MetLife Advantages℠

MetLife AdvantagesSM

Your life insurance benefits include access to MetLife Advantages℠—a comprehensive suite of valuable services for support, planning and protection when you need it most at no cost to you.

All MetLife Advantages below are available to associates enrolled in the Basic Life plan with the exception of Will Preparation, Digital Estate Planning and Estate Resolutions Services which are additional benefits available to associates enrolled in the Supplemental Life plan.

Services include:

Allows you to settle an estate with confidence. With unlimited consultations, either in person with an attorney or by phone, including court representation, document preparation and associated tax filings, beneficiaries receive the assistance needed when probating an estate.

For more information, call MetLife Legal Plans at 800.821.6400, Monday – Friday, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. ET. Advise the Client Service Representative that you are with Lumen and have the Supplemental Life plan. You will be asked to provide the last four digits of your Social Security number.

Face-to-Face Will Preparation Services1 offer you and your spouse/domestic partner unlimited face-to-face or telephone meetings with an attorney, from MetLife Legal Plans’ network of over 18,000 participating attorneys, to prepare or update a will, living will and/or Power of Attorney.

For more information, call MetLife Legal Plans at 800.821.6400, Monday – Friday, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. ET. Advise the Client Service Representative that you are with Lumen and provide the last four digits of your Social Security number.

Digital Estate Planning affords the opportunity to create and execute key estate planning documents for you or your spouse online from the comfort of your own home. Receive step-by-step guidance to help complete a will, living will and power of attorney in as little as 15 minutes. Answer a few questions about yourself, your family, and your assets to create these documents instantly and have the documents witnessed and notarized with real-time ID verification and video notary.2 If there are aspects of your estate that are more complicated, you might be directed to one of our MetLife Legal Plans network attorneys.

Visit www.legalplans.com/estateplanning and follow the online instructions to create an account using the email and password of your choice. Follow the simple instructions to create your documents.

This is another option to help you or your spouse/domestic partner prepare a will, living will, Power of Attorney and HIPAA Authorization form on your own, at your own pace, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Visit www.willscenter.com and register as a new user. Follow the simple instructions to create your online document.

This service is available to you or any of your relatives, and is designed to simplify the funeral planning process for your loved ones and beneficiaries to assist them with organizing an event that will honor a loved one’s life from a self-paced funeral planning guide to services such as:

  • Discounts of up to 10% off funeral, cremation, and cemetery services provided through a Dignity Memorial funeral home
  • Funeral negotiation by LifeWorks when a Dignity discount is not available within 25 miles
  • Unlimited access to Dignity’s comprehensive end-of-life planning tool and resource library
  • Professional funeral consultants to help your employees and their families make confident decisions
  • Planning services to help make final wishes easier to manage
  • Bereavement Travel Services to assist with time-sensitive travel arrangements to be with loved ones (when services are provided through a Dignity Memorial location)

Call Dignity Memorial 24 hours a day at 866-853-0954 or visit finalwishesplanning.com. To locate funeral homes and other important service providers, call 866-853-0954.

Face-to-Face Grief Counseling5 provides you and your dependents up to five private counseling sessions per event with a professional grief counselor to help cope with a loss, no matter the circumstances, whether it’s a death, an illness or divorce. Sessions may also be held over the phone.

Call LifeWorks, US Inc. 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at 888.319.7819.

The Total Control Account (TCA) is a settlement option that provides your loved ones with a safe and convenient way to manage life insurance proceeds. They’ll have the convenience of immediate access to any or all of their proceeds through an interest bearing account with unlimited check-writing privileges. The Total Control Account also allows beneficiaries time to decide what to do with their proceeds.

The TCA allows beneficiaries to take the time to grieve rather than worry about what to do with their life insurance proceeds immediately. MetLife’s TCA offers easy access to funds with competitive interest rates that are effective immediately which means the life insurance proceeds begin earning interest right away.

In addition, the TCA provides:

  • A guaranteed minimum interest on all TCA accounts. The crediting rate as of February 2021 is 50% higher than that offered by many retail banking institutions.
  • An instant account, allowing beneficiaries access to their funds when they need it.
  • Visa debit cards for new TCA accountholders that may be used as an ATM card for cash withdrawals without fees or surcharges.
  • Zero monthly maintenance or service fees and no charges for making withdrawals, writing drafts, or reordering drafts.
  • The ability to link the TCA to all popular mobile payment apps/services such as PayPal®, Venmo® or Square CashSM.
  • The ability to move funds from the TCA into a bank account at any time without a penalty, including through ACH and bank to bank wires.
  • Access to MetOnline where TCA accountholders can view their current balance as well as recent statements and transactions.
  • A dedicated US-based customer service team for TCA accountholders.

 

Call MetLife at 800.638.7283, Monday – Friday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. ET.

This service is designed to help beneficiaries sort through the details and serious questions about claims and financial needs during a difficult time. MetLife has arranged for Barnum Financial Group financial professionals to be available for assistance in person or by telephone to help with filing life insurance claims, government benefits and help with financial questions.

To be referred to a Delivering the Promise Specialist who will contact you directly, call 877.275.6387, prompt 2.

Additional plan features:

You can generally convert your group term life insurance benefits to an individual whole life insurance policy if your coverage terminates in whole or in part due to your retirement, termination of employment or a change in your employee class. Please note that you cannot convert your Accidental Death and Dismemberment coverages.

