More than 457,000 veterans holding Veterans’ Group Life Insurance will owe nothing for three months, from November 2026 through January 2027. The Department of Veterans Affairs announced the premium holiday on September 16, 2026, and it applies to VGLI only, not to the other life insurance programs VA administers.
The department puts the average premium at about $110 a month, which makes the average saving about $330 per policyholder and nearly $150 million across the program. Coverage stays in force while the payments pause.
Which policies the holiday covers, and for which months
The VA news release names the program affected as Veterans’ Group Life Insurance. VGLI enrollees do not have to pay premiums for three months, starting in November 2026 and ending in January 2027. VA’s own VGLI page puts the dates at November 1, 2026 through January 31, 2027 and says coverage continues.
Eligibility, according to the release, runs to current VGLI policies that have not lapsed or been cancelled for non-payment. Veterans who hold other VA or military life insurance are outside the announcement, and nothing in it extends the holiday past January.
Nothing to file, and a rule for those who prepaid
No application is required. Eligible policyholders, the release says, will automatically be exempted from three months of premium payments, and VA says veterans will be notified in the coming weeks by letter or email if they are eligible.
Veterans who paid ahead through the holiday period get a choice. They may receive a credit on their policy for three months or ask for a refund, per the release. That makes the order of events matter: a policyholder on an automatic bank draft or a prepaid schedule is the person most likely to have money already in motion when the holiday begins.
The release lists Ask VA and VA’s virtual agent as the channels for veteran questions, and Ask VA is the portal veterans use to reach the department. The media contact is [email protected].
The arithmetic behind the $330 figure
The numbers in the release hang together. Three months at an average $110 a month is $330 per veteran, which is the figure VA reports. Spread across more than 457,000 participants, that lands at roughly the nearly $150 million total the department cites. The figures are averages, so a younger veteran with a modest policy will save less and an older veteran with a larger one will save more.
That spread follows from how VGLI prices coverage. VA’s VGLI page says premiums are based on age, in bands that start at 29 and younger and then move through five-year groups, and that monthly cost scales with the amount of coverage within each band. Coverage runs from $10,000 to $500,000 in term life insurance, based on the prior Servicemembers’ Group Life Insurance amount.
Take a hypothetical household paying $110 a month by bank draft. Three skipped drafts would leave $330 in that household’s account over the winter, but that is arithmetic on an average, not a promise of a particular amount; the actual figure follows the policy.
Policyholders can also raise coverage over time. The VGLI page says a holder may increase coverage by $25,000 at the one-year mark and then every five years after that, up to $500,000, until age 60. Because premiums scale with the amount of coverage, a larger policy carries a larger monthly bill, and so it also carries a larger share of the holiday’s value.
The three-month pause is also a budgeting event for households that treat the premium as a fixed monthly line. For a veteran paying the $110 average, the November, December and January bills simply do not arrive, and nothing in the announcement extends the holiday past January. Households that auto-pay should watch their statements to confirm the draft stopped, since VA’s stated remedy for any payment already made is a credit or a refund.
Why VGLI is the program in the announcement
VGLI is the conversion product for people leaving service. The VA page says applicants who had SGLI while on active duty for 31 days or more must apply within 1 year and 120 days of separation, with no health review if the application comes within 240 days. Coverage lasts for life as long as premiums are paid, and the holiday pauses the paying, not the coverage.
The department ties the move to the program’s finances. VA Secretary Doug Collins said, "VA is all about making life better and more affordable for Veterans, and this premium holiday will help the men and women who served this nation keep more of their hard-earned money." The release describes the program as self-funded and links the holiday to its financial performance, without naming a specific reserve or dividend.
The VA release, dated September 16, 2026, remains the controlling record for the dates, the participant count and the rules on credits and refunds, and the VGLI page is the department’s standing description of the product.
Pension paperwork sits outside the VGLI holiday
The VGLI premium holiday needs no application, which sets it apart from VA pension and Aid & Attendance, where a claim has to be filed and followed. Veterans and families looking at what else VA offers face three pension levels and a form route that is free to use.
The Veterans Benefits Action Kit is a 10-page kit that lays out the three VA pension levels including Aid & Attendance, how to file for free with VA Form 21P-527EZ, and a claim tracker.
Click here to get The Veterans Benefits Action Kit →
AI assistance went into this draft, and each date and figure was checked against the VA pages linked above.
