A term life policy has no cash value, no surrender value, and no nonforfeiture options. Stop paying and the coverage ends with nothing to collect. That is why the honest answer to whether a Genworth term policy can be sold begins with a qualification rather than a yes. Standing alone, level term is rarely bought by anyone.
What can carry real value is the conversion privilege written into most term contracts: a contractual right to exchange the term policy for a permanent policy from the same company, at the original risk class, with no new medical underwriting. That right has an expiration date, it does not renew, and it becomes most valuable at exactly the moment the owner is least likely to be reading the contract. For a Genworth term owner in 2026 there is a second wrinkle, because a large part of Genworth’s term block was reinsured to another company a decade ago while Genworth kept servicing it. This page explains both. It is education only. Pine Lake Life Solutions does not purchase policies, is not affiliated with or endorsed by Genworth, and offers only a free, no-obligation policy review.
In This Article
- The 2016 Protective Life Transaction and Why Your Bill Still Says Genworth
- Genworth Suspended New Term Sales in March 2016
- Finding the Conversion Deadline in Your Contract
- Why the Conversion Window Is Genuinely Time-Critical
- Which Genworth Entity, and Which Rating
- After Conversion, If a Sale Is Being Considered
- What Pine Lake Does and Does Not Do
- Frequently Asked Questions
The 2016 Protective Life Transaction and Why Your Bill Still Says Genworth
On January 15, 2016, Genworth announced the closing of a transaction covering certain blocks of its term life insurance policies with Protective Life Insurance Company, a Birmingham, Alabama subsidiary of Dai-ichi Life. Reporting on the deal at the time described a block representing roughly $108.7 billion of face amount backed by about $2.3 billion of statutory reserves, with Protective’s total capital investment estimated at approximately $661 million and a base ceding commission of roughly $63 million. Genworth continued to administer and service the policies. Genworth’s own statement framed the deal as an action toward increasing financial flexibility and strength by generating capital from low return blocks.
The structural point is the one that matters to a policy owner. This was a reinsurance transaction, not a transfer of policies. Reinsurance is an agreement between insurance companies that moves economic risk. It does not change who the policyholder’s counterparty is, does not alter any contract term, and does not move the servicing relationship unless the parties separately agree to move it. Genworth’s Virginia Bureau of Insurance examination report as of December 31, 2023 still lists Protective Life Insurance Company among non-affiliate reinsurers of Genworth Life and Annuity Insurance Company, with about $897 million of reserve credit at that date.
So if a term premium notice still arrives with Genworth branding, that is expected. The company on the first page of your policy is the company obligated to pay the claim.
Genworth Suspended New Term Sales in March 2016
The Virginia State Corporation Commission Bureau of Insurance examination report of Genworth Life and Annuity Insurance Company as of December 31, 2023, certified by the Commissioner of Insurance on June 3, 2025, states that on March 7, 2016 the company suspended sales of its Traditional Life insurance and Fixed Annuity products but continues to service its existing blocks of business. The listed products include Term Life Insurance and Term Universal Life Insurance.
For a term owner this has one specific implication worth understanding before making a conversion call. A conversion privilege is a right to exchange the term policy for a permanent policy, and contracts differ on what that permanent policy may be. Some name a specific product. Many say the conversion is into a permanent plan then being made available by the company for conversion purposes. In a block that stopped writing new business a decade ago, the answer to what is currently available for conversion is not something a general web page can supply. It must come from the carrier in writing.
That is not a reason to assume the right is worthless. It is a reason to ask early and to ask specifically.
Finding the Conversion Deadline in Your Contract
The deadline is written in the policy, usually in one of three forms, and most contracts combine two of them with the earlier one governing.
- An attained age limit. Conversion permitted until the insured reaches a stated age.
- A duration limit. Conversion permitted during a stated number of policy years from issue, for example the first ten or fifteen.
- The end of the level premium period, after which the right may lapse even if the coverage itself continues at annually renewable rates.
Call the Genworth Life Insurance service line at 888.325.5433 and ask, in writing, for four things: the exact conversion expiry date, what permanent plans this policy is eligible to convert into, the premium for each, and whether partial conversion of the face amount is permitted. Genworth’s published service hours are Monday through Thursday, 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Eastern, and Friday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Eastern; the general line is 888.436.9678, and the life fax is 888.325.3299 with email at LifeCustomerService@genworth.com.
Send the request in writing and keep a dated copy. A verbal answer from a call center does not preserve a deadline, and in a closed block, turnaround times can be longer than owners expect.
| Step | What to request | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Identify the issuing company | Name on the first page of the policy | Determines entity, rating and service queue |
| 2. Confirm the conversion expiry | Exact date, in writing | The right does not renew or reinstate |
| 3. List eligible conversion plans | Which permanent products are available now | A closed block limits the menu |
| 4. Get premiums for each | Annual premium by plan and face amount | Permanent costs far more than term |
| 5. Ask about partial conversion | Whether part of the face amount may convert | Can make the premium affordable |
| 6. Submit in writing | Dated written request, copy retained | Verbal requests do not preserve a deadline |
Why the Conversion Window Is Genuinely Time-Critical
Most insurance decisions can wait a quarter. This one often cannot, for four reasons that compound each other.
- The right expires on a fixed date. There is no grace period for it, no reinstatement of it, and no appeal to underwriting.
- Conversion requires no new evidence of insurability, so an insured who could not qualify for new coverage at any price can still convert at the original risk class.
