My employer had a life insurance policy on me. I didn't know.

[Quantess]

Today I got a letter stating that my group life insurance policy had ended the day I quit my job.

I never agreed to life insurance. In fact, I opted out of health and dental insurance, because I couldn't afford it with the crappy $10 wage.

I called the MetLife customer service rep, and she said, "ma'am, all companies do this nowadays".

[zappaman]

1. Not just companies

I have one on you too.
Just to be safe...

[Yupster]

12. This used to be true

You could take out a policy on a neighbor who looked kind of sickly.

Can't do it anymore. You have to have an indsurable interest now.

[annabanana]

2. It's true.. You croak & THEY collect.. . .n/t

[Quantess]

6. I was wondering....who is the beneficiary?

I know it ain't my family.

[Yupster]

9. well make a phone call and

find out.

[Quantess]

15. I looked closer at the statement. It's the slimy company I worked for.

[Yupster]

44. Well they were pretty foolish then

You didn't die.

They paid premiums and got nothing out of it. They lost.

[DURHAM D]

13. The company you worked for. nt

[aquart]

3. If you dropped dead for lack of health insurance, they'd make a bundle.

Comfy, huh?

[ejpoeta]

4. yeah that shouldn't be allowed. that is bs.

[Motown_Johnny]

11. if there was a law that 50% had to go to next of kin

I could see it


but companies "betting" on their employees demise is just wrong

[EFerrari]

5. Search "dead peasant insurance". n/t

[rurallib]

18. Watch Michael Moore's "Sicko" for a real good explanation.

[jorno67]

28. actually it's in "Capitalism: A Love Story

[rurallib]

39. Thanks - I wasn't sure, but hell, that never stopped me

[mn9driver]

7. Very common. You die, they collect, and the premiums are tax deductible. nt

.

[Yupster]

8. If it's group term insurance

it's a pretty standard $ 40,000.

Check who the beneficiary was. It's probably your estate or your family.

If it was key man insurance with the company as the beneficiary, then it wouldn't be group.

[liberal N proud]

10. Many companies do

They see you as an asset and thus insure you as they do the building and equipment inside.

[notadmblnd]

14. I bought into my companies group life policy when I worked for a large corporation

I had my husband on it too. My company was not paid when he died. I was.

[Quantess]

16. That's different. I was never notified.

The company I worked for would get a nice fat check if I had died.

[Obamanaut]

29. People who are insured by their employer as "dead peasants" are

rarely if ever notified by that employer.

You are not unique.

If you are dead, and someone else has been paying the premium so that they can collect to pay the cost of hiring/training a replacement - you are not affected at all because, you are dead.

Since you are not now dead, and you quit your job (according to the OP), and you were not paying the premium, you are still not affected - let it go and move on.

[Quantess]

31. It was somewhere in the fine print. I signed so many papers when I got hired.

No I am not dead, and yes I quit my job, but I still think it's creepy.

[Obamanaut]

35. If it was in the fine print, and you didn't read that fine print, then you

cannot blame the employer for your not knowing.

"My employer had a life insurance policy on me. I didn't know."

You don't work there any more. It doesn't affect you. Let it go.

[ejpoeta]

17. this is not the same kind of insurance. you signed up for insurance.

this insurance the op is talking about the company takes out on you. you don't take it out they do. and they are the beneficiary. you have no knowledge of it and do not give them permission to do it or anything. they just do it because you work for them so i guess that gives them permission.

[Xithras]

19. My current employer has a split beneficiary policy on me.

$50k coverage. If I kick the bucket tomorrow, they get $25k, and my wife gets $25k. Doesn't cost me a dime, but I don't get a choice and can't opt out.

The theory is that, if I die, they're going to have to appoint an interim or a sub to my classes at a substantially higher cost. The insurance helps them to recoup any of their costs associated with me dying. The $25k to my wife is just to make us all feel better about it :)

$25k really isn't all that much nowadays, which is why I also have a larger policy that I pay for myself.

[Quantess]

20. I made $10 per hour. I was very replaceable.

This was, as someone upthread said, "dead peasant insurance".

[Xithras]

26. A more likely reason...

...is that they get a better rate if they just insure everyone, whether they're "important" or "peasants". I'm pretty sure that my employer offers the same split beneficiary life coverage to our janitors and security guards.

[onethatcares]

21. next time, take one out on your employer.

tell him you're concerned about his health or something.

[Enrique]

27. lol, great suggestion

i would add, after taking out the policy, repeatedly ask your boss how his health is. Out of concern for him, of course.

[jtuck004]

41. And give a certificate for a parachute jump for xmas. eom

[CherokeeDem]

22. This is nothing new...or sinister....

As part of your benefit package at no expense to you, most companies do, or at least did, carry a term life insurance policy on their employees for 1x your salary. You should have been given a document to sign designating who your beneficiary was. Wal-mart did the same thing but didn't inform their employees and they named themselves beneficiary. That is not quite the way things are done. The life policies are terminated when the employee leaves the position with no cash accrual.

[Quantess]

23. I'm sure it was somewhere in the fine print.

I signed a lot of papers when I got hired. I didn't read them all.

[The Backlash Cometh]

24. It's a huge conflict of interest.

Immoral, unethical and ripe for abuse.

[Starry Messenger]

25. "Capitalism: A Love Story" also talks about this.

It's slimy as hell.

[elehhhhna]

30. It was probably NOT a "dead peasant" policy ...

many/most companies get you a term policy, for the benefit of your beneficiaries.

[Quantess]

32. Wouldn't they have said "Hey, by the way, this is a benefit"?

It doesn't make any sense.

[elehhhhna]

37. that depends on whether the HR assistant there isa dumbass or not.

they must have had a beneficiary form somewhere, tho'

[lynne]

33. Very common practice for a full time employee and probably NOT a key-man -

policy but was for your benefit - actually the benefit of your survivors. The fact that it was a "group life" policy should be your tip-off. Key-man policies normally aren't written on a group basis.

Did you confirm who was the beneficiary while you had them on the phone? If not, I'd call back and ask.

[Dj13Francis]

34. It'd make sense

in my case... Were I to quit or die or otherwise not come into work, my company would need to hire three people to do what I do, and even then, they'd be woefully inadequate as three newbies wouldn't have anywhere near my experience or knowledge. Does my company therefore pay me anywhere near what the salary of three newbies would be? Hell no. They're banking on me not being able to find anything else which pays as much as I currently make, and hoping I don't die. I go, they'll lose a lot of money. In a world where risk is always managed through insurance, it makes sense to take out policies on valuable employees.

[jimlup]

36. That way they actually have even more incentive to work you to death. nt

[tammywammy]

38. I have a life insurance policy through work that's free to me for double my salary.

But I went through all my benefits paperwork carefully when I was hired on.

[RagAss]

40. If they could sell your organs they would !

[BlueIris]

42. I first read about the so called "'dead peasants' insurance" back in 2002.

It horrified me then, and still does. Creepy. I can't imagine how it must feel to know your employer did that to you.

[HopeHoops]

43. I have a vague memory of a story about WalMart taking out such policies on all employees.

It was a while ago and if I remember correctly they had already been doing it for years. The employees' families got nothing - only beneficiary was the company.