Universal life insurance policies are the most frequently settled policy type in the life settlement market because of their flexible premium structure and adjustable death benefits.
Universal Life Insurance
Universal life policies — especially those issued in the 1980s and 1990s — are now hitting policyholders with unexpected premium increases. Many people feel trapped. But there is a way out most people don't know about.
Get a Free ValuationKeep paying
Continue making premium payments that may keep increasing, possibly until the policy eats more than it was ever worth.
Surrender for pennies
Take the cash surrender value your insurer offers — a fraction of what the policy is actually worth on the open market.
Let it lapse
Stop paying and get nothing. Years of premiums, gone. The insurance company keeps everything.
Sell it — the option most people don't know about
Sell your policy on the secondary market to an institutional buyer for significantly more than your insurer will offer. Walk away with real money instead of nothing.
Institutional buyers — pension funds, hedge funds, life settlement portfolios — understand these products in ways most individual policyholders don't. What looks like a liability to you often looks like an asset to them.
Flexible premium structure
Buyers can optimize premium payments to maximize their return. What's a burden for you is a lever for them.
Adjustable death benefits
The ability to adjust death benefits gives institutional buyers tools to manage their portfolio exposure that individual policyholders rarely use.
Existing cash value
Accumulated cash value reduces the effective cost of acquisition and provides additional security in the buyer's underwriting model.
Large secondary market demand
Universal life policies are actively sought in the life settlement market. High demand means competitive offers and faster transactions.
Many universal life policies were originally illustrated at interest rate assumptions of 8–12% — rates that never materialized in the low-interest-rate environment of the past two decades. The gap between projected and actual performance has been quietly eroding cash values for years.
Now, insurers are issuing premium increase notices to keep policies in force. Policyholders who thought they'd paid up are suddenly on the hook for thousands more per year.
Selling can unlock the value that's still in the policy — before rising costs drain it further. The longer you wait, the less there may be to recover.
We'll evaluate your universal life policy at no cost and tell you exactly what institutional buyers are willing to pay today.
Get a Free ValuationNo obligation. Confidential. No pressure.
Key Takeaway
Universal life policies are the #1 most settled policy type. If your premiums are rising and you're considering dropping the policy, a life settlement can turn it into a significant cash payout.
Yes. Universal life policies are the most commonly settled policy type. If you are 65+ with a face value of $100,000 or more, you likely qualify.
Universal life policies have flexible premiums and adjustable death benefits, making them attractive to institutional buyers. Rising cost-of-insurance charges also motivate policyholders to explore settlements.
If your universal life premiums are rising, you have three options: keep paying, surrender the policy to the carrier, or sell through a life settlement. Selling typically returns 4–7x the surrender value.