All good things must come to an end – including term life insurance. Term life is designed to protect you when it counts by covering you for a specific period of time. So, what happens when term life insurance expires?

You still have options once your term life policy expires. Here’s how it works.

How long will my term life insurance last?

Term life insurance offers affordable coverage for specific term lengths. At Fidelity Life, we offer policies that last from 10 to 30 years. The idea is to align your policy term length with a timeframe when your family needs the most protection, like when you’re paying off a mortgage or raising young children.

This flexible protection helps make term life affordable and a good bet for most families. With most policies, your premium rates will stay the same for the entire length of the term, though you don’t get them back if you end up not needing coverage. Like auto or home insurance, you pay for protection and hope you’ll never need to use it.

If you do die while your policy is active, your family will receive a payout to use however they like. Chances are good, though, you’ll live beyond the length of your policy which means you have some choices to make.

What are my options once my life insurance expires?

There are generally three different choices:

Let Your Coverage End

 No longer need life insurance? Congratulations! Before you make the decision to forgo a policy completely, though, take a careful look at your current and future expenses and the reasons you bought insurance in the first place.

If you’ve already checked off big financial responsibilities like paying your mortgage or debt, covering college tuition, and raising a family, you might not need the same amount of coverage anymore. Our Learn and Plan calculator can help you assess your financial situation.

Renew Your Current Policy

Many plans have guaranteed renewability, which means you can renew for short periods of time, usually once a year. If you just need coverage for a little longer, this could be a good solution. You don’t have to apply or get approved again, so renewing can also be a good option if you’re dealing with more health issues than you did when you bought the policy.

Keep in mind that rates will go up as you get older. Policy rates are always based on your current age, which means it can pay to buy a longer policy when you’re younger if you think you’ll need it later.

Buy a New Policy

You can always start over. If you’re healthy and need more than $50,000 in coverage, term life may still work for you. At Fidelity Life, you can buy a term life policy until you’re 65, though you’ll pay more the second time around.

Other plans may be a better fit as you get older. If you’re just looking for a small amount of coverage to pay for end-of-life or funeral expenses, you can buy a final expense plan until you’re 85.

Need help assessing your options?

Fidelity Life is here to help. Give us a call today.

At Fidelity Life, our goal is to make life insurance simple, affordable, and understandable for everyday families. This content is intended for educational purposes only. Each post is carefully fact-checked, reviewed, and updated regularly to ensure the information is as relevant as possible.