What Happens When Term Life Insurance Expires? 
When Term Life Insurance expires there may be a couple of choices . With some Term life insurance , the policy just ends . If you want a new policy you would have to apply for a new one . With other Term life insurance policies , you have the option to pay a new , much higher premium . This premium is usually annually renewable and can go up every year . Rather than let the policy expire and have to pay that premium , it would be a better idea to convert the Term policy to a Permanent policy , if that option exists . But converting Term to Permanent must occur before the Term policy expires , sometimes years prior to that time . Review your Term policy 's features to see when the conversion period ends . 