Yes — you can sell a Great-West Life & Annuity whole life policy in a life settlement, because the policy is your personal property and the buyer purchases the contract from you; the insurer’s permission is not required. That is true even though Great-West no longer sells individual life insurance under that name, and even if your statements now arrive with a different company’s logo on them.
Here is the part that trips people up. In 2019, Great-West Life & Annuity sold its individual life insurance and annuity business to Protective Life through a reinsurance transaction. The company’s remaining retirement and workplace-savings business was rebranded as Empower. So the name on your policy jacket, the name on your statement, and the name answering the service line may all be different — and the policy is still perfectly valid and still yours to sell.
This guide focuses on whole life specifically: how guaranteed cash value sets the number a buyer has to beat, how dividends and paid-up additions fit in, and how an outstanding loan reduces what actually reaches you at closing. Pine Lake Life Solutions is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting on behalf of Great-West Life & Annuity, Empower, or Protective Life. This page is education only — not legal, tax, or investment advice.
In This Article
- “My Carrier Doesn’t Exist Anymore” — What Actually Happened
- Reading the Cash Surrender Value Column on Your Statement
- Why a Settlement Offer Is Benchmarked Against Surrender Value, Not Face Amount
- Dividends and Paid-Up Additions — Where the Extra Value Hides
- Policy Loans Come Off the Top
- Documents to Gather, and What the Process Looks Like
- Alternatives Worth Comparing First
- Other Great-West Policy Types
- Frequently Asked Questions
“My Carrier Doesn’t Exist Anymore” — What Actually Happened
Great-West Life & Annuity Insurance Company, headquartered in the Denver area, was for decades part of the Great-West Lifeco group under Canada’s Power Corporation. In 2019 it sold its individual life and annuity block to Protective Life in a reinsurance-based transaction, and refocused on retirement plan services under the Empower brand. The remaining legal entity was later renamed to align with Empower — confirm the exact servicing entity name and address for your policy as of 2026, because that is the name that will appear on ownership-change forms.
What this means for you day to day: the phone number printed inside a 1990s policy may be dead, your annual statement may look nothing like the one you got ten years ago, and the company you write to for an in-force illustration is not the company that sold you the policy. None of that weakens the contract. A reinsurance transfer or a corporate rename does not change the death benefit, the guaranteed cash value schedule, the premium, or your right to transfer ownership.
If you cannot tell who services the policy, start with the most recent premium notice. If you have nothing recent, your state insurance department’s consumer help line can usually point you to the current administrator. Also check the current A.M. Best financial-strength rating of the servicing company before you make decisions — ratings change, so verify rather than assume.
Reading the Cash Surrender Value Column on Your Statement
Whole life is the one policy type with a guaranteed floor, and learning to read that floor is the single most useful thing you can do before talking to anyone about selling.
Your annual statement — and the table of guaranteed values printed inside the policy itself — shows a cash value that grows on a contractual schedule. Look for three separate numbers, because people routinely confuse them:
- Guaranteed cash value. What the schedule promises at your current policy year.
- Total cash value. Guaranteed value plus any dividend accumulations and paid-up additions.
- Net cash surrender value. Total cash value minus any outstanding loan and accrued loan interest, and minus any surrender charge still in effect. This is the number the insurer would actually pay you today.
That last figure is the benchmark. If you cancel the policy, that is your check — not the death benefit. Our explainer on how cash surrender value works walks through the same numbers in more detail.
Why a Settlement Offer Is Benchmarked Against Surrender Value, Not Face Amount
People often assume a buyer starts at the death benefit and works down. In practice the reasoning runs the other way: a buyer starts from what the policy would cost to keep and what it might eventually pay, and you start from what you could get by simply surrendering it. A settlement only makes sense if the offer clears that surrender floor by a meaningful margin.
The federal GAO’s study of the market (GAO-10-775) found that sellers typically received on the order of 10% to 35% of face value, and roughly 4 to 8 times what surrendering would have paid. Those are broad ranges across a whole market, not a quote — a specific policy can land outside them in either direction.
One counterintuitive point for whole life owners: a very rich cash value is not automatically good news for a sale. High cash value raises the floor a buyer must beat while also representing money the insurer already owes you. Policies that price best tend to pair a substantial death benefit with moderate cash value and premiums that are not so cheap the policy is worth more kept than sold. See settlement versus surrender for the side-by-side.
Dividends and Paid-Up Additions — Where the Extra Value Hides
If your Great-West whole life policy is participating, it may have been credited dividends over the years. Dividends are not guaranteed, and how they were applied changes what you are holding today:
- Paid-up additions. Dividends bought small chunks of extra, fully paid coverage. These quietly increase both your death benefit and your cash value — sometimes by a lot on a policy that has run 30 years. Check whether your stated face amount includes them.
- Accumulate at interest. Dividends sit in a side account earning interest. This money is generally payable to you and is worth confirming before any transaction.
- Reduce premium. Dividends offset what you pay each year. Your out-of-pocket premium is lower than the contract premium — relevant because a buyer prices the full premium going forward.
- Cash payout. You received them as checks; nothing accrued inside the policy.
Ask the servicing company to confirm your current dividend election and the value of any paid-up additions. It is a five-minute question that occasionally changes the size of the asset by five figures.
| Number on Your Statement | What It Means | Why It Matters to a Sale |
|---|---|---|
| Face amount / death benefit | What beneficiaries would receive at death | Sets the ceiling; settlements pay a fraction of it |
| Guaranteed cash value | Contractually scheduled value for this policy year | The base of the surrender floor |
| Paid-up additions | Extra coverage bought by past dividends | Raises both death benefit and cash value |
| Outstanding loan + interest | What you have borrowed and owe back | Comes off the top of any settlement proceeds |
| Net cash surrender value | What the insurer would pay you to cancel today | The number a settlement offer must beat |
Policy Loans Come Off the Top
Whole life policies are easy to borrow against, and loans have a way of sitting there for years quietly accruing interest. This matters enormously at closing.
