Can I Sell My Assurity Universal Life Policy? (2026 Guide)

Your Assurity policy has not changed hands

Many universal life owners spend their first phone calls trying to find out who holds their policy, because so many UL blocks written in the 1980s and 1990s were sold, reinsured or handed to third-party administrators. Assurity is the exception. AM Best’s credit report on Assurity Life Insurance Group (AMB #070511, dated December 24, 2025) describes an unbroken chain: Assurity Group, Inc., a Nebraska non-insurer mutual holding company, wholly owns Assurity Holdings, Inc., which wholly owns Assurity Life Insurance Company.

Assurity Life Insurance Company was incorporated in Nebraska on March 20, 1964 and carries NAIC number 71439. Its home office is 2000 Q Street, Lincoln, Nebraska 68503. If your policy carries an older name — Woodmen Accident and Life, Security Financial Life or Lincoln Direct Life — that is a predecessor. Those mutual holding company structures completed mergers in 2001 and again in 2007 to form what is now Assurity. New York residents may instead be served by Assurity Life Insurance Company of New York, established in 2016.

One call to 800-869-0355 with the original policy number reaches the people who administer the contract today. No searching, no assumption company, no runoff administrator.

Why universal life is the most-settled policy type

Three features of universal life converge to make it the most common candidate in the settlement market:

• Flexible premium. Because you were allowed to underpay in good years, many policies arrive at old age underfunded relative to the original plan.
• Rising internal charges. The cost of insurance is charged per thousand of net amount at risk and climbs steeply with attained age.
• Low cash surrender value relative to face. Unlike whole life, a UL policy in its later years may have very little cash value left, which means the surrender floor is low and there is more room for a settlement offer to exceed it.

That last point is the crux. In whole life, the guaranteed surrender value is a high bar. In universal life, the surrender value is often small while the death benefit is intact, so the spread between what the carrier will pay you today and what the policy is worth to a buyer can be much wider.

The cost-of-insurance problem, in plain terms

Each month, Assurity deducts a cost of insurance charge based on the net amount at risk — roughly the death benefit minus the account value — multiplied by a per-thousand rate tied to the insured’s attained age and rate class. Administrative and rider charges come out too. Interest is credited back to the account value.

While you are young, the credited interest can outrun the charges. Later it cannot. Two things then happen at once: the per-thousand rate goes up because of age, and the net amount at risk goes up because the account value is shrinking. The drain accelerates. When the account value can no longer cover a monthly deduction, the policy enters a grace period, and if the required payment is not made, coverage lapses.

This is why a universal life owner in their late seventies is often told the premium must double or triple to carry the policy to maturity. It is not a penalty and it is not a mistake. It is the arithmetic of the contract catching up.

The in-force illustration is the document that answers the question

Nothing about a universal life decision can be settled without a current in-force illustration, and you should request more than one version. Ask Assurity’s client services team at 800-869-0355 or clientservices@assurity.com for the following, in writing:

• An illustration at guaranteed maximum charges and the guaranteed minimum interest rate, showing the year the policy lapses if you keep paying the current premium. This is the worst case, and it is the one buyers price against.
• An illustration at current charges and current credited rates, for comparison.
• The premium required to carry the policy to age 100 or maturity, on both bases.
• The minimum premium to keep the policy in force for 12 months from today.
• A policy status letter with current account value, cash surrender value, any surrender charge still in effect, loan balance and the exact death benefit option in force.

Read the death benefit option carefully. Option A pays a level face amount; Option B pays the face amount plus the account value and therefore costs more each month. Switching options is sometimes a legitimate way to reduce charges without selling anything.

What to check before assuming the policy is failing

Several contract features can rescue a universal life policy that looks like it is heading for lapse:

• No-lapse or secondary guarantee provisions. Some universal life contracts keep coverage in force regardless of account value as long as a specified premium test is met. If your contract has one, ask Assurity in writing whether the guarantee is currently satisfied and what it would take to reinstate it.
• Face amount reduction. Lowering the death benefit lowers the net amount at risk and the monthly charge with it. A smaller policy you can afford beats a large one that lapses.
• Outstanding loans. A loan increases the net amount at risk and quietly accelerates the drain.
• Accelerated benefit riders. Assurity’s product line includes accelerated death benefit features for terminal, chronic or critical illness. If the insured’s health has changed, one of these may deliver money without giving up the policy at all.