- The resulting permanent policy takes time to be issued and placed in force before any further option, including a possible sale, could even be discussed.
- State life settlement statutes commonly impose a waiting period measured from policy issuance before a policy may be sold, with defined hardship and conversion exceptions that vary by state.
That last point deserves emphasis and a caution. Some states include a specific exception for policies issued on the exercise of conversion rights where the time under the conversion policy plus the time under the prior policy reaches a stated total. The rules differ by state and the certifications required differ too. That is a question for your own state’s insurance department and a licensed attorney, not for a national web page.
Which Genworth Entity, and Which Rating
Genworth’s U.S. life obligations sit in separate legal entities, and term policies were issued from more than one of them. Older contracts may carry a predecessor name altogether; the Virginia examination report records that Federal Home Life Insurance Company and First Colony Life Insurance Company were merged into Genworth Life and Annuity Insurance Company on January 1, 2007, and that the surviving company traces back to The Life Insurance Company of Virginia, chartered by Special Act of the Virginia General Assembly on March 31, 1871.
Ratings differ by entity. In a release dated September 17, 2025, AM Best affirmed the Financial Strength Rating of C++ (Marginal) and Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating of “b+” of Genworth Life Insurance Company and Genworth Life Insurance Company of New York, revising their outlooks to positive from stable, and affirmed the Financial Strength Rating of B- (Fair) and Long-Term ICR of “bb-” of Genworth Life and Annuity Insurance Company with a stable outlook. Genworth Financial, Inc. was affirmed at “bb-” with a stable outlook. Ratings change; verify the current one at ambest.com.
The Virginia report also notes that at December 31, 2023 Genworth Life and Annuity Insurance Company was licensed in the District of Columbia and all states except New York, which is why New York policies sit in a separate company.
After Conversion, If a Sale Is Being Considered
Once a term policy has been converted, the owner holds a permanent contract and the ordinary permanent-policy analysis applies. Keep and pay. Reduce the face amount. Take a nonforfeiture option where one exists. Surrender for the cash value. Or, where an offer exists and the coverage genuinely is not needed, sell to a licensed third-party institutional buyer for more than the surrender value and less than the death benefit.
A completed sale ends with the carrier recording a new owner and beneficiary. Genworth’s customer support materials list an Ownership and Beneficiary Designation Request form among the forms available to life insurance policyholders. The existing owner must sign, and a change of ownership can carry federal income, gift, and estate tax consequences plus state and local ones that depend on the owner’s own circumstances.
Eligibility and value are never guaranteed, and many policies attract no offer at all. What is worth repeating is the sequence. A term owner near the end of a conversion window should be solving for that deadline first, because every other option sits downstream of it.
What Pine Lake Does and Does Not Do
Pine Lake Life Solutions publishes education for policy owners and their families and offers a free, no-obligation policy review. Pine Lake does not purchase policies, makes no offers, and does not guarantee eligibility or value. Pine Lake is independent and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to Genworth Financial, Protective Life, Dai-ichi Life, or any of their subsidiaries, and nothing here should be read as an endorsement by any of them.
Nothing on this page is legal, tax, or investment advice. Proceeds from a policy sale may be taxable, may be reachable by creditors, and may affect eligibility for means-tested public benefits including Medicaid. If a conversion deadline is approaching, the single most useful step this week is a written request to Genworth’s life service line for the exact conversion expiry date and the list of eligible conversion products. That information costs nothing and everything else depends on it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a Genworth term life policy be sold as it is?
Generally no. A level term policy has no cash value and no nonforfeiture options, so there is nothing for a buyer to acquire beyond a promise that ends when premiums stop. What can create a sellable asset is exercising the conversion privilege first, exchanging the term contract for a permanent policy without new medical underwriting. Whether any resulting permanent policy attracts an offer is never guaranteed.
Protective Life reinsured Genworth term policies. Did my policy change hands?
No. The January 2016 transaction was reinsurance, an agreement between insurance companies that transfers economic risk. Reporting at the time described a block of roughly $108.7 billion of face amount backed by about $2.3 billion of statutory reserves, with Genworth continuing to administer and service the policies. Your contract terms, your counterparty, and your servicing relationship were not changed by it.
Genworth stopped selling term in 2016. Can I still convert?
The Virginia examination report records that sales of traditional life products were suspended on March 7, 2016 while the company continues to service existing blocks. A conversion privilege is a contractual right that survives a sales suspension, but many contracts define the conversion target as a permanent plan the company then makes available for conversion. What is actually available now must come from the carrier in writing, so ask specifically.
How do I find the conversion deadline on my policy?
It is stated in the contract, usually as an attained age, a number of policy years from issue, or the end of the level premium period, with the earlier of the applicable limits governing. Call the Genworth life service line at 888.325.5433 and request the exact conversion expiry date in writing rather than relying on a verbal answer, and keep a dated copy of your request.
If I convert, can I sell the new policy right away?
Not necessarily. State life settlement statutes commonly impose a waiting period measured from policy issuance before a policy may be sold, with defined exceptions, and several states include a specific exception for policies issued on the exercise of conversion rights when the combined time under the conversion policy and the prior policy reaches a stated total. Those rules vary by state. Check with your state insurance department and a licensed attorney.
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Related Reading
- Sell My Genworth Whole Life Policy
- Sell My Genworth Universal Life Policy
- Sell My Genworth Guaranteed Universal Policy
- Sell My Protective Term Policy
- Life Insurance Grace Period Explained
- Life Insurance After 65
- Change Of Ownership Life Insurance
- 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.