Family Care Benefit Begins July 1 for Massachusetts PFML

Anupam Garg

2021-06-24T00:00:00.0000000 2021-06-24T08:36:11.9070000

The remaining benefit provided under the Massachusetts Paid Family and Medical Leave program becomes available on July 1, 2021—Family Care leave. Eligible employees will be able to take time off with partial pay and job protection to care for a family member with a serious health condition. To stay on top of key dates, and for more information on Family Care leave and other benefit details, visit our dedicated Massachusetts Paid Family Leave page. 

Sign up now to stay updated on the latest PFML news!

This blog post is for informational purposes only and is not intended to provide legal counsel. Please consult with an appropriate professional for legal and compliance advice. Any Massachusetts Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML) is as of the blog post’s date stamp; it is based on the applicable statutes and regulation, and may change as regulations evolve or the Commonwealth of Massachusetts issues guidance regarding PFML regulations. 

COVID-19 New Jersey Emergency Grace Periods

For our Dental and Life Insurance Policyholders

Anupam Garg

2020-05-07T00:00:00.0000000 2025-08-01T03:14:52.5730000

PLEASE NOTE: The Emergency Paid Sick Leave Law expired on July 31, 2025, ending COVID-specific paid leave. Learn more here.

We understand that, in these unprecedented times of the COVID-19 pandemic, that you may be experiencing financial hardships due to a loss of business, lay off, furlough or other business disruptions.  To help ease your burden and provide greater flexibility for you in making premium payments, we are providing emergency grace periods for our New Jersey Dental and Life insurance policyholders who have suffered financial hardship due to COVID-19

You must contact us to take advantage of these emergency grace periods.

Are you a New York policyholder and experiencing financial hardship? Find out about your policy rights concerning the COVID-19 pandemic for life insurance policies and your DBL/PFL policies.  

Emergency Grace Periods for NJ Dental Policyholders Experiencing Financial Hardship Due to COVID-19

If you are a New Jersey employer with a Dental policy in good standing as of March 1, 2020, then we will provide a 60-day grace period to pay your premiums.  This grace period may be applied towards your April or May premium, and would continue for 60 calendar days from that date. Your unpaid premiums may be paid off over the remaining months of your policy period. But, you will not have less than 6 months to pay it off, even if you have less than 6 months left in your policy period. 

So, for example, if there are 9 months left in your policy period, you would have 9 months to pay off your deferred premium payments.  But, if you only had 3 months remaining on your policy, you will have 6 months for the deferred premium to be paid.

Emergency Grace Periods for NJ Life Policyholders Experiencing Financial Hardship Due to COVID-19

We will also be providing emergency grace periods for life insurance policies held by New Jersey employers with policies in good standing as of March 1, 2020.  ShelterPoint will apply a 90-day grace period to pay insurance premiums.  Policyholders may choose to have the 90-day grace period to begin retroactively on April 1, 2020, or opt for the period to begin May 1, 2020. Premiums not paid during the 90-day period may be paid over the course of the following year in up to 12 equal installments.  We will also extend to 90 days the period to exercise policyholder and contract holder rights and benefits under the policy.

Additional Information for both Dental and Life Insurance Policyholders

During these emergency grace periods, ShelterPoint will not cancel your policy for nonpayment and will waive late payment fees that you may incur. These late payments will not be reported to credit reporting agencies. We will also continue paying claims during the emergency grace period.  Please remember, if your business has suffered a financial hardship due to COVID-19, you must contact us to take advantage of the emergency grace period —it will not be automatically applied. 

We are here to help support you during these trying times.  For more information, or to request an extended grace period, please email: customerservice@shelterpoint.com.

Important Information About Your DBL/PFL Insurance Policy Rights Concerning The COVID-19 Pandemic

For Policyholders experiencing financial hardship due to COVID-19

Anupam Garg

2020-04-09T14:15:00.0000000 2025-08-01T03:22:04.8900000

PLEASE NOTE: The Emergency Paid Sick Leave Law expired on July 31, 2025, ending COVID-specific paid leave. Learn more here.

Update June 8, 2020: The grace period due to the COVID pandemic has been extended by 30 days until July 6, 2020.

If you would like to discuss billing or make alternative payment arrangements or if you have any questions about the below, please contact us at 1-800-365-4999.

If you also have Life Insurance with us, please read the respective notice here.

A recent Executive Order issued by Governor Cuomo, together with recent amendments to the insurance and banking regulations (the “regulations”) issued by the New York State Department of Financial Services (“Department”), extend grace periods and give you other rights under certain property/casualty insurance policies if you are an individual or small business and can demonstrate financial hardship as a result of the novel coronavirus (“COVID‑19”) pandemic (“affected policyholder”). These grace periods and rights are currently in effect but are temporary, though they may be extended further.  Please check the Department’s website at https://www.dfs.ny.gov/consumers/coronavirus for updates.

