Subchapter IV. Life Insurance
50 U.S.C. § 3972: Applying for SCRA Life Insurance Protection
Official heading: Insurance rights and protections
In one line
Turns on the life insurance protection when you, your legal representative, or (if you are outside a State) your beneficiary applies in writing, and caps how much coverage the government will stand behind.
- Total protected coverage may not exceed $250,000 or the SGLI maximum, whichever is greater, regardless of how many policies are submitted
- Send the original application to the insurer and a copy to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs
Text checked October 9, 2026
What § 3972 does to your money
The life insurance protections do not switch on by themselves. Under § 3972 they apply when you, your legal representative, or your beneficiary if you are outside a State, applies in writing, unless the Secretary of Veterans Affairs determines the policy is not entitled to protection. The original application goes to the insurer and a copy goes to the VA.
Total protected coverage across all your policies may not exceed $250,000 or the Servicemembers’ Group Life Insurance maximum, whichever is greater. The SGLI maximum is set in title 38, so confirm the current figure with the VA before deciding how much private coverage to bring under the Act.
This matters most for a reservist or a new enlistee carrying an expensive whole-life or universal policy. Protection keeps the policy from lapsing while the government guarantees the premiums (§§ 3974 and 3977), but every guaranteed premium is money you repay later. Apply in writing before premiums go unpaid: under § 3974 protection runs from the date the VA receives the application, so a late application leaves a gap the Act does not cover.
The full text of 50 U.S.C. § 3972
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.
(a) Rights and protections
The rights and protections under this subchapter apply to the insured when:
(1) the insured,
(2) the insured's legal representative, or
(3) the insured's beneficiary in the case of an insured who is outside a State,
applies in writing for protection under this subchapter, unless the Secretary of Veterans Affairs determines that the insured's policy is not entitled to protection under this subchapter.
(b) Notification and application
The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall notify the Secretary concerned of the procedures to be used to apply for the protections provided under this subchapter. The applicant shall send the original application to the insurer and a copy to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs.
(c) Limitation on amount
The total amount of life insurance coverage protection provided by this subchapter for a servicemember may not exceed $250,000, or an amount equal to the Servicemember's Group Life Insurance maximum limit, whichever is greater, regardless of the number of policies submitted.
Enacted and amended by: (Oct. 17, 1940, ch. 888, title IV, §402, as added Pub. L. 108-189, §1, Dec. 19, 2003, 117 Stat. 2852.)
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.