Can You Sell a Sun Life Indexed Universal Life Policy? (2026)

Trace the Policy to the Company That Actually Holds It

Do this before anything else, because sending a signed request to the wrong company produces silence rather than a rejection.

1. Read the issuing entity on the policy itself. Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada (U.S.) and Sun Life Insurance and Annuity Company of New York are the two names most commonly seen on U.S. individual contracts from this block.
2. Check the return address and phone number on your most recent statement or premium notice. That is the current administrator, and it will very likely say Delaware Life.
3. Call that number, not one found through a search engine, and ask the representative to confirm in writing: the current legal name of the insurer, whether the policy is in force and paid to date, the current face amount, the account value and net cash surrender value, and any outstanding loan.

Do not read the ownership change as a problem. When a block of policies is transferred, the contractual obligations transfer with it — the terms of your policy did not change because the shareholder did. What changes is the service center, the correspondence address, and the regulator with primary oversight of the insurer.

If you cannot find the policy at all, or are not certain it is still in force, the steps in how to find out if a policy still exists apply — including state insurance department policy locator services. Once you have confirmed Delaware Life services it, the carrier-specific pages worth reading are selling a Delaware Life universal life policy and selling a Delaware Life indexed universal policy.

What Was Actually in the Block

Public descriptions of the 2013 transaction identify the acquired lines as U.S. variable annuities, fixed annuities, fixed indexed annuities, corporate and bank-owned life insurance, and variable life insurance products. That composition tells you a great deal about what a policyholder from this block is likely holding.

• Variable universal life. The most likely individual life product. Premium is allocated to subaccounts that function like mutual funds, so the account value rises and falls with market performance and there is no guaranteed floor on investment results. See what is variable universal life.
• Corporate or bank-owned life insurance. Owned by an employer or financial institution rather than by an individual. The employee insured under such a policy is generally not the owner and cannot sell it.
• Annuity contracts. No death benefit sized to a face amount, and no life settlement market. The exits are the free withdrawal amount, surrender subject to remaining charges and any market value adjustment, annuitization, or a section 1035 exchange.

We could not confirm an indexed universal life product in Sun Life’s U.S. individual block. If your annual statement shows index segments with a cap and a participation rate, verify the issuing company carefully — it may be a different insurer entirely, or a Canadian contract, which is a separate situation covered below.

If the Policy Is Canadian, the Answer Changes Completely

Sun Life Financial is a Toronto-headquartered company with a large Canadian individual life business, and Canadian policyholders searching this question reach the same pages Americans do. The answer for them is different in a fundamental way.

The secondary market for life insurance that exists in the United States does not exist across most of Canada. The great majority of Canadian provinces prohibit trafficking in life insurance policies outright, and only a small number permit any form of viatical or life settlement transaction. Confirm the position with your own provincial insurance regulator rather than relying on any general summary, including this one, because the rules differ province to province and have been the subject of periodic legislative attention.

Two practical consequences. First, a Canadian Sun Life policyholder generally cannot sell the policy at all, and should focus on the options inside the contract — reducing coverage, using accumulated value, exercising any living benefit rider, or a paid-up election. Second, a U.S.-based buyer will not purchase a Canadian-issued policy, so any offer to do so should be treated with real suspicion.

The same caution applies to determining which country’s contract you hold. Check the currency the death benefit and premium are denominated in, the province or state of issue printed on the policy, and the regulator named in the contract’s complaint provision.

What you hold	Who services it now	Can it be sold in the U.S. market?
Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada (U.S.) individual life	Delaware Life Insurance Company	Possibly, if size, age and health thresholds are met
Sun Life Insurance and Annuity Company of New York	Delaware Life Insurance Company of New York	Same thresholds, under New York rules
U.S. annuity contract from the same block	Delaware Life	No; annuities are not life settlement assets
Corporate or bank-owned life insurance	Delaware Life	No; the employer or institution owns it, not the insured
Sun Life group life certificate through an employer	Sun Life’s U.S. group benefits business	Only after conversion, within a short election window
Canadian Sun Life individual policy	Sun Life in Canada	Generally no; most provinces prohibit trafficking

How Indexed and Variable Crediting Differ, and Why It Matters

Both sit on a flexible-premium universal life chassis, and both fail the same way, but the mechanics a buyer models are different.

Indexed universal life credits interest by reference to a market index, subject to a cap that limits the credit in a good year, a participation rate that counts only a share of the index movement, and a floor, usually 0%, that blocks a negative credit. Index dividends are excluded. The floor protects credited interest, not account value — in a 0% year the monthly deductions still come out and the account value falls. Illustration practice for these products was tightened in three stages by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners: Actuarial Guideline 49 effective September 2015, AG 49-A in late 2020, and AG 49-B effective May 1, 2023. None of them alters an in-force contract; they explain why a new illustration projects far more conservatively than the one you were originally shown. See what is indexed universal life.

Variable universal life has no floor at all. Account value is invested in subaccounts, and a poor market sequence in the years when cost-of-insurance charges are climbing can drain a contract quickly. Buyers underwrite these carefully because the premium required to sustain the policy is itself uncertain.