If you are an individual, generally, personal lines property/casualty insurance policies are covered by these amendments, including auto, homeowners’ and renters’ insurance.  If you are an individual and an affected policyholder, please contact us if you are uncertain whether your policy is covered.

If you are a small business, only certain types of commercial lines property/casualty insurance policies are covered by these amendments, generally including property, fire, commercial general liability, special multiperil, medical malpractice, workers’ compensation, commercial auto (including livery and other for-hire vehicles), and commercial umbrella insurance. A business qualifies as a “small business” if it is resident in New York State, is independently owned and operated, and employs 100 or fewer individuals. If you are a small business and an affected policyholder, please contact us if you are uncertain whether your policy is covered.

• A copy of the Executive Order and regulations can be found at https://www.governor.ny.gov/news/no-20213-continuing-temporary-suspension-and-modification-laws-relating-disaster-emergency and
•  https://www.dfs.ny.gov/industry_guidance/coronavirus/model_producer_notice/property_casualty respectively.

Moratorium on Cancellation, Non-Renewal, and Conditional Renewal
If you are an affected policyholder, there is a moratorium on us cancelling, non-renewing, or conditionally renewing your property/casualty insurance policy for a period of 60 days.  If you do not make a timely premium payment and can demonstrate financial hardship as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, we may not impose any late fees relating to the premium payment or report you to a credit reporting agency or a debt collection agency regarding such premium payment.

Catching up on Overdue Insurance Payments
The regulations also require us to permit you, as an affected policyholder, to pay the overdue premium over a 12-month period if you did not make a timely premium payment due to financial hardship as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and can still demonstrate financial hardship as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.  This also applies if we sent you a nonpayment cancellation notice prior to March 29, 2020.

Policies Financed by Premium Finance Agencies – Grace Period
If your insurance policy has been financed through a premium finance agency, and you, as an affected policyholder, do not make an installment payment, the premium finance agency may not cancel your policy for a period of at least 60 days, including any contractual grace period, and subject to the safety and soundness of the premium finance agency.  In addition, if you do not make a timely installment payment to the premium finance agency, the premium finance agency must extend the due date for the installment payment by at least 60 days, may not impose any late fees relating to that installment payment, and may not report you to a credit reporting agency or a debt collection agency regarding that installment payment.

Catching up on Overdue Payments to Premium Finance Agencies
If you, as an affected policyholder, do not make a timely installment payment to the premium finance agency due to financial hardship as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the premium finance agency must permit you to pay the installment payment over a 12-month period if you can still demonstrate financial hardship as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, subject to the safety and soundness of the premium finance agency. This also applies if the premium finance agency issued a non-payment cancellation notice prior to March 29, 2020.

How to Demonstrate Financial Hardship
If you, as an affected policyholder, are unable to make a timely premium payment due to financial hardship as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, you may submit to us or your premium finance agency, as applicable, a statement that you swear or affirm in writing under penalty of perjury that you are experiencing financial hardship as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, which we or your premium finance agency, as applicable, must accept as satisfactory proof.  Such statement need not be notarized.

Questions
If you have any questions regarding your rights under the Executive Order or regulations, please contact us or your premium finance agency.

Important Information About Your Life Insurance Policy Rights Concerning The COVID-19 Pandemic

For Policyholders experiencing financial hardship due to COVID-19

Anupam Garg

2020-04-09T14:00:00.0000000 2025-08-01T03:21:13.4730000

PLEASE NOTE: The Emergency Paid Sick Leave Law expired on July 31, 2025, ending COVID-specific paid leave. Learn more here.

Update June 8, 2020: The grace period due to the COVID pandemic has been extended by 30 days until July 6, 2020.

If you would like to discuss billing or make alternative payment arrangements or if you have any questions about the below, please contact us at 1-800-365-4999.

If you also have DBL/PFL Insurance with us, please read the respective notice here.

A recent Executive Order issued by Governor Cuomo, together with recent amendments to the insurance and banking regulations (the “regulations”) issued by the New York State Department of Financial Services (“Department”), extend grace periods and give you other rights under your life insurance policy, if you can demonstrate financial hardship as a result of the novel coronavirus (“COVID‑19”) pandemic. These grace periods and rights are currently in effect but are temporary, though they may be extended further. Please check the Department’s website at https://www.dfs.ny.gov/consumers/coronavirus for updates.

• A copy of the Executive Order and regulations can be found at https://www.governor.ny.gov/news/no-20213-continuing-temporary-suspension-and-modification-laws-relating-disaster-emergency and 
• https://www.dfs.ny.gov/industry_guidance/coronavirus/model_producer_notice/life_annuity_fraternal, respectively.

