How to Cancel FEGLI Life Insurance: Employees, Retirees, and Effects

To cancel your FEGLI life insurance, active federal employees fill out Standard Form 2817 and submit it to their agency’s human resources office, and retirees mail a signed letter to OPM’s Retirement Operations Center. There is no open season or waiting period. You can do it any pay period, any time of year.¹ Before you send anything in, though, know what you are giving up: voluntary cancellation forfeits the right to convert your group policy to a private one, and for retirees, the decision cannot be undone.

If You Are an Active Employee

Complete Standard Form 2817, the Life Insurance Election form, available on OPM’s website.² Submit it to your agency’s HR office.³ OPM’s guidance does not list self-service portals like MyPay or Employee Express as options for FEGLI changes, so go through HR directly.

To drop all coverage, sign and date Box 5. That signature waives every layer of FEGLI you carry, effective at the end of the pay period in which HR receives the form.⁴

To drop only some coverage, skip Box 5. Sign only for the specific coverages you want to keep. Whatever you do not sign for is treated as waived.⁵

Keep a copy of the completed form and get some kind of delivery confirmation, whether that is a date-stamped receipt from HR or certified mail. After processing, your next Leave and Earnings Statement should reflect the updated insurance codes and a higher net pay.

If You Are a Retiree

Retirees do not use SF 2817. Write a letter to OPM and hand-sign it. Include:

Your full name and mailing address
Your retirement claim number (CSA or CSF) or Social Security Number
Exactly which coverage you want canceled: Basic, Option A, Option B, Option C, or all of them
A statement acknowledging that you understand the change is permanent and cannot be reinstated
Your hand signature and a phone number

Mail it to:⁶

U.S. Office of Personnel Management
Retirement Operations Center
P.O. Box 45
Boyers, PA 16017-0045

Annuities are paid monthly, so the premium reduction will appear in the next full monthly payment after OPM processes the letter. Confirm the deduction is gone by checking your annuity statement.

Read this part twice: for retirees, cancellation is permanent. Once you reduce or eliminate any FEGLI coverage in retirement, you cannot get it back. There is no life event exception, no open season provision, no appeal.¹

Canceling All Coverage or Just One Option

FEGLI has four layers: Basic, Option A (Standard), Option B (Additional), and Option C (Family). You can drop them all or pick and choose, but one rule catches people off guard. Waiving Basic automatically cancels every Optional coverage you carry.⁷ You cannot keep A, B, or C on their own.

The reverse is not true. Dropping one or more of the Optional coverages does not affect your Basic insurance.⁷ If Option B premiums have gotten expensive as you have aged and you want to drop only that, you can, and everything else stays in place.

Option C When You No Longer Have Eligible Family

Option C covers your spouse and eligible dependent children. Canceling it ends their FEGLI coverage. There is one situation where you are actually required to cancel: when you no longer have any eligible family members. Contact your HR office to drop it. The cancellation is retroactive to the last pay period when you had an eligible family member, and your agency will reimburse premiums paid after that point.⁸

When the Cancellation Takes Effect

Coverage ends at the close of the pay period in which your employing office, or OPM for retirees, receives your properly filed request.⁹ For retirees, one month counts as a pay period. You owe premiums through that final pay period, and OPM will not refund anything withheld before the effective date.¹

What You Give Up by Canceling Voluntarily

Canceling FEGLI is simple to do. The consequences are the part worth pausing on.

The Conversion Privilege

When FEGLI ends involuntarily, such as when you leave federal service, you normally have the right to convert your group coverage to an individual policy with no medical exam. Voluntary cancellation eliminates that option.¹⁰ If you later develop a health condition that makes you uninsurable on the private market, you cannot fall back on conversion. This is the biggest reason to think carefully, particularly if you are in your 50s or 60s.

The 31-Day Extension

When FEGLI coverage ends for reasons other than voluntary cancellation, a free 31-day extension keeps you covered while you arrange replacement insurance. Voluntary cancellation does not trigger that extension. Coverage ends at the close of the pay period with no bridge.

Refunds

OPM does not refund premiums previously withheld. The only exception is the Option C situation where you lost all eligible family members and premiums were collected after that point.⁸

Getting Coverage Back Later

Active employees have narrow paths back. You can re-enroll after a qualifying life event: marriage, divorce, death of a spouse, or gaining an eligible child.¹¹ You can also re-enroll if OPM holds a FEGLI Open Season, which is rare and unpredictable. Outside those two scenarios, the cancellation stands.

Retirees have no path back. Once coverage is canceled or reduced in retirement, that decision is final.⁶

When You Cannot Cancel at All

If you have assigned your FEGLI coverage to another person or entity using Form RI 76-10, you have permanently given up the right to cancel. The assignment form states that the insured can never cancel the assignment.¹² Only the assignee can waive or reduce the coverage after that.⁹

Assignments typically transfer Basic, Option A, and Option B. Option C cannot be assigned and remains under your control.¹² If you have assigned your insurance and want to cancel, you will need to work through the assignee.

Before You Send the Form or Letter

Make sure the personal information on SF 2817 or in your letter matches your federal personnel file. A mismatched name spelling or Social Security Number can delay or reject the request. Active employees should verify their information with HR before submitting.

If you are canceling because you found cheaper coverage elsewhere, confirm the replacement policy is actually in force before you file. There is no 31-day extension to catch you if the new policy falls through.

Retirees especially: because the decision cannot be reversed, treat it with the scrutiny you would give any other irreversible financial choice. Review your annuity statement to confirm what you are actually being charged, then decide.

1
U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Do I Need to Wait Until an Open Season in Order to Cancel My FEGLI Life Insurance
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U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Life Insurance Election
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U.S. Office of Personnel Management. I Am a Federal Employee How Do I Cancel or Reduce My FEGLI Life Insurance Coverage
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U.S. Office of Personnel Management. SF 2817 – Life Insurance Election
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U.S. Office of Personnel Management. How Do I Reduce or Cancel FEGLI Life Insurance
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U.S. Office of Personnel Management. I Am a Federal Retiree How Do I Cancel or Reduce My FEGLI Life Insurance Coverage
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U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Federal Employees Group Life Insurance FEGLI Handbook
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U.S. Office of Personnel Management. I Enrolled in FEGLI Option C Years Ago and I No Longer Have Any Eligible Family Members
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eCFR. 5 CFR Part 870 – Federal Employees Group Life Insurance Program
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U.S. Office of Personnel Management. What Is a Conversion Policy Who Is Eligible to Convert Their FEGLI Life Insurance Benefit
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U.S. Office of Personnel Management. How Do I Increase My FEGLI Life Insurance Coverage Based on a Life Event
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U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Assignment – Federal Employees Group Life Insurance FEGLI Program Form RI 76-10