MetLife Advantages℠
Your USM-sponsored life insurance benefits include access to MetLife Advantages℠—a comprehensive suite of valuable services for support, planning, and protection when you need it most at no cost to you.
Services include:
Will Preparation offers you and your spouse unlimited face-to-face or telephone meetings with an attorney, from the MetLife Legal Plans network of over 18,000 participating attorneys, to prepare or update a will, living will and Power of Attorney.
For more information, call MetLife Legal Plans at 1-800-821-6400, Monday – Friday, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. ET. Advise the Client Service Representative that you are with USM (group number 230908) and provide the last four digits of your Social Security number.
Create and execute key estate planning documents for you or your spouse online from the comfort of your own home. Receive step-by-step guidance to help complete a will, living will and power of attorney in as little as 15 minutes. Answer a few questions about yourself, your family, and your assets to create these documents instantly and have the documents witnessed. If there are aspects of your estate that are more complicated, you might be directed to one of our MetLife Legal Plans network attorneys.
Visit www.legalplans.com/estateplanning and follow the online instructions to create an account using the email and password of your choice. Follow the simple instructions to create your documents.
This is another option to help you or your spouse prepare a will, living will, Power of Attorney and HIPAA Authorization form on your own, at your own pace, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Visit www.willscenter.com and register as a new user. Follow the simple instructions to create your online document.
This service is designed to simplify the funeral planning process for your loved ones and beneficiaries to assist them with organizing an event that will honor a loved one’s life from a self-paced funeral planning guide to services such as locating funeral homes, florists and local support groups.
Call Dignity Memorial 24 hours a day at 1-866-853-0954 or visit finalwishesplanning.com. To locate funeral homes and other important service providers, call 1-866-853-0954.
Grief Counseling provides you and your dependents up to five private, face-to-face counseling sessions per event with a professional grief counselor to help cope with a loss, no matter the circumstances, whether it’s a death, an illness or divorce. Sessions may also be held over the phone.
Call LifeWorks, US Inc. 24 hours a day, seven days a week at 1-888-319-7819.
The Total Control Account®5 (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.
Call MetLife at 1-800-638-7283, Monday – Friday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. ET.
Transition Solutions focuses on guidance and services around insurance and other financial products to help you and your family better prepare for your future in response to benefit changing events.
Call MetLife at 1-877-275-6387, Monday – Friday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. ET.
This service is designed to help beneficiaries sort through the details and serious questions about claims and financial needs during a difficult time. MetLife has arranged to have specially-trained financial professionals available for assistance in person or by telephone to help with filing life insurance claims, government benefits and help with financial questions.
To be referred to a Delivering the Promise Specialist who will contact you directly, call 1-877-275-6387, prompt 2.
Gives you an opportunity to continue your Group Life insurance coverage with MetLife should you leave University System of Maryland for any reason. Competitive rates apply but will likely be higher than your current rates. MetLife will bill you directly. To take advantage of this feature, you must have coverage of at least $10,000 up to a maximum of $2,000,000. Generally, there is no minimum time for you to be covered by the plan before you can take advantage of the portability feature. Please see your plan administrator for specific details. Portability is also available on coverage you’ve selected for your spouse and dependent child(ren). Dependents’ amounts are contingent on the employee’s amount. Increases, decreases and maximums are subject to state availability.
Support for a recent loss, beyond the claim.
From settling the estate to dealing with grief, Empathy’s tech-enabled assistance and real-time human support help MetLife beneficiaries save valuable time while dealing with the challenges that loss brings. Empathy helps ease the burden, so you can pay attention to the things that matter most.
Additional plan features:
You can generally convert your group term life insurance benefits to an individual whole life insurance policy if your coverage terminates in whole or in part due to your retirement, termination of employment or a change in your employee class.
MetLife has contracted with Barnum Financial Group to help with converting coverage. Call MetLife at 1-877-275-6387, prompt 1,
Monday – Friday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. ET.
You can receive up to 80% of your Optional Life Insurance proceeds, up to a maximum of $500,000, in the event that you become terminally ill and are diagnosed with less than 12 months to live. This can go a long way toward helping your family meet medical and other related expenses at this difficult time.
Call MetLife at 1-800-638-6420, prompt 2, Monday – Friday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. ET.
1 Will Preparation is offered by MetLife Legal Plans, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio. In certain states, legal service benefits are provided through insurance coverage underwritten by Metropolitan Property and Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates, Warwick, Rhode Island.
2 WillsCenter.com is a document service provided by SmartLegalForms, Inc., an affiliate of Epoq Group, Ltd. SmartLegalForms, Inc. is not affiliated with MetLife and the WillsCenter.com service is separate and apart from any insurance or service provided by MetLife. The WillsCenter.com service does not provide access to an attorney, does not provide legal advice, and may not be suitable for your specific needs. Please consult with your financial, legal, and tax advisors for advice with respect to such matters.
3 Funeral Assistance is not available in New York. Funeral Assistance services are provided through an agreement with LifeWorks, US Inc. LifeWorks is not an affiliate of MetLife, and the services LifeWorks provides are separate and apart from the insurance provided by MetLife.
4 Grief Counseling services are provided through an agreement with LifeWorks, US Inc. 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 master’s 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.
5 The TCA is not insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any government agency. The assets backing TCAs are maintained in MetLife’s general account and are subject to claims of MetLife’s creditors. MetLife bears the investment risk of the assets backing TCAs, and expects to receive a profit. Regardless of the investment experience of such assets, the interest credited to TCAs will never fall below the guaranteed minimum rate. Guarantees are subject to the financial strength and claims paying ability of MetLife.
6 MetLife administers the Transition Solutions and Delivering the Promise programs but has arranged to have specially-trained financial professionals offer financial education and, upon request, provide personal guidance to employees and former employees of companies providing Transition Solutions and Delivering the Promise through MetLife.
7 To take advantage of this benefit, coverage of at least $10,000 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.
8 The Accelerated Benefits Option is subject to state availability and regulation. The accelerated life insurance benefits offered under your certificate are intended to qualify for favorable federal income tax treatment. If the accelerated benefits qualify for favorable tax treatment, the benefits will be excludable from your income and not subject to federal 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.