There are two completely different things people call a MetLife term policy, and they have almost nothing in common. One is an individual term contract bought through an agent, most of which transferred to Brighthouse Financial in 2017. The other is group term life provided through an employer, which is still MetLife’s core United States life business and which carries a conversion window measured in days, not years. Which one you hold determines everything that follows.
What they share is the single fact that governs whether the coverage has any value in the secondary market: term insurance is only marketable while it can still be converted into permanent coverage. A buyer purchases a policy in order to collect a death benefit. Coverage that expires while the insured is still alive will never pay one. Once the conversion right closes, the contract is not an asset — it is a subscription that will run out.
This page shows how to identify which MetLife term you have, where to find the deadline in each case, what a corporate block transfer does to a conversion promise, and how to judge whether converting in order to sell is worth the premium it costs.
In This Article
- Individual term or group term? Identify it first
- Individual term: find the last conversion date, in writing
- What a block transfer does to a conversion promise
- Group term through an employer: a much shorter clock
- The conversion economics, and the order of operations that protects you
- Who this actually works for, and how long it takes
- Frequently Asked Questions
Individual term or group term? Identify it first
Individual term was sold through agents and financial professionals, has a policy number and an annual statement mailed to your home, and you pay the premium directly. Group term comes through an employer, union or association; the certificate is issued under a master policy held by the employer, premium is typically payroll deducted, and coverage usually ends when employment ends.
The corporate history splits them. Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, domiciled in New York and supervised by the New York State Department of Financial Services, demutualized in 2000. On August 4, 2017 MetLife, Inc. completed the separation of its United States retail life and annuity business into Brighthouse Financial. MetLife Insurance Company USA became Brighthouse Life Insurance Company, First MetLife Investors became Brighthouse Life Insurance Company of NY, and New England Life Insurance Company also moved. Affected owners were mailed an endorsement changing the issuing company name. What MetLife kept, and still sells today, is group and workplace benefits — it has not sold individual life to consumers since the separation.
So an individual MetLife term policy from 2006 is very likely a Brighthouse-serviced contract now. A MetLife term certificate showing up as a payroll deduction in 2026 is genuine current MetLife group coverage. Check the most recent premium notice or benefits statement rather than the original paperwork, and send every request to the company named there.
Individual term: find the last conversion date, in writing
Call the servicing company with the policy number and ask three specific questions: is this contract convertible today, what is the last date a conversion application will be accepted, and which permanent products is it convertible into as of that date. Insist on a written or secure-message answer. Call center staff are frequently wrong about conversion windows, because the window depends on the term series, the issue age, and whether an extended conversion rider was purchased at issue.
The costly assumption is that the conversion right runs to the end of the level premium period. Across the industry it usually does not. Common structures cap convertibility at a fixed number of policy years — often ten — or at an attained age in the sixties, whichever comes first. That means a 30-year level term bought at 40 can stop being convertible at 65 while the level premium runs to 70. Sixty-five is roughly the age at which the secondary market starts to take an interest, so the window frequently closes just before the policy would have become valuable. Our explainer on how term conversion riders work covers the standard language, but only your contract controls.
If the answer comes back that the conversion period has expired, that is the end of the analysis for practical purposes. An unconvertible term policy has essentially no secondary-market value, and any reviewer who suggests otherwise is either mistaken or selling something.
What a block transfer does to a conversion promise
This is the wrinkle specific to MetLife-issued term, and it is one most owners never think about. A conversion provision typically promises the right to exchange the term contract for a permanent policy from the insurer’s portfolio, without evidence of insurability. That promise is only as useful as the portfolio behind it.
When a block of business moves to a different company, the permanent products available for conversion become that company’s products, not the original issuer’s. Brighthouse Financial’s permanent lineup — which includes indexed universal life and hybrid designs with long-term care benefits, and has been revised repeatedly since 2017 — is not the same catalogue MetLife offered when your term policy was written. Premier Accumulator Universal Life, for instance, was introduced in 2015 under MetLife, moved in the separation, and is issued today by Brighthouse Life Insurance Company on policy form 5-39-17, with a New York version on form 5-39-17-NY. It has since been revamped, including the removal of surrender charges.
The practical instruction: do not plan around a product you remember being offered. Ask the current servicing company, in writing, for the exact list of permanent products your contract can convert into today, and the premium for each at the insured’s attained age. If a guaranteed universal life option with a lifetime no-lapse guarantee is on the list, note it — that design generally draws the best secondary-market pricing because a buyer can compute the required premium exactly rather than assume it. Background on that design is in our guaranteed universal life guide.
| Individual MetLife term | MetLife group term through an employer | |
|---|---|---|
| Who services it in 2026 | Usually Brighthouse Financial after the 2017 separation | MetLife group benefits |
| Do you own it? | Yes, transferable | No, a certificate under the employer’s master policy |
| Conversion window | Set by contract; often 10 years or attained age 65 | Commonly 31 days after coverage ends |
| Evidence of insurability | Not required to convert | Not required within the window |
| Sellable as-is? | Only while convertible | No; must be converted to an individual policy first |
Group term through an employer: a much shorter clock
Employer group term is not owned by you in the way an individual policy is. It is a certificate under a master contract, coverage generally terminates when employment or eligibility ends, and there is no cash value. You cannot sell it while it remains group coverage, because you do not hold transferable ownership.
