July 31, 2026
5:20 pm

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

Yes — you can sell a Bankers Life universal life policy through a life settlement, as long as you and the policy qualify. The buyer purchases the contract from you, and the carrier’s permission is not part of the transaction. That principle has been settled American law since the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1911 decision in Grigsby v. Russell, and it applies to every insurer’s policies equally.

Universal life is, by a wide margin, the policy type that shows up most often in the secondary market. The reason is structural: the internal cost of insurance rises every year as the insured ages, and a great many UL contracts written between the 1980s and the early 2000s were illustrated at 8% to 12% credited interest. Those policies now credit at or near their guaranteed minimum rate, so the projections owners were shown at issue no longer hold. Premiums that were supposed to be “paid up” by now often need thousands of dollars a year to keep the policy alive into the insured’s 70s and 80s.

This guide explains how Bankers Life fits into that picture, how to read an in-force illustration so you can see your own lapse date, and where the honest limits are. Pine Lake Life Solutions is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting on behalf of Bankers Life and Casualty Company or CNO Financial Group. This page is education only — not legal, tax, or investment advice.

In This Article

Who Bankers Life Is — and Why That Doesn’t Control Your Right to Sell
The $100,000 Threshold: Be Honest About Face Amount First
Why 1980s–2000s Universal Life Became the Settlement Market’s Favorite Policy
Read Your In-Force Illustration Both Ways
What a Buyer Actually Prices on a UL Policy
Documents to Gather Before You Ask for a Number
Timeline, Escrow, and What Happens at Closing
If the Policy Is Too Small — Real Alternatives
Frequently Asked Questions

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

Who Bankers Life Is — and Why That Doesn’t Control Your Right to Sell

Bankers Life and Casualty Company traces its roots to 1879 and is headquartered in Chicago. Since the 1990s it has been part of the group now known as CNO Financial Group, the Carmel, Indiana holding company that was called Conseco until it renamed itself CNO in 2010. The Bankers Life brand sells almost entirely to the middle-income retiree market — Medicare supplement, long-term care, annuities, and life insurance — through a captive career agency force working out of local branch offices, rather than through independent brokers.

A.M. Best has rated Bankers Life in the “A-” (Excellent) range in recent years, but ratings move; confirm the current 2026 rating with A.M. Best or the carrier before you rely on it. None of this affects your right to sell. Rating and ownership structure matter to a buyer only as a measure of how likely the company is to pay the death benefit years from now — they are not a gate you have to pass through.

The $100,000 Threshold: Be Honest About Face Amount First

Here is the part most Bankers Life owners need to hear before anything else. Because the company’s core customer is a retiree buying modest coverage through a career agent, a large share of its life policies are written at small face amounts — final expense and burial-sized coverage in the $10,000 to $50,000 range is common.

Life settlement buyers generally do not purchase those. The fixed costs of a settlement transaction — medical underwriting, life-expectancy reports, legal review, escrow — do not shrink just because the policy is small, so a $25,000 policy rarely produces an offer worth anyone’s time. Pine Lake works with policies of $100,000 or more in death benefit. If your Bankers Life UL policy is under that line, a settlement almost certainly is not your answer, and the alternatives below are where to look instead.

Pull the policy cover page and check the face amount before you do anything else. It takes thirty seconds and it saves weeks.

Why 1980s–2000s Universal Life Became the Settlement Market’s Favorite Policy

Universal life separates three moving parts: the premium you pay in, the interest credited to the account value, and the cost of insurance charged out each month. When interest credits fall short of what was illustrated, the account value grows more slowly. Meanwhile the cost of insurance climbs on a schedule tied to the insured’s age — modestly in the 60s, steeply in the 70s and 80s.

The result is a squeeze that arrives late and fast. Owners who paid the same premium faithfully for thirty years suddenly receive a notice saying the policy will lapse in a few years unless the payment rises substantially. At that point the choice is stark: pay much more, surrender for whatever small account value remains, let it lapse for nothing, or sell.

That last option exists precisely because a buyer values the policy differently than you do. To you, rising premiums on coverage you no longer need are a burden. To an institutional buyer holding a diversified portfolio, the same contract is an asset with a known payout. That gap is what lets a settlement pay more than surrender — see settlement versus surrender for the side-by-side.

Read Your In-Force Illustration Both Ways

The single most useful document you can request from Bankers Life is an in-force illustration, and you should ask for it in two versions:

Current assumptions. Projects the policy forward using today’s credited rate and current cost-of-insurance charges.
Guaranteed assumptions. Projects it using the contract’s guaranteed minimum interest rate and maximum allowable charges — the worst the company is contractually permitted to do.

Compare the two lapse dates. If the guaranteed run shows the policy collapsing at age 79 while the current run shows it lasting to 95, you now understand the real risk you are carrying. Ask for a third version too: the premium required to carry the policy to age 100 under current assumptions. That number is often the one that makes the decision for people. Our explainer on what an in-force illustration is walks through the columns line by line.

