Life Settlements
The Carrier Pays Surrender. The Market Pays More.
A life settlement is the sale of an existing life insurance policy to an institutional buyer for a cash amount that is greater than the policy’s surrender value but less than the death benefit. It exists because a healthy secondary market values policies based on the insured’s life expectancy and remaining premium obligations — math the issuing carrier never offers the policy owner. For insureds 65 and older holding policies they no longer need or no longer want to fund, the settlement number is often a multiple of the surrender quote — and almost never on the table.
Begin a conversation →Three dispositions. One side-by-side number.
For an unwanted permanent policy, three dispositions deserve real comparison. The carrier rarely offers more than one. The right answer is whichever one prices highest against the situation in front of you.
Take the carrier’s number. End the policy.
The simplest disposition. The carrier pays cash surrender value, the policy ends, premium obligations stop. Typically the smallest of the three numbers — the carrier prices the policy as cheaply as the contract allows.
- Fast and final — policy ends immediately
- Smallest payout in most cases
- The default many agents recommend by reflex
Stop paying. Keep some coverage.
Use the existing cash value to purchase a smaller, fully paid-up permanent policy. No more premiums; the death benefit shrinks but never expires. The right answer when the policy owner still wants legacy coverage but can’t keep funding the original.
- No more premiums, ever
- Smaller permanent death benefit retained
- Cleaner exit than surrender for legacy buyers
Sell to an institutional buyer. Often multiples of surrender.
Licensed institutional buyers price the policy on life expectancy and remaining premium obligations — math the carrier never runs. For insureds 65 and older with permanent or convertible term coverage, settlement value can be many times surrender.
- Cash payout often multiples of surrender value
- Available primarily for insureds age 65+
- Competing offers obtained from licensed providers
Settlement value is real money — and almost never on the table.
If any of these describe your situation, a settlement appraisal puts a real number alongside surrender and reduced paid-up — before you decide what to do with a policy you no longer need or no longer want to fund.
- i. You’re 65 or older with a permanent policy you no longer need or can no longer afford to fund.
- ii. You’ve been told to surrender or lapse the policy without anyone running a settlement appraisal first.
- iii. You’re paying premiums on a term policy late in its conversion window — and considering letting it lapse.
- iv. You inherited or were given a permanent policy and don’t know what to do with it.
Life settlement appraisals, coordinated by Remain.
Remain Life Insurance Services, LLC coordinates competing settlement appraisals from licensed institutional buyers, letting the policy owner compare offers side-by-side against surrender, reduced paid-up, and other dispositions — in compliance with California life settlement licensing requirements.
Request a settlement appraisal, or speak with a Remain advisor directly.