Can You Sell a Silac Term Life Policy? (2026)

Three Products People Routinely Mistake for Term Life

Each of these has a defined period, a premium, and a payout trigger, which is why the confusion happens. None of them is term life insurance.

A multi-year guaranteed annuity. It has a 2, 3 or 5-year guarantee period, a contract value that grows at a stated rate, and a surrender charge schedule. People describe it as a five-year policy, which sounds like term. It pays a contract value, not a death benefit sized to a face amount, and there is no life settlement market for it. See life settlement versus annuity.

A Medicare supplement policy. Monthly premium, renewable, reimburses cost-sharing under Original Medicare. No death benefit at all. If the premium has become unaffordable, the question is whether a different plan letter or carrier is available during a permitted enrollment window — not whether the policy can be sold.

Hospital indemnity, specified disease, or short-stay nursing home coverage. These pay a fixed cash amount on a covered event. They are health contracts, not life insurance, and they cannot be transferred to a buyer.

The tell is simple. Term life insurance has a face amount — a stated dollar death benefit — and names a beneficiary who receives it if the insured dies during the level period. If your contract has no face amount, it is not term life. If you cannot tell, call the servicing number on your most recent statement and ask the representative to state the product type and whether the contract carries a death benefit, then ask for that in writing.

The Conversion Test, and Why It Is the Whole Question

Suppose you do hold individual term life, from SILAC or another carrier. A buyer purchasing it becomes the owner and beneficiary and pays the premiums until the insured dies. Their entire return depends on the death benefit eventually being paid. A contract that expires on a fixed date is one they will fund and never collect on.

Convertibility is what fixes that. If the term policy can be converted into permanent coverage without new evidence of insurability, the buyer models the converted policy — its far higher premium, its guarantee structure, its duration — and prices from there. Without a live conversion right, there is no transaction at any price.

Find the answer in three places:

1. The specifications page, which may state a conversion expiry date or attained age.
2. The conversion provision inside the policy, which is the controlling language and names the permanent forms available, whether insurability evidence is required, and how the new premium is set.
3. Written confirmation from the carrier of the deadline, the available products, and the attained-age premium for each.

Conversion windows usually close earlier than the level premium period ends — commonly at an attained age such as 65 or 70, or at a fixed policy year, whichever comes first. The structure of these provisions is covered in what is a term conversion rider, and if you cannot find the contract at all, finding your policy cover page explains what to request.

Group Term From an Employer: A Different Set of Deadlines

For many people over 65, the only term life they hold is group coverage through a current or former employer, a union, or an association. It behaves differently from individual term and it comes with deadlines that run in weeks rather than years.

Two rights typically attach when coverage ends because of retirement, termination or a reduction in hours:

• Conversion — the right to convert the group certificate into an individual permanent policy issued by the group insurer, without evidence of insurability. The election period is short, frequently 31 days from the date coverage ends, and the converted premium is at attained age and often expensive.
• Portability — the right to continue group term coverage at group rates as an individual, usually also within a short election window and sometimes with health questions.

Miss the window and both rights disappear permanently. Because the deadline is so short, group life is one of the few places where acting within days actually matters. The mechanics are set out in what is group life conversion, and whether the resulting coverage can be sold is covered in can I sell a group life insurance policy.

One practical note: group certificates rarely state the conversion terms in full. The controlling document is the master policy or the summary plan description, and the employer’s benefits administrator or the insurer must supply it on request. Ask in writing, and ask for the conversion application at the same time.

What the contract shows	Product type	Can it be sold?
Face amount, beneficiary, level period	Individual term life	Only if still convertible and above size minimums
Contract value, surrender schedule, index crediting	Fixed indexed annuity	No
Guarantee period of 2 to 5 years, stated rate	Multi-year guaranteed annuity	No
Monthly premium, no death benefit, Medicare references	Medicare supplement	No
Fixed daily or per-event cash payment	Hospital indemnity or specified disease	No
Certificate of insurance issued through an employer	Group term life	Only after conversion, within a short election window

What a Buyer Requires Before They Will Even Open a File

Providers screen files before spending money on underwriting. A term submission generally needs all six of these to survive the screen:

1. A live conversion right with enough runway — realistically six months or more, not thirty days.
2. Face amount above the provider’s minimum, commonly $100,000 of net death benefit and often $250,000. This is the gate most term policies fail.
3. An insured typically over 70, or younger with a significant documented health impairment. Life expectancy drives the discounting, and a long expectancy destroys value regardless of face amount.
4. The policy past its two-year contestability period, since buyers will not close on a contract the insurer could rescind. A reinstatement after lapse generally restarts that clock.
5. Clear ownership and signature authority. Individual owner, or a trustee with a documented power of sale, or an entity with proper authorization.
6. A signed HIPAA authorization so complete medical records can be retrieved.

If a file is missing any of these, the honest response is to say so rather than to start a process that will end in a decline three months later. The category overviews are selling a term life policy and can I sell a term life insurance policy.

