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Life Insurance Policy Guides
Plain explanations of the paperwork, the deadlines and the questions worth asking about a policy you already own
These guides are written for people who already hold a life insurance policy, or who have found one belonging to somebody else. Each one takes a single situation and stays with it. A premium that went up, a payment that failed, a lapse notice, a beneficiary who needs changing, a term policy coming to an end, a claim to be filed. The aim is that you finish the page knowing how the thing normally works, what to ask for, and who to ask.
What these pages are not is advice about your policy. No guide can tell you what your own contract says, because contracts differ from one another and only the one in your file decides anything. So there are no rates here, no products being recommended, and no statements about what a policy will pay. Where the answer turns on your contract, the guide says so, and it says what to request in writing so you have the answer on paper.
Read whichever one matches the piece of paper in front of you. If it leaves you with a question about your own policy, that is the point where speaking to a licensed independent insurance agent is worth doing, and the number is on every page.
Life Policy Desk is not an insurance company and not an insurance agency. Publishing guides is the whole of what we do. We do not sell insurance, quote it, compare policies or advise on coverage, and we hold no insurance license. When you call, you are connected with a licensed independent insurance agent, and the agent is the one who can read your contract, tell you what its provisions say and advise you on what to do. The agent is not acting for us when they do that.
Speak with a licensed independent agent. Monday through Friday, 10am to 7pm Eastern. No cost, and no obligation to change anything.
Where to start
Every guide
- What to Have Ready Before You Call About a Policy
- Cancelling or Surrendering a Life Insurance Policy
- How Cash Value Works, and What a Policy Loan Really Costs
- How to Change a Life Insurance Beneficiary
- Does Life Insurance Expire?
- How to File a Life Insurance Claim
- How to Find a Life Insurance Policy That Belonged to a Parent
- How Long Does a Life Insurance Payout Take?
- Is a Life Insurance Payout Taxable?
- What Happens When a Life Insurance Policy Lapses
- What Happens to Life Insurance After a Divorce
- Who Gets the Money When There Is No Living Beneficiary
- What a Life Insurance Policy Review Actually Is
- Why Your Life Insurance Premium Went Up
- How to Read Your Annual Policy Statement
- Replacing a Life Insurance Policy Safely
- Your Term Life Policy Is Ending. What Now?
- Term or Whole Life, Explained Without the Sales Pitch
- Owner, Insured, Beneficiary: Who Can Change What