Frequently Asked Questions

With people living longer and wanting more in their retirement, life settlements have gained popularity in recent years.  They have become a viable alternative to realize immediate cash.

Yes.  According to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling dating back almost a century, a life insurance policy is considered your personal property.  Like any other property, you can sell it, trade it, or give it away.  Your insurance company generally has no right to block or question your assignment of the policy rights.

Life settlements are currently regulated in most states.  Typically, licensing and oversight is handled by a state’s department of insurance.   For more information on how your state regulates life settlements, refer to your state department of insurance website or ask us.  We’ll be happy to provide you with more information if you need it.

Most Life Settlement candidates are people 70 years or older who have re-evaluated their need for a life insurance policy.  Rather than continue paying expensive premiums for an unneeded or unwanted policy, they convert it to cash funds to enjoy while they are living.  If you are younger than 70 and are currently dealing with serious illness, you may also be eligible for one of our viatical settlement or life insurance loan programs.

Yes, seriously and terminally ill individuals are typically well-qualified and can expect to receive a larger benefit than healthy seniors.  To learn more about our viatical settlement and life insurance loan programs for people diagnosed with serious or terminal illness, please visit our companion website.

Universal Life, Whole Life, Term and Convertible Term Life policies issued by U.S. based insurance companies.  Joint, second-to-die policies, group policies and those issued by FEGLI, VGLI and SGLI are typically eligible for a life settlement as well.

Generally, a policy with a face value of $100,000 or higher is eligible for a life settlement.

Since individual policy amounts, premiums and life expectancies vary, it is difficult to set a standard amount.   After a brief consultation, we can generally provide you with an estimate range of your policy’s value as a life settlement.

Unlike other financial options, there are no restrictions on how the proceeds from a life settlement can be used.

There are no application fees or up-front costs.  If at any point you aren’t satisfied with the offers we present, you are free to walk away at no obligation or cost to you.  If you accept an offer, our fee will be paid directly by the purchaser.

No.  Unlike when you purchased your life insurance coverage, a health exam isn’t required for you to qualify for a life settlement.  Medical underwriting decisions are based on an independent review of the medical records we will obtain from your health care providers.  Also, there are no credit checks for a life settlement.

No.  Once the policy is sold, you will have no future premium obligations whatsoever.

Depending on your state’s laws, funds are typically released from escrow within 72 hours of the buyer’s receipt of confirmation of change of ownership and beneficiary rights from the insurance company.

Life insurance policies are usually purchased by life settlement provider companies who are interested in buying a variety of assets to balance their overall investment portfolios.  Most provider companies work with large institutional investors such as banks and pension funds.

There are no out of pocket costs when you work with us and you have no obligation to sell your policy or to accept any offer.  A third party escrow company is generally used to disburse the funds.

With a life settlement through BRAVEPORT, our privacy policy and advanced transaction procedures ensure that your identity is never revealed to anyone without your consent.

In most states you have 15 days (in some states up to 30 days) after the receipt of the proceeds to change your mind.

We strongly recommend working with a licensed life settlement broker rather than directly with a buyer.  As a broker, we will shop your policy to more than 30 licensed buyers and provide you with several offers to choose from.  This competitive bidding process means that you will get the most for your policy. And unlike direct buyers, we are able to provide you with access to multiple offers and choices.

To maximize your policy’s value, it’s always best to work with only one broker since buyers tend to avoid policies that they have received from multiple brokers.  We will never ask you to sign an exclusive agreement with us.  However, since we incur significant costs to underwrite and market your policy, we do ask for your loyalty throughout the process.

This can be a costly decision.  Generally speaking, the surrender amount on your policy is a fraction of what we can sell it for in a life settlement.  Why cheat yourself of money you deserve?

This is an individual decision.  Some people like to have some coverage after selling their policy in a life settlement.  This is absolutely possible.  We are happy to discuss your options with you.