Servicemembers’ Group Life Insurance (SGLI) covers a service member’s death from virtually any cause, up to a $500,000 maximum, and it adds a lump-sum payment of $25,000 to $100,000 if you survive a qualifying traumatic injury. It is an all-cause group term policy: combat, training accidents, car wrecks on leave, illness, and suicide all pay the full benefit, with no waiting period and no hazardous-duty carve-out. The only situations where SGLI will not pay are a short list of serious military offenses.
Deaths SGLI Pays For
SGLI runs 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, on duty and off. There is no distinction between a death in a firefight and a death from a heart attack at home. Coverage pays whether you die in combat, in a training accident, in a car wreck while on leave, or from natural causes like cancer.
This is where SGLI parts company with most private life insurance. There is no war clause. There is no exclusion for hazardous duty. There is no suicide exclusion period of the kind commercial policies typically impose for the first two years. If you are enrolled when you die, the benefit pays.
How Much SGLI Pays
Every eligible service member is automatically enrolled at the maximum coverage of $500,000. The jump from the earlier $400,000 cap took effect March 1, 2023, under Public Law 117-209, and existing members were moved up to the new amount automatically.1Department of Veterans Affairs. SGLI Increase to $500,000 FAQs – Life Insurance
You can reduce coverage in $50,000 increments or decline it entirely, but if you take no action you stay enrolled at $500,000.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 38 USC 1967 – Persons Insured; Amount At the premium rate of $0.05 per $1,000 effective July 1, 2025, the full $500,000 costs $25 a month, plus $1 for the traumatic injury rider.3Department of Veterans Affairs. SGLI/FSGLI Premium Discount FAQs – Life Insurance
Traumatic Injuries Covered Under TSGLI
Every member with SGLI automatically carries a rider called Traumatic Injury Protection, or TSGLI. It is not a death benefit. It is a lump-sum payment of $25,000 to $100,000 paid directly to you, tax-free, if you survive a traumatic injury that causes a severe, lasting loss. The payment is separate from any VA disability compensation you may later receive.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 38 USC 1980A – Traumatic Injury Protection
The qualifying losses set in federal law include:
- Total and permanent loss of sight in one or both eyes
- Loss of a hand or foot at or above the wrist or ankle
- Total and permanent loss of speech or hearing
- Paralysis: quadriplegia, paraplegia, or hemiplegia
- Burns greater than second degree covering 30 percent of the body or face
- Traumatic brain injury resulting in coma or inability to perform daily activities
TSGLI also pays when a traumatic injury leaves you unable to perform basic activities of daily living, meaning bathing, dressing, eating, toileting, continence, and transferring. You must lose the ability to do at least two of those activities for 15 consecutive days in the case of brain injuries, or 30 consecutive days for other traumatic injuries.5VA Benefits Information. Understanding TSGLI ADL Standards The exact payout depends on the severity of the loss, and claims are filed on the TSGLI Benefits Form (SGLV 8600), certified by your branch of service.6eCFR. 38 CFR 9.20 – Traumatic Injury Protection
Early Payout for Terminal Illness
SGLI will also pay out early if you are diagnosed as terminally ill. With a prognosis of nine months or less to live, you can collect up to 50 percent of your coverage amount while still alive. On a $500,000 policy, that is up to $250,000 paid directly to you.7eCFR. 38 CFR 9.14 – Accelerated Benefits
The request has to be made in $5,000 increments. Your physician certifies the terminal prognosis on Form SGLV 8284, and your branch forwards the application to the Office of Servicemembers’ Group Life Insurance. If you are medically incapacitated, someone with power of attorney, a court-appointed guardian, or a VA-appointed fiduciary can file for you.8eCFR. 38 CFR 9.14 – Accelerated Benefits Anything you draw this way reduces what your beneficiaries receive later. Take $100,000 early from a $500,000 policy and the remaining death benefit drops to $400,000.
What SGLI Will Not Cover
The exclusions are narrow and absolute. Under federal law, you forfeit all rights to SGLI (and to VGLI after service) if you are found guilty of mutiny, treason, spying, or desertion. You also forfeit coverage if you refuse to perform service or refuse to wear the uniform because of conscientious objections.9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 38 USC 1973 – Forfeiture
SGLI will not pay for a death imposed as lawful punishment for a crime or military offense, unless the death was inflicted by an enemy. That is the list. There are no pre-existing condition limits, no hazardous activity carve-outs, and no waiting period for any cause of death, suicide included.
Family Coverage Is a Separate Policy
SGLI itself covers only the service member. Spouses and dependent children are insured under a separate program, Family Servicemembers’ Group Life Insurance (FSGLI). A spouse can be covered for up to $100,000, in $10,000 increments, and never for more than your own SGLI amount. Each dependent child is automatically covered for $10,000 at no cost, and that children’s coverage cannot be declined or changed.10Veterans Affairs. Family Servicemembers’ Group Life Insurance (FSGLI) Spouse premiums are age-based and come out of your pay.
How Long SGLI Keeps Covering You
Coverage does not end the day you take off the uniform. SGLI continues free of charge for 120 days after separation, at the same amount, with no paperwork required.11Veterans Affairs. Servicemembers’ Group Life Insurance (SGLI) That window is a safety net while you arrange permanent coverage.
If you are totally disabled when you separate, the SGLI Disability Extension can keep your coverage in force at no cost for up to two years. It ends on whichever comes first: the date you are no longer totally disabled, or two years from your separation date.12Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 38 USC 1968 – Duration and Termination of Coverage; Conversion You apply by submitting Form SGLV 8715 with a copy of your VA rating decision or separation orders. After those windows close, SGLI itself does not cover you; continuing protection requires converting to Veterans’ Group Life Insurance (VGLI) or to an individual policy through a participating insurer.