Frequently Asked Questions

Yes.  According to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling dating back almost a century, a life insurance policy is considered your personal property.  Like any other property, you can sell it, trade it, or give it away.  Your insurance company generally has no right to block or question your assignment of the policy rights.

Viatical settlements are currently regulated in most states.  Typically, licensing and oversight is handled by a state’s department of insurance.   For more information on how your state regulates viatical settlements, refer to your state department of insurance website or ask us.  We’ll be happy to provide you with more information if you need it.

Individuals diagnosed with advanced-stage cancer or another serious illness with life insurance of more than $50,000 in face value will generally qualify for our viatical settlement and life insurance loan programs.  If you haven’t been diagnosed with a serious illness, but are over 70, you may still qualify for one of our life settlement programs for seniors.  Learn more about our life settlement programs here.

Universal Life, Whole Life, Variable Universal Life, Term and Convertible Term Life policies issued by U.S. based insurance companies.  Joint, second-to-die policies, group policies and those issued by FEGLI, VGLI and SGLI are typically eligible for a life settlement as well.

Generally, a policy with a face value of $50,000 or higher is eligible for a viatical settlement or life insurance loan.

Since individual policy amounts, premiums and life expectancies vary, it is difficult to set a standard amount.   After a brief consultation, we can generally provide you with an estimate range of your policy’s value as a life settlement.

If you haven’t been diagnosed with a serious illness, but are over 70, you may qualify for one of our life settlement programs for seniors.  Learn more about our life settlement programs here.

Unlike other financial options, there are no restrictions on how the proceeds from a viatical settlement or life insurance loan can be used.

There are no application fees or up-front costs.  If at any point you aren’t satisfied with the offers we present, you are free to walk away at no obligation or cost to you.  If you accept an offer, our fee will be paid directly by the purchaser through the escrow agent.

No.  Unlike when you purchased your life insurance coverage, a health exam isn’t required for you to qualify for a viatical settlement or life insurance loan.  Medical underwriting decisions are based on an independent review of the medical records we will obtain from your health care providers.  Also, there are no credit checks for a viatical settlement or life insurance loan.

Life insurance policies are typically purchased by viatical settlement provider companies who are interested in buying a variety of assets to balance their overall investment portfolios.  Most provider companies work with large institutional investors such as banks and pension funds.

Depending on your state’s laws, funds are typically released from escrow within 72 hours of the buyer’s receipt of confirmation of change of ownership and beneficiary rights from the insurance company.

No.  Once the policy is sold, you will have no future premium obligations whatsoever.

With a viatical settlement or life insurance loan through BRAVEPORT, our privacy policy and advanced transaction procedures ensure that your identity is never revealed to anyone without your consent.

There are no out of pocket costs when you work with us and you have no obligation to sell your policy or to accept any offer.  A third party escrow company is typically used to disburse the funds.

In most states you have 15 days (in some states up to 30 days) after the receipt of the proceeds to change your mind.

We strongly recommend working with a licensed viatical settlement broker rather than directly with a buyer.  As a broker, we will shop your policy to more than 30 licensed buyers and provide you with several offers to choose from.  This competitive bidding process means that you will get the most for your policy. And unlike direct buyers, we are able to provide you with access to multiple offers and funding choices.

To maximize your policy’s value, it’s always best to work with only one broker since buyers tend to avoid policies that they have received from multiple brokers.  We will never ask you to sign an exclusive agreement with us.  However, since we incur significant costs to underwrite and market your policy, we do ask for your loyalty throughout the process.

Yes.  We offer access to life insurance loan and retained benefit programs that give you the opportunity to preserve a larger portion of the policy’s benefit.

Depending on your individual situation, a life insurance loan may work better for you than a viatical settlement.  Typically, this decision will depend on whether you have a smaller immediate cash need and/or desire to preserve some of the policy’s benefit to pass on to your beneficiaries.  When you contact us, we will help you decide which option is best for you and your family.