Assignment of Benefits (AOB) is an agreement that transfers the insurance claims rights or benefits of the policy to a third party. An AOB gives the third party authority to file a claim, make repair decisions, and collect insurance payments without the involvement of the homeowner.
This form permanently transfers ownership of your FEGLI insurance to another individual, trustee, or corporation (however, premiums continue to be withheld from your salary/annuity). An assignment is irrevocable, and cannot be changed later.
With an Assignment of Benefits, the third party, like a roofing company or plumber, files your claim, makes the repair decision and collects insurance payments without your involvement.
The insured needs to either endorse the policy document or make a deed of assignment and register the same with the insurer. A form prescribed by the insurers must be filled and signed. In case of conditional assignment, your reason needs to be mentioned as well.
- Example: A parent assigns a life insurance policy to their child, giving them full control over the policy and its benefits.
For example, if A contracts with B to teach B guitar for $50, A can assign this contract to C. That is, this assignment is both: (1) an assignment of A's rights under the contract to the $50; and (2) a delegation of A's duty to teach guitar to C.
For the most part, there are two types of life insurance plans - either term or permanent plans or some combination of the two. Life insurers offer various forms of term plans and traditional life policies as well as "interest sensitive" products which have become more prevalent since the 1980's .
Unlike a conditional assignment, which may have specific conditions attached, an absolute assignment represents an unqualified transfer of ownership. Absolute assignment can be used not only in the context of life insurance but also for transferring ownership of other valuable assets such as real estate and securities.
In a life insurance assignment, a policy owner transfers his ownership rights of the policy to another party. The original owner is the assignor and the second party is the assignee.