Only if the conversion privilege is still open – but a Lafayette Life term owner is in a better position than most, because of what the policy converts into. Institutional buyers do not pay real money for a contract that expires on a known date. They pay for the contractual right to turn that term contract into permanent coverage that will still be in force on the day the insured dies. The quality of the permanent products available on the other side of that conversion is therefore not a footnote; it is part of what the option is worth.
Lafayette Life is a participating whole life company first and a term company second. Its published shelf is a single term product alongside eight whole life designs – Heritage, Contender, Patriot, Patriot Now, Sentinel, 10 Pay, Liberty Single Premium and Protector – and it has paid a dividend every year since it was founded in 1905, with 2026 marking the 121st consecutive year and a declared dividend interest rate of 5.9 percent, up from 5.75 percent in 2025. A conversion privilege that lands in a shelf like that is worth investigating carefully before it lapses.
In This Article
The company behind the contract
The Lafayette Life Insurance Company was founded in 1905 in Lafayette, Indiana, and today operates from Cincinnati, Ohio as a member of Western & Southern Financial Group. Check the domiciliary state and company name printed on your own policy face page rather than assuming, because older contracts were issued under an Indiana charter and the company’s servicing arrangements moved with it. Financial strength ratings for the company have been reported at A+ (Superior) from AM Best, AA- from S&P and AA from Fitch; confirm current ratings directly with the agencies before relying on any figure.
Two other identification points matter. Western & Southern Financial Group holds several separately chartered life insurers, and correspondence from the group can look identical no matter which one wrote the contract. If your policy is a small permanent contract rather than term, it may have come from a different member of the group entirely – see small Lafayette Life and Western & Southern policies. And because Lafayette Life has offered only one term product at a time, in-force term contracts span several product generations with different provisions. Yours governs; nobody else’s does.
The deadline that governs everything
Convertible term rarely stays convertible for the whole level period. The privilege usually expires at the earlier of a stated number of policy years or the insured reaching a stated attained age, and 65 and 70 are the ages that appear most often across the industry. The consequence is a trap people fall into repeatedly: a 30-year policy issued at 45 may stop being convertible at 65 while ten years of level coverage remain, and nothing in the annual premium notice announces that the option has expired.
We are not going to publish a single conversion age for every Lafayette Life term contract in force, because the provisions differ by product generation and by state of issue and we have not confirmed one that applies across the block. What is universally true is that the answer is in your contract and that the home office will state it in writing.
Request these five items in one letter or one recorded call: the conversion expiry date; the permanent products currently available for conversion; whether partial conversion is permitted and at what minimum face amount; whether any conversion credit is applied to the new policy; and whether evidence of insurability is required. That last item decides whether the privilege has any value at all – a conversion that requires fresh underwriting is worthless to an insured whose health has declined, which is exactly the population for whom conversion matters. Our guide to reading a term conversion rider covers the specific language.
What the conversion actually buys, and why the shelf matters
On most term policies, the conversion target is whatever permanent product the carrier chooses to make available at the time, and that is frequently a stripped-down current-assumption universal life contract offered for exactly this purpose. Lafayette Life’s permanent shelf is different in character: it is built around participating whole life, with designs ranging from the Heritage traditional contract to Patriot, the flagship used by advisors who want high early cash value, to 10 Pay and Liberty Single Premium for limited-pay structures.
Participating whole life behaves differently from universal life in ways that matter both to you and to a buyer. Premiums and guaranteed cash values are contractually fixed rather than dependent on credited rates and cost of insurance deductions. There is no lapse spiral to model, because there is no account value that can be drained by rising internal charges. Dividends, when paid, add paid-up additions on top of the guaranteed base. That predictability is why a converted whole life contract is generally easier for a buyer to price than a converted universal life contract with a variable premium requirement. Start with how whole life differs structurally if that distinction is new.
The catch is cost. A whole life premium at an advanced issue age is a large number, considerably larger than a universal life conversion would be, and the carrier is not obligated to offer every product on its shelf as a conversion target. Ask which specific products are available under your rider before assuming you can convert into the one you have read about.
| Conversion target type | Premium predictability | How buyers view it |
|---|---|---|
| Participating whole life | Fixed premium, guaranteed cash values, dividends on top | Easy to model; no lapse spiral to price |
| Current-assumption universal life | Variable; depends on credited rate and cost of insurance | Requires a guaranteed-assumption illustration before pricing |
| Guaranteed universal life | Fixed premium tied to a no-lapse guarantee | Well understood; guarantee must be kept in force exactly |
| No conversion available | Not applicable | Declined absent a documented terminal diagnosis |
If the window has closed: the honest answer
A term contract with no live conversion right has essentially no secondary market value. The only remaining path to a payout is the insured dying inside the remaining level period, and for a buyer to pay for that it would need to be close to a certainty – a documented terminal diagnosis with a life expectancy well inside the remaining term. That is a viatical file, underwritten and priced as one, and it is uncommon.
