Term Conversion
Most Term Policies Carry a Conversion Privilege. Most Owners Miss It.
Term conversion is the contractual right — embedded in most quality term policies — to convert all or part of a term policy into permanent coverage without medical underwriting, on or before a deadline written into the contract. It exists because health may have changed since the original policy was issued, and the privilege protects the insured from being rated, postponed, or declined when permanent coverage is needed most. The deadline is buried in the contract. The privilege expires with it. Most owners miss both.
Begin a conversation →Two paths. One side-by-side comparison.
Inside the conversion window, the right move is to model both options together — convert the existing term using the carrier-internal privilege, or underwrite fresh permanent coverage from a different carrier. Health, deadline, and carrier permitted-products determine which wins.
Use the privilege. Skip the underwriting.
Convert the existing term policy into one of the permanent products the original carrier still allows. No medical exam, no labs, no health questions. Issue rates are tied to the original term, not current health. Often the right answer when health has changed since issue.
- No medical underwriting — health changes don’t matter
- Limited to permanent products the carrier currently allows
- Partial conversion is usually permitted
Apply elsewhere. Open the carrier field.
Apply for new permanent coverage at any carrier, with full medical underwriting. Access to every carrier and every permanent product, often at materially better pricing — if health has held or improved since the original term was issued.
- Access to any carrier, any permanent product
- Pricing reflects current health and age
- Often more competitive when health is good
Most term holders find out about conversion one year too late.
If any of these describe your situation, a conversion review is the no-pressure way to surface the deadline and run the side-by-side — converting versus underwriting fresh — before the option quietly expires.
- i. Your term policy is within five years of expiring, and the conversion deadline is buried somewhere in the contract.
- ii. Your health has changed since the original term was issued, and underwriting fresh now would be expensive — or impossible.
- iii. You’ve been quoted a high premium on a new permanent policy, and no one has compared it to converting the existing term.
- iv. You don’t know which permanent products your carrier still allows the term to convert into.
Term conversion reviews, at no cost.
Remain advisors pull the conversion deadline directly from your term contract, list every permanent product the issuing carrier currently allows conversion into, and run side-by-side comparisons against fresh underwriting from competing carriers — at no cost.
Request a conversion review, or speak with a Remain advisor directly.