In 1958, the Southern Wisconsin & Northern Illinois Fire Rescue Association authorized a committee of fire chiefs to look into the idea of a Death Benefit Plan. From this committee, the beginning of SWANI was formed. The goal of the plan when it started and is the same today: to help pay for the immediate costs associated with a funeral by providing a benefit to the beneficiary within 24 hours of notification.
The plan grew quickly and at the end of 1959, the Death Benefit Plan had 571 members with 5 deaths over the course of the year. At that time, it cost 50 cents to join and each member contributed $1 for each death. This continued until 1990 when the fee was changed to $30. The death benefit amount was $300 per death in 1959.
Today, the plan has over 1700 members from over 90 departments. The membership fee is $60 and the death benefit is $3,200.
To become a member of the plan, the applicant must be under the age of 48, be a US Citizen and an active member of a fire department or rescue squad - as long as the department or squad is a member of the Southern Wisconsin and Northern Illinois Fire Rescue Association.
Please contact us if you cannot find an answer to your question.
You should contact us as soon as practical so we can process the benefit paperwork. If the obituary shows that your dad was a member of the fire department, we will be able to process the benefit without any further information. If the obituary does not show fire department membership, you will need to send us a copy of his death certificate.
Please contact us and we will mail or email you the necessary form to change the beneficiary. We are unable to make the benefit check payable to anyone who is not listed as the primary or secondary beneficiary provided on the application or latest beneficiary change form on file.
You should receive it around December 20th each year for the following year's dues. If you did not receive it by January 1st, please contact us right away.
Southern WI & Northern IL Fire Rescue Death Benefit Plan Inc
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