Last Updated: September 27, 2026 Reading Time: 8 min
The VGLI premium holiday is real: VA is waiving Veterans' Group Life Insurance premiums for November 2026, December 2026 and January 2027, and coverage continues the whole time. The question veterans are asking on Reddit is what they have to do about it, and for most the answer is nothing. This post is built around the two exceptions. Below: the action matrix by how you pay, the past-due trap, and a table of what three free months is worth at every age band and coverage level, which VA does not publish.
Quick Answers: VGLI Premium Holiday
Is the VGLI premium holiday real, and what are the exact dates?
Yes. VA announced a three-month VGLI Premium Holiday for eligible VGLI insureds from November 1, 2026 through January 31, 2027. It appears on VA's Insurance Service FAQ, on the public va.gov VGLI page, and in VA's news release, which calls it the first-ever premium holiday for the program.
I pay annually and already paid for November, December and January. Do I have to claim a refund?
No. VA's FAQ says that if you pay quarterly, semi-annually or annually and have already paid premiums covering the holiday, the amount you paid for those months will automatically be credited on your next billing statement. If you would rather have cash than a credit, you can request a refund by emailing osgli.osgli@prudential.com or calling 800-419-1473.
My retired pay or VA compensation went up and my VGLI deduction disappeared. Did something break?
No, that is the holiday working. VA's FAQ says that if your premiums are deducted from military retired pay or VA disability compensation, you do not need to take any action: the deductions pause during the holiday and automatically resume afterward.
Does my coverage stop while I am not paying?
No. VA's FAQ says coverage will continue in accordance with existing policy terms for the months covered by the holiday, and the va.gov VGLI page says the same. Do not cancel anything.
Do I have to apply or sign up?
No. You are eligible if your VGLI coverage is active on November 1, 2026, and VA applies the holiday automatically. You are not eligible if you cancel your coverage, or your coverage lapses, on or before October 31, 2026.
Who has to do something?
Veterans who pay VGLI through their bank's bill-pay service. VA's FAQ tells them to contact the bank to stop recurring payments effective November 1, 2026 and restart them effective February 1, 2027, or to enroll in AutoPay instead, which only collects for months outside the holiday.
Does the holiday cover SGLI, FSGLI, TSGLI, VALife or S-DVI?
No. VA's FAQ states the holiday applies to VGLI only. SGLI, FSGLI, TSGLI, VALife and S-DVI are unaffected, and VA says it has no current plans for holidays in other programs.
My premium is about to jump because I am crossing an age band. Is the increase waived too?
Yes, for months inside the window. VA's FAQ says that if the increase occurs during the holiday, the additional premium is covered, and once the holiday ends you pay the increased premium to keep coverage. The same applies to a $25,000 coverage increase that takes effect during the holiday.
I am behind on VGLI premiums. Does the holiday wipe that out?
No. VA says the holiday does not eliminate any past-due balances, that amounts owed before November 1 must still be paid, and that failure to pay a past-due balance will result in coverage lapsing after the holiday ends. Bills may still arrive during the holiday for arrears or for months outside the window.
I am a federal employee and a veteran carrying both FEGLI and VGLI. Should three free months change my decision?
Three waived months is a one-time saving. The comparison that matters is the annual cost of each program at your age against the coverage each provides. VGLI rates step up every five years by age, which is why the two programs diverge sharply after 60. Run the FEGLI side in the FEGLI Calculator and read VGLI's rates by age band from the table in this post.
What the Holiday Is, in VA's Words
VA's Insurance Service FAQ, updated September 15, 2026, opens with the definition: "The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has announced a three-month Veterans' Group Life Insurance (VGLI) Premium Holiday for eligible VGLI insureds from November 1, 2026, through January 31, 2027." It continues: "Eligible VGLI insureds will not be required to pay premiums for the months covered by the holiday (November, December, and January), and coverage will continue in accordance with existing policy terms."
VA's news release puts the scale on it. The department says the holiday will save veterans "nearly $150 million in insurance premium payments," that it is "the first-ever premium holiday" for the program, that more than 457,000 veterans participate, and that on average they pay about $110 a month and will save about $330. The release also says "no action is required by any VGLI participant."
The reason VA gives, in the last FAQ item, is that it "implemented premium discounts in 2025 for SGLI, FSGLI, and VGLI" and that the holiday provides additional relief to VGLI insureds facing rates that increase every five years based on age. VA says there are no plans for holidays in its other programs.