Outside that case, files are declined, and taking them to more buyers does not help because the economics are identical everywhere. Term contracts also carry no cash surrender value, so unlike a whole life or universal life policy there is no floor to fall back on. When the level period ends there is nothing to reclaim. The asset was optionality and optionality expires.
What remains worth deciding is whether the coverage is still needed by the people it was bought for, whether the insured could qualify for replacement coverage and at what price, and what the policy does at the end of the level period. Our comparison of a settlement against a straight conversion lays out how those paths differ when both are still open.
The premium cliff at the end of the level period
Level term contracts usually do not simply stop. They continue on annually renewable term at the schedule of guaranteed maximum rates printed in the policy, and those rates are calculated on deliberately conservative mortality assumptions because the carrier expects healthy insureds to leave. In practice the first post-level premium is commonly five to ten times the level premium and roughly doubles in each subsequent year.
Two things follow. First, if a renewal notice has arrived with a number that looks like a mistake, it is not – see why term renewal premiums jump this violently. Second, that notice is a timing signal: on most designs the conversion privilege closes at or before the end of the level period, so the arrival of the cliff usually means the option is closing at the same moment. Do not treat the renewal notice as a billing question. Treat it as a deadline notice and pull the conversion provision the same day.
If the contract is a return-of-premium design, note that the refund typically vests only at the end of the full level period and is forfeited if the policy is surrendered early. Confirm the exact maturity date in writing; giving up an ROP contract eleven months short of maturity can forfeit a five-figure refund.
The order of operations, and what to send
The sequence that preserves the most value is: get the conversion terms in writing, get an eligibility read on whether the resulting permanent policy would interest the market, and only then convert. Converting first and asking questions afterward is the common and expensive mistake, because it is easy to convert into a chassis a buyer will not price, or to convert more face amount than anyone would pay for, and neither can be undone. Our page on converting term and then selling sets out the steps and the traps in order.
Someone also has to fund the converted policy’s premium in the interval before any transaction closes, and buyers generally want the permanent contract issued and in force rather than merely available. That is a real cash-flow question and it belongs in the plan from the beginning rather than being discovered halfway through.
Two documents answer most eligibility questions in a single reading: the policy cover page, which states the insured, the owner, the issue date, the face amount and the level premium period, and the current premium notice, which shows whether the policy is inside the level period, in grace, or already on renewable rates. Pine Lake Life Solutions will read them at no cost as an educational free policy review. We do not purchase policies and are not licensed in every state, and nothing on this page is legal, tax or investment advice – your own advisor should weigh in before you convert or transfer anything. Send the cover page or call (305) 209-7183. For general background, start with selling a term life policy, whether term policies can be sold at all, and what to do when a conversion deadline is approaching.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I find my conversion deadline?
Read the schedule page and any attached rider list for a provision titled conversion privilege, conversion option, or convertibility. It states an expiry as either a number of policy years or an attained age of the insured. Because Lafayette Life term contracts span several product generations, ask the home office to confirm your specific expiry date in writing rather than relying on a general answer or a verbal one.
Which permanent products can I convert into?
Ask, because the carrier is not obligated to offer its entire shelf as conversion targets and the available list changes over time. Lafayette Life’s published permanent lineup includes Heritage, Contender, Patriot, Patriot Now, Sentinel, 10 Pay Whole Life, Liberty Single Premium and Protector, but which of those your rider permits is a contract question the home office should answer in writing.
Why would a whole life conversion be better received by buyers?
Because the premium and guaranteed cash values are contractually fixed rather than dependent on credited rates and internal cost of insurance charges. There is no account value that can be drained by rising deductions and therefore no lapse spiral to model. A buyer funding premiums for decades prefers an obligation it can price exactly, which is why converted whole life is generally simpler to evaluate.
Does converting require new underwriting?
On a genuine contractual conversion privilege, no. The carrier must issue at the original risk classification without evidence of insurability, which is precisely why the privilege has value when the insured’s health has declined. Some contracts permit an optional re-underwrite if health has improved and a better class is available. Confirm which applies to your contract in writing before relying on it.
My level period ends soon. What should I do first?
Pull the conversion provision the same day the renewal notice arrives, because on most designs the conversion window closes at or before the end of the level period. Confirm the expiry date, the available conversion products, and whether partial conversion is allowed. If the policy is a return-of-premium design, also confirm the maturity date before considering surrender, since the refund typically vests only at maturity.
Does Pine Lake buy Lafayette Life term policies?
No. Pine Lake Life Solutions does not purchase policies and is not licensed in every state. We provide a free educational policy review: send the policy cover page and the current premium notice and we will explain what the conversion provision says, whether the resulting permanent contract would interest the market, and what the alternatives are. Call (305) 209-7183.
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Related Reading
- Sell Term Life Policy
- Convert Term Then Sell
- What Is A Term Conversion Rider
- Term Conversion Deadline Approaching
- Term Renewal Premium Shock
- Can I Sell A Term Life Insurance Policy
- What Is Whole Life Insurance
- Life Settlement Vs Term Conversion
- Sell My Lafayette Life 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.