Yes, you can sell a North American Company for Life and Health guaranteed universal life policy in a life settlement, and the no-lapse guarantee that defines this product is exactly what makes buyers interested. GUL is built to do one thing: hold a death benefit to a very old age at a predictable premium, with little or no cash value along the way. For an owner, that means surrendering the policy often returns almost nothing. For a buyer, a contractually guaranteed death benefit with a known premium is close to an ideal asset. That gap between what the carrier would pay you to walk away and what a buyer would pay is the reason these policies get settled.
North American Company for Life and Health Insurance traces to 1886 in Chicago and is a Sammons Financial Group member company. Sammons Enterprises, the parent, is employee-owned through an ESOP rather than publicly traded, so no demutualization ever distributed shares to policyholders, and as of 2026 the company still issues new individual life insurance rather than operating purely in runoff. Verify the servicing company for your specific policy, the current A.M. Best rating, and the service phone number with the carrier directly, since blocks can be reinsured and ratings are reviewed.
The rest of this page is mostly a warning and a checklist. No-lapse guarantees are unforgiving about payment timing, and a guarantee lost through a late payment is often gone for good. Pine Lake Life Solutions is not affiliated with North American or the Sammons Financial Group, and nothing here is legal, tax, or investment advice.
In This Article
- Yes, and the Insurer’s Consent Is Not Required
- What a No-Lapse Guarantee Actually Guarantees
- How the Shadow Account Works and Why Timing Matters
- Catch-Up Rules and Lost Guarantees
- Why Buyers Like GUL
- Documents to Gather
- The Process and What to Watch
- Who Qualifies, and Where to Start
- Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, and the Insurer’s Consent Is Not Required
The Supreme Court decided in 1911, in Grigsby v. Russell, that a life insurance policy is transferable personal property. That is the legal basis for every life settlement, and it does not depend on the carrier’s cooperation or on what product line the policy came from.
The carrier’s role is procedural. After a purchase agreement is signed and funds are placed with an independent escrow agent, a change of ownership or absolute assignment form and a beneficiary change go to North American’s service center. The service center records the change and confirms in writing, then escrow releases your payment. Request the current forms from the policyholder service number on your premium notice and confirm the 2026 requirements, including whether notarization is needed.
What a No-Lapse Guarantee Actually Guarantees
A guaranteed universal life policy promises that the death benefit stays in force to a stated age, often 90, 95, 100, or 121, as long as you meet a premium test, regardless of what happens to the account value. Even if the account value falls to zero, the guarantee keeps the coverage alive. That is the entire value proposition, and it is why GUL is sometimes described as term insurance that lasts to life expectancy and beyond.
The tradeoff is cash value. GUL is priced almost purely as death benefit, so the surrender value is typically small and on many contracts is effectively nothing after the early years. Read your annual statement and look at the net surrender value line. If it is a few hundred dollars against a $500,000 death benefit, you now understand why surrendering is rarely the right answer and why a settlement offer, if one comes, tends to look dramatically better by comparison.
How the Shadow Account Works and Why Timing Matters
Most no-lapse guarantees are tracked through a secondary or shadow account. It is not real money you can access. It is a bookkeeping ledger the insurer maintains, crediting your premiums at guaranteed rates and deducting guaranteed charges. As long as the shadow account balance stays above zero under the contract’s test, the guarantee holds.
The critical feature is that the shadow account is sensitive to when premiums arrive, not just how much you pay in total. Pay the same annual amount two months late every year and the shadow account earns less credit than the design assumed, which can quietly erode the guarantee period. Pay late enough and the guarantee can fail even though you never missed a dollar. Ask the service center for a current no-lapse guarantee status report showing the guarantee expiration date at your current payment pattern, and ask what catch-up payment, if any, would restore the original guarantee date.
Catch-Up Rules and Lost Guarantees
Contracts vary considerably on remediation. Some allow a catch-up premium plus interest to restore the guarantee if paid within a defined window. Some allow partial restoration to a shorter guarantee period. Some provide no cure at all once the test fails, leaving you with a policy that will now lapse whenever the account value runs out, which on a GUL can be surprisingly soon.
Do not guess at which category your contract falls into. Ask the service center in writing for the exact catch-up provision, the deadline, and the dollar amount required as of 2026. If a guarantee has already been lost, that materially changes what the policy is worth to a buyer, and it is better to disclose it up front than to have it surface during due diligence. A policy with an intact guarantee to age 100 and a policy with a broken guarantee are two very different assets.
| Scenario | Effect on the No-Lapse Guarantee | What to Ask the Carrier |
|---|---|---|
| Premiums paid in full and on time | Guarantee runs to the stated age | Confirm the current guarantee expiration date in writing |
| Premiums paid late but in full | Guarantee period can shorten because of lost crediting | Request a no-lapse guarantee status report |
| A premium skipped entirely | Guarantee may fail; some contracts allow a cure | Ask for the catch-up amount, deadline, and interest |
| Guarantee already lost | Policy lapses when account value is exhausted | Ask for a projection of the lapse date at current premiums |
| Withdrawal or loan taken | Often reduces or voids the guarantee | Confirm the effect before taking any money out |
| Death benefit reduced | May lower the required premium and keep the guarantee | Ask for an illustration at the reduced face amount |
Why Buyers Like GUL
A buyer values a policy as a stream of premiums paid against a death benefit received at an uncertain date. Uncertainty is expensive. GUL removes a big piece of it: the premium required to keep the guarantee is knowable from the contract, and the death benefit does not depend on interest rates, index caps, or rising cost-of-insurance charges. That predictability is genuinely attractive on the buy side.
