Term Life Insurance Expiring? Your 5 Options Before It Ends

If you bought a 20- or 30-year term policy years ago, there’s a date coming when it simply stops. No refund, no payout — the coverage just ends. And the letter from your insurance company usually arrives with a renewal price that can be several times what you’ve been paying.

Here’s the good news: you have more options than that letter suggests, and the most valuable one has a deadline. Let’s walk through all five.

First, find two dates

Pull out your policy (or call the carrier) and find:

1. The expiration date — when the level-premium term ends.
2. The conversion deadline — the last day you can convert to permanent coverage without proving your health. On many policies this is earlier than the expiration date — often tied to a certain policy year or an age like 65 or 70. Read your policy’s conversion provision; it’s the most important paragraph in it right now.

Option 1: Convert to permanent coverage (no new health questions)

Most term policies include a conversion privilege: you can turn some or all of the term coverage into a permanent policy with the same company, based on your original health rating — no exam, no new medical questions.

Why it matters: if your health has changed since you bought the policy — diabetes, a heart issue, cancer history — conversion may be the only way to keep a large amount of coverage at standard rates.

The trade-off: permanent coverage costs more than term, because it’s priced for your current age and it doesn’t expire. Many people convert part of the coverage — enough for final expenses and a legacy — rather than all of it.

Option 2: Let it renew year to year

Many policies renew automatically after the level period ends, but the premium switches to an annually increasing rate based on your current age. It can be a short-term bridge (a few months while you shop), but it’s rarely a long-term plan — the price climbs every year.

Option 3: Buy a new term policy

If you’re healthy, a brand-new term policy (10, 15 or 20 years) can still make sense — for a mortgage that isn’t paid off, a spouse who depends on your income, or a business loan. It means new underwriting, so your current health decides the price. Apply for the new policy before the old one ends — never let one lapse before the other is approved and in force.

Option 4: Downsize to final expense whole life

For many people in their 60s and 70s, the big needs (mortgage, kids at home, replacing a paycheck) are gone — but the final ones aren’t. A funeral with viewing and burial had a national median cost of about $8,300 in the National Funeral Directors Association’s latest price study, before cemetery costs. Add medical bills and a little to leave behind, and a smaller final expense whole life policy fits: no medical exam, premiums that never increase, coverage that never expires.

Final expense underwriting is simplified — a short health questionnaire — and many managed conditions still qualify for full coverage from day one. See what that looks like for specific health conditions.

Option 5: A mix

The most common smart answer is a combination: convert part of the term (locking in your original health class), and add a final expense policy or keep a smaller new term for a specific debt. An independent agent can lay those side by side across carriers.

The mistake that costs people the most

Waiting until after the conversion deadline — or after a new diagnosis. Your original health rating is an asset with an expiration date. If your policy expires in the next two or three years, look at it now.

What we’d do in your shoes

1. Find the conversion deadline this week.
2. Get a conversion quote from your current carrier for a few amounts.
3. Compare it with new term and final expense quotes from several carriers.
4. Decide before the deadline — not after.

We’ll do steps 2 and 3 with you at no cost: get a quote or call 586-343-1505. We’re independent, so we’ll tell you honestly when converting with your current company beats anything we can offer.