Cashing in Life Insurance

[paganbaby]

Has anybody out there tried to sell their their life insurance policy through a viatical company or elsewhere on the secondary market?  I've just had a particularly bad experience with a viatical company, "Life Insurance Settlements" out of Ft. Lauderdale.  They advertise in Poz Magazine, and it was a real nightmare with these people.

Just curious to know if anyone has had any problems with this company, or any other problems/successes in cashing in insurance in today's "long-term-non-progressor" market. Thanks!

[Eldon]

Hey Paganbaby,

It is unfortunate that you have had a bad experience with the said company. However there is good news that there are other firms out there that will be able to assist you with cashing in on your Life Insurance Policy.

I wish to extend to you a warm WELCOME here at the forums. Here you will find the encouragement, communication, understanding, support, some cries, some laughter, and many of your questions relating to HIV/AIDS answered.

We have a great group of Real people who will listen as well as answer you. We are here to encourage one another and to learn from each other.

Talking to other people helps us see that we are not the only ones with problems. Feel free to come and vent with whatever is on your mind from time-to-time as it is highly therapeutic.

In the interim, you may want to start taking a multi-vitamin, Omega 3 and eat a diet high in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean protein, and low-fat dairy and avoid processed foods, saturated and trans fats. This will also help you maintain a healthy weight.

Exercise at least three times per week for a minimum of 30 minutes.

Make the BEST of each and every Day!

[allanq]

I did a viatical settlement on my life insurance policies back in 1998. At that time, protease inhibitors were a pretty recent development, and it wasn't that clear that they would play such a big role in prolonging the lives of people with HIV and AIDS. Companies were offering fairly generous settlements at that time--as much as 70% of the total death benefit.

Nowadays, the situation is quite different. Many viatical settlement companies have taken a real beating on their bets that people with HIV and AIDS were doomed to die fairly soon. There was a segment on the TV show "60 Minutes" on this very topic.

If the viatical settlement companies are still advertising in magazines for HIV-positive people, I assume that they are still buying policies. However, I think that the rules are probably much stricter and the settlements far less than they used to be. If you are relatively healthy, I think it's going to be very difficult to get a decent price for your insurance policies.

Each month I send in a postcard to my viatical settlement company to let them know that I haven't dropped dead yet. I've sent in over 100 of these cards so far. My goal is to send in at least another 480. That will take me to age 98.

Allan