Individual Responsibilities of FEGLI Enrollees

Individual Responsibilities of FEGLI Enrollees

When you join federal employment, you are automatically enrolled into the Federal Employees Group Life Insurance (FEGLI) program. So you don’t really have anything much to do as far as shopping around to buy life insurance is concerned.

You get FEGLI Basic coverage by default, unless you choose to sign a waiver saying you don’t want it. You can also choose enhanced coverage, both in terms of the amount and the FEGLI options you can sign up for.

But that’s not all, because you there are certain individual responsibilities enrollees must be aware of. It’s all explained in detail in the FEGLI Handbook, but here’s an overview.

– Familiarize yourself with the aspects of the program that affect you, including when and how you can make changes to your coverage;

– File a designation of beneficiary form, and make sure that it reflects your intentions;

– Maintain copies of your FEGLI enrollment and beneficiary records;

– Find out which agency HR or personnel office, OPM division or Metlife division to contact for different issues such as questions about your coverage, rates, modifications, corrections of errors, claims, etc.; and

– Be aware of when your coverage will end, and how to convert it in a timely manner after separation from federal employment.

 Who Should You Contact For FEGLI Life Insurance Questions? 

Most of this is pretty simple, and is part of the routine of joining a federal agency as a new employee. But if you do have questions about your specific life insurance coverage, direct it to your own agency office since neither OPM nor MetLife’s OFEGLI division have access to federal employee records.

Only annuitants and compensationers may call the OPM Retirement Information Office at 1-88-US-OPM-RET (1-888-767-6738) for questions about their FEGLI life insurance. Retirees can also email to [email protected] or write to the Retirement Operations Center, P.O. Box 45, Boyers, PA 16017-0045.