Yes — a William Penn Life of New York universal life policy can be sold in a life settlement if you and the policy qualify; the buyer purchases the contract from you and the insurer’s permission is not needed. Universal life is, in fact, the most frequently sold policy type in the entire secondary market, and the reason has nothing to do with which company issued it.
It has to do with arithmetic that was set in motion decades ago. A UL policy is an account: premium goes in, interest is credited, and monthly charges — chiefly a cost of insurance that rises every year with the insured’s age — come out. Policies illustrated in the 1980s, 1990s, and early 2000s assumed crediting rates of 8% to 12%. For many years since, those same contracts have credited at or near their guaranteed minimum instead. The account never grew the way the illustration promised, and now, with the insured in their 70s or 80s, the insurer is asking for a premium several times what the owner has been paying.
William Penn Life Insurance Company of New York is the New York member of the Legal & General America group — the same group as Banner Life — and it exists as a separate company because New York licenses insurers under its own regime. This guide covers what that means for a New York settlement, and exactly which document will tell you when your policy is projected to run out of money. Pine Lake Life Solutions is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting on behalf of William Penn Life Insurance Company of New York or Legal & General America.
In This Article
- The Premium Notice That Started Your Search
- Get the In-Force Illustration, Both Versions
- New York Rules: Article 78 and DFS Oversight
- Why Legal & General, Banner Life, and Meiji Yasuda All Show Up in Your Search
- What a Buyer Is Actually Buying
- Comparing Your Four Real Options
- Documents, Loans, and Ownership Wrinkles
- Timeline and Next Steps
- Frequently Asked Questions
The Premium Notice That Started Your Search
Most people arrive at this page holding a letter. It says the policy will lapse unless a substantially larger premium is paid, and it usually arrives with no warning after twenty or thirty years of quiet.
That letter is not a mistake and it is not a penalty. It is the account arithmetic catching up. The cost of insurance inside a UL policy roughly doubles at intervals as the insured ages, and by the late 70s it is a very different number than it was at 55. Meanwhile the credited interest that was supposed to carry part of that load never materialized at illustrated levels. When the account value can no longer absorb the monthly charges, the insurer must ask for more money or the policy ends.
What the letter does not say is that you have more than two options. Paying the higher premium and letting the policy lapse are the obvious ones. Surrendering for whatever cash value remains is a third. Selling the policy — often for materially more than the surrender value — is the fourth, and it is the one nobody sends you a letter about.
Get the In-Force Illustration, Both Versions
This is the single most useful thing you can do this week. Contact the service center on your premium notice and request an in-force illustration on your policy, in two versions: one run at current crediting rates and current charge levels, and one run at guaranteed assumptions — the minimum interest and maximum charges the contract permits.
Read down the account value column. The year it reaches zero is the projected lapse year. Owners are routinely startled by how far apart the two runs are; a policy that looks stable to age 95 under current assumptions can show a lapse in the insured’s early 80s under guaranteed ones.
While you are on the phone, ask for the premium required to carry the policy to maturity, and to age 90, and to age 95. Those three numbers tell you the true lifetime cost of keeping the coverage, which is the only fair thing to weigh a settlement offer against. Our explainer on what an in-force illustration is walks through the columns. As of 2026, confirm the current servicing entity and address with the company before mailing anything.
New York Rules: Article 78 and DFS Oversight
New York regulates life settlements under New York Insurance Law Article 78, administered by the New York State Department of Financial Services. That is a distinct framework from the model laws many other states follow.
What it means for you as a consumer: New York transactions come with defined disclosure obligations and a rescission period after funding, during which a seller may unwind the sale by returning the proceeds. Before you sign, ask in writing what disclosures you are entitled to receive and precisely how long your rescission window runs.
Two habits protect you in any state. Ask every firm you speak with to state in writing whether it is acting as a broker or as a buyer, and to disclose compensation in dollars as well as percentages — a gross offer and your net proceeds can differ meaningfully. And verify any licensing claim with the regulator yourself rather than accepting a website statement. Pine Lake publishes education only; nothing here is an offer to purchase a policy, and nothing here is legal advice about New York law.
Why Legal & General, Banner Life, and Meiji Yasuda All Show Up in Your Search
William Penn Life Insurance Company of New York is the New York arm of Legal & General America; Banner Life Insurance Company handles the group’s business outside New York. The two are siblings, and the reason for the split is regulatory, not product-driven — New York requires business in the state to be written through a New York-licensed company.
Legal & General announced an agreement to sell its U.S. insurance business to Meiji Yasuda. As of 2026, confirm with the company which entity is currently servicing your policy and where to direct requests. Do not assume the address on a twenty-year-old contract is still correct.
The reassuring part: none of this touches your contract. When a block of policies changes hands, the guarantees, the loan provisions, the cost-of-insurance table, and every other term travel with it. That is the same reason a life settlement does not change your policy either. A buyer becomes the owner and beneficiary and takes over the premiums; the contract itself is untouched.
| Option After a Lapse Notice | What You Receive | Premium Going Forward | Best When |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pay the higher premium | Nothing now; coverage continues | You keep paying, often much more | Heirs still depend on the death benefit |
| Let the policy lapse | Nothing | None | Almost never the best available choice |
| Surrender the policy | Cash surrender value only | None | Policy too small for the secondary market |
| Life settlement | Lump sum, typically 10-35% of face value (GAO-10-775) | None; buyer takes over | Coverage no longer needed and policy qualifies |
| Retained death benefit | No lump sum, or a smaller one | None; buyer pays | You want some coverage without premiums |
What a Buyer Is Actually Buying
A settlement buyer values three things, and cash value is barely on the list.
