Veterans Mortgage Life Insurance (VMLI) is a program that provides mortgage life insurance to severely disabled Veterans and Service members. It provides up to $200,000 mortgage life insurance payable only to the mortgage holder in the event of the Veterans or Service members death.

Veterans Mortgage Life Insurance is only available to Reserve Service members on active duty with severe service-connected disabilities who meet all of these requirements:

• Have a severe disability that the VA determined was caused—or made worse—by your service, AND 
  

• Received a Specially Adapted Housing (SAH) grant to buy, build, or make changes (like installing ramps or widening doorways) to a home so you can live more independently, AND

• Have the title of the home, AND

• Have a mortgage on the home, AND

• Are under 70 years old

Veterans must apply for Veterans Mortgage Life Insurance before their 70th birthday. The Specially Adapted Housing (SAH) Grant is a grant to help disabled Veterans and Service members build, purchase, or modify a home to accommodate their disabilities. Click here to read more about this grant.

Coverage Available:

Veterans Mortgage Life Insurance provides up to $200,000 mortgage life insurance and is payable only to the mortgage holder (i.e., a bank or mortgage lender), not to a beneficiary. The amount of coverage will equal the amount of the mortgage still owed, but the maximum can never exceed $200,000. Veterans Mortgage Life Insurance is a decreasing term insurance which reduces as the mortgage balance declines. Veterans Mortgage Life Insurance has no loan or cash values and does not pay dividends.

Veterans Mortgage Life Insurance Premiums are based on your age, the current balance of your mortgage loan, how long you must continue to make mortgage payments until the mortgage is paid off, and the amount of Veterans Mortgage Life Insurance coverage. Click here to access the Veterans Mortgage Life Insurance premium calculator which will help determine your premium amount.

Applying for Coverage:

Servicemembers or Veterans who receive a grant for the purchase of Specially Adapted Housing are advised by Loan Guaranty personnel at their interview of their eligibility for Veterans Mortgage Life Insurance to cover the unpaid mortgage on their home.

The Specially Adapted Housing Agent will help the Servicemember or Veteran complete VA Form 29-8636, Application for Veterans' Mortgage Life Insurance. If a Servicemember or Veteran does not apply for Veterans Mortgage Life Insurance coverage at that time, VA will send a letter informing them that they are eligible for such coverage. In addition to completing VA Form 29-8636, the Servicemember or Veteran must provide information about their current mortgage.

What happens if you move, refinance, or make other changes to your mortgage?

The home covered by VMLI must be your primary residence (the home where you live most of the time).

To keep your VMLI coverage, you’ll need to let the VA know if you make any of these changes:

• Move, or
• Transfer your mortgage from one lender to another, or
• Liquidate your mortgage (such as giving up the home through foreclosure or bankruptcy liquidation because you cannot pay the mortgage), or
• Refinance your home (take out a new mortgage loan under different terms), or
• Sell your property

Send notice of any changes to:

Department of Veterans Affairs
Regional Office and Insurance Center
PO Box 7208 (VMLI)
Philadelphia, PA 19101

What to know if you refinance your home

If you refinance your home after getting VMLI, your VMLI premium may increase if any of these are true for you:

• You are older, or
• You have a higher mortgage loan, or
• You have a longer mortgage loan term than you did before you refinanced your home, or
• You have more VMLI coverage

Before you refinance, use the VMLI Premium Calculator to check what your new premium will be.

For more information, please visit the Veterans Mortgage Life Insurance webpage maintained by the Department of Veterans Affairs at:
https://www.va.gov/life-insurance/options-eligibility/vmli/