Eligibility is one sentence: "You are eligible for the Premium Holiday if your VGLI coverage is active on November 1, 2026." You are not eligible if you cancel, or your coverage lapses, on or before October 31, 2026. That makes October 31 the deadline for existing coverage: stay covered through it; arrears remain payable and unpaid premiums can cause a lapse after the holiday (a new or reinstated policy still pays its first premium).
The Action Matrix: What to Do, by How You Pay
The Reddit threads that surfaced this story sorted themselves by payment method, and that is the right way to read the FAQ. Every row below is VA's instruction for that method.
| How you pay VGLI | Do you act? | What happens | Watch for |
|---|---|---|---|
| VA disability compensation deduction | No | Deductions pause during the holiday and automatically resume afterward | Your compensation payment will be larger in November. Nothing is wrong |
| Military retired pay allotment | No | Same: the deduction pauses and resumes on its own | myPay will show the allotment missing. That is expected |
| OSGLI AutoPay | No | AutoPay collects only for months outside the holiday window | Nothing |
| Direct bill, monthly | No | No premium is charged for November, December or January | A bill in January for the February premium is normal |
| Direct bill, quarterly, semi-annual or annual, already paid | No | Amounts paid for holiday months are credited automatically on the next billing statement; credits may be spread over two bills | If the credit is not on your most recent statement, VA says it should appear on the next one. After that, call 800-419-1473 |
| Your bank's bill-pay service | Yes | Your bank keeps sending money unless you stop it | Stop the recurring payment effective November 1, 2026; restart it effective February 1, 2027, or enroll in AutoPay through your online VGLI account |
| Any method, with a past-due balance | Yes | The holiday does not eliminate the balance; unpaid, coverage lapses after January 31, 2027 | Three quiet months can hide a lapse in February. Pay it now |
Source: VA Insurance Service, VGLI Premium Holiday FAQ, items on retired-pay and compensation deductions, AutoPay, bank bill pay, billing during the holiday, credits, and past-due balances (page updated September 15, 2026).
Two more cases from the FAQ. If you accidentally send a payment during the holiday, the amounts for covered months are applied as a credit to future bills, or you can request a refund from OSGLI at the email and number above. And if you request a cancellation or a coverage decrease during the holiday, it takes effect after January 31, 2027; beneficiary changes process normally.
The Refund Myth, Corrected
The most repeated line in the veteran forums is that annual payers have to claim a refund or lose the money. VA's FAQ says the opposite. The answer to "I already paid my premium for all or part of the Premium Holiday window. Will I lose the opportunity?" begins: "No. You will not miss out on the Premium Holiday." The amount paid for covered months "will automatically be credited on your next billing statement."
A refund is the optional alternative, not the default. Nobody has to file anything to capture the value. The group most likely to tie up money by doing nothing is the bank bill-pay group, because a bank's bill-pay service pushes money whether or not a bill exists; even then a premium paid for a holiday month is credited forward or refunded on request, so the cost is cash flow, not loss.
The Past-Due Trap
The FAQ is blunt about arrears: "the Premium Holiday does not eliminate any past-due balances. Any amounts owed before the start of the Premium Holiday must still be paid." And then: "Failure to pay your past-due balance will result in your coverage lapsing after the Premium Holiday ends."
The mechanism that makes this dangerous is silence. A veteran a month or two behind who hears "no premiums until February" may reasonably stop thinking about VGLI until the bills resume. By then the lapse is in motion. VA's own advice is to pay any outstanding balance as soon as possible, online through the VGLI account or by calling OSGLI at 800-419-1473 (say "No" to the first recorded question to reach a VGLI representative).
New Enrollees: The January 1 Wall
If you are enrolling in VGLI now, or reinstating, your first premium is always required to activate coverage and is not part of the holiday. After that, it depends on your effective date, and the FAQ gives the schedule: coverage effective before November 1, 2026 gets all three months waived; effective in November, the November premium is your required first payment and December and January are waived; effective in December, only January is waived; effective on or after January 1, 2027, nothing is waived.
The FAQ adds a timing note for recently separated service members: SGLI continues for 120 days after separation, VGLI cannot begin until SGLI ends, so the earliest VGLI effective date is the 121st day after separation. Anyone separating this fall should count forward from that day before assuming the holiday reaches them. The same rules apply to veterans converting from an ending SGLI Disability Extension.
