Only while the conversion privilege is still open. That single condition governs every term life settlement, and it is unusually easy to get wrong on a Global Atlantic contract because the company name on your policy is probably not the company servicing it today.
The logic is simple. A life settlement buyer purchases a death benefit that will eventually be paid. Term insurance left alone expires and pays nothing, so a term policy with no remaining conversion right is worthless to a buyer — not cheap, worthless. A term policy that can still be converted is a different asset: the buyer converts it into permanent coverage with no new medical underwriting, and then owns a contract that pays at death. The conversion right is the entire value proposition, and it comes with an expiration date that is frequently earlier than the end of the level premium period.
So the first move is not to seek an offer. It is to get a written statement from the servicing company confirming whether the privilege is open, and the exact calendar date it closes. Everything else is downstream of that answer.
In This Article
Whose name is on the policy, and who services it now
Global Atlantic’s individual life business sits with Accordia Life and Annuity Company, domiciled in Iowa and headquartered in Des Moines, regulated by the Iowa Insurance Division. Accordia was created in 2013 when Global Atlantic acquired the individual life insurance block of Aviva USA and rebranded it. Aviva USA had itself been assembled from earlier Des Moines and Indianapolis companies, so the paper trail behind a single in-force term policy can run through several names.
Depending on when your policy was issued, the carrier printed on it may read Accordia Life, Aviva Life and Annuity Company, AmerUs Life, Indianapolis Life, or another predecessor. All of that business is administered by Accordia today.
The other Global Atlantic insurers are Forethought Life Insurance Company, Indiana-domiciled and regulated by the Indiana Department of Insurance, which issues most Global Atlantic annuity contracts and has preneed roots; and Commonwealth Annuity and Life Insurance Company, Forethought’s parent within the group. KKR completed its acquisition of all remaining equity in Global Atlantic on January 2, 2024, and owns the group outright.
Two things follow for a term owner. Your conversion rights are the rights written into the original contract issued by the original company — a merger does not change them, and Accordia is obligated to honor them. But finding the exact provision may require the servicing team to pull an older product file, so ask specifically and ask in writing.
A closed block changes what conversion means
Global Atlantic stepped back from writing new individual life insurance in 2023, with its indexed universal life sales suspended that July. The group’s active markets as of 2026 center on annuities, preneed life, block and flow reinsurance, pension risk transfer, and funding agreements. Existing individual life policies continue to be serviced.
That matters for a term conversion in a way people miss. When you convert, you convert into a permanent product the carrier makes available for conversions. If a company is no longer actively selling permanent individual life, the menu of conversion products may be narrow — sometimes a single designated contract — and its pricing may be less competitive than an open-market product would be.
This does not eliminate the conversion right. Carriers remain contractually bound to provide a permanent plan on conversion. It does mean the specific question to ask is not just can I convert, but into what, and at what premium. Ask Accordia for the actual conversion product name and an illustration of the converted premium at the insured’s current attained age. A buyer evaluating your term policy will do exactly that calculation, because the converted premium is what they will be paying for the rest of the insured’s life. An expensive conversion chassis produces a lower offer on the same face amount.
The four questions that decide whether you have anything
Put these in one written request to Accordia’s service department:
- Is the conversion privilege currently available on this policy? State it as of today’s date.
- What is the last calendar date it can be exercised? Not a formula — a date. Two limits typically apply and the earlier one wins: a conversion window shorter than the level period (often the first 10 or 15 policy years of a 20 or 30 year term), and an attained-age cutoff, commonly 65 or 70.
- Which permanent plan or plans does it convert into, and what is the premium at the insured’s current age?
- Is partial conversion permitted, and what is the minimum face amount?
The answers determine everything. A 67-year-old with $750,000 of level term, three years of conversion runway left, and a meaningful health history has a genuinely marketable asset. The same person with an expired privilege has a policy with real personal value and zero market value, and should be told so rather than walked through a records collection process.
Timing is not a detail here. A term settlement takes roughly three to four months from application to funding — medical records retrieval, life expectancy reports, provider bidding, closing, and a state rescission period. Starting six weeks before a conversion deadline generally does not work. Our explainer on the term conversion rider covers the provision itself, and selling a term life policy covers the process end to end.
| What to confirm | Ask whom | Effect on value |
|---|---|---|
| Conversion privilege open, with a stated end date | Accordia service department, in writing | Decides whether any market exists |
| Designated conversion product and premium at current age | Accordia | Largest single input into the offer |
| Partial conversion permitted and minimum face | Accordia | Opens a keep-some, sell-some strategy |
| Original issuing company name | Policy schedule page | Locates the correct product file and provisions |
| Insured age and health impairments | Treating physicians, medical records | Drives life expectancy and therefore price |
| Two-year contestability status | Carrier; check for any reinstatement | No buyer closes inside the period |
| Accelerated death benefit rider | Rider schedule | Possible cash even if the policy is unsaleable |
Convert yourself, or let a buyer do it?
Three routes, with genuinely different risk profiles.
Sell the term policy while convertible. The buyer acquires it, converts it, and funds permanent premiums from that day forward. You never write a permanent-premium check. Offers are quoted net of the buyer’s projected conversion cost, so the gross number is lower than an equivalent permanent policy would draw — but you carry no execution risk and no premium risk.
