Skip to main content

People Experience
  2. Benefits
  3. Accidental Death & Dismemberment

Accidental Death & Dismemberment

MetLife administers the Vanderbilt Accidental Death & Dismemberment program. Accidental Death & Dismemberment (AD&D) is a plan that pays a benefit if you lose your life, limbs, eyes, speech or hearing due to an accident. Full-time regular staff are eligible for AD&D coverage. You enroll as a new hire by using My VU Benefits. You can elect individual or family coverage in increments of $10,000 up to a maximum of 10 times your Annual Base Benefits Rate or $500,000, whichever is less. Changes can be made during annual Open Enrollment or if you experience a qualifying life event. If you choose family coverage, your spouse and children are covered at a percentage of the amount of coverage that you elect.

Family coverage includes your spouse and any dependent children up to the age of 26.

There are three types of 'family' payouts:

  1. If you and your spouse have no children, the amount paid to you if your spouse died in an accident (or paid to them if the accident caused dismemberment, but not death) would be 50% of your coverage.
  2. If you and your spouse have children, the amount paid to you if your spouse died in an accident (or paid to them if the accident caused dismemberment, but not death) would be 40% of your coverage, and the amount paid to you if your child died in an accident (or paid to them if the accident caused dismemberment, but not death) would be 10% of your coverage.
  3. If you have children, but do not have a spouse, the amount paid to you if your child died in an accident (or paid to them if the accident caused dismemberment, but not death) would be 15% of your coverage.

Accidental Death & Dismemberment (AD&D) insurance is a plan that pays a benefit if you lose your life, limbs, eyes, speech, or hearing due to an accident. Full-time regular staff are eligible for AD&D coverage. You can elect individual or family coverage in increments of $10,000 up to a maximum of 10 times your Annual Base Benefits Rate up to $500,000. Visit the Accidental Death and Dismemberment page for more details.

If you purchase $10,000 or more of AD&D insurance, you are eligible for MetLife's Travel Assistance. Participants have access to assistance when faced with an emergency while traveling internationally or domestically more than 100 miles from home. Learn more by reading the MetLife Travel Assistance brochure .

Designating and Changing Beneficiaries

Overview

A beneficiary receives financial benefits in the event of the insured's death. Beneficiaries can be primary or contingent (also called secondary).

  • A primary beneficiary is the first person you name to receive the proceeds from your insurance policy upon your death. You can designate 100% of the proceeds to one primary beneficiary or you can divide the proceeds among multiple primary beneficiaries.
  • A contingent (or secondary) beneficiary receives the proceeds from your insurance policy only if the primary beneficiary (or beneficiaries) are deceased or do not meet the criteria for the policy.

How to Designate or Update Your Beneficiaries

It’s important to list beneficiaries for your benefits and you can designate and/or update your beneficiaries at any time during the year. Any changes you make are effective immediately.

  1. Go to My VU Benefits.
  2. Log in with your VUnetID and password.
  3. Go to the Menu in the top horizontal navigation bar and then select Your Profile, then Your Beneficiaries from the menu.
  4. You will see your current beneficiaries. You can add a new beneficiary at any time. You also can allocate amounts for each beneficiary, for both primary and secondary (also called contingent).
    • To remove a beneficiary, change the percentage for that beneficiary to "0." Then allocate the percentage for the new beneficiary(ies) to equal 100%.
    • To edit a beneficiary's name, click on that name and the "Add/Edit Beneficiary" dialog box will open. Make your changes and click Save Changes. To make changes to a beneficiary's birth date or Social Security number, contact People Experience.

How to File a Claim

Contact benefits@vanderbilt.edu or 615-343-4788

For complete details of the Accidental Death & Dismemberment Insurance benefit, refer to the “Life Insurance and Accidental Death & Dismemberment Summary Plan Description” on the Benefit Plan Details page.

MetLife 800.638.6420 or www.metlife.com