CPAP use and good compliance is priced far better than sleep apnea left alone.
• Mental health is underwritten on function, not label. Stable treatment, steady employment and no hospitalisations matter more than the diagnosis line.
• Carriers differ enormously. The same file can be standard at one carrier and rated at another, which is the entire argument for using a broker who places military and veteran business.
• Ratings can be revisited. Many policies allow a request for reconsideration after a period of stability, which lowers the premium.

What genuinely closes doors: very recent diagnoses, active cancer treatment, recent cardiac events, and substance-use histories inside the carrier's lookback.

The order to apply in

• Lock the no-questions cover first. VGLI inside 240 days if you have just separated; VALife whenever you are eligible.
• Then shop the private market for the amount you actually need, with a broker who can pre-screen your file with several carriers before a formal application.
• Never cancel anything until the replacement policy is issued, paid and in force.
• Reassess after two years of stability, when reconsideration becomes possible and VALife's waiting period has run.

Guaranteed cover is worth paying over the odds for, because its value is that it cannot be taken away. Price is the second question, not the first.

Why the application has to be accurate

Policies carry a contestability period, commonly the first two years, during which an insurer can investigate and rescind for a material misstatement. Your VA file, your medical records and your prescription history are all discoverable.

Omitting a condition to get a better rate does not buy cheaper insurance. It buys a policy that may not pay, at the one moment your family cannot afford it to fail. Disclose everything, and let the broker find the carrier that prices it best.

Common questions