Insurance Payments - Grace Period
If you can demonstrate financial hardship as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, we must extend to 90 days the applicable grace period for the payment of premiums and fees under your life insurance policy.  

If you do not make a timely premium payment and can demonstrate financial hardship as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, we may not impose any late fees relating to the premium payment or report you to a credit reporting agency or a debt collection agency regarding such premium payment.

Catching up on Overdue Insurance Payments
The regulations also require us to permit you to pay the overdue premium over a 12-month period if you did not make a timely premium payment due to financial hardship as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and can still demonstrate financial hardship as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. This also applies if we sent you a nonpayment cancellation notice prior to March 29, 2020.

Policies Financed by Premium Finance Agencies – Grace Period
If your life insurance policy has been financed through a premium finance agency, and you do not make an installment payment, the premium finance agency may not cancel your life insurance policy for a period of at least 90 days, including any contractual grace period, if you can demonstrate financial hardship as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, and subject to the safety and soundness of the premium finance agency.  In addition, if you do not make a timely installment payment to the premium finance agency and can demonstrate financial hardship as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the premium finance agency must extend the due date for the installment payment by at least 90 days, may not impose any late fees relating to that installment payment, and may not report you to a credit reporting agency or a debt collection agency regarding that installment payment.

Catching up on Overdue Payments to Premium Finance Agencies
If you do not make a timely installment payment to the premium finance agency due to financial hardship as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the premium finance agency must permit you to pay the installment payment over a 12-month period if you can still demonstrate financial hardship as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, subject to the safety and soundness of the premium finance agency. This also applies if the premium finance agency issued a non-payment cancellation notice prior to March 29, 2020.

How to Demonstrate Financial Hardship
If you are unable to make a timely premium payment due to financial hardship as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, you may submit to us or your premium finance agency, as applicable, a statement that you swear or affirm in writing under penalty of perjury that you are experiencing financial hardship as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, which we or your premium finance agency, as applicable, must accept as satisfactory proof. Such statement need not be notarized.

Questions
If you have any questions regarding your rights under the Executive Order or regulations, please contact us or your premium finance agency.

COVID-19 and ShelterPoint Preparedness

Precautionary measures to keep our commitment to our customers while ensuring the safety of our employees

SuperUser Account

2020-03-16T10:00:00.0000000 2025-08-01T02:51:46.4930000

PLEASE NOTE: The Emergency Paid Sick Leave Law expired on July 31, 2025, ending COVID-specific paid leave. Learn more here.

As the situation surrounding COVID-19 (the illness caused by the novel Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2) continues to evolve, we are sharing this update on ShelterPoint’s preparedness and precautionary measures we are taking. On a high level, these include employees working remotely and servicing our customers while keeping our employees safe. We have a dedicated team monitoring the constantly evolving information closely to assure our business continuity plan is functioning effectively. As of now, ShelterPoint has taken the following preventive steps:

ShelterPoint’s Commitment to our Clients

Keeping our commitment to our customers remains a priority during the COVID-19 outbreak. Some of the steps we have taken to mitigate potential impact on processing and paying claims, answering questions, and providing information, include:

• Cross-training staff on critical functions to help to minimize service interruptions or delays.

• Identify critical priority functions and shift resources to support these areas.

• Testing technology to ensure we are able to shift critical tasks as needed.

• Continuous pandemic planning that accounts for different variables and scenarios, such as increase in claim volume or closure of our buildings.

Protecting ShelterPoint Employees

The health and safety of our employees is very important to us. We have already put into place social distancing steps to reduce staff density in our offices and thereby help minimize COVID-19 exposure to our employees. This includes:

• Suspending business travel and attendance at conferences or similar large events. 

• Limiting in-person meetings with our brokers and clients wherever possible.

• Requiring employees who return from certain travel to work from home and “self-quarantine” for at least 2 weeks.

• Enabling and directing a growing number of employees to work from home.

• We have deployed technological capabilities to facilitate an increasing number of employees to work remotely.

• Implementing enhanced workspace cleaning to help limit the spread of germs for those who currently remain in the office.

As the situation evolves, we are prepared to add additional protective measures.

What to know about COVID-19 (novel Coronavirus) and state-mandated NY Disability and Paid Family Leave

We have received many question about COVID-19 and how it relates to NY State Disability (DBL) and Paid Family Leave. You can read our running list of FAQs here.

ShelterPoint Continues to Closely Monitor the Situation

We will continue to closely monitor the COVID-19 outbreak and remain flexible to adapt quickly under these hard-to-predict circumstances. All of us at ShelterPoint are dedicated to keeping you informed. Check back here for updates as things continue to evolve. If you have questions email customerservice@shelterpoint.com.