The death benefit. This is the asset. Buyers generally start at $100,000, because underwriting, life-expectancy work, escrow, and closing costs do not scale down to smaller policies.
Life expectancy. Estimated by medical underwriters from records. A shorter estimate means a shorter wait and fewer premiums, which raises what a buyer will pay. This is why health conditions that feel like bad news in every other context increase a policy’s settlement value.
Cost of carry. The minimum annual premium needed to keep the policy in force. Two policies with identical death benefits can be worth very different amounts if one costs twice as much to maintain. This is precisely where the in-force illustration earns its keep.
The federal GAO market study (GAO-10-775) reported typical seller proceeds of roughly 10% to 35% of face value and around 4 to 8 times cash surrender value. Those are published ranges, not quotes — see what drives policy value.
Comparing Your Four Real Options
Lay them out honestly rather than reacting to the lapse notice.
- Pay the higher premium. Right if someone still depends on the death benefit and the money is genuinely available. Ask for the to-age-90 and to-age-95 premium figures first so you know the full commitment.
- Let it lapse. You receive nothing. This is the most common ending for aging UL policies and the one worth working hardest to avoid.
- Surrender. You receive the cash surrender value — often modest on an older UL that has been eaten down by rising charges. See the cash surrender value guide.
- Sell. A lump sum today, premiums stop, coverage transfers. Compare it against surrender using our settlement vs. surrender breakdown.
There is also a partial path: some transactions let you keep a portion of the death benefit with no further premium obligation, described in how the policy options work. Ask about it explicitly — it does not always get offered unprompted.
Documents, Loans, and Ownership Wrinkles
For a free screening, send one page: the policy cover page showing the insurer, policy number, face amount, and issue date.
For the full process, assemble the most recent annual statement (account value, surrender value, current premium, loan balance), both in-force illustrations, and a HIPAA authorization for medical records. Read the authorization before signing — it should name who receives records and be revocable.
Two wrinkles worth flagging early. If there is a loan against the policy, the balance is paid off at closing and reduces your net proceeds; it does not block the sale but it changes the math. And if the policy is owned by a trust — common for estate planning, and common in New York — the trustee must sign, and the trust’s authority to sell may need review. Surfacing that at the start saves weeks.
Timeline and Next Steps
Expect roughly 60 to 120 days from first contact to funded payment: days for the initial review, two to four weeks for illustration and medical records, then underwriting, written offers, contracts, escrow, the ownership change filing, and funding. Medical records are the usual bottleneck; authorize them immediately.
Keep paying premiums throughout. A policy that lapses mid-transaction is worth nothing to anyone, and on an underfunded UL the lapse date can arrive faster than the paperwork.
Insist that your funds sit with an independent escrow agent, releasing only after the carrier confirms the ownership and beneficiary change. Never transfer a policy against a promise of later payment.
If you hold other William Penn coverage, the analysis differs by type — see our guides to selling a William Penn whole life policy, a William Penn GUL policy, or a William Penn term policy. For a free, no-obligation review, send the policy cover page or call (305) 209-7183. This page is educational and is not legal, tax, or investment advice.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need William Penn’s permission to sell my policy?
No. The policy is your property and may be transferred; the U.S. Supreme Court confirmed that principle in 1911. The company’s role is administrative — recording the new owner and beneficiary once the transaction closes. Pine Lake is not affiliated with or acting on behalf of William Penn or Legal & General America.
Why did my universal life premium suddenly increase so much?
The cost of insurance inside a UL policy rises every year with the insured’s age, and many policies written between the 1980s and early 2000s were illustrated at crediting rates of 8% to 12% that never materialized. The account value shrinks until it can no longer cover the monthly charges, and the insurer requests more premium to prevent a lapse.
How do I find out when my policy will lapse?
Request an in-force illustration in two versions — one at current assumptions and one at guaranteed assumptions — and read down the account value column. The year it reaches zero is the projected lapse year. The guaranteed run is usually the sobering one, and it is the version most owners have never seen.
Are New York policies treated differently in a life settlement?
Yes. New York regulates settlements under New York Insurance Law Article 78 with oversight from the Department of Financial Services, which sets disclosure requirements and a rescission period after funding. Ask in writing what disclosures you are owed and how long your rescission window lasts. This is general information, not legal advice.
Legal & General is selling its U.S. business — does that change my contract?
No. Policy terms travel with the block when ownership changes: guarantees, loan provisions, and charge structures stay as written. Legal & General agreed to sell its U.S. insurance business to Meiji Yasuda; as of 2026, confirm with the company which entity services your policy and where to send requests.
How much could my universal life policy sell for?
The federal GAO study (GAO-10-775) found sellers typically received about 10% to 35% of face value, roughly 4 to 8 times cash surrender value. The actual figure depends on the death benefit, the insured’s life expectancy, and how much premium a buyer must pay to keep the policy in force. No one can quote a number without reviewing the policy.
Should I stop paying premiums while exploring a sale?
No. Keep the policy in force. An underfunded UL can lapse faster than a transaction closes, and a lapsed policy is worth nothing to anyone. Premium responsibility transfers to the buyer only at closing.
My policy is owned by a trust. Can it still be sold?
Generally yes, but the trustee must sign and the trust’s authority to sell may need to be reviewed. Flag trust ownership at the very beginning of the process — discovering it late is one of the most common causes of delay. Discuss the specifics with your own attorney.
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Related Reading
- What Is An In Force Illustration
- How Much Can I Get For My Life Insurance Policy
- Cash Surrender Value Life Insurance
- Life Settlement Vs Surrender
- How It Works Policy Options
- Sell My William Penn 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.