Guides

Keeping group life insurance when you leave a job

Group life usually ends with your job. Portability and conversion can keep it, but each has short deadlines and higher prices. How they differ and what to do.

4LifeInsurance · Published October 4, 2026

Group life insurance normally ends on or soon after your last day of work. Two options can keep some coverage: conversion, which turns the group coverage into an individual permanent policy without a health exam, and portability, which lets you continue group term coverage at your own cost. Both have short deadlines, often 31 days, and both are priced higher than most healthy people can get on the open market, so compare before you choose. Your plan documents control the details, and state insurance law sets the minimum conversion rights.

Conversion: no exam, higher price

A conversion privilege lets you exchange all or part of your group coverage for an individual policy from the same insurer, with no new health questions. The details come from your certificate and the state where the master policy was issued:

  • Window. Commonly 31 days after coverage ends, though some plans and states allow longer, and many extend the window if the employer failed to give you notice. Ask HR for the date in writing.
  • Product. Usually a whole life or universal life policy, since most group plans define the conversion product as permanent insurance. A few insurers offer a term product; read the offer.
  • Amount. Up to the amount you had in force, sometimes minus any other group coverage you receive. Some plans limit the amount on termination of the whole plan.
  • Price. Based on your attained age and the insurer's conversion rates. Because conversion is open to anyone, including people in poor health, the pool is riskier and prices are high relative to a healthy applicant's term quote.
  • No continuous term. A converted permanent policy builds cash value, but the premium for a given face amount is far higher than group term. See permanent life insurance for the trade-offs.

Conversion is most valuable when you are uninsurable or would be rated heavily on the open market. It is poor value for a healthy person who can pass underwriting.

Portability: keep the group term, pay the full price

Portability, where offered, lets you continue term coverage under the group contract (or a similar portable policy) after you leave, typically at a rate based on your age and sometimes your smoker status. Typical features:

  • Eligibility. Often limited to a maximum age (for example, 70 or younger) and a minimum period of service, and may need to be elected within 31 days.
  • Medical underwriting. Usually none, which is the point.
  • Cost. You pay the entire premium, often at rates higher than the group rate you paid at work, because the portable pool is a smaller, riskier group.
  • Duration. Coverage can end at an age such as 65 to 70, or after a set number of years.
  • Availability. Not every plan has it. It is more common for supplemental life than for the employer-paid basic benefit. See supplemental (voluntary) life insurance at work.

Comparing your options

Option Medical exam Typical window Product Best when
Conversion None About 31 days Individual permanent policy You cannot qualify elsewhere
Portability None About 31 days Term, continued or similar You need term coverage temporarily
Individual term bought elsewhere Usually yes Any time Level term You are healthy and want the lowest cost
New employer's group plan Often none up to a limit After waiting period Group term You have another job lined up

What to do before your last day

  1. Ask for the facts in writing. Request the group life certificate or summary plan description, plus any conversion or portability notice. A deadline that you did not receive notice of may be extended under your plan or state law.
  2. Check for a waiver of premium. If you leave because you are totally disabled, many group plans continue your life coverage without premium while a disability claim is approved. File the waiver claim before coverage ends or within the plan's deadline, since missing it can forfeit the benefit.
  3. Price a private policy first. Apply for individual term while you are still covered, so you are not uninsured during underwriting. Use the How much life insurance do I need? to size it, and see how to buy life insurance, step by step.
  4. Use the gap. If the new job has a waiting period for group life, a temporary portable policy can cover the weeks or months in between.
  5. Calendar the deadline. Mark day 31 (or your plan's date) from your termination date, not from your last paycheck.

Hypothetical example

Say a healthy 42-year-old leaves a job that provided $300,000 of group term. Her plan offers conversion to a whole life policy and portable term. She asks HR for the notice, applies for a 20-year level term policy with a private insurer a few weeks before her last day, and, before the individual policy is issued, elects portable term for a few months as a bridge. Once the individual policy is in force, she cancels the portable term. She never uses the conversion right, because she is healthy enough to qualify for the lower-priced policy. If she had been recently diagnosed with a serious illness, conversion would likely have been her best option. The scenario is illustrative.

If the worst happens soon after leaving

A death shortly after coverage ends may still be payable if you died within the plan's extended-claim window, were on a premium waiver, or were in a conversion period. employer life insurance claims after leaving a job and Employer life insurance, ERISA and beneficiary disputes cover how these claims are handled, including federal rules for employer plans under ERISA.

Key takeaways

  • Group life usually ends with your job; conversion and portability are the two ways to keep some of it.
  • Conversion gives an individual policy with no exam but at a high price, and suits people who cannot qualify elsewhere.
  • Portability continues group term at your own expense, with deadlines that are often as short as 31 days.
  • Healthy people usually do better with a private term policy, ideally bought before leaving the job.
  • Ask HR for written notice of your rights and check whether a disability waiver of premium applies.

Terms used in this guide

Conversion privilege A term policy feature that lets the owner switch to permanent coverage with the same insurer without new medical underwriting, within set deadlines. Group life insurance Coverage issued under one master contract to members of a group, usually employees, often at one or two times salary with little or no underwriting. Evidence of insurability Health and other information an insurer requires to approve coverage, such as medical questions, records or an exam, often for amounts above guaranteed issue. Term life insurance Life coverage for a set number of years, such as 10, 20 or 30, that pays a death benefit only if the insured dies within that period. Waiver of premium A rider that keeps a policy in force without further payments if the insured becomes totally disabled, usually after a waiting period. Permanent life insurance Life coverage designed to last for the insured's whole life as long as it is funded, usually with a cash value account that grows over time.

Related tools

Is my life insurance through work enough? Compares your workplace life insurance and personal policies with what your family needs, and shows what would remain if you left your job. How much life insurance do I need? Add up income replacement, debts, college and final costs, subtract what you already have, and see how much coverage is left to buy.

Latest on this topic