What Happens If I Miss A Life Insurance Payment? 
Your Life Insurance policy will have the specifics of the `` Grace Period '' that provides and cushion for you when you miss a payment . Life Insurance companies usually want youto keep you policy . Their Grace Period is usually 30 to 60 days depending on the policy and the company . The type of policy will make a difference as well . A Term Life Insurance policy does not have any `` Cash Value '' or a side account that can grow at an interest rate like a savings account and cover the missed premium . This `` Cash Value '' is a feature of a Universal Life policy . The Term Life policy would be in danger of lapsing much quicker and you are probably going to cancelled quicker . A Universal Life policy with cash value is going to use the saving portion to pay the premium . The Universal Life will lapse once the cash value is depleted and the grace period expires . You can call your agent or Life Insurance company and work out options on the Universal Life policy such as lower the `` Face Amount '' or amount of death benefit to help you make the policy last longer . `` Whole Life Insurance '' will have a grace period as well . Coverage options beyond the grace period become more complicated . This Whole Life policy also has a `` Cash Value '' or savings portion as well . You will be subject to the policy 's `` Non Forfeiture Options '' within the policy . These options are different for each policy . You will have to check your policy . Usually , there are 3 options : Return of the cash value to you minus any loans you took out , you can change to a lower amount of insurance that is `` Paid Up '' or you do not have to pay premiums for the amount of death benefit , or you can change to a `` Term Life Insurance '' policy for a specific period of time then the insurance stops . 