Life Settlements

Life Settlements

Appraising Your Life Insurance Policy

Most life insurance policyholders lapse or surrender their policies for little or no value after many years of paying premiums. This happens because the policy has become too expensive or is no longer needed or wanted. Instead of losing money in this situation, there is an alternative — a life settlement transaction. With a life settlement, qualified seniors can have their policy appraised and sell it to a third party in return for a lump-sum payment.

According to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), life settlements offer sellers an average of four or more times the policy’s cash surrender value.

Key Considerations

  • Investigate all possible exit strategies for unneeded, unwanted or underperforming life policies at risk of lapsing or surrendering.
  • Treat your life insurance policy as an asset, recognizing that it can provide financial resources in retirement.
  • Obtain a policy appraisal.
  • Don’t wait until a policy is close to lapsing to seek an appraisal. Even convertible term policies may yield a life settlement offer.
  • Some life settlement providers will offer a retained death benefit offer that allows you to maintain a portion of the death benefit with no future premium obligations.

CBIZ Individual Insurance Solutions Can Help

The team at CBIZ Individual Insurance Solutions has access to the third-party life settlement exchanges and can assist you with obtaining policy appraisals and assessing life settlement offers.