This blog post is for informational purposes only and is not intended to provide legal counsel. Please consult with an appropriate professional for legal and compliance advice. Any Disability Benefits Law (DBL) and/or Paid Family Leave (PFL) information is as of the blog post’s date stamp; it is based on the applicable statutes and regulation,  and may change as regulations evolve or NY State issues guidance regarding DBL or PFL regulations. Have more questions? Email us at pflquestions@shelterpoint.com

Introducing: DBL & PFL Claim Portal Mobile App

Yiu Tso

2018-10-18T12:00:00.0000000 2021-12-27T13:43:27.8370000

ShelterPoint members are already loving our Claim Portal  for their Paid Family Leave (PFL) and statutory short-term Disability claims, and now we’ve made it even easier with our innovative, proprietary mobile app! 

The Claim Portal mobile app is as full featured as our online Claim Portal  – and then some.  If you are on-the-go with your new little one or recovering from an injury, this app can help avoid delays and expedite claims –which, ultimately, may help you receive your benefit payments faster. 

So what’s new with the app?

• The mobile app’s Push Notifications provide reminders to submit forms, provide return-to-work information, etc.
• Quickly snap a picture of your form and upload it right from your phone

If you have already registered on the Claim Portal, just use the same login for the app
 

This mobile app is now available for all employees covered by ShelterPoint Life’s DBL/PFL, who go out on disability or take Paid Family Leave.  Download and start using it today!

Have questions about claims, or other Paid Family Leave topics? Ask our PFL experts at pflquestions@shelterpoint.com.

Apple, the Apple logo, iPhone, and iPad are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries and regions.   App Store is a service mark of Apple Inc.

Google Play and the Google Play logo are trademarks of Google LLC.

This blog post is for informational purposes only and is not intended to provide legal counsel. Please consult with an appropriate professional for legal and compliance advice. Any PFL information is as of the blog post’s date stamp; it is based on the applicable statutes and regulation,  and may change as regulations evolve or NY State issues guidance regarding Paid Family Leave regulations. Have more questions? Email us at pflquestions@shelterpoint.com

Introducing: ShelterPoint DBL & PFL Claim Portal

Client information available 24x7

Stephanie Haber

2018-04-23T12:00:00.0000000 2020-12-22T07:57:07.8270000

We understand that life has different priorities when you’re out on a disability or Paid Family Leave claim. Figuring out when to expect your next benefit payment or what additional paperwork may separate you from your next payment shouldn’t be anything to worry about.  So, in order to help our members, who are out on a claim be able to focus on the things they really need to focus on in these times, we created an innovative proprietary online claim portal for 24/7 Disability and Paid Family Leave claim management!
 

This new online tool is now available for all employees covered by ShelterPoint Life’s DBL/PFL, who go out on disability or take Paid Family Leave.

ShelterPoint Claim Portal from ShelterPoint on Vimeo

If you have a claim with ShelterPoint, registration for an online account is fast, and easy as 123.  All you need is your: 

1. Social Security Number
2. Claim number
3. Email address

This provides around-the-clock access to:

• An easy overview dashboard with your current claim status
• See if any action needs to be taken to assure continued processing of your claim
• Check the history of the benefit payments we’ve issued
• See important notifications regarding your claim
• Sign up for alerts via email when action needs to be taken to keep claim payments going
• Sign up to receive claim forms electronically

…and much more!

If you’re a ShelterPoint member check it out here!

Download your updated Claims Roadmaps that now include the claim portal information:

• Bonding
• Caregiving
• Military

First Rehab Life will be ShelterPoint Life

Same company, new name

Yiu Tso

2014-07-29T16:06:00.0000000 2020-12-22T08:08:54.0470000

Although our official name change won’t take effect for customers until next week, you may already begin seeing references to our new name. Official notifications with more details will be mailed to producers and policyholders shortly.

In the interim, please note that effective August 4, 2014, our company name will change as follows:

from     The First Rehabilitation Life Insurance Company (First Rehab Life)

to          ShelterPoint Life Insurance Company

 
There is no change in our ownership and/or management team. As we have evolved over our 42-year history, it is time to go with a name that is more reflective of who we are and what we do.

For our valued producers, policyholders and members, this means business as usual: our name change does not affect policies or the terms, conditions, provisions, and benefits in any way. Here is a brief list of what else remains the same:
 

• All phone and fax numbers
• Our office location and mailing address
• Federal Tax ID

Our current website and email address will redirect to the new site once the transition is official on August 4.

Stay tuned for more updates, our official press release and the new website!

Thank you.