Open for business with licensed advisors.

Help your clients sell or convert their insurance policies that are no longer needed, wanted or affordable.

Confidential. No obligations to sell. No exclusivity requirements. No appraisal fees.

Easily add Life Settlements to your practice.

Who we work with

Insurance Agents
Securities Representatives
Registered Investment Advisors
Financial and Estate Planners
CPAs
Individuals with Power of Attorney
Enrolled Agents
Public Accountants
Attorneys
Trustees
Chief Financial Officers

Adding Life Settlements to your financial portfolio

Whether you are new to Life Settlements or are a Secondary Market veteran looking for better results, we are here to help.

Why do so few know about life settlements?

America has a shortage of Advisors involved with Life Settlements.

It has been estimated that $180 billion of life insurance coverage is irrationally terminated annually without having been submitted for a Life Settlement. Yet in 2014 and 2015 the Life Settlement Industry transacted less than 1% each year. Why is this number so low?

The core issue is a lack of awareness that an insurance policy is a financial asset. We are here to change that, and to give your clients the financial tools they deserve.

What we bring to the table

Think of a life insurance policy as a family diamond, a unique asset that would deserve professional appraisals and competing bids prior to a possible sale.

Not all offers are created equal.
Your cases will receive the best offers for as many of the Six Programs as might be available. Our underwriting process give your client the option for a payout well above the bottom-barrel offers given over the phone by well-advertised funders.
No restrictions or exclusions
Unlike the Funders advertising on TV and certain other Life Settlement Brokers, we do not have an exclusionary contract.
Six Programs = More Options
The Six Programs include three for those who might live as long as 23 years and three for those with five years or less to live.
Competition Welcome
If you want to work with us and others at the same time, that is your choice. We have taken over and obtained funding for cases that had been in play for many months. Always remember that a Life Settlement is not final until the day its Rescission Period has expired.
Strong Track Record
We have worked successfully with the spectrum of financial professionals since launching our company in 2000. All of them want to help clients get cash and stop paying premiums by selling one or more life insurance policies. We can assist in many ways whether you are captive, independent, licensed for securities or only fixed insurance, commission-based or fee-only.
Tough Cases Welcome
Our company will accept any case that has a chance. Period.

Expert policy review, exposure to an unparalleled variety of sale options, and no appraisal fee or obligations to accept offers.

Step 1: Profiling the Case

We review the case with you and answer the key questions below to determine if the policy can be sold. Then, we develop a strategy that is customized for your client to get the largest payout.

First Stop: Can the policy be sold?

There are three factors that can delay or stop a sale dead in it’s tracks. We verify these first.

Contestability and Suicide Exclusion Clauses
Policies within the 2-year Contestability and Suicide Exclusion Clauses cannot be sold.
Grace Period
Carriers cannot issue illustrations during the grace period. No illustrations, no quotes, no Settlement. Such policies must be returned to good standing.
Lapsation
Lapsation can be a Life Settlement deal-killer depending on the carrier, the specific details of the policy, and how long the policy has been lapsed. The second-worst thing that can happen is the policy is reinstated and the 24-month Contestability and Suicide Exclusion clauses are reset, often at a higher premium price. See (Contestability and Suicide Exclusion Clause). The worst thing that can happen is the carrier medically re-underwrites the Insured and refuses to reinstate the policy.

Key Questions

Answering these questions helps us understand the viability of the case, which programs might work, and the funders that would be interested in the policy.

How old is the policy?
Does the Insured have any diseases or medical conditions that might limit maximum lifespan to 23 years?
Is the Insured receiving any licensed Long-Term Care or might need some within 90 days?
If the policy is Term, can it still be converted to a permanent plan of insurance? How long is the conversion option?
What is the policy’s annual premium?
If the policy is Universal or Whole Life, what is its cash surrender value, and is there an outstanding loan?
Are there any other policies, including Survivorships?
Submitting them could help the case and might allow “Mix and Match” among more than one of the Six Programs. This is definitely a “Size Matters” Industry, so even policies that are not destined for sale should be submitted. The Policy Owner will thus know today’s true market value for each life insurance policy and which of the Six Programs might work for some or all.

