Met Life insurance is the holding corporation for Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, and is one of the largest long-term insurance providers in the world. Although the company offers car and home insurance, Met Life is known for their life and disability cover and their annuities. Their employee benefit programme has also helped them to become a favourite among businesses for dental insurance.
MetLife provides group dental benefits to individuals and employees, as well as families and retirees. As of May 2010, the Preferred Dentist Program included some 135,000 dentists across the States. Although their head offices are located in the United States, a South African branch of Metropolitan Life exists. Like their parent company, they provide life insurance, disability cover and annuities.
Met Life insurance
The life insurance company provides term and whole life cover, as well as universal life and group variable life insurance products. They cater for individuals as well as businesses. Term life only pays out in the event of the insurable perils (namely death) before the policy expires. Whole life (or permanent life insurance) pays out an annuity in the event that the life insurance portion of the policy expires, while universal life comes with a savings portion from which funds can be borrowed (even to pay for premiums on the life insurance policy).
Met Life disability insurance
Again, MetLife provides disability cover for individuals and businesses (which includes associations or groups). In the case of individuals, the company pays a portion of the insured’s salary should they become ill or disabled and unable to work. For organizations and associations, the disability insurance can be either long- or short-term. It pays out a portion of the salary of the employee in the first few weeks after the employee became disabled. Long-term pays out a portion of the salary for an extended period after a disabling incident or illness.
Met Life annuities
Annuities refer to the annual payment that a life insurance company will pay back to an insured, usually after the life insurance portion of his or her policy expires. This is most often based on a once-off premium that the client paid to the company which then gets distributed back to him or her over time. Metlife offers fixed, variable and deferred annuities to its clients.
For more information on Metropolitan Life, visit their website, or fill in our online form for a range of life insurance quotes.