Convert first, then market the permanent policy. Some sellers do better on the headline number because the buyer no longer prices in conversion uncertainty. The exposure is real: you pay a permanent premium that may be four or five times the term premium, and if no acceptable offer arrives you own a contract you did not want at a cost you did not plan for. Do not convert on the strength of a verbal indication that an offer is likely.
Partial conversion. Often the most sensible answer. Convert the amount of permanent coverage the family actually needs, and let the remainder go or market it. This depends on the policy permitting partial conversion, which is question four above.
Weigh all three against simply keeping the term coverage. A policy issued at a preferred rate class years ago, on someone whose health has since declined, is frequently the cheapest death benefit that person will ever hold — and if the level period still has years to run, the family’s protection may be worth more than any offer. See settlement versus conversion and settlement versus keeping the policy.
What buyers weigh on a convertible term file
Assuming the privilege is open, the offer turns on a short list:
- Insured age and health. The market concentrates on insureds past 70, or past 65 with impairments that shorten projected life expectancy relative to the standard mortality table. A healthy 63-year-old rarely clears the bar, however convertible the policy is. See health requirements.
- Face amount. A $100,000 floor is typical; $250,000 and above attracts more bidders. Term policies are often large, which is why the category functions at all.
- Converted premium. Modeled at current attained age on the designated conversion product. This is the largest single input on a term file.
- Runway on the privilege. Two years of room is comfortable. Sixty days is usually not workable.
- Contestability. Two years from issue under most state law, restarting after a reinstatement. No buyer closes inside it. See selling during contestability.
Set expectations accordingly: convertible term generally prices at a lower percentage of face than a seasoned permanent policy on the same insured, because the buyer absorbs the conversion cost. That is still materially better than the nothing a term policy pays when it expires.
If the privilege has expired
Then say it plainly: the policy has essentially no market value, and no honest firm should tell you otherwise. Two things are still worth checking before you close the file.
First, riders. Many term contracts include an accelerated death benefit for terminal illness at no additional premium. If a physician has given a prognosis measured in months, that rider can pay a discounted portion of the face amount while the insured is living, without any buyer or market involvement. Read the rider schedule on the policy, or ask Accordia to list every rider attached.
Second, a serious terminal diagnosis moves the file into viatical territory, where pricing works differently. In narrow circumstances — a substantial remaining level period and a short prognosis — unconvertible term has been transacted. It is uncommon and depends entirely on the specific facts, but it justifies one phone call before assuming the answer is no.
Otherwise the decision is about coverage rather than cash. If the family needs the protection and the premium is affordable, keep it. If not, stop and redirect the money — but never let a policy lapse while a diagnosis is pending without asking the question first. See what to do when a policy is lapsing.
Pine Lake Life Solutions does not purchase policies and is not licensed in every state. We provide education and a free policy review. Send the policy cover page and Accordia’s written conversion statement and we will tell you where the policy actually stands, including when the answer is that there is nothing to pursue. Call (305) 209-7183.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who services my Global Atlantic term policy?
Accordia Life and Annuity Company, domiciled in Iowa and headquartered in Des Moines, holds Global Atlantic’s individual life block and is regulated by the Iowa Insurance Division. Your policy may show an older name such as Aviva Life and Annuity, AmerUs Life or Indianapolis Life, since Accordia was formed from Aviva USA’s individual life business in 2013.
Does a merger change my conversion rights?
No. The conversion privilege is a contractual right written into the original policy, and the company servicing the block is obligated to honor it on the original terms. What can change is the menu of permanent products available to convert into, so ask specifically which plan the policy converts to and what the premium would be.
Why might my conversion deadline be earlier than my level period?
Two limits usually apply at once and the earlier one governs. Many products allow conversion only during the first 10 or 15 policy years of a 20 or 30 year level term, and many also cut the privilege off at attained age 65 or 70. Someone who bought 30-year term at 45 can lose the right at 65 with a decade of level premium left.
Is an unconvertible term policy worth anything to a buyer?
Essentially nothing, because it will expire without paying a death benefit. The narrow exception involves a terminal prognosis and substantial remaining level period, where viatical buyers occasionally transact. Check the rider schedule for an accelerated death benefit, which can pay a discounted portion of face while the insured is living.
Should I convert before trying to sell?
Usually not on speculation. Converting commits you to a permanent premium that may be several times the term premium, and if no acceptable offer materializes you own an expensive contract you did not want. Buyers routinely purchase convertible term and handle the conversion themselves, pricing that cost into what they offer.
Is Global Atlantic still writing new individual life insurance?
The group stepped back from new individual life sales in 2023 and now focuses on annuities, preneed life, reinsurance, pension risk transfer and funding agreements. Existing policies continue to be serviced by Accordia. Confirm the current status of your specific contract directly with the issuing company shown on your schedule page.
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Related Reading
- What Is A Term Conversion Rider
- Sell Term Life Policy
- Life Settlement Vs Term Conversion
- Life Settlement Vs Keeping The Policy
- Health Requirements For A Life Settlement
- Can I Sell A Policy In The Contestability Period
- Policy Lapsing What To Do
- Sell My Global Atlantic Final Expense Policy
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.