It also means the pricing math is different from other products. Because the surrender value is near zero, the multiple of surrender value that a settlement represents can look enormous, which is not a very meaningful statistic here. The more useful frame is percentage of face value. Market-wide, sellers have generally received in the range of 10 to 35 percent of the death benefit, and the federal GAO study GAO-10-775 found settlements paying roughly four to eight times cash surrender value across policy types. Where a specific GUL lands depends on age, health, the guaranteed premium, and how long the guarantee runs.
Documents to Gather
Start with the policy cover page or specifications page listing the issuing company, policy number, face amount, issue date, insured, and the guarantee age if it is shown. That alone is enough for a free, no-obligation policy review.
If the review is promising, request four things from the service center at once, since they often come from the same department: the most recent annual statement, a no-lapse guarantee status report showing the current guarantee expiration date, an in-force illustration solving for the premium required to maintain the guarantee to its maximum age, and the change-of-ownership packet. If any premium was ever paid late, ask specifically whether the guarantee was affected and get the answer in writing. Medical records come later, ordered by the buyer’s underwriter with your authorization.
The Process and What to Watch
Free review from the cover page, then an application with HIPAA authorization so the buyer can order records and life-expectancy estimates, then a written offer, then contracts and independent escrow, then the ownership change recorded by the carrier, then payment released and a state rescission window in most states. Plan on 60 to 120 days.
Two GUL-specific cautions. First, keep paying the guaranteed premium on schedule while the transaction is pending. A guarantee broken mid-process can reduce or kill an offer. Second, make sure the offer document states the death benefit and guarantee age it is based on, so there is no dispute later. For the full step-by-step, see how the process works, and compare exits in life settlement versus surrender.
Who Qualifies, and Where to Start
The usual profile applies: insured around 65 or older, or younger with meaningful health conditions, death benefit of $100,000 or more, and a policy past its contestability period. For GUL, add two questions of your own. Is the guarantee intact, and to what age. And is the guaranteed premium still affordable, because if it is not, the realistic alternatives are a sale, a reduced death benefit, or eventually a lapse that returns nothing.
Send the policy cover page for a free review, or call (305) 209-7183. If you also hold other North American products, our guides to selling a North American universal life policy and a North American whole life policy address those designs.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does North American have to consent to the sale of a GUL policy?
No. Under the Supreme Court’s 1911 Grigsby v. Russell decision, a life insurance policy is transferable property. The buyer purchases the contract from you, and the carrier’s role is limited to recording the change of ownership and beneficiary after closing.
Why is my guaranteed universal life surrender value so low?
GUL is priced almost entirely as death benefit rather than as savings, so cash value is minimal by design and on many contracts is effectively nothing. That is exactly why surrendering rarely makes sense and why a settlement offer, when one is available, usually compares favorably.
Can paying my premium late really break the guarantee?
Yes. Most no-lapse guarantees are tracked through a shadow account that credits premiums based on when they are received. Chronically late payments can shorten the guarantee period even if you never missed a dollar. Ask the carrier for a written guarantee status report.
If the guarantee was lost, can I get it back?
Sometimes. Some contracts allow a catch-up premium with interest within a defined window, some allow only partial restoration, and some provide no cure at all. Ask the service center for the exact provision, the deadline, and the dollar amount required as of 2026.
Should I keep paying premiums while the sale is pending?
Yes. The policy must remain in force through closing, and a guarantee broken mid-transaction can reduce or eliminate an offer. Keep paying on schedule until the ownership transfer is confirmed and your funds are released from escrow.
How much might a GUL policy sell for?
Market-wide, sellers have generally received in the range of 10 to 35 percent of the death benefit, and the GAO study GAO-10-775 found settlements paying roughly four to eight times cash surrender value across policy types. On GUL the surrender-value multiple is not very meaningful, since surrender value is near zero. Percentage of face value is the better frame.
Does taking a loan or withdrawal affect the guarantee?
Often yes. On many no-lapse designs any loan or withdrawal reduces or voids the guarantee outright. Confirm the effect in writing before taking money out, because an unintentional withdrawal can cost far more than the amount withdrawn.
What do I send to get a review started?
The policy cover page showing the insurer, policy number, face amount, issue date, and guarantee age if listed. That is enough for a free, no-obligation review. You can also call (305) 209-7183 with questions first.
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Related Reading
- What Policies Qualify For Life Settlement
- Life Settlement Vs Surrender
- How It Works Policy Options
- Cash Surrender Value Life Insurance
- Sell My North American Universal Life Policy
- Sell My North American Whole Life 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.