Step 2: Apply & Submit the Case

We offer comprehensive underwriting services, not lowball offers by phone

Next Up: Optimized Application Process

For your clients to reap the rewards, the application has to be prepared expertly. We guide you through it.

Getting the Application Package

We tailor application processing instructions to fit your case. Copies of all communications and a compliant application are sent by email, then shipped by FedEx with supporting materials, prepaid airbills, and packing materials.

Purchasing Medical Records

Whatever medical records the Insured has on hand or can easily secure without cost may be shipped as-is for scanning and return; there is no need to make copies.

We will generally buy remaining medical records for cases totaling $250,000 of coverage and for smaller cases when the health profile is terminal illness or Long-Term Care.

Obtaining Longevity Reports

Cases with combined coverage of $500,000 and above generally require Funders to purchase one or more longevity reports from third-party specialty companies known as Life Expectancy Providers (LEPs). Their detailed reports augment the analyses by medical doctors, actuaries, and life insurance underwriters working with each Funder.

You will not need to buy these reports.

Working With Carriers

Life agents unfamiliar with Life Settlements are surprised and disappointed when simple requests for NAIC-compliant level premium illustrations to age 100 take 3 to 4 weeks. This simple task can consume more than 4 weeks if the carrier makes a “mistake” and then shunts the request to the back of the Customer Service queue. Deliberate slow-walking of Life Settlement-themed illustrations is management’s decision, not the fault of Client Service Reps answering the phone.

What Funders Require

Comprehensive underwriting gets your clients the most money – by a long shot. However, it takes an intimate understanding of the funders business model to get the job done. We guide you through the complexities, but it still helps to understand a few key points.

The Medical Records
Today, Funders typically need medical records for the past 3 to 6 years pertaining to significant, severe, or terminal conditions. The expanded definition of medical records includes: surgeries; physical examinations; all types of scans and tests such as X-Ray, Angiogram, EKG, MRI, Echo, Heart, PET, CTA, Nuclear, blood, urine; treatments such as radiation, chemotherapy, and dialysis; and doctor’s notes.

Getting these records is unique to the Life Settlement industry because we cannot require new medical exams.
How they decide to make an offer
Funders base their decisions on how long every Insured might actually live, policy details, and internal rate of return on their investment. They are essentially betting against the ability of American medical science to extend the Insured’s probable lifespan.
Funders: 1996-Present Day
None of the Funders or the general public believed that AIDS would be transformed from a likely death sentence to a chronic illness starting in 1996. That was the year Highly Active Antiretroviral Treatment (HAART) protocols were approved. Many Funders took heavy losses and some folded.

As a result, the Industry redirected its attention to relatively healthy seniors. This exponentially increased the universe of potential clients while making it much harder for Funders to estimate how long each Insured might actually live. This explains the necessary complexity of the underwriting process, and why going around the underwriting process through lowball phone offers gets you bottom dollar.

Step 3: Receive Offers & Sell

We engineer a competitive auction between 5 to 20 Funders, large and small.

The Finish Line: Funder offers & closing the deal

We constantly update, answer questions, and do everything possible to manage expectations for you and thus your client.

Step 1: Getting the Offers

We canvass every possible funder. We even include the TV advertisers, though they prefer working directly with callers who had no idea policies could be sold and too often fail to shop around.

When offers arrive, we will begin consulting with you constantly. There is far more hesitation to sell a policy than a home or car. One Owner might be overjoyed with an XX% payout while another might say it was not even in the ballpark. We are deal-makers, not deal-breakers, and will do everything possible to meet the Owner’s demands.

Step 2: Accepting an Offer

Once the client accepts an offer, a full-disclosure agreement will be sent within a business week for review and return by a specified date with the original policy or the carrier’s perfect duplicate. Once any corrections are made or missing documents provided, the Funder sends executed, carrier-supplied Ownership and Beneficiary Change paperwork to the carrier for processing.

It should be noted that your client can accept the offer by voice, email, or phone. We do not need a written acceptance to send the disclosure agreement.

Step 3: Getting Carrier Confirmation

To finalize the sale, all the carrier must do is review the Ownership and Beneficiary Change paperwork, execute the changes, and send a confirmation to the Funder by USPS or fax. The Funder is poised to transmit a Fedwire or send an overnight check within 2 to 3 days per state regulations.