What Three Free Months Is Worth at Your Age
VA does not publish the dollar value of the holiday for any individual. Its rate schedule does, once you multiply. VGLI premiums are set per $10,000 of coverage in twelve age bands, on the schedule effective July 1, 2025, and the schedule is linear in coverage: a $250,000 policy costs exactly 25 times the $10,000 unit rate, and $500,000 costs 50 times. The table below is that unit rate times the coverage, times three months.
| Age band | Rate per $10,000 a month | Three months at $50,000 | At $100,000 | At $250,000 | At $400,000 | At $500,000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 29 and younger | $0.60 | $9.00 | $18.00 | $45.00 | $72.00 | $90.00 |
| 30 to 34 | $0.80 | $12.00 | $24.00 | $60.00 | $96.00 | $120.00 |
| 35 to 39 | $1.00 | $15.00 | $30.00 | $75.00 | $120.00 | $150.00 |
| 40 to 44 | $1.40 | $21.00 | $42.00 | $105.00 | $168.00 | $210.00 |
| 45 to 49 | $1.90 | $28.50 | $57.00 | $142.50 | $228.00 | $285.00 |
| 50 to 54 | $2.90 | $43.50 | $87.00 | $217.50 | $348.00 | $435.00 |
| 55 to 59 | $5.00 | $75.00 | $150.00 | $375.00 | $600.00 | $750.00 |
| 60 to 64 | $8.50 | $127.50 | $255.00 | $637.50 | $1,020.00 | $1,275.00 |
| 65 to 69 | $13.80 | $207.00 | $414.00 | $1,035.00 | $1,656.00 | $2,070.00 |
| 70 to 74 | $21.50 | $322.50 | $645.00 | $1,612.50 | $2,580.00 | $3,225.00 |
| 75 to 79 | $38.50 | $577.50 | $1,155.00 | $2,887.50 | $4,620.00 | $5,775.00 |
| 80 and older | $44.00 | $660.00 | $1,320.00 | $3,300.00 | $5,280.00 | $6,600.00 |
FedTools 2026 analysis of VA's VGLI monthly premium schedule effective July 1, 2025 (va.gov VGLI page, retrieved September 27, 2026). Value = (coverage ÷ $10,000) × the age band's unit rate × 3 months. Assumes one age band across the window; a veteran who crosses a band during the holiday has the higher premium waived too, so these are floors. Excludes any past-due balance, which is still owed.
The same $500,000 of coverage over the same three months is worth $90 to a veteran under 30 and $6,600 to a veteran 80 or older, a 73-fold spread. And the age step VA cites as the reason for the holiday is visible in the table: the move from the 70 to 74 band to the 75 to 79 band raises the three-month value at $400,000 by $2,040, the largest single jump in the schedule. The holiday is worth most to exactly the veterans the five-year steps hit hardest.
A note for anyone comparing rates online: the older rate table still live at benefits.va.gov (the "VGLI Premium Rates" page) is the schedule effective July 1, 2014, caps at $400,000 and runs materially higher than the current rates. Use the July 1, 2025 schedule on the va.gov VGLI page.
Dates to Watch
- Now through October 31, 2026: stay enrolled and clear any past-due balance. Cancel or lapse on or before October 31 and you are ineligible.
- Before November 1: bank bill-pay users stop the recurring payment.
- November 1, 2026: the holiday begins. Compensation deductions and retired-pay allotments stop on their own.
- Through December 31, 2026: new coverage must be effective before January 1, 2027 to get any waived month.
- January 31, 2027: the holiday ends. Cancellations and decreases requested during the window take effect after this date.
- February 1, 2027: premiums resume, at the new higher rate if you crossed an age band. Bank bill-pay restarts here.
Compare VGLI With FEGLI at Your Age
Federal employees who are also veterans often carry both programs. Use the free FEGLI Calculator to price your FEGLI coverage by age band and see how it lines up against the VGLI rates in the table above. Try it now. Military retirees whose VGLI allotment just paused can check the rest of the survivor stack with the SBP Calculator.
Related Resources
- FEGLI Guide 2026: How FEGLI's age bands work and when they stop making sense.
- FEGLI vs. Private Life Insurance: The comparison veterans with VGLI should run.
- The FEGLI Coverage Cliff at Retirement: What happens to FEGLI after 65.
- SBP vs. Life Insurance for Military Retirees: Survivor coverage beyond VGLI.
- Military-to-Civilian Transition: The Money Blindside: Where VGLI fits in the 120 days after separation.
Sources
- VA Insurance Service, Veterans' Group Life Insurance (VGLI) Premium Holiday Frequently Asked Questions (page updated September 15, 2026)
- VA, Veterans' Group Life Insurance (VGLI), including the premium holiday notice and the rate schedule effective July 1, 2025 (page updated September 16, 2026)
- VA news release, VA announces insurance premium holiday that will save Veterans nearly $150 million