Selling Your Life Insurance for Cash: What to Know

Selling your life insurance policy for cash through a Life Settlement can be a smart financial move—especially in your senior years. It can free up funds for healthcare, travel, or other personal goals. This option is particularly helpful if your policy is no longer needed or if paying premiums has become a burden.

That said, the process can feel overwhelming at first—especially if you’re unfamiliar with the steps or who’s involved. That’s where a trusted partner like Summit Life Settlements comes in. Our experienced team helps you understand your options, manage the details, and answer all your questions along the way.

Without the right support, you might feel buried in paperwork and confused by the number of people involved—from brokers and underwriters to medical reviewers and legal advisors. To cash life insurance policy through a life settlement, you’ll often need to provide medical records, policy documents, and some financial information to determine the value of your policy. This can be daunting if you’re unfamiliar with the process or industry terms.

Life Settlement - an advisor showing a contract. What’s the Life Settlement Process

That’s why it’s important to learn about the life settlement process early. This includes understanding how policies are valued, how offers are negotiated, and the legal steps involved in transferring ownership. While selling life insurance policy isn’t overly complex, it can feel tedious—much like buying a home—if you’re not prepared.

The good news? The process is designed to protect you. State regulations require transparency, fair offers, and full disclosure of any fees or commissions. These rules are in place to safeguard your interests and help you make an informed decision.

By understanding your rights and the obligations of everyone involved, you’ll feel more confident in your choices. With the right guidance—like what you’ll get from Summit Life Settlements—you can sell life insurance policy with peace of mind and gain the financial flexibility you deserve.

LIFE SETTLEMENT BROKER PROCESS WITH SUMMIT LIFE SETTLEMENTS

Why Choose Summit Life Settlements to Represent Your Case?

The Summit Life Settlements Difference

At Summit Life Settlements, we bring a fresh, modern approach to the Life Settlement Market through our proprietary Summit Life Marketplace platform. Our goal is simple: to help you unlock the hidden value of your policy and turn it into a strategic financial asset.

We connect you directly with a network of trusted, licensed institutional buyers, increasing demand for your policy and driving competitive offers. This process helps ensure you receive more than just the cash surrender value—often significantly more.

Here’s what sets us apart:

  • Comprehensive Policy Review: We assess both the cash surrender value and the market value of your policy so you can make an informed, confident decision.

  • Efficient Process: Our streamlined platform simplifies the life settlement journey, making it easy to cash out your life insurance policy without stress or confusion.

  • Personalized Support: Every policyholder’s situation is unique. Our experienced team guides you through the entire process—from your initial consultation to the final settlement.

  • Exceptional Service: We pride ourselves on transparency, communication, and professionalism. You’ll never feel in the dark—we’re here to answer every question.

Discover the True Value of Your Life Insurance

Your life insurance policy could be worth more than you think. Don’t let it lapse or settle for the minimum payout. Selling your life insurance policy through a life settlement may provide the financial flexibility you need—whether for retirement, healthcare, debt relief, or personal goals.

Contact Us today to explore your options, receive a free policy evaluation, and take the first step toward unlocking your policy’s full value.

A life settlement is the sale of an existing life insurance policy to a third-party buyer for a cash payment. The amount is typically higher than the policy’s cash surrender value but less than the death benefit. After the sale, the buyer takes over premium payments and becomes the policy’s beneficiary.

A broker works on your behalf—not the buyer’s. At Summit Life Settlements, we run a competitive auction in our Marketplace platform to ensure multiple offers, helping you maximize the value of your policy while managing paperwork, negotiations, and legal compliance.

There are many factors that determine the length of the life settlement process. Generally, life settlements can take around 6-8 weeks to complete. Viatical settlements can be expedited due to the urgency of the situation.

Most of the time is determined by how quickly the policyholder’s insurance carrier will respond to requests for information and documentation. There’s also the time it takes to gather all the medical records, the underwriting process, and closing process. Other variable factors such as the number of rounds of bidding in our Marketplace also factor in the total life settlement process time.

There are nine steps in the life settlement process. They are the application, the documentation, review and underwriting, auction, the offer, closing package, escrow, transferring of funds, lastly, the rescission period.

The funds used to purchase your policy will go from the buyer to the escrow account pending review of all the documentation. There will be an escrow agent overseeing the escrow account that will verify the completion of the documentation from all parties involved. Once verified, the settlement funds will be released from the escrow to you.

While each case is unique, most individuals who qualify meet these general criteria:

  • Age 65 or older (or younger if facing serious health conditions)

  • Policy with a death benefit of at least $100,000

  • Policy type: universal life, whole life, convertible term, or survivorship

Each round is one week and because each and every policyholder is unique, we tailor each case to one’s needs. Often, one will find the offer in the first round nearly double what one would have received shopping on their own. Some policyholders receive offers more than 3-4 times what was offered to them in the first by the 3rd or 4th round.