VA Announces a Three-Month VGLI Premium Holiday: Who Qualifies and What to Check

VA has announced a three-month premium holiday for Veterans' Group Life Insurance (VGLI), the term life coverage that lets veterans keep insurance after they leave the military. If your VGLI coverage took effect before November 1, 2026, and is still active on that date, you will not be charged premiums for November, December or January, and your coverage continues under its existing terms. New or reinstated coverage that takes effect in November or December 2026 gets fewer holiday months, and its first premium is always owed, even if the coverage starts on November 1. Any past-due balance is still owed as well.

The holiday runs from November 1, 2026, through January 31, 2027, and VA describes it as the first premium holiday in the program's history. Veterans InfoTap covered the announcement in a recent video.

VA's announcement, published September 16, 2026, says more than 457,000 veterans participate in VGLI. According to the same release, veterans pay about $110 a month for VGLI on average and will save an average of $330 during the holiday. VA expects the holiday to save veterans nearly $150 million in total.

The dollar figures are program-wide averages and a projection, not a quote for any single policy. Your own premium depends on your age and the amount of coverage you carry. VGLI is renewable five-year term coverage, and VA says the holiday is meant as relief for insureds whose rates rise every five years with age.

VA's FAQ says you are eligible if your VGLI coverage is active on November 1, 2026. You are not eligible if you cancel your coverage, for any reason, on or before October 31, 2026, or if it lapses on or before that date.

Being eligible does not always mean three holiday months. New or reinstated coverage is judged by its effective date, so if yours takes effect on November 1, 2026, its November premium is still the required first payment.

You do not need to apply, because VA applies the holiday automatically. VA's September 16 announcement also said eligible veterans would be notified by letter or email in the coming weeks.

If your coverage takes effect before January 1, 2027, and remains active, you may receive one or more holiday months, depending on your effective date.

• Coverage effective before November 1, 2026: the holiday covers your November, December and January premiums.
• Coverage effective in November 2026, including November 1: your November premium is your required first payment, and the holiday covers December and January.
• Coverage effective in December 2026: your December premium is your required first payment, and the holiday covers January only.
• Coverage effective on or after January 1, 2027: no holiday months, because your first payment covers insurance beyond the end of the holiday.

The first premium that activates new or reinstated coverage is never part of the holiday. As an illustration, a veteran whose new VGLI takes effect on November 1, 2026, at $110 a month would still pay the November premium and then not be charged for December or January, saving $220 rather than the $330 average VA cited.

If your separation date is after September 1, 2026, the holiday will not apply to your new VGLI coverage. SGLI continues for 120 days after separation, and VGLI cannot begin until SGLI ends, so the earliest possible VGLI effective date is the 121st day after separation. As an illustration, a separation on September 2, 2026 puts that 121st day on January 1, 2027, and VA's FAQ says coverage effective on or after that date gets no holiday months.

For most payment methods, VA says no action is required.

• AutoPay collects premiums only for months outside the holiday.
• Deductions from military retired pay or VA compensation pause during the holiday and resume automatically afterward.
• If you pay quarterly, semi-annually or annually and have already paid for any holiday months, the amount paid for those months is credited automatically on your next billing statement, unless you ask for a refund instead.

The exception is a recurring payment set up through your own bank's bill-pay service. VA's FAQ says to contact your bank to stop those payments effective November 1, 2026, and restart them effective February 1, 2027. If a payment that includes premiums for holiday months goes through anyway, those amounts are automatically applied as a credit to future bills.

To get a refund instead of a credit, whether you prepaid or a bill-pay payment went through, VA's FAQ says to contact the Office of Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance at osgli.osgli@prudential.com or 800-419-1473, weekdays from 8 AM to 5 PM Eastern Time.

Depending on your billing cycle and account status, you may still receive a bill during the holiday. VA says these bills could include past-due amounts or premiums for coverage periods outside the holiday.

• It does not erase a past-due balance; VA urges paying it as soon as possible to keep coverage active, and an unpaid past-due balance will cause the coverage to lapse after the holiday ends.
• It applies only to VGLI; SGLI, FSGLI, TSGLI, VALife and Service-Disabled Veterans Insurance (S-DVI) are not affected.
• If your premium rises during the holiday, whether from an age-based increase or a $25,000 coverage increase you actively elect, the higher premium is covered until the holiday ends and owed after that.
• A request to cancel or decrease coverage made during the holiday takes effect only after the holiday concludes on January 31, 2027, while other changes, such as updating your beneficiary, take effect when processed.

• Confirm that your coverage is active and whether you owe a past-due balance, which VA urges paying as soon as possible.
• If your coverage is new or reinstated, check its effective date, which decides your first premium month and your holiday months.
• If you use your bank's bill-pay service, put VA's stop and restart dates on your calendar.
• Watch for VA's letter or email about your eligibility.
• If you are weighing a cancellation, remember that canceling on or before October 31, 2026 means you do not get the holiday.

VA sets the eligibility rules, and its VGLI Premium Holiday FAQ on benefits.va.gov is the place to confirm how they apply to your policy.