Only if the conversion privilege is still open. That single date decides the entire question, and it usually expires years before the level premium period does. A settlement buyer is purchasing a death benefit it expects to collect. Term insurance is built to expire, so on its own it is worth nothing to a buyer. What has value is the contractual right to exchange that term policy for permanent coverage without proving insurability again. If that right is still exercisable, an impaired insured is holding something genuinely valuable. If it has lapsed, the policy has essentially no market value and no amount of shopping will change that.
So the first call is not to a settlement company. It is to COUNTRY Life Insurance Company’s policy service line to ask, in writing, for the exact date the conversion privilege expires and the list of permanent plans the policy may be converted into. Everything else on this page is downstream of that answer.
In This Article
- Find the conversion deadline, and expect it to be earlier than you think
- Why unconvertible term is worth nothing to a buyer
- Which company issued it, and why that matters for a conversion
- Convert first or sell first? The order of operations matters
- What happens if you do nothing at the end of the level period
- Who is actually a candidate, and what to send for a review
- Frequently Asked Questions
Find the conversion deadline, and expect it to be earlier than you think
People assume a 20-year level term policy is convertible for 20 years. That is rarely how the contract is written. Conversion privileges are typically capped at the earlier of two triggers: a stated attained age of the insured, commonly somewhere between 65 and 70, or a set number of policy years, often 10 or 15 on a 20- or 30-year product. Whichever comes first ends the right. A 62-year-old holding year 12 of a 30-year policy can easily be three years from losing conversion while eighteen years of level premium remain.
The provision lives in the policy under a heading such as Conversion Privilege, Right to Convert, or Exchange Option, and on some contracts it is a separate rider listed on the schedule page with its own expiry. Read the actual language rather than the marketing brochure, then confirm it with the carrier and keep the written confirmation. Agents change, files get archived, and a verbal answer from a service representative is not something you can rely on eighteen months later.
Ask four specific questions and get all four answers in writing: the last date conversion may be exercised, the full list of permanent products currently available for conversion, whether conversion is available for the full face amount or only part of it, and whether any credit is given for the term premiums already paid. That last one varies and occasionally produces a pleasant surprise on older contracts.
Why unconvertible term is worth nothing to a buyer
Institutional buyers model a policy as a stream of future premium payments against a probability-weighted death benefit. Term insurance ends at a fixed date. If the insured survives that date, the buyer receives nothing, having paid premiums the entire time and paid the seller up front. There is no discount rate at which that trade works unless the insured is expected to die within the remaining term with near certainty, which is a viatical scenario rather than a settlement one and requires documented terminal illness.
Conversion changes the arithmetic completely. A convertible term policy can become a permanent contract that pays whenever the insured dies, and critically, the conversion is done at attained age without new evidence of insurability. The insured’s current health does not matter for the exchange. That is precisely why a term policy on someone whose health has deteriorated badly since underwriting can be worth real money while the same policy on a healthy insured is worth little. The value is the option, not the coverage.
The practical consequence is that a diagnosis is not a reason to stop paying term premiums. It is a reason to check the conversion date immediately, because letting a convertible policy lapse in that situation can destroy a six-figure asset in a month. Our guide on the term conversion rider walks through how the exchange itself works.
Which company issued it, and why that matters for a conversion
COUNTRY Financial is a group brand covering several separate legal entities. The property and casualty side and the life side are different companies, which is why a long relationship with a COUNTRY agent on auto and homeowners coverage has no bearing on the life file. The life carrier is COUNTRY Life Insurance Company, domiciled in Illinois and headquartered in Bloomington, with the Illinois Department of Insurance as its primary solvency and market conduct regulator. A related life entity in the group has also issued business, so read the company name off the face page rather than assuming.
COUNTRY sells through a captive agent force in a limited footprint of states rather than nationally, and coverage in the group is generally tied to Farm Bureau membership. Two practical wrinkles follow. If the original writing agent has retired or the policyholder has moved out of COUNTRY’s operating states, the local office may no longer be the right contact, and conversion requests should go directly to the home office service center. Second, an in-force life policy does not evaporate because a Farm Bureau membership lapsed, but the servicing conversation is smoother when membership status is clear.
We are not going to assert current term product names for this carrier. The retail lineup has been described publicly as term, whole life, and universal life, and product names in this segment get retired and reissued frequently. The name printed on your own contract is the authoritative one, and the service center can match it to the conversion products available to that specific plan.
| Situation | Market value of the term policy | What to do first |
|---|---|---|
| Conversion open, insured 70+, health declined | Potentially significant | Get conversion deadline in writing, then request offers |
| Conversion open but expiring within 60 days | At risk; buyers may not close in time | Ask the carrier about the conversion process timeline immediately |
| Conversion open, insured healthy | Low | Keep the coverage; revisit if health changes |
| Conversion privilege already expired | Essentially none | Decide whether to pay renewal premiums or let it end |
| Level period ended, on annual renewable term | Essentially none | Review the guaranteed renewal rate table |
| Documented terminal diagnosis | Possible viatical, separate rules | Ask about accelerated death benefit riders first |
Convert first or sell first? The order of operations matters
There are two workable sequences and one common mistake.
