July 31, 2026
2:38 pm

Can I Sell My Sun Life U.S. Term Life Policy? (2026 Guide)

Yes, a term life policy tied to a Sun Life U.S. name can be sold, but in nearly every case it must first be converted into permanent coverage. The right to sell is never in question. You own the contract, a buyer acquires it from you, and the insurance company neither approves nor blocks the transfer. What is in question is whether the policy will still exist long enough for a buyer to ever collect.

Term insurance has no cash value and a hard stop. At the end of the level premium period the rate typically rises steeply or coverage simply ends. That design is fine for temporary needs, and painful for someone in their seventies who has paid premiums for decades and is about to walk away with nothing.

The conversion privilege is what changes the outcome, and it expires. This page explains how to find your deadline, who services Sun Life contracts in 2026, and how to judge honestly whether converting is worth the cost. Pine Lake Life Solutions is not affiliated with Sun Life Financial or Delaware Life. For a free policy review, send the cover page of your policy.

In This Article

Start by Identifying What You Actually Hold
Why Buyers Say No to Plain Term
Locating and Protecting Your Conversion Right
Weighing the Cost of Converting
Hypothetical Numbers to Frame the Decision
The Settlement Process Once You Hold Permanent Coverage
Alternatives and Warning Signs
Frequently Asked Questions

Can I Sell My Sun Life U.S. Term Life Policy? (2026 Guide)

Start by Identifying What You Actually Hold

Sun Life’s U.S. business changed shape in 2013. Sun Life Financial sold its domestic U.S. annuity business and certain life businesses, including Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada (U.S.), to Delaware Life Holdings in a transaction worth about $1.35 billion that completed in August 2013. Sun Life then concentrated its U.S. operations on employee benefits and voluntary benefits.

That means term coverage carrying a Sun Life name could be one of two very different things: an individual policy that may now be serviced by another company, or a group term certificate through an employer, which Sun Life’s U.S. benefits business actively writes.

The distinction is decisive. An individually owned term policy is yours to convert and potentially sell. A group certificate belongs to the employer’s plan and follows a different path, covered on our page about Sun Life group life coverage. Look at the document heading and, if in doubt, call the number on your premium notice and ask which you have.

Why Buyers Say No to Plain Term

A settlement buyer pays premiums for years expecting to collect a death benefit. With permanent coverage, that payout is a question of timing. With term, the coverage can end while the insured is still living, leaving the buyer with premiums paid and nothing received. That asymmetry is why unconvertible term is routinely declined.

Converted permanent coverage removes the expiration risk, which is why the conversion privilege is the single most valuable feature in a term contract for anyone considering a sale.

The narrow exception: if the insured has a serious illness and an underwriter estimates a life expectancy well within the remaining term period, some buyers will look at the policy as is. This requires solid medical documentation and it is not something to count on.

Locating and Protecting Your Conversion Right

Look in the contract for a provision titled conversion privilege, conversion option, or exchange privilege. It will state a final conversion date, usually as a policy year, a calendar date, or the insured’s attained age, and whichever comes first is your true deadline.

If the pages are missing, ask the servicing company for a full policy copy plus written confirmation of the remaining conversion right, the eligible face amount, and the permanent products currently offered as conversion targets. Some contracts allow partial conversion, and some restrict conversion in the final years of the level term.

Ask one more question most people never think to ask: would the converted policy include a no-lapse or secondary guarantee. Guarantees cap what a buyer must pay each year to keep coverage alive, and they can meaningfully improve an offer.

What you own	Path to a possible sale	Key deadline
Individual convertible term	Convert to permanent, then evaluate	Conversion date or attained age in the contract
Individual term, conversion expired	Generally not sellable	Already passed
Group term certificate through an employer	Convert out of the plan first	Commonly about 31 days after coverage ends
Already converted permanent policy	Evaluate now	None, but premium funding still matters
Term with a seriously ill insured	Occasionally sellable as is	Remaining level term period

Locating and Protecting Your Conversion Right

Weighing the Cost of Converting

Conversion prices permanent coverage at the insured’s current age using the carrier’s conversion products, with no new medical underwriting. That last feature is the reason it exists and the reason it can be valuable to someone whose health has declined. It is also why the premium can be several times the term rate at older ages.

