Life Insurance Plans

The university provides a basic level of life insurance coverage at no cost to faculty and staff, with the option to add more coverage for yourself or your dependents at your expense.  

  • University Plan  - $30,000 of coverage for you paid for by the university (automatic enrollment if your date of hire is after 1/1/2001). If your date of hire is prior to 1/1/2001 and you are not enrolled in the University plan, you will be required to provide a health statement that is satisfactory to MetLife. 
  • Optional Plan - your choice of coverage in flat amounts of $5,000 or $50,000, or choose coverage from one to eight times your annual salary up to the plan maximum of $1.5 million. You pay the full cost for coverage under the Optional Plan (enrollment required to participate). 
  • Dependent Plan - coverage for your spouse or other qualified adult or your dependent children, paid for by you (enrollment required to participate).

Retired university faculty and staff who were participating in the University Plan on the date of their retirement are eligible for Retiree Group Term Life Insurance.

All plans are administered by MetLife.

Please note: If you choose a level of Life Insurance coverage for yourself or your eligible spouse or other qualified adult (OQA) that requires completion of a Statement of Health, you will receive an email from MetLife. It is important to respond to this email because your chosen level of coverage is subject to approval by MetLife.

Your Beneficiary

When you elect life insurance coverage for the first time (including automatic enrollment into the University Plan), you must designate a beneficiary with Metlife by submitting a completed beneficiary designation form or by calling 1-866-492-6983 from 8 a.m. - 11 p.m. ET Monday through Friday.

You may choose any beneficiary you wish, such as a family member, a friend, a trust, or an organization. You can name a single beneficiary or you can name two or more joint beneficiaries to receive the insurance payment. You may change your beneficiary at any time.  If you do not designate a beneficiary, or if none of the beneficiaries you name survives you, death benefits will be paid to your survivors/estate in the following order: spouse/OQA, children, parents, siblings, estate.

If you enroll in the plan and you change the amount of your coverage at a future date, the beneficiary you designate now will remain your beneficiary until you make a change online, call 1-866-492-6983, or complete and submit a beneficiary designation form.

To Register on the MetLife My Benefits Website

You will only need to follow these steps on your first visit:

  1. Go to metlife.com/mybenefits.
  2. Enter University of Michigan and click Submit.
  3. Carefully read the important information, and then click Continue.
  4. Click the Register Now button for first time users.
    Step 1: Enter your Name, Social Security Number (SSN) or Employee ID (your UMID) and then enter or select your Date of Birth. Enter and confirm your Email Address. (Note: To verify your identity, entering your SSN or Employee ID is required as part of this step of the enrollment process. After registration, you will not have to enter your SSN or Employee ID to login to the site).
    Step 2: You will be prompted to create a User Name and Password. (Please make sure to write down your new User Name and Password and keep in a safe and convenient place.)
    Step 3: Select three security questions and provide your answers.
  5. Read the Terms of Use and click Agree to continue. Once your registration is complete, your registration will be confirmed.
  6. Click Enter MyBenefits Now to continue.

To Update Your Life Insurance Beneficiaries

After you have registered on the MetLife/MyBenefits website, follow these steps to update your U-M life insurance beneficiary information:

  1. Go to metlife.com/mybenefits
  2. Log in using the user name and password you created during registration
  3. Click Life Insurance – Group Term Life under the Products & Services tab
  4. Click Add/Update Beneficiaries. Follow the steps to designate a beneficiary for your life insurance.

For problems or questions with registration, please call MetLife Web Technical Support  at 877-963-8932 (877-9METWEB).

Eligibility

The following groups are eligible for the University, Optional, and Dependent Plans:

  • Faculty and staff who have at least a 50% appointment and have departmental funding for a minimum of four continuous months.
  • Staff who are members of MNA, POAM, Trades, HOA, IUOE, and AFSCME.
  • Graduate Student Instructors (GSIs) and Graduate Student Staff Assistants (GSSAs) who have at least a 25% appointment and funding for a minimum of four continuous months during fall and winter terms, or for two continuous months during spring or summer terms.
  • Graduate Student Research Assistants (GSRAs) who have at least a 25% appointment and funding for a minimum of four continuous months in any term.
  • Research Fellows and Postdoctoral Scholars who have University funding and an appointment greater than 0% for a minimum of four continuous months.

Temporary hourly wage staff are not eligible.

Retired university faculty and staff who were participating in the University Plan on the date of their retirement are eligible for Retiree Group Term Life Insurance.

To be eligible for coverage as dependent children under the Dependent Plan, the children must be unmarried and supported by you, that is, you must claim the children as dependents when filing taxes.

Plan Notes

  • If you enroll in the Optional Plan for coverage based on a multiple of your salary and your salary results in your coverage increasing above $650,000, your Optional Life coverage is capped at a flat $650,000 until you provide a health statement to MetLife.
  • Both the University Plan and the Optional Plan have a "Living Needs Benefits" option—or accelerated payment of death benefits—which is an advance payment of life insurance proceeds when you are terminally ill and have a life expectancy of twelve months or less.
  • These term plans have neither cash value nor provisions for loans.  You must be enrolled when you die in order for your beneficiaries to receive benefits.
  • No person may be insured as a dependent of more than one U-M employee or retiree.

For Forms and More Information

Contact MetLife

(800) 523-2894

Register to use the MetLife MyBenefits website.