Group conversion
If you have life insurance through work, you have a right you probably do not know about and a deadline that is probably around 31 days.
When employer group cover ends — you leave, you are laid off, you drop below the hours threshold, or the employer changes the plan — most group policies give you the right to convert it into an individual policy with no medical underwriting at all. No questions, no exam, no records.
For someone in good health that is a convenience. For someone who has been diagnosed with something since they were hired, it can be the only cover they will ever be able to buy at a normal price. And it is lost by default, because the window is short and nobody chases you.
Why group cover is not the plan people think it is
Two structural problems.
It is small. One or two times salary is the common design. Set against a mortgage and dependent children, that rarely closes the gap — the arithmetic is on how much cover you need.
It is not yours. It belongs to the employer's contract with the insurer. It ends when the employment relationship does, which tends to be a moment when your household is already absorbing a shock. And the older you get, the more likely it is that the health you would be underwritten on today is worse than the health you had when you joined.
Group cover is a genuine benefit. Treat it as a temporary layer rather than a solution.
Conversion and portability are different things
Plans use these terms loosely and the difference matters.
Conversion exchanges your group term cover for an individual permanent policy from the same insurer, with no health questions. The policy is yours, it does not expire while premiums are paid, and it is priced at your attained age — usually considerably more than the group rate, because group rates are subsidised and pooled.
Portability lets you continue the group term cover as an individual paying directly. It is normally cheaper than conversion, it stays term rather than becoming permanent, and it may have age limits or require evidence of insurability. Not every plan offers it.
Some plans offer both, and you may be able to split the amount between them. If a plan document mentions only one, ask about the other — HR frequently does not know.
The deadline
Commonly 31 days from the date cover ends. Not from the date you were told. Not from the date the paperwork arrived.
Two things about that window that are worth knowing:
During it, most group policies keep you covered — so if you die inside the conversion period, the death benefit is generally payable even if you never submitted the conversion form. That is a real protection and it is why the window exists.
And it is short enough that people routinely miss it while dealing with the job change that triggered it. If you are leaving a job, this belongs on the checklist alongside the 401(k) rollover and COBRA.
Some plans run longer windows, and some extend the deadline if the employer failed to give proper notice. Get the actual number from the certificate rather than assuming 31 days.
Whether to convert
Conversion is expensive relative to the group rate. It is often the right decision anyway. Work through it in this order:
1. Would you pass underwriting today?
This is the whole question. If you are healthy, apply for an individual policy on the open market and compare — for a healthy applicant, a no-exam term policy will usually beat a converted permanent policy substantially on price for the same death benefit.
If you have been diagnosed with something since you were hired, or you have had an event, conversion may be materially better than anything you can buy — and in the harder cases, better than anything you can buy at all.
2. Do it in the right order.
Apply for individual cover first, while the conversion window is still open behind you. If underwriting goes well, take the better price and let the conversion right lapse. If it goes badly, convert.
Doing it the other way round — converting first, then shopping — means paying converted premiums in the meantime. Doing it too late means having no fallback at all.
3. Consider converting part of it.
Most plans allow partial conversion. Converting enough to cover a permanent need while buying term on the open market for the rest is frequently the best combination, and it is the same layering logic as term versus whole life.
4. Check what you are converting into.
The permanent policy on offer is defined by the group contract and it is not always a good product. Ask what the premium is at your age, what the guaranteed cash value schedule looks like, and whether there is more than one option.
Where people lose it
Assuming HR will tell you. Notification requirements vary and are inconsistently met. Ask on your way out, in writing.
Assuming a diagnosis disqualifies you. It does not. That is what "no medical underwriting" means, and it is precisely the situation the right exists for.
Waiting for the paperwork. The clock runs from when cover ends, not from when the form arrives. Chase it.
Retiring without checking. Retirement usually ends group cover too, at an age when individual underwriting is at its least forgiving.
Reducing hours. Dropping below the plan's eligibility threshold can end cover without anyone treating it as a leaving event.
If the window has already closed
It is not the end of the options, but they narrow.
Apply on the open market and find out where you actually stand — carrier spread is wide and a decline from one insurer means little, which is the argument of applying after a decline.
If underwritten cover is genuinely unavailable, guaranteed issue asks no health questions. Face amounts are small and the first two or three years carry a graded death benefit, but it is a real floor.
What to do next
Find your group certificate — not the benefits summary, the certificate — and locate the conversion and portability provisions. Note the deadline in days and what the cover converts into.
If you are leaving a job, put the date cover ends in a calendar with a reminder a week before, and start an individual application immediately so you have an answer before the window shuts.
If you already know your health would make individual underwriting difficult, treat the conversion right as the valuable asset it is. The quote request form can help you find out where you stand on the open market before you decide.
Questions we get asked
Do I really get cover with no health questions? On a conversion, yes — that is the defining feature of the right. Portability sometimes asks for evidence of insurability, which is one of the differences between the two.
How long do I actually have? Commonly 31 days from when cover ends, but read your certificate. Some plans allow longer, and some extend the window where the employer did not give proper notice.
Is converting worth it if I am healthy? Usually not on price. A healthy applicant can generally buy individual term for considerably less than a converted permanent policy costs. Apply on the open market first and keep the conversion as the fallback.
Can I convert if I was fired rather than resigned? The right attaches to cover ending, not to the reason. Layoff, resignation, dismissal and reduced hours all normally trigger it.
What if my employer changed insurers rather than me leaving? Depends on the contract, and it is worth asking. A plan replacement can end cover for some employees without a leaving event, and the conversion right may still apply.
Does the converted policy have a new contestability period? Generally yes — the individual policy is a new contract, and a fresh contestability period typically applies. Worth confirming with the insurer, because it is one of the few genuine downsides of converting.
Can I convert to term instead of permanent? Conversion is normally into a permanent policy by design. Continuing term cover is what portability does, where the plan offers it.