Sequence one: sell the convertible term policy as it stands. The buyer acquires the term contract along with the conversion right and exercises it themselves after closing. This is normal in the market and it means the seller never has to fund a permanent premium. It works only when the conversion window has enough time left for the buyer’s process, which typically runs 60 to 120 days from application to funding. If the deadline is six weeks away, most buyers will pass simply because they cannot close in time.
Sequence two: convert, then sell the permanent policy. This can produce a cleaner file and sometimes a better price, because buyers are pricing a known permanent contract rather than an option. The cost is that the owner pays the permanent premium in the interim, which at older ages is not trivial. Which permanent plan you convert into also matters a great deal: a guaranteed universal life chassis with a strong no-lapse guarantee generally prices better than a cash-accumulation product, because the buyer’s carrying cost is lower and more predictable. See how guaranteed universal life works before choosing.
The mistake is converting into whatever the agent suggests, funding it minimally, and then discovering the buyer values it poorly because the required premium is high. If a sale is under serious consideration, get the conversion options priced before choosing one, not after.
What happens if you do nothing at the end of the level period
Most level term policies do not simply end on the last day of the level period. They convert automatically to annually renewable term, which means coverage continues without any new underwriting but the premium is recalculated each year at attained age. Those renewal rates are set at the contract’s guaranteed maximums and are startling. It is routine for the first post-level premium to be several times the level premium and to double again within a few years.
Some owners in poor health rationally pay those renewal premiums for a year or two, because uninsurable coverage at any price beats no coverage. Most people simply stop paying and the policy terminates. Either way, know which one you are choosing rather than discovering it from a billing notice.
Read the schedule page table of guaranteed annual renewable term rates before the level period ends. It shows exactly what each future year costs. If those numbers are unaffordable and the conversion privilege has already expired, the honest answer is that the settlement market has nothing for you and the remaining decisions are about coverage, not cash.
Who is actually a candidate, and what to send for a review
A COUNTRY Financial term policy is worth having reviewed when four things are true at once: the insured is roughly 65 or older, the death benefit is meaningfully above $100,000, health has declined materially since the policy was underwritten, and the conversion privilege has at least four to six months of runway left. Miss any one of those and the realistic answer is usually no.
It is not a candidate if the conversion window has closed, if the insured is healthy and the policy would simply be priced as a long-dated option, or if the coverage is still doing a job, such as backstopping a mortgage or a business loan, that nothing else covers. Selling coverage that is still needed to solve a cash problem that has a smaller solution is a bad trade, and we would rather say so than book the case. Compare the alternatives honestly at life settlement versus term conversion.
To get a straight answer, send three things: the policy cover page, the carrier’s written statement of the conversion expiry date and available conversion plans, and a short summary of the insured’s current diagnoses and treating physicians. That is enough for a preliminary read. Pine Lake Life Solutions provides education and a free policy review; we do not purchase policies and we are not licensed in every state, and whether a settlement is permitted and how it must be brokered is governed by the law of the state where you live, not by the insurer’s home state. Nothing on this page is legal, tax, or investment advice, and decisions with estate or Medicaid implications should go through your own attorney first.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where exactly do I find the conversion deadline on my policy?
Look under a provision titled Conversion Privilege, Right to Convert, or Exchange Option, and check the schedule page for a separate conversion rider with its own expiry. The date is normally the earlier of a stated attained age or a stated policy year. Confirm it in writing with COUNTRY Life Insurance Company’s service center, because contract language varies by product and issue year.
Do I need a medical exam to convert my term policy?
No. That is the entire point of the conversion privilege. Conversion is exercised without new evidence of insurability, so the insured’s current health does not affect eligibility. The premium is set at attained age for the permanent plan chosen. Health only matters afterward, if a settlement is being considered, because that is what a buyer prices.
Can a buyer purchase my term policy and convert it themselves?
Yes, this is standard practice when the conversion window has enough time left. The buyer acquires the contract with the conversion right attached and exercises it after closing, which means you never fund a permanent premium. It requires roughly 60 to 120 days from application to funding, so a deadline arriving sooner than that will cause most buyers to decline.
Is my term policy worth anything if I am in good health?
Usually very little. Settlement pricing depends on the gap between the insured’s actual life expectancy and standard mortality assumptions. A healthy insured in their sixties has a long expected premium-paying period, so any offer would be a small fraction of the death benefit. Keep the coverage and revisit the question if health changes materially.
What happens to my premium after the level period ends?
Most level term policies continue as annually renewable term at guaranteed maximum rates rather than terminating outright. Those rates are recalculated at attained age each year and rise steeply, often several times the level premium in the first post-level year. The schedule page contains a table of the guaranteed renewal rates, so you can see the exact cost before deciding.
Which permanent plan should I convert into if I might sell later?
Generally the one with the lowest and most predictable carrying cost for a buyer, which usually means a guaranteed universal life design with a strong no-lapse guarantee rather than a cash accumulation product. Price the available conversion options before choosing, because converting into an expensive plan first and asking about value second is the most common and most costly sequencing mistake.
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Related Reading
- Can I Sell A Term Life Insurance Policy
- Sell Term Life Policy
- What Is A Term Conversion Rider
- Life Settlement Vs Term Conversion
- What Is Guaranteed Universal Life
- Sell My Country Financial Guaranteed Universal Policy
- Where To Find Your Policy Cover Page
- Age Requirements For A Life Settlement
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.