Subchapter IV. Life Insurance
50 U.S.C. § 3971: Which Life Insurance Policies the SCRA Protects
Official heading: Definitions
In one line
Defines the terms for the life insurance subchapter. A protected policy is an individual whole, endowment, universal, or term life policy (not group term) that was in force at least 180 days before you entered service.
- The policy must have been in force not less than 180 days before entry into military service
- Group term life insurance coverage is excluded
Text checked October 9, 2026
What § 3971 does to your money
The Act’s life insurance subchapter can keep a private policy alive when military pay will not cover the premium. Section 3971 decides whether your policy qualifies. It covers individual contracts for whole, endowment, universal or term life insurance, including that kind of benefit from a fraternal or beneficial association, but not group term life coverage.
Two more conditions must hold. The policy must not let the insurer cut coverage or charge more because you enter military service (age-based increases on individual term are allowed), or limit coverage for activities military service requires. And it must have been in force at least 180 days before you entered service, and still be in force when you apply.
If your policy passes, the rest of the subchapter applies: the application in § 3973, the coverage limit in § 3972, lapse protection in § 3974, and the premium guarantee in § 3977, which is a loan, not a gift. A fraternal or beneficial association benefit counts only if it is in the nature of life insurance. The 180-day rule also means a policy bought in the months right before you ship out does not qualify, so the subchapter protects coverage you already had.
Guides on this site that apply § 3971
- SCRA Life Insurance Protection: The Government Pays If You Can't
Under SCRA Title IV, your private life insurance cannot lapse during service plus two years, and the U.S. government guarantees the premiums.
- Car Insurance During Deployment: USAA's 60% Is Off Comprehensive Only
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- Does the SCRA Cover Veterans? What Survives Separation
The SCRA is active-duty law, so most protections end when you separate. But five post-service windows keep paying. What survives, what dies, and the deadlines.
- SCRA Deadlines & Timeline: Every Window Explained
How long does SCRA protection last? Every deadline with its statute: the 180-day cap request, the 90-day stay, the 1-year mortgage tail, and more.
- The SCRA and MLA Benefits Most People Never Use
The lawful SCRA and MLA plays servicemembers rarely claim: 6% on your mortgage, penalty-free lease exits, a paused lawsuit, and tax you stop paying.
- What Is the SCRA? The Military Law Worth Thousands a Year
The SCRA (Servicemembers Civil Relief Act) caps pre-service debt at 6%, ends leases on orders, and blocks foreclosure without a court order. How it works.
The full text of 50 U.S.C. § 3971
From the United States Code, 2024 Edition, current through January 6, 2025, as published by the U.S. Government Publishing Office on GovInfo (retrieved October 10, 2026). No amendment enacted after the edition cutoff was found on Cornell LII or in GovInfo’s compiled SCRA (amended through Pub. L. 118-159, Dec. 23, 2024). House style: the Code’s em dashes before a list are shown as colons, and en dashes as hyphens or “to”; no word of the text is changed.
For the purposes of this subchapter:
(1) Policy
The term "policy" means any individual contract for whole, endowment, universal, or term life insurance (other than group term life insurance coverage), including any benefit in the nature of such insurance arising out of membership in any fraternal or beneficial association which:
(A) provides that the insurer may not:
(i) decrease the amount of coverage or require the payment of an additional amount as premiums if the insured engages in military service (except increases in premiums in individual term insurance based upon age); or
(ii) limit or restrict coverage for any activity required by military service; and
(B) is in force not less than 180 days before the date of the insured's entry into military service and at the time of application under this subchapter.
(2) Premium
The term "premium" means the amount specified in an insurance policy to be paid to keep the policy in force.
(3) Insured
The term "insured" means a servicemember whose life is insured under a policy.
(4) Insurer
The term "insurer" includes any firm, corporation, partnership, association, or business that is chartered or authorized to provide insurance and issue contracts or policies by the laws of a State or the United States.
Enacted and amended by: (Oct. 17, 1940, ch. 888, title IV, §401, as added Pub. L. 108-189, §1, Dec. 19, 2003, 117 Stat. 2851.)
Effective date: Section applicable to any case not final before Dec. 19, 2003, see section 3 of Pub. L. 108-189, set out as a note under section 3901 of this title.
Every section of the Act, including the short administrative ones without their own page, is on the section-by-section index.
Heads up: SCRA Saver publishes general information, not legal or financial advice. Laws change and every situation differs. Confirm details with your installation legal assistance office (free for service members) or a licensed professional.