How Do You Renew Term Life Insurance? 
This one is easy to answer : do nothing . Yes , thats right . Virtually all term policies these days are guaranteed renewable . This means that you will retain coverage without going through underwriting again . So when it renews , you will get a bill for the renewed rate . Or , if your policy is on automatic bank draft , the renewal rate will be deducted from your bank account . Next question : what will the renewal rate be ? The thing is , you wont know until the policy renews . You will note on the data page of your policy that guaranteed maximum renewal rates are illustrated . These numbers can be very scary because they represent worst-case scenario rate increases . The actual renewal rates are determined when the contract renews , not when it is issued . Fortunately , actual renewal rates typically dont come close to these guaranteed maximum numbers . But they can be high . Once the premium guarantee period is over , the policy can renew at a rate much larger than the original premium . If the insurance carrier needs cash , or wants to bolster its reserves , or for any other reason wants more money , renewal term premiums are a good way to get it Is this bad ? Is this good ? It all depends . If the insured unfortunately has cancer , or some other very serious high risk factor , then even that high rate might seem like a bargain . If you still need life insurance , and you cant qualify for a better deal elsewhere , then even if you pay much more money in premium , the death benefit can still be worth it . But if fortunately you are healthy and do not have high risk factors in your lifestyle , then you just might qualify for a better rate with another company . Go for it ! Just make sure you get prequalified so you know before applying that the change would be in your favor . And very important : dont drop your current policy until the new one is in force . You want to avoid a gap in coverage . 