In both cases the deduction side does the damage. Cost of insurance is charged monthly on the death benefit minus account value at the insured’s attained age, and mortality rates roughly double every seven to eight years in later life. A falling account value increases the amount at risk, which increases the charge, which accelerates the fall. See what is cost of insurance.

The In-Force Illustration, Requested From the Right Company

Send a signed written request to the current administrator — for most of this block, Delaware Life — asking for an in-force illustration on three bases:

1. At current charges and current crediting or a stated assumed investment return.
2. At guaranteed maximum charges and the guaranteed minimum crediting rate, or at a low assumed return on a variable contract. This is the column that matters.
3. As a solve for the annual premium required to carry the policy to age 100.

Ask in the same letter for: current account value and net cash surrender value; outstanding loan balance and loan interest rate; whether any no-lapse or secondary guarantee remains intact and to what age; remaining surrender charge; the subaccount allocation if it is a variable contract; and the exact date coverage would end if you paid nothing further.

Turnaround is typically a couple of weeks. If a request goes unanswered, the escalation path is the insurance department of the insurer’s domiciliary state. Delaware Life Insurance Company is Delaware-domiciled, so that is the Delaware Department of Insurance — see Delaware insurance department consumer help. Guidance on the document itself is in what is an in-force illustration.

Does the Policy Have Secondary Market Value?

The screen is the same as for any carrier, and most of it is about the policy and the insured rather than the company name on the cover.

Face amount above roughly $100,000 of net death benefit, with many buyers setting their floor at $250,000. Insured typically over 70, or younger with a significant documented impairment, because life expectancy drives all the discounting. Past the two-year contestability period, since buyers will not close on a contract the insurer could rescind, and a reinstatement generally restarts that clock. Clear ownership and signature authority — an individual owner, or a trustee with a documented power of sale, or a properly authorized entity.

Two situations specific to this block deserve a direct answer. A corporate or bank-owned policy is owned by the employer or institution, so an insured employee has nothing to sell. And an annuity contract has no death benefit for a buyer to collect, so anyone offering to purchase one as a life settlement is describing something other than a regulated transaction.

If the file does qualify, remember that the settlement itself is regulated where the policy owner lives, not where the insurer is domiciled. Delaware’s life settlement provisions are in Title 18 of the Delaware Code and address provider and broker licensing, disclosure and rescission — see life settlement licensing in Delaware — but if you live in another state, that state’s act governs your transaction.

Pine Lake Life Solutions does not purchase policies and is not licensed in every state. We read the policy and the in-force illustration, trace which company actually administers it, and tell you whether the honest answer is to fund it properly, reduce the death benefit, surrender, or test the market. That review is free. Send the policy cover page or call (305) 209-7183.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Who services my Sun Life policy now?

For U.S. individual policies from Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada (U.S.), the servicer is almost certainly Delaware Life Insurance Company. Delaware Life Holdings completed its purchase of Sun Life’s U.S. annuity and certain life businesses on August 2, 2013 for about $1.35 billion, and the acquired companies were renamed. Check the return address on your most recent statement to confirm.

Did the sale change my policy terms?

No. When a block of policies transfers, the contractual obligations transfer with it, so the death benefit, guaranteed rates, charge caps and rider terms in your contract are unchanged. What changes is the service center, the correspondence address, and which state insurance department has primary oversight of the insurer holding the obligation.

Does Sun Life offer indexed universal life in the U.S.?

We could not confirm an indexed universal life product in Sun Life’s U.S. individual block. Sun Life announced in late 2011 that it would stop selling individual life and variable annuity products in the United States, and the block sold in 2013 was described as including variable life, corporate and bank-owned life, and annuity lines rather than indexed universal life.

I am in Canada. Can I sell my Sun Life policy?

Generally no. Most Canadian provinces prohibit trafficking in life insurance policies, and only a small number permit any form of viatical or life settlement transaction. Confirm the current position with your own provincial regulator. A U.S. buyer will not purchase a Canadian-issued policy, so treat any offer to do so with real suspicion.

Can I sell a policy my employer owns on my life?

No. Corporate-owned and bank-owned life insurance is owned by the employer or institution, which holds all rights under the contract including the right to transfer it. The insured employee is not the owner and has nothing to sell. If you have questions about coverage on your own life, direct them to the plan sponsor or your benefits department.

How do I request an in-force illustration on this block?

Send a signed written request to the current administrator asking for three versions: at current charges and crediting, at guaranteed maximum charges and the guaranteed minimum rate, and a solve for the premium that carries the policy to age 100. Ask in the same letter for net cash surrender value, loan balance, guarantee status and the date coverage ends if unfunded.

Related Reading

• What Is Indexed Universal Life
• What Is Variable Universal Life
• Sell My Delaware Life Indexed Universal Policy
• Sell My Delaware Life Universal Life Policy
• What Is An In Force Illustration
• What Is Cost Of Insurance
• How To Find Out If A Policy Still Exists
• Life Settlement Licensing Delaware
• Delaware Insurance Department Consumer Help

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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.