Home Life insurance Life insurance questions can you cash in a life insurance policy can you cash in a life insurance policy Written by Penny Gusner Penny Gusner Penny is an expert on insurance procedures, rates, policies and claims. She has extensive knowledge of all major insurance lines -- auto, homeowners, life and health insurance. She has been answering consumers’ questions as an analyst for more than 15 years and has been featured in numerous major media outlets, including the Washington Post and Kiplinger’s. Posted on: September 16, 2014 Why you can trust Insure.com Quality Verified At Insure.com, we are committed to providing the timely, accurate and expert information consumers need to make smart insurance decisions. All our content is written and reviewed by industry professionals and insurance experts. Our team carefully vets our rate data to ensure we only provide reliable and up-to-date insurance pricing. We follow the highest editorial standards. Our content is based solely on objective research and data gathering. We maintain strict editorial independence to ensure unbiased coverage of the insurance industry. No. Only the policyholder can “cash in” a life insurance policy. In some cases, the beneficiary might also be the policy owner, in which case he can access the cash value.A life insurance policy is comprised of three parties:The policyholder – the person who owns the policy and is responsible for paying the premiums.The insured – the person whose life is insured.The beneficiary – the person who receives the death benefit when the insured person dies.Depending how the policy is set up, one individual can play more than one role. For instance, the policyholder can also be the insured, or the beneficiary can also be the policyholder. The insured, however, can never be the beneficiary.The person who owns the policy controls all the decisions, including whether to borrow from any built up cash value or cash out the policy — or change the beneficiary. (The one exception to this is if someone has power of attorney over the policyholder. That person could make decisions regarding the policy.)If you are simply a beneficiary, you do not have any say over the life insurance policy. You will receive any benefits assigned to you once the insured passes away. At that time, you’ll need to make a claim for your benefits and provide a death certificate to the life insurance company.Here’s more about who’s who on a life insurance policy.And, for clarification, not all life insurance policies have a cash value to “cash out.” Only permanent life insurance policies, like whole life and universal life, are considered cash value life insurance policies from which you can take out a loan against or withdraw its value; term life insurance has no cash value.Find out more about cash value life insurance: show me the money. × Get Free Life Insurance Quotes Today! Zip Code Please enter valid zip Age Age 16 – 20 21 – 24 25 – 34 35 – 44 45 – 54 55 – 64 65+ Coverage Amount Coverage Amount $50,000 – $100,000 $100,000 – $200,000 $200,000 – $300,000 $400,000 – $500,000 $500,000 – $1,000,000 $1,000,000 – $2,000,000 $2,000,000 – $5,000,000 $5,000,000+ Coverage Type Coverage Type Whole Life Term Life Final Expense Not Sure Gender Gender Male Female Non-Binary Tobacco Use Yes No Compare Quotes Penny GusnerContributor  . .Penny is an expert on insurance procedures, rates, policies and claims. She has extensive knowledge of all major insurance lines -- auto, homeowners, life and health insurance. She has been answering consumers’ questions as an analyst for more than 15 years and has been featured in numerous major media outlets, including the Washington Post and Kiplinger’s. QuickTake What is demutualization and what does it mean for policyholders? How life insurance works during a divorce Can you change the coverage of your term life insurance? 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