Veterans' Mortgage Life Insurance (VMLI)

What you get

Mortgage life insurance that pays the bank or lender holding your mortgage if you die. It pays what is scheduled to remain on the mortgage, up to the coverage you chose and no more than the VMLI maximum, and it does not cover missed payments.

What VMLI needs

1. 1A severe service-connected disability and an adapted housing grantVA.gov names a severe disability VA has found was caused or made worse by service, and a Specially Adapted Housing (SAH) grant you received to buy, build, or change a home. The instructions on VA Form 29-8636 name the SAH grant or the Special Home Adaptation (SHA) grant.
2. 2Title, a mortgage, and your main homeYou hold the title to the home and have a mortgage on it. The home is your primary residence, where you live most of the time. If you share title with someone other than your spouse, and not as joint tenants or tenants by the entirety, coverage is only for your share of the title.
3. 3Under age 70You are under 70, and you apply before your 70th birthday.
4. 4Answering VA within 60 daysUnder the rule, when VA approves the housing grant and you have a mortgage, VMLI covers you from the grant approval date unless you decline in writing or do not answer within 60 days of VA's final request for the information your premium is based on. The VMLI statement says VA sets the start date once it has your signed statement, so return it. If you decline, miss that window, or had no mortgage when the grant was approved, VMLI later needs a written application and evidence that you meet VA's health requirements.

Source: VA.gov: Veterans' Mortgage Life Insurance (VMLI) (opens in new tab); VA Form 29-8636 (opens in new tab); VA.gov: disability housing grants (opens in new tab); 38 CFR 8a.3(b) (opens in new tab); 38 CFR 8a.3(c) (opens in new tab)

Where are you with VMLI?

• Getting VMLI

  VMLI is mortgage protection insurance for service members and veterans with severe service-connected disabilities who adapted a home with a VA housing grant. Your loan guaranty agent tells you whether VMLI is open to you and helps with the statement.

  Source: VA.gov: Veterans' Mortgage Life Insurance (VMLI) (opens in new tab); VA Form 29-8636 (opens in new tab)

• Keeping VMLI coverage

  VMLI is decreasing term insurance. Coverage follows what you still owe on the mortgage, up to the maximum or the lower level you chose, so it goes down as you pay. The amount paid at death follows the payment schedule and does not include missed payments. Coverage ends when the mortgage is paid in full or your ownership of the home ends. It has no loan or cash value and pays no dividends.

  1. 1Telling VA about mortgage changesTo keep coverage, tell VA if you move, transfer the mortgage to another lender, refinance, sell the property, or give up the home through foreclosure or bankruptcy liquidation. Coverage on a new mortgage does not start until VA has the information, and changes can adjust your coverage. After a sale, you may be able to get VMLI on a mortgage for another home that meets the rules.

  Source: VA.gov: Veterans' Mortgage Life Insurance (VMLI) (opens in new tab); VA Form 29-8636 (opens in new tab)

Time limits

Return the VMLI statement as soon as possible, and before your 70th birthday. The rule ties coverage to the grant approval date only if you answer VA's final request within 60 days. To keep coverage, tell VA when you move, refinance, sell, change lenders, or lose the home; coverage on a new mortgage does not start until VA has the information.

What to gather, and what it shows VA

Your loan guaranty agent helps with the VMLI statement, and mortgage papers go to VA. BeneVets does not ask for copies of them.

Steps, in order

1. Get free help from a VSO

   A VSO can help with the housing grant application. Free help: an accredited VSO can file this with you. Find one near you in the BeneVets VSO directory at Find an accredited VSO near you.

   Source: VA.gov: accredited representatives (opens in new tab)

2. Apply for the housing grant first

   If you do not have an adapted housing grant, apply for one first. VA Form 26-4555 is the application for the SAH or SHA grant. See the SAH and SHA grant chapters for how.

   Source: VA.gov: Veterans' Mortgage Life Insurance (VMLI) (opens in new tab); VA.gov: how to apply for an adapted housing grant (opens in new tab); VA Form 26-4555 (opens in new tab)

3. Ask your loan guaranty agent about VMLI

   Once you have the grant, your loan guaranty agent tells you whether VMLI is open to you and helps you fill out VA Form 29-8636. Return it by the dates under Time limits; after VA's final request window, VMLI needs a written application and evidence that you meet VA's health requirements.

   Source: VA.gov: Veterans' Mortgage Life Insurance (VMLI) (opens in new tab); VA Form 29-8636 (opens in new tab); 38 CFR 8a.3(b) (opens in new tab); 38 CFR 8a.3(c) (opens in new tab)

4. Check the premium

   Use VA's VMLI premium calculator to see what your premium may be. Use it again before you refinance.

   Source: VA.gov: Veterans' Mortgage Life Insurance (VMLI) (opens in new tab)

5. Tell VA about mortgage changes

   Send notice of a move, refinance, sale, lender transfer, or loss of the home through foreclosure or bankruptcy liquidation to Department of Veterans Affairs, Insurance Center, PO Box 5209 (VMLI), Janesville, WI 53547. After a sale, you may be able to get VMLI on a mortgage for another home that meets the rules; that, or more coverage or coverage that goes down more slowly after you refinance, needs an application and evidence that you meet VA's health requirements.

   Source: VA.gov: Veterans' Mortgage Life Insurance (VMLI) (opens in new tab); VA Form 29-8636 (opens in new tab); 38 CFR 8a.3(d) (opens in new tab); 38 CFR 8a.3(e) (opens in new tab)

Good to know