Legal & General America also does business as Banner Life and William Penn.
Creating your online account
How do you create an account?
Login to your online customer service portal. You’ll be prompted to verify your identify with the following information:
Policy number
Social Security number (SSN)
Date of birth (DOB)
Zip Code
Email
Phone number
Need help registering? Call (800) 888-2452
How to pay
How often do you make payments?
If you’re paying monthly, you’ll be required to set up automatic payments from a checking or savings account. Be sure to provide your banking information for your first premium and recurring payments.
Automatic payments are not required if you’re paying annually, semi-annually, or quarterly, but policies paid via direct billing have a significantly higher lapse rate due to the frequency of missed payments.
What payment methods can you use?
Legal & General America doesn’t accept checks as payment for the first monthly payment, but checks are accepted for all other modes of payment.
You can pay with a credit card for the first payment only. Legal & General America offers this option in their online portal. Unfortunately it’s not available in AK, CA, MD, NC, & NJ. (Visa and Mastercard accepted only.)
Servicing your policy
What changes can you make on Legal & General America’s online portal?
After creating your account you can make the following changes online:
View policy details
Obtain a copy of the full policy
Make a payment
Enroll in EFT
Remove EFT and change to direct bill
Update EFT
Change contact details: address, phone, email
Change beneficiary
Obtain change forms
Commonly asked questions
My age is wrong in my policy! How do I fix this?
In insurance years, your age changes six months prior to your actual birthday and your age is determined by your nearest' birthday. For example, someone with a birthday in January has an age change every July. Most of the time, no correction is needed, but if you have questions please reach out to the Policygenius team.
I want to make some changes to my beneficiaries. How do I do that?
In order to change or add additional beneficiaries to your policy, your insurer will require some additional information. Specifically:
The full name(s) of the individual(s), date of birth, and their relationship to you
Whether they will be added as an contingent or primary beneficiary
Each beneficiary allocation should total up to 100% (primary or contingent). For example, if adding 3 of your children as beneficiaries: Child 1 - 33%, Child 2 - 33%, Child 3 - 34%
Alternatively, you can activate your policy first and internally make these changes at a later date to ensure that there’s no delay in your coverage. When changing the beneficiary information before signing, the policy will need to be reissued to reflect these changes. This process normally takes five to seven business days.
There’s some incorrect information on my initial application that I need to update. How can I fix this?
Typically, if the information you need to update won’t affect the underlying approval of your policy (ex: employer address, home address, or length of occupation), you can make these changes after signing your policy.
As mentioned above, any changes will require a reissue to reflect the changes and can take anywhere from five to seven business days for the new policy to be revised and ready for review.
There are certain instances where it’s important to update information that may have changed since your initial application right away:
There has been a significant change in your health
All doctor visits and any new travel plans that were not previously disclosed
This information will need to be submitted and sent back to the underwriter for review and added to the policy before it’s signed and activated.
I want to look into a whole life or permanent life policy in the future. Can I convert my term policy to a permanent policy?
Absolutely! You can convert your term policy into a permanent life policy prior to age 70. If you’re interested in converting your policy, please give us a call at:
800-741-7973
Or you can schedule some time here
How do I cancel my policy?
If you decide you no longer want to continue your policy you may cancel it at any time during the term period. There’s no fee to cancel.
Only the policyowner is allowed to cancel their existing coverage. Please reach out to your current provider and cancel the policy with them directly.
When will my policy be active?
Legal & General America determines your policy effective date, or the date that you officially have life insurance coverage, three weeks in advance upon issuance of the policy.
Why haven’t I seen a payment draft yet?
If you’re paying your premium via Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT), you may not see the premium drafted yet. Sometimes, banks don’t process drafts right away.
If the paperwork is completed and processed before the policy date, the policy will become active and the billing cycle will still begin on the policy date. You essentially receive free coverage if you complete the final documents prior to the effective date.
How does my beneficiary file the claim?
Inquire online: Death Benefit Claim
File a claim on the phone: (888) 585-9198 ext. 6974
Please use this article as a resource when filing your claim: How does a life insurance beneficiary file a claim?
Can I decrease coverage once my policy has been activated?
Yes, you can decrease coverage after the first policy year and you can do this by reaching out to the insurance company directly.
Legal & General America service contact information
Fax: 301-294-6960
Email: customerservice@bannerlife.com
Phone: 888-585-9198
What happens if my term life insurance policy lapses?
If you’re the owner of a term life insurance policy and you haven’t paid your premium by the end of your insurer’s grace period, your policy will lapse and you’ll lose your life insurance coverage. If you die after your policy has lapsed, your beneficiaries won’t receive the death benefit, no matter how much you’ve previously paid in premiums.
What is a grace period?
A uniform mandatory provision that gives the insured a period of time, based on the payment mode, to pay the required premium. During the grace period, the policy is still in force.
Most policyholders can pay the premium 31 days after the initial due date.
For Legal & General America: Policyholders have a 31 day grace period, and then 30 days for policy to terminate. The grace period is 45 days for Pennsylvania
How to reinstate a lapsed policy
If you still haven’t paid your premiums by the time your insurance company’s grace period ends, your policy has officially lapsed and you no longer have life insurance coverage. At this point, you’ll have to contact your insurer to reinstate your policy.
Depending on your insurer, how long your policy has been lapsed, and whether you had any red flags in your medical history when you first applied for life insurance, reinstatement might also require new underwriting.
Some companies won’t require new underwriting if the policy has been inactive for less than six months; others may require only a limited underwriting process.