When a policy with an outstanding loan is sold, the loan and its accrued interest are settled out of the transaction. What reaches you is the net amount after that payoff. A $250,000 policy with a $60,000 loan balance does not produce the same proceeds as the identical policy with no loan — the buyer is acquiring a contract encumbered by that debt, and the math reflects it.
Two practical steps. First, request a current loan payoff figure, including interest to date, rather than working from last year’s statement. Second, if you are considering borrowing more before a sale, understand that it does not create extra money — it converts future settlement proceeds into cash today, usually at a worse exchange rate. There may also be tax consequences when a loan is discharged in a sale, which is a question for your own tax advisor, not for this page.
Documents to Gather, and What the Process Looks Like
To find out whether the policy is a candidate at all, you only need the policy cover page — the first page showing the insurer, policy number, face amount, and issue date. That is the whole ask for a free review.
If the policy looks viable, the next documents are your most recent annual statement (face amount, net cash surrender value, loan balance, dividend election) and an in-force illustration from the servicing company. The illustration projects premiums, cash values, and death benefit forward and is what buyers actually price from — see what an in-force illustration is. Later there will be a HIPAA authorization so a life-expectancy estimate can be prepared; make sure any release you sign is specific and revocable.
Timing runs roughly 60 to 120 days from start to funded payment. The slowest steps are almost always the illustration request and the medical records, both of which move faster if you chase them. Money should sit with an independent escrow agent until the servicing company confirms the ownership change — never transfer a policy against a promise of later payment.
Alternatives Worth Comparing First
Selling is one exit among several, and whole life gives you more choices than most policy types:
- Reduced paid-up insurance. Stop paying premiums and keep a smaller, fully paid death benefit. If the goal is just to end the premium, this may be the right answer with no sale involved.
- Extended term. Use the cash value to buy term coverage for the full face amount for a limited period.
- Policy loan or partial withdrawal. Cash now, coverage reduced later.
- Surrender. Simple, fast, and usually the smallest number of any exit.
- Life settlement. A lump sum for the whole contract, or a structure that keeps part of the death benefit while ending the premium — see how the policy options work.
A settlement tends to win when the coverage is no longer needed, the premium has become a burden, or cash is needed now for care costs. It loses when heirs still depend on the death benefit and the premium is comfortable.
Other Great-West Policy Types
The analysis on this page is specific to whole life. If the policy in your drawer is a different type, the economics change substantially — universal life lives or dies on interest crediting and rising cost of insurance, term usually depends on a conversion privilege, and guaranteed universal life is priced almost purely on the death benefit guarantee.
See our companion guides on selling a Great-West universal life policy, a Great-West guaranteed universal life policy, a Great-West term policy, and a Great-West variable universal life policy. Or send the cover page for a free review and let someone read it for you — (305) 209-7183.
Frequently Asked Questions
Great-West doesn’t sell life insurance anymore. Is my policy still good?
Yes. Great-West Life & Annuity sold its individual life and annuity business to Protective Life in 2019 and rebranded its retirement business as Empower, but a transferred block keeps its contractual guarantees. Your death benefit, guaranteed cash value schedule, and premium are unchanged. Only the company servicing the policy is different.
Do I need the insurer’s permission to sell my whole life policy?
No. A life insurance policy is personal property that you may transfer, and the buyer purchases the contract directly from you. The servicing company’s role is administrative — it records the new owner and beneficiary once the sale closes. It does not approve or veto the transaction.
Who do I contact for an in-force illustration now?
Use the service number on your most recent premium notice or annual statement, which reflects the current administrator rather than the original Great-West contact. If your paperwork is old, your state insurance department’s consumer line can help identify the current servicer. Confirm the correct entity as of 2026 before mailing any forms.
How much more than surrender value might a settlement pay?
The federal GAO study of the market found sellers typically received about 10% to 35% of face value, roughly 4 to 8 times what surrendering would have paid. Those are market-wide ranges, not a quote. Your actual result depends on age, health, premium level, cash value, and any loan balance.
Does my policy loan reduce what I would receive?
Yes. The loan balance and accrued interest are settled out of the transaction, so your net proceeds are what remains after the payoff. Request a current payoff figure including interest to date rather than using last year’s statement. Ask your own tax advisor about the tax treatment of a discharged loan.
Is high cash value good or bad when selling?
It cuts both ways. High cash value means you would get more by simply surrendering, which raises the bar an offer must clear. Policies with a large death benefit and moderate cash value often price best in the secondary market.
What if my policy is only $25,000?
Small whole life and final-expense policies are usually too small for the secondary market, because underwriting, life-expectancy reports, and closing costs do not shrink with the death benefit. Buyers generally look for $100,000 or more. For a small policy, reduced paid-up coverage or simply keeping it is often the better answer.
What do I need to send to get started?
Just the policy cover page — the first page showing the insurer, policy number, face amount, and issue date. That is enough for a free, no-obligation review, and it takes days rather than weeks to get an answer on whether the policy is a candidate.
Find out what your policy is worth — free, confidential, no obligation.
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Related Reading
- Cash Surrender Value Life Insurance
- Life Settlement Vs Surrender
- How It Works Policy Options
- What Is An In Force Illustration
- Sell My Great West Life Universal Life Policy
- Sell My Great West Life Term 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.