The Cases Where the Answer Is Simply No

Being direct about this saves months.

The conversion window has closed. An unconvertible term policy with no cash value has essentially no market value. There is nothing for anyone to buy. Check instead for an accelerated death benefit rider — terminal illness riders attach to many term contracts at no additional premium and can release part of the death benefit on a qualifying certification, with no buyer and no ownership change.

The face amount is under $100,000. The fixed costs of a settlement — medical record retrieval, one or more independent life expectancy reports, legal review, escrow, carrier processing — are roughly the same regardless of policy size and exceed what a small policy can produce.

The contract is an annuity or a health product. No death benefit means no settlement. The real options are holding to the end of a surrender schedule, taking the annual free withdrawal amount, surrendering and accepting the charge, annuitizing, or exchanging under Internal Revenue Code section 1035 into another annuity.

The insured is healthy and in their sixties. A long life expectancy discounts the death benefit so heavily that the premium stream swamps it. That is not a permanent no — it is a no for now, and revisiting in several years or after a material health change is reasonable.

Verifying Before You Act, and the Utah Framework

SILAC is Utah-domiciled and supervised by the Utah Insurance Department, which handles solvency oversight, policy form approval, and consumer complaints about claims and servicing. If a servicing question goes unanswered or an answer seems inconsistent with your contract, that department is the escalation path — reach it through Utah insurance department consumer help.

Separately, life settlement transactions are regulated where the policy owner lives. Utah’s viatical and life settlement provisions sit in Title 31A, Chapter 36 of the Utah Code, addressing licensing of providers and brokers, disclosure requirements, and the rescission period following a closing. If you live in another state, that state’s statute governs the transaction even though Utah regulates this insurer. An overview is at life settlement licensing in Utah.

Three verification habits are worth adopting regardless of what you decide. Call only the number printed on your own statement, never one from a search result or an unsolicited letter. Verify any provider’s or broker’s license with your state insurance department before signing. And require every offer in writing, itemizing the gross amount, every deduction including compensation, and the escrow agent handling the funds.

Pine Lake Life Solutions does not purchase policies and is not licensed in every state. What we do is read the paperwork, tell you what product you actually hold, confirm whether a conversion deadline is still open, and say plainly when the answer is that there is no market and your effort belongs elsewhere. That review is free. Send the contract cover page or call (305) 209-7183.

---

Frequently Asked Questions

Does SILAC sell individual term life insurance?

We could not confirm a current individual level term life product from SILAC Insurance Company. The Salt Lake City carrier is annuity-led, with fixed indexed and multi-year guaranteed annuities plus Medicare supplement and other senior health coverage. Check your contract for a stated face amount and a named beneficiary, which are the defining features of term life, and confirm the product type with the carrier in writing.

How do I tell an annuity from a life insurance policy?

Life insurance has a face amount, a death benefit payable to a beneficiary, and a cost-of-insurance charge. An annuity has a contract value, a surrender charge schedule, often a market value adjustment, and options to take income. If your paperwork shows accumulation value and a surrender schedule but no face amount, you hold an annuity, and there is no life settlement market for it.

My group life ends at retirement. How long do I have to convert?

Usually a very short window, frequently 31 days from the date coverage ends, though it varies by plan. Both conversion into an individual permanent policy and portability of group term are typically election-based rights that disappear if the deadline passes. Request the master policy or summary plan description and the conversion application from your benefits administrator immediately, in writing.

What does a buyer need before reviewing a term policy?

A live conversion right with meaningful runway, face amount above the provider’s minimum of roughly $100,000 and often $250,000, an insured typically over 70 or significantly impaired, a policy past its two-year contestability period, clear signature authority, and a signed HIPAA authorization for medical records. Files missing any of these are usually declined before underwriting money is spent.

Can I get out of a SILAC annuity if I need cash?

Generally yes, at a cost. Most contracts permit a free withdrawal each year, typically a percentage of contract value. Beyond that amount, surrendering triggers the remaining surrender charge and any market value adjustment. Annuitization and a section 1035 exchange into another annuity are alternatives, though be cautious about exchanges that restart a long new surrender schedule.

My policy names Equitable Life & Casualty. Is it still in force?

A name change does not affect your contract. Equitable Life & Casualty Insurance Company, founded in Utah in 1935, became SILAC Insurance Company effective in 2020, with the transition complete across product lines by early 2021. The obligations under your contract are unchanged. This company is unrelated to other insurers that have used Equitable in their corporate names.

Related Reading

• Sell Term Life Policy
• Can I Sell A Term Life Insurance Policy
• What Is A Term Conversion Rider
• Can I Sell A Group Life Insurance Policy
• What Is Group Life Conversion
• Life Settlement Vs Annuity
• Where To Find Your Policy Cover Page
• Life Settlement Licensing Utah
• Utah Insurance Department Consumer Help

---

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.