Only after those are ruled out does a settlement become the sensible comparison, and even then eligibility depends on the insured’s age and health, the face amount and the projected premium load. No outcome is guaranteed.

Transferring ownership if you do sell

A settlement is completed at the carrier, not at the negotiating table. Assurity must record a change of policy ownership — typically an absolute assignment or change-of-owner request — and a corresponding beneficiary change. As of July 2026, Assurity does not publish a general-purpose consumer change-of-ownership form on its public site, so request the current version from client services at 800-869-0355 and ask specifically about notarization, assignee and irrevocable beneficiary signatures, spousal consent in community property states, and the mailing address for originals.

Two practical warnings. First, do not stop paying premiums while a transfer is pending. A lapse in the middle of the process can end the transaction and the coverage. Second, ask for written confirmation once the ownership change is recorded, and keep it.

Assurity’s financial standing as of 2026

AM Best affirmed Assurity Life Insurance Group’s Financial Strength Rating at A- (Excellent) and its Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating at a- (Excellent), with stable outlooks, on a rating effective date of November 6, 2025. Balance sheet strength was assessed as strongest, operating performance as adequate, business profile as limited and enterprise risk management as appropriate. Reported capital and surplus was roughly $436.9 million at year-end 2024 against total assets of about $2.48 billion.

Assurity continues to write new business rather than sitting in runoff; AM Best’s report lists whole life, term life and universal life among current offerings, with 6.6 percent net written premium growth in 2024. Ratings and financials change; verify the current figures with AM Best or Assurity before relying on them.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is my Assurity universal life premium suddenly higher?

In most cases the premium was never fixed. Universal life deducts a monthly cost of insurance based on the insured’s attained age and the net amount at risk, and those deductions rise steeply in later years. When the account value can no longer absorb them, the carrier requests more money to keep the policy in force. Request an in-force illustration at guaranteed charges to see exactly when that pressure becomes unmanageable.

Who services my policy if it was issued by Woodmen Accident and Life or Security Financial Life?

Assurity Life Insurance Company. Those companies, along with Lincoln Direct Life, were the predecessors whose mutual holding companies merged in 2001 and again in 2007 to create the Assurity Group structure. Call 800-869-0355 with the original policy number. New York residents may be served by Assurity Life Insurance Company of New York, formed in 2016.

Does a low cash value mean my policy is worthless?

Not necessarily, and with universal life the opposite is often true in the settlement market. Value to a buyer is driven by the death benefit, the insured’s life expectancy and the projected premium cost of carrying the policy, not by the account value. A policy with almost no surrender value can still be evaluated. Eligibility and value are decided case by case and cannot be promised in advance.

Should I let the policy lapse instead?

Letting a policy lapse is the one exit that returns nothing. Before that happens, ask Assurity about reducing the face amount, changing the death benefit option, checking any no-lapse guarantee, and whether an accelerated benefit rider applies. A free, no-obligation policy review can lay those options side by side. Pine Lake does not purchase policies and has no financial interest in which option you choose.

Related Reading

• Sell My Assurity Whole Life Policy
• Sell My Assurity Term Policy
• How To Read In Force Illustration
• How Long Policy Survive Without Premiums
• Automatic Premium Loan Provision
• Carrier Change Of Ownership Requirements
• How Do Life Settlements Work

Pine Lake Life Solutions does not purchase life insurance policies and does not provide legal, tax, or investment advice. Information provided is for educational purposes only. Eligibility for any option, including life settlements, is not guaranteed and depends on individual circumstances, policy terms, underwriting, and market conditions. Consult independent legal, tax, or financial professionals before making decisions regarding a life insurance policy.