Request a written quote showing conversion premiums for each product and each face amount you might select. Converting a portion instead of the whole amount can make the premium affordable, but going below roughly $100,000 will put you under most buyers’ minimums.

Be realistic about the downside. A freshly converted policy has almost no cash value. If no bids arrive, you have paid for coverage you may then drop. That is a genuine risk and any honest evaluation names it up front.

Hypothetical Numbers to Frame the Decision

Imagine a 75-year-old with $400,000 of level term, four years remaining in the level period and a conversion right that ends at age 76. The current premium is $5,100 a year. A permanent conversion at that age might cost several times more annually, which strains a fixed income.

Let the policy lapse and the family receives nothing after decades of premiums. Convert and secure an offer in the common 10 to 35 percent of face range, and that is hypothetically $40,000 to $140,000 before fees. A GAO study found sellers generally received roughly four to eight times cash surrender value, though term has no surrender value at all, so the real comparison for term owners is between an offer and zero.

Those figures are labeled illustrations, not quotes. The right decision depends on health, on the conversion premium quoted to you in writing, and on whether anyone still depends on the death benefit.

The Settlement Process Once You Hold Permanent Coverage

Submit the converted policy, the most recent statement, an in-force illustration at current charges, and signed HIPAA authorizations. Independent underwriters review medical records and produce life expectancy estimates. Licensed buyers bid, and if you accept, closing documents transfer ownership and beneficiary rights to the buyer.

Funds sit in escrow until the carrier confirms the ownership change, then are released to you. Plan on roughly 60 to 120 days from start to funding. Most states then provide a rescission period allowing you to return the money and reverse the sale.

Use your own professionals for the rest. A CPA should review tax treatment of the proceeds. If Medicaid eligibility matters in your household, an elder law attorney should address how a lump sum is treated. Our process overview lays out each step.

Alternatives and Warning Signs

If a spouse or dependent still needs the coverage, keep it. If the insured is terminally ill, look first at an accelerated death benefit rider, which pays part of the benefit early with far less paperwork than a sale. If the coverage is small and unaffordable, letting it lapse may simply be the cleanest answer.

Warning signs are consistent across the industry: a firm dollar offer quoted before any underwriting, an upfront fee to evaluate your policy, or pressure to sign quickly. Ask whether your policy will be shopped to multiple buyers and how the person helping you is paid. Our glossary explains what a life settlement broker does and who they represent.

Pine Lake Life Solutions provides education and free policy reviews and is not affiliated with Sun Life Financial or Delaware Life. Nothing here is legal, tax, or investment advice. Call (305) 209-7183 or send the cover page of your policy.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can term life be sold without converting?

Rarely. Buyers avoid coverage that expires while the insured is likely still living. The uncommon exception is a seriously ill insured whose estimated life expectancy falls well inside the remaining level term period.

Who services Sun Life U.S. individual policies now?

Possibly Delaware Life. Sun Life sold its domestic U.S. annuity business and certain life businesses, including Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada (U.S.), to Delaware Life Holdings in a sale completed in August 2013. Check your latest premium notice.

Where do I find my conversion deadline?

In the policy’s conversion or exchange privilege provision, expressed as a policy year, a date, or an attained age. If the pages are lost, request a full policy copy and written confirmation of remaining conversion rights.

Does the insurance company have to approve the sale?

No. The policy is your property once you own it individually. The carrier’s role is administrative, recording the change of ownership and beneficiary submitted at closing.

Is paying a high conversion premium worth it?

Only when there is a realistic chance of an offer. Seek an evaluation before converting if the timeline allows, and remember a newly converted policy has almost no cash value to fall back on.

How much do converted policies sell for?

Commonly 10 to 35 percent of the death benefit, driven by the insured’s age and health and by the premiums required going forward. Firm numbers only come after medical underwriting is finished.

How long does it take to get paid?

Usually 60 to 120 days from submission to funding, plus whatever time the carrier needs to issue the converted policy first. Medical record retrieval is normally the slowest single step.

What if my term coverage came through work?

Then it is likely a group certificate owned by the employer’s plan rather than an individual policy. You would generally need to convert within the plan’s window, commonly about 31 days after coverage ends.

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