What you may have is a conversion privilege. Most group life certificates give a departing employee a limited window — commonly 31 days after coverage terminates — to convert some or all of the group amount to an individual permanent policy without evidence of insurability. Some plans also offer portability, which continues term coverage at group rates rather than converting it. The window is short, it is not always mentioned in exit paperwork, and missing it forfeits the right entirely.
For someone in poor health leaving a job, that 31-day window can be the single most valuable financial right they hold, because it produces permanent coverage that no underwriter would otherwise issue. Whether that converted policy is later kept or taken to the secondary market is a separate question — but the right has to be exercised first. See group life conversion explained and whether group coverage can be sold for the full mechanics.
Ask the employer’s benefits administrator, in writing, for the conversion and portability provisions of the master policy, the exact deadline, the maximum convertible amount, and the products available. Do it before the last day of work, not after.
The conversion economics, and the order of operations that protects you
Conversion is priced at the insured’s attained age, not the original issue age, after the first few policy years. On a $500,000 face for a 68-year-old, an annual premium for converted permanent coverage in the range of $22,000 to $38,000 is realistic depending on the product and rate class. Nobody should pay that out of pocket on speculation.
The sequence that protects you is: confirm the conversion right in writing; obtain premium quotes for each eligible permanent product; complete life expectancy underwriting; collect offers; and only then execute the conversion, typically at or near closing with the buyer funding or reimbursing the conversion cost. Converting first and shopping afterward transfers all the risk to you and is the most common self-inflicted loss in this corner of the market.
Partial conversion is worth pricing too. Most provisions permit converting part of the face amount. A family that still needs $150,000 of protection and holds a $750,000 term can convert the portion it needs, keep it, and evaluate the remainder separately. The side-by-side in life settlement versus term conversion sets out when each makes sense.
Who this actually works for, and how long it takes
A term policy is a realistic secondary-market candidate when the insured is roughly 70 or older, or younger with a serious impairment; the face amount is $100,000 or more and preferably $250,000 or more; the conversion right is still open with enough runway to complete a transaction; and the family has concluded in earnest that the coverage is no longer needed.
It is not a candidate when a spouse or dependent would be left exposed, when the insured is healthy and in their early sixties — the projected life expectancy is simply too long for a bid that justifies the conversion premium — or when the conversion window has already closed. Saying no in those cases is the useful part of a review.
On timing, work backward from the deadline. Medical records retrieval commonly takes three to six weeks. Independent life expectancy reports add two to three. Offers, negotiation, closing and the state-mandated rescission period add several more. Two to four months end to end is normal, and it all has to finish while the conversion right is still exercisable — see the typical timeline. If the deadline is inside ninety days, treat it as urgent from the first conversation.
Pine Lake Life Solutions does not purchase policies and is not licensed in every state. A free policy review reads your conversion language, checks whether the age and health profile supports a bid at all, and gives you a straight answer either way. Send the policy cover page or your benefits certificate to start.
Frequently Asked Questions
My individual MetLife term policy statements now say Brighthouse. Did my coverage change?
The contract terms did not change; the issuing company’s name did. In the August 2017 separation, MetLife’s United States retail individual life business transferred to Brighthouse Financial, and affected owners received an endorsement reflecting the new issuing company. Your face amount, level period and conversion provision are governed by the original contract. Only the servicing address and the available conversion products changed.
Can I sell the group life insurance my employer provides through MetLife?
Not as group coverage. A group certificate is issued under the employer’s master policy, you do not hold transferable ownership, and coverage generally ends with employment. What you may hold is a conversion privilege, commonly 31 days after coverage terminates, to convert to an individual permanent policy without evidence of insurability. Only that converted individual policy could ever be sold.
How long is the conversion window on an individual MetLife term policy?
It varies by term series, issue age and whether an extended conversion rider was elected. Common industry structures cap conversion at a set number of policy years, often ten, or at an attained age in the sixties, whichever comes first. It is frequently shorter than the level premium period. Ask the servicing company for the exact last conversion date in writing rather than assuming.
Which permanent product should I convert into if I plan to sell?
All else equal, a guaranteed universal life design with a lifetime no-lapse guarantee prices best in the secondary market, because a buyer can compute the exact premium required to keep it in force with no assumption risk. Indexed designs force buyers to assume future crediting and declared caps, so they build in a margin. Ask for the current eligible product list and quotes at attained age.
I left my job three months ago. Is the group conversion window gone?
Probably, if the certificate used the common 31-day period, but it is worth one written request to the employer’s benefits administrator and to MetLife group service. Some plans run longer, some extend the window when the required notice was never delivered, and state law can impose notice requirements. Ask for the master policy’s conversion provision and any notice the plan was obligated to send.
Is a healthy 63-year-old with a convertible MetLife term policy a candidate?
Usually not, and that is worth hearing directly. Buyers price against life expectancy, and a healthy insured in their early sixties projects too long for a bid that would justify the cost of conversion. The better plan is often to keep the conversion right alive, diary the deadline, and revisit only if health changes materially before the window closes.
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Related Reading
- What Is A Term Conversion Rider
- Can I Sell A Term Life Insurance Policy
- What Is Group Life Conversion
- Can I Sell A Group Life Insurance Policy
- What Is Guaranteed Universal Life
- Life Settlement Vs Term Conversion
- How Long Does A Life Settlement Take
- Sell My Metlife Indexed Universal 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.