Citizens Life Group helps people explore selling life insurance policies they no longer need or want to maintain. Based in Orlando, the company focuses on high-value policies, combining a personal review of the owner’s circumstances with a process that brings institutional buyers into competition for the policy.
The sale, called a life settlement, allows the owner to receive cash from an existing policy. The purchaser becomes the new owner of the life insurance policy and takes over future premium payments. For someone whose insurance needs have changed, it can be an option worth reviewing before ending coverage.
A Personal Review From the Beginning
Managing Partner Cole Hallman oversees the company’s daily operations and client experience, including the educational resources and qualification process that introduce owners to selling a policy. Managing Director Jeff Hallman brings life-settlement experience dating to 1999.
The first conversation starts with the coverage already in place: the policy type, death benefit, premiums, and the insured person’s age and health. An owner may be facing higher payments, reviewing retirement expenses or reconsidering coverage purchased for a family or business need that has changed.
Those circumstances help frame the decision. A policy’s potential sale value is useful information, but the reason the owner bought it still matters. If a spouse or another beneficiary continues to depend on the coverage, that belongs in the discussion.
Owners can include family members in reviewing the offers. CLG coordinates the information needed for the sale review and explains the steps as the case progresses.
Why Buyers Can Value the Same Policy Differently
The death benefit is only part of a buyer’s calculation. Buying an existing policy also means funding the premiums needed to keep it active, potentially for many years.
Buyers evaluate the insured person’s current health and estimated life expectancy alongside the policy’s future costs. They must account for when the death benefit might be paid and the investment return they need. Different assumptions about those factors can produce different prices for the same policy.
Consider the effect of time. A buyer expecting to pay premiums for a longer period must budget for those additional payments. That can leave less money available for an offer today. A different assessment of the same medical information can change the calculation. An individual’s lifespan can differ substantially from an underwriting estimate.
Buyers can also have different return requirements. Even when two buyers agree on the policy’s likely costs, they may disagree about what purchase price makes the investment worthwhile.
One offer therefore describes what one buyer is prepared to pay. Comparing bids reveals whether others see more value in the same coverage. The National Association of Insurance Commissioners recommends comparison shopping in its consumer guidance on selling a life insurance policy.
Preparing a Policy for Buyers
Citizens Life Group begins that work by gathering the information buyers need to evaluate the contract. The application includes authorization to obtain medical records, and the company helps coordinate requests with the insurer and doctors’ offices.
An important document is the in-force illustration, an updated projection for an existing policy from the insurance company. It helps show the premiums and policy assumptions buyers will need to examine. CLG can help the owner request it.
Independent medical underwriting firms review the health records and prepare life-expectancy assessments used in valuation. Current information matters: buyers need to evaluate the policy and the insured person’s circumstances as they are today.
The owner completes the application and authorizations while CLG organizes the submission process. That coordination gives the owner a way to reach multiple buyers without managing a separate application with each one.
How CLG Works to Maximize Offers
Once the case is prepared, CLG presents it to institutional buyers and seeks competing bids. The company follows up on buyer interest and negotiates as offers arrive.
A stronger bid gives CLG a concrete basis for asking another interested buyer to improve its price. The company uses that competition to pursue a higher offer, continuing the negotiation beyond a buyer’s initial response. Preparing the case, reaching multiple buyers and following through on bids are how CLG works to maximize offers.
For the owner, those bids provide evidence of what interested purchasers will pay for this particular contract. They can also expose a gap between an early indication of value and the offers available after buyers have reviewed the records.
Results depend on buyer interest, the policy, and the insured person’s circumstances. Some policies do not receive an offer, and bidding does not guarantee that a buyer will increase its price.
Making the Decision With Written Offers
The owner receives offers in writing and an explanation of the terms. CLG’s process includes disclosure of fees before signing, with no upfront cost and no obligation to accept an offer.
The useful figure for a household is the amount it would receive after the disclosed costs. That figure can be considered alongside future premiums, the policy’s continuing purpose, and options available through the insurer. A financial adviser who knows the family’s circumstances can help put the sale in context. Consult a tax professional about the potential tax consequences; Citizens Life Group does not provide tax advice.
For an initial conversation, a recent policy statement, the current premium amount, and basic information about the insured person’s health provide a starting point. Citizens Life Group can explain what further records are needed, review whether a sale appears feasible, and take an eligible policy through the bidding process. The owner decides whether the offers justify selling.
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