Illustration Scenario to Request	What It Assumes	What It Tells You
Current assumptions, current premium	Today’s credited rate and cost of insurance	When the policy lapses if nothing changes
Guaranteed assumptions, current premium	Guaranteed minimum rate, maximum charges	The worst case the contract permits
Premium to carry to age 100, current	Today’s rate and charges	The true annual cost of keeping the policy
Premium to carry to age 100, guaranteed	Guaranteed rate and maximum charges	The ceiling on future out-of-pocket cost
Surrender value schedule	Contractual surrender charges	The number any settlement offer must beat

Read Your In-Force Illustration Both Ways

What a Buyer Actually Prices on a UL Policy

Four inputs drive the value of a universal life policy in the secondary market:

Death benefit. The payout the buyer eventually collects. Larger is better, and $100,000 is the practical floor.
Life expectancy. Estimated from medical records by independent underwriters. Health conditions that shorten life expectancy raise the offer — which is uncomfortable to say plainly, but it is how the math works.
Premium load. What it costs to keep the policy in force each year going forward. Cheaper carrying cost means a higher offer.
Account and surrender value. Sets the floor an offer has to beat, since you could simply surrender instead.

Published market data from the federal Government Accountability Office (GAO-10-775) found sellers typically received roughly 10% to 35% of face value, on the order of four to eight times cash surrender value. Those are ranges across a whole market, not a promise about your policy. See how much you can get for a policy for how the variables interact.

Documents to Gather Before You Ask for a Number

To find out whether your policy is even a candidate, you need one page: the policy cover page showing the insurer, policy number, face amount, and issue date. That is all a free review requires.

If the policy looks viable, the file grows to include your most recent annual statement (face amount, account value, surrender value, outstanding loans), the in-force illustration described above, and a HIPAA authorization allowing underwriters to order medical records. Read any authorization you sign — it should be specific about who receives records and revocable if you change your mind.

If there is a loan against the policy, find the balance now. Loans come off the top of any settlement payment, and a large loan can quietly turn a promising policy into one that no longer clears the math.

Timeline, Escrow, and What Happens at Closing

A realistic schedule for a universal life settlement runs 60 to 120 days from start to funded payment. The slow steps are almost always the same two: waiting on the carrier’s service center for the in-force illustration, and waiting on physicians’ offices to release medical records.

When an offer comes, get it in writing and ask what the number looks like net of every commission and fee. If a broker is in the chain, ask for gross and net side by side. At closing, your funds should be held by an independent escrow agent and released only after the carrier confirms the ownership change on its books — never transfer ownership against a promise of later payment. Most states then provide a rescission window during which you can unwind the sale and return the money.

To start, send the policy cover page for a free, no-obligation policy review, or call (305) 209-7183. There is no cost and no obligation to proceed.

If the Policy Is Too Small — Real Alternatives

Small final-expense and burial policies are the most common Bankers Life contracts, and they are the ones settlement buyers pass on. If yours is under roughly $100,000, consider these instead: surrender it for whatever cash value has accumulated; reduce the face amount to a level the existing account value can support without further premiums; use an accelerated death benefit rider if the insured has a qualifying terminal or chronic illness; or simply keep it if the premium is affordable and the coverage still serves a purpose.

Also check whether the policy has a waiver-of-premium provision that a disability might trigger. And before you let any policy lapse, ask the carrier what a reduced paid-up option would look like. Our education center and the guide to what policies qualify cover the full screen. Related Bankers Life guides: guaranteed universal life and variable universal life.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need Bankers Life’s permission to sell my universal life policy?

No. A life insurance policy is personal property you own, and the 1911 Supreme Court case Grigsby v. Russell confirmed the owner’s right to transfer it. The buyer purchases the contract directly from you. The carrier simply records the change of ownership and beneficiary after closing.

My Bankers Life policy is $30,000. Can I sell it?

Almost certainly not through a life settlement. The fixed costs of underwriting and closing a settlement do not shrink with policy size, so buyers generally look for $100,000 or more in death benefit. For smaller policies, look at surrendering, reducing the face amount to a paid-up level, or an accelerated death benefit rider if one applies.

Why do so many universal life policies need bigger premiums later?

Because the internal cost of insurance rises with the insured’s age while credited interest has fallen far below what 1980s and 1990s illustrations assumed. The account value that was supposed to absorb those rising charges never grew as projected. The shortfall usually surfaces in the insured’s 70s or 80s as a lapse notice.

How do I get an in-force illustration from Bankers Life?

Call the service number on your most recent premium notice or annual statement and request an in-force illustration at both current and guaranteed assumptions. As of 2026, confirm the exact request process with the carrier, since service centers differ. Ask them to include the premium needed to carry the policy to age 100.

How much might a universal life settlement pay?

The federal GAO’s market study (GAO-10-775) found sellers typically received about 10% to 35% of face value, roughly four to eight times cash surrender value. Your own result depends on age, health, the death benefit, and how expensive the policy is to keep in force. Only a review of the actual contract produces a real number.

Does an outstanding policy loan hurt my offer?

Yes. A loan balance and its accrued interest are deducted from what you receive at closing, because the buyer takes the policy subject to the loan. A large loan on a modest policy can eliminate the economics entirely. Find the current loan balance on your annual statement before starting.

How long does the process take?

Plan on roughly 60 to 120 days from first review to funded payment. Gathering the in-force illustration and medical records takes the most time. Your funds should be held in independent escrow and released only after the insurer confirms the ownership transfer.

Is Pine Lake connected to Bankers Life?

No. Pine Lake Life Solutions is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting on behalf of Bankers Life and Casualty Company or CNO Financial Group. We provide education and a free policy review; we do not represent the carrier and this page is not legal, tax, or investment advice.

Find out what your policy is worth — free, confidential, no obligation.

A 15-minute educational review covers your eligibility, every alternative, and a realistic view of what each path would net you.

Call (305) 209-7183 · Request a review online →

Table of Contents