Important: Too often, the carrier sits on these crucial changes instead of turning them around in a day.

This has become chronic to the point that we will alert you when the carrier has received the paperwork. You decide whether to expedite it yourself or get the Policy Owner involved.

Step 4: The Rescission Period

Most states have a regulation that mandates a Rescission Period for Life Settlements, the typical one lasting 15 days after funds have been received by the Policy Owner. During the Rescission Period, the Owner has the right to return the funds and receive the policy back. In the event the Insured dies during Rescission, the contract is considered to have been rescinded. Once the funds have been returned, the policy is given back to the Owner.

Rescission is a feature unique to Life Settlements and not available with other financial transactions such as the sales of stocks, bonds, or mutual funds. There are just five states with no regulations for Life or Viatical Settlements, yet virtually all cases will still have a Rescission Period. (Alabama, Missouri, South Carolina, South Dakota, and Wyoming are the five states).

Frequently Asked Questions

How do Advisors get paid?

Once the Policy Owner has received funding, and any Rescission Period has expired, Advisor compensation will be transmitted by Fedwire. This step requires a Form W-9, bank routing instructions, and a copy of any state-required license.

Are the Funders advertising on TV also canvassed by American Life Settlements?

American Life Settlements includes the Funders on TV if they are licensed in the state where the policy is domiciled. Generally, they have two kinds of offers: small ones for the Policy Owners responding to the ad after an exclusive service agreement is signed; and a larger one when forced to compete with as many as 10 to 20 competitors.

What changes were made to Life Settlement lifespan estimates in 2008?

Lifespan Estimate Providers (LEPs) are independent, third-party companies which analyze medical records. Their expensive reports conclude with estimates of the Insured’s probable lifespan. In the Fall of 2008, these companies updated their mortality assumptions with the result that virtually all lifespans were lengthened. This had immediate repercussions which are felt to this day. LEPs have become far more vigilant about keeping their medical databases updated. Their greater precision has enabled many Funders to extend offers for Insureds who might live as long as 20 years. Advisors do not have to buy Life Expectancy Reports.

How are Life Settlements and Viatical Settlements regulated by the states?

42 states and Puerto Rico regulate Life Settlements, thus covering roughly 90% of the population. Some require only a life insurance license while others call for a special Life Settlement or Viatical Settlement license. American Life Settlements can provide details of state regulations and licensing, plus compliant applications for states with mandated wording.

As an overview, 31 regulated states have a 2-year waiting period before a policy may be sold. 10 states have a 5-year waiting period and one state has a 4-year waiting period. Those with more than a 2-year waiting period usually have exceptions for terminal or chronic illness, retirement, divorce, physical or mental impairment and so forth. Delaware, Michigan and New Mexico regulate only Viatical Settlements. Five states have no regulations: Alabama, Missouri, South Carolina, South Dakota and Wyoming.

American Life Settlements is more than pleased that each state regulates life insurance and related products, rather than the Federal Government. This is a result of the McCarran–Ferguson Act, 15 U.S.C. §§ 1011-1015, passed in 1945 by the 79th Congress. Students of insurance history and Federalism, in general, may read more at Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McCarran-Ferguson_Act

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Advisors may send us a note anytime or call:
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Easily add Life Settlements to your practice.

Who we work with

Adding Life Settlements to your financial portfolio

Why do so few know about life settlements?

What we bring to the table

Not all offers are created equal.

No restrictions or exclusions

Six Programs = More Options

Competition Welcome

Strong Track Record

Tough Cases Welcome

Expert policy review, exposure to an unparalleled variety of sale options, and no appraisal fee or obligations to accept offers.

Step 1: Profiling the Case

First Stop: Can the policy be sold?

Contestability and Suicide Exclusion Clauses

Grace Period

Lapsation

Key Questions

Step 2: Apply & Submit the Case

Next Up: Optimized Application Process

What Funders Require

The Medical Records

How they decide to make an offer

Funders: 1996-Present Day

Step 3: Receive Offers & Sell

The Finish Line: Funder offers & closing the deal

Frequently Asked Questions

Legal

Company

Life Settlement Programs