Typically, group master contracts will contain provisions for the protection of disabled employees. Two of these provisions are “waiver of premium” and “maturity value benefit.” The waiver of premium provision, as its name implies, relieves the employer of the requirement of paying premiums for any covered employee who becomes totally and continuously disabled prior to a specified age. (Age sixty is common.) The maturity value benefit provides for the payment of the face amount of an employee’s group life insurance in a lump sum or in monthly installments when an employee becomes totally and permanently disabled prior to age sixty. This provision is much less commonly used than the waiver of premium feature.
Reproduced with permission. Copyright The National Underwriter Co. Division of ALM