MetLife Advantages – included with your Basic and Optional Term Life Insurance

Services to help navigate what life may bring, at no additional cost to you

Life insurance can be a critical first step in helping to ensure your family’s financial wellbeing. With your MetLife group life insurance coverage, you get access to meaningful services to help you make the right decisions to manage what life may bring.

For Basic Life Participants

  • Funeral Assistance1 – Helping to simplify funeral arrangements. Members can customize funeral arrangements with the help of compassionate counselors through a personalized one-on-one service. Services include locating funeral homes, florists and local support groups.
  • Grief Counseling1: Offering professional support in times of need. Face-to-face sessions with a licensed counselor to help members cope with a loss or major life change.  Provides you and your dependents up to five sessions with a licensed counselor, either face to-face or over the phone with a professional grief counselor to help cope with a loss, no matter the circumstances, whether it’s a death, an illness or divorce.
  • Total Control Account®2: The Total Control Account (TCA) is a settlement option that provides your loved ones with a safe and convenient way to manage life insurance proceeds. They’ll have the convenience of immediate access to any or all of their proceeds through an interest bearing account with unlimited check-writing privileges. The Total Control Account also allows beneficiaries time to decide what to do with their proceeds.
  • Portability4 and Conversion - Your plan includes a Portability option (Active members only) and a Conversion (Active and Retired members) option for your Basic Term Life Insurance. This means, should you leave GIC, active members have a choice of “porting“ their Basic Term Life insurance coverage to another group term life certificate. Active or retired members also have the option of “converting” their Basic Term Life insurance coverage to an Individual Whole Life policy.
  • Funeral Discounts and Planning Services6 – Alleviating the burden of making funeral arrangement from their loved ones. Members get exclusive access to the largest network of funeral homes and cemeteries to pre-plan with a counselor and receive discounts on funeral services.      
  • Accelerated Benefits Option5: If you become terminally ill and are diagnosed to live less than 12 months, you can receive up to 80% of your Basic Life Insurance proceeds (the minimum that can be accelerated is 25%). This can help your family meet medical and other related expenses at this difficult time.

For Optional Term Life Insurance Participants

  • Face‐to‐Face Will Preparation Services3 - Offers you and your spouse/domestic partner unlimited face-to-face or telephone meetings with an attorney, from MetLife Legal, Inc.’s network of over 14,000 participating attorneys, to prepare or update a will, living will, and Power of Attorney.
  • Face‐to‐Face Estate Resolution Services3 -  Estate representatives and beneficiaries may receive unlimited face-to-face legal assistance with probating your and your spouse’s/domestic partner’s estates. Beneficiaries can also consult an attorney, from MetLife Legal’s network of more than 14,000 participating attorneys, about the probate process.
  • Portability4 and Conversion - Your plan includes a Portability option (Active members only) and a Conversion (Active and Retired members) option for your Optional Term Life Insurance. This means, should you leave GIC, active members have a choice of “porting“ their Optional Term Life insurance coverage to another group term life certificate. Active or retired members also have the option of “converting” their Optional Term Life insurance coverage to an Individual Whole Life policy.
  • Accelerated Benefits Option5 - If you become terminally ill and are diagnosed to live less than 12 months, you can receive up to 80% of your Optional Life Insurance proceeds (to a maximum of $500,000). This can help your family meet medical and other related expenses at this difficult time. The minimum that can be accelerated is 25%.  
  • Online Digital Estate Planning tool allows you to complete estate planning documents in as little as 15 minutes. Answer a few questions about yourself, your family and your assets to create these documents instantly.
  Active Basic Life Active Optional Life  Contact Information
Funeral Discounts and Planning Services via Dignity Memorial         X         1-866-853-0954
Funeral Planning Assistance1         X         1-888-319-7819
Grief Counselling1         X         1-888-319-7819
Total Control Account2         X         1-800-638-7283
Accelerated Benefits Option5         X         Please contact the GIC at 617-727-2310

Face-to-Face Will Preparation Services3

Note: This service also available on Retiree Optional Life

          X 1-800-821-6400

Face-to-Face Estate Resolution Services3

Note: This service also available on Retiree Optional Life

          X 1-800-821-6400
Portability4 and conversion X        X 1-888-252-3607 (portability)

