Comments on: How do I sell this life insurance policy without getting swindled?

Question: How do I sell this life insurance policy without getting swindled?

telegraph — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 12:57:22 -0800

What are/how do I find reputable firms who will buy my father's life insurance policy? How can I determine what a fair price would be? Is there anything special I need to know before I proceed?

(Asking on behalf of a friend) "My father suffers from a degenerative disease which is sure to take his life within the next five years if not sooner. He has a substantial life insurance policy, but in order to continue to make payments on it for the rest of that time, we would be forced to sell our house. The possibility of selling his life insurance to an external firm has been suggested to us -- as I understand it, based on the payout value of the policy, the required monthly payments, and the expected time until payout, a company would pay him a lump sum now and take over the payments.

Has anyone had experience with this in the past? It seems like sort of a shady/loan-shark type transaction so I'm very anxious about finding the most reputable people to deal with if we decide to go forward with this. I'd greatly appreciate any advice anyone can offer. If I need to provide any other details, please let me know and I'll post more." (Well, I'll post more, but you know)

By: COD

COD — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 13:19:56 -0800

You might want to check with the policy issuer first. Many life insurance policies have a built in feature to essentially pay out early in the event of a terminal illness.

By: goingonit

goingonit — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 13:49:04 -0800

You may also be able to borrow from the policy to pay the premiums.

By: theora55

theora55 — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 14:27:50 -0800

Every state has an Attorney General's Office that has some sort of Consumer Affairs office. Every state has an office for insurance regulation. Start there. The term for this is viatical settlement, which will help you search.

By: yclipse

yclipse — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 15:23:16 -0800

Go here to find an attorney who would be able to assist.