  • There is no minimum coverage amount required for conversion.
  • The maximum amount of coverage that can be converted for all active participants is the lesser of the current coverage amount or $10,000

MetLife has contracted with Barnum Financial Group to help with converting coverage. Call MetLife at 877.275.6387, prompt 1, Monday – Friday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. ET.

Similar to Conversion, Portability helps prevent gaps in your coverage. With Portability, you can continue your term life insurance benefits should your employment status or employee class change.

  • Coverage can continue to age 100.
  • The minimum coverage amount that may be continued is:
    • For employees, $10,000;
    • For spouse/domestic partner, $2,500 and
    • For child(ren), $1000 per child
  • The maximum amount of coverage that can be continued is the lesser of:
    • For employees – The current coverage amount or 2 million dollars;
    • For spouse/domestic partner – The current amount or $250,000
    • For child(ren) – The current amount or up to an additional $25,000


Benefits are subject to change due to age or salary. All current participants may apply for preferred rates by satisfying evidence of insurability requirements. Disabled employees also have the opportunity to port coverage.

MetLife has contracted with Barnum Financial Group to help with porting coverage. Call MetLife at 877.275.6387, prompt 1, Monday – Friday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. ET.

Transition Solutions focuses on guidance and services around insurance and other financial products to help you and your family better prepare for your future in response to benefit changing events.

Call MetLife at 877.275.6387, prompt 1, Monday – Friday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. ET.

You can receive up to 80 percent of your Basic and Optional Life or GVUL insurance proceeds, up to a maximum of $500,000, in the event that you become terminally ill and are diagnosed with less than 12 months to live. The Accelerated Benefit Option is also available for your covered spouse/domestic partner. The maximum accelerated benefit allowable for your spouse/domestic partner is $120,000. This can go a long way toward helping your family meet medical and other related expenses at this difficult time.

Call MetLife at 800.638.6420, prompt 2, Monday – Friday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. ET.

MetLife Advantages

1 Will Preparation Services and Estate Resolution Services are offered by Hyatt Legal Plans, Inc., a MetLife company, Cleveland, Ohio. In certain states, Will Preparation Services and Estate Resolution Services are provided through insurance coverage underwritten by Metropolitan Property and Casualty Insurance Company and its affiliates, Warwick, RI. These services are provided at no additional cost to those who purchase Supplemental Life Insurance only. Certain services are not covered by Estate Resolution Services, including matters in which there is a conflict of interest between the executor and any beneficiary or heir and the estate; any disputes with the group policyholder, MetLife and/or any of its affiliates; any disputes involving statutory benefits; will contests or litigation outside probate court; appeals; court costs, filing fees, recording fees, transcripts, witness fees, expenses to a third party, judgments or fines; and frivolous or unethical matters.

2 WillsCenter.com is a document service provided by SmartLegalForms, Inc., an affiliate of Epoq Group, Ltd. SmartLegalForms, Inc. is not affiliated with MetLife and the WillsCenter.com service is separate and apart from any insurance or service provided by MetLife. The WillsCenter.com service does not provide access to an attorney, does not provide legal advice, and may not be suitable for your specific needs. Please consult with your financial, legal, and tax advisors for advice with respect to such matters. WillsCenter.com is available to anyone with internet access regardless of affiliation with MetLife.

3 Grief Counseling and Funeral Planning services are provided through an agreement with LifeWorks, US Inc. LifeWorks is not an affiliate of MetLife, and the services LifeWorks provides are separate and apart from the insurance provided by MetLife. LifeWorks has a nationwide network of over 30,000 counselors. Counselors have master’s or doctoral degrees and are licensed professionals. The Grief Counseling program does not provide support for issues such as: domestic issues, parenting issues, or marital/ relationship issues (other than a finalized divorce). For such issues, members should inquire with their human resources department about available company resources. This program is available to insureds, their dependents and beneficiaries who have received a serious medical diagnosis or suffered a loss. Events that may result in a loss are not covered under this program unless and until such loss has occurred. Services are not available in all jurisdictions and are subject to regulatory approval. Not available on all policy forms.

4 Subject to state law, and/or group policyholder direction, the Total Control Account is provided for all Life benefits of $5,000 or more. The TCA is not insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any government agency. The assets backing TCA are maintained in MetLife’s general account and are subject to MetLife’s creditors. MetLife bears the investment risk of the assets backing the TCA, and expects to earn income sufficient to pay interest to TCA Accountholders and to provide a profit on the operation of the TCAs.

5 The Accelerated Benefits Option is subject to state regulation and is intended to qualify for favorable federal income tax treatment, in which case the benefits will not be subject to federal income taxation. This information was written as a supplement to the marketing of life insurance products. Tax laws relating to accelerated benefits are complex and limitations may apply. You are advised to consult with and rely on an independent tax advisor about your own particular circumstances. Receipt of accelerated benefits may affect your eligibility, or that of your spouse or your family, for public assistance programs such as medical assistance (Medicaid), Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF), Supplementary Social Security Income (SSI) and drug assistance programs. You are advised to consult with social service agencies concerning the effect that receipt of accelerated benefits will have on public assistance eligibility for you, your spouse or your family.

* MetLife administers the Transition Solutions and Delivering the Promise programs but has arranged for Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company (MassMutual) to have specially-trained financial professionals offer financial education and, upon request, provide personal guidance to employees and former employees of companies providing Transition Solutions and Delivering the Promise through MetLife.