1 Grief Counseling and Funeral Planning services are provided through an agreement with LifeWorks. LifeWorks is not an affiliate of MetLife, and the services LifeWorks provides are separate and apart from the insurance provided by MetLife. LifeWorks has a nationwide network of over 30,000 counselors.   Counselors have masters or doctoral degrees and are licensed professionals. The Grief Counseling program does not provide support for issues such as: domestic issues, parenting issues, or marital/relationship issues (other than a finalized divorce). For such issues, members should inquire with their human resources department about available company resources. This program is available to insureds, their dependents and beneficiaries who have received a serious medical diagnosis or suffered a loss. Events that may result in a loss are not covered under this program unless and until such loss has occurred.   Services are not available in all jurisdictions and are subject to regulatory approval. Not available on all policy forms.

2 Subject to state law, and/or group policyholder direction, the Total Control Account is provided for all Life and AD&D benefits of $5,000 or more. The TCA is not insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any government agency. The assets backing TCA are maintained in MetLife’s general account and are subject to MetLife’s creditors. MetLife bears the investment risk of the assets backing the TCA, and expects to earn income sufficient to pay interest to TCA Accountholders and to provide a profit on the operation of the TCAs.

3 Will Preparation Services and Estate Resolution Services are offered by MetLife Legal Plan, Inc. Cleveland, Ohio. In certain states, legal services benefits are provided through insurance coverage underwritten by Metropolitan Property and Casualty Insurance Company and Affiliates, Warwick, Rhode Island. For New York sitused cases, the Will Preparation service is an expanded offering that includes office consultations and telephone advice for certain other legal matters beyond Will Preparation. Tax Planning and preparation of Living Trusts are not covered by the Will Preparation Service.    MetLife Estate Resolution Services are offered by MetLife Legal Plans, Inc., a MetLife company, Cleveland, Ohio. In certain states, legal services benefits are provided through insurance coverage underwritten by Metropolitan Property and Casualty Insurance Company and Affiliates, Warwick, Rhode Island. Certain services are not covered by Estate Resolution Services, including matters in which there is a conflict of interest between the executor and any beneficiary or heir and the estate; any disputes with the group policyholder, MetLife and/or any of its affiliates; any disputes involving statutory benefits; will contests or litigation outside probate court; appeals; court costs, filing fees, recording fees, transcripts, witness fees, expenses to a third party, judgments or fines; and frivolous or unethical matters.

4 To take advantage of this benefit, coverage of at least $5,000 must be elected. Increases, decreases, minimum and maximum coverage amounts are subject to state availability. Please contact your plan administrator or refer to your certificate for specific details.

5 The Accelerated Benefits Option is subject to state regulation and is intended to qualify for favorable federal income tax treatment, in which case the benefits will not be subject to federal income taxation. This information was written as a supplement to the marketing of life insurance products. Tax laws relating to accelerated benefits are complex and limitations may apply. You are advised to consult with and rely on an independent tax advisor about your own particular circumstances. Receipt of accelerated benefits may affect your eligibility, or that of your spouse or your family, for public assistance programs such as medical assistance (Medicaid), Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF), Supplementary Social Security Income (SSI) and drug assistance programs. You are advised to consult with social service agencies concerning the effect that receipt of accelerated benefits will have on public assistance eligibility for you, your spouse or your family.

6 Services and discounts are provided through a member of the Dignity Memorial® Network, a brand name used to identify a network of licensed funeral, cremation and cemetery providers that are affiliates of Service Corporation International (together with its affiliates, “SCI”), 1929 Allen Parkway, Houston, Texas. The online planning site is provided by SCI Shared Resources, LLC. SCI is not affiliated with MetLife, and the services provided by Dignity Memorial members are separate and apart from the insurance provided by MetLife.  Not available in some states. Planning services, expert assistance, and bereavement travel services are available to anyone regardless of affiliation with MetLife. Discounts through Dignity Memorial’s network of funeral providers are pre-negotiated. Not available where prohibited by law. If the group policy is issued in an approved state, the discount is available for services held in any state except KY and NY, or where there is no Dignity Memorial presence (AK, MT, ND, SD, and WY). For MI and TN, the discount is available for “At Need” services only. Not approved in AK, FL, KY, MT, ND, NY and WA.