Can you colect on life insurance you have'nt use?

meaning life insurance from a company that you no longer work for or pay for and where dose that money go

Term life builds no cash value. If you had it from an employer there is no money to be had.

Whole life can build cash value over time but it takes years to build any real significant value.

In your case the answer would likely be no.

Life insurance is normally portable which means you can turn it over into another policy, usually a whole life policy.

sounds like you are talking about a term life policy. if that is the case then once you leave the job that was providing you the coverage as a benifit or you stop paying the premiums then the policy is canceled. the money paid to the insurance company is theirs now.

Where does the money go when you buy a lottery ticket, and can't collect on it? Same principal.

Life insurance is NOT a savings account.

The only way you can "collect" on the kind of policy that would be provided by your employer would be to die. Even then it would not be you "collecting" on the policy but the beneficiary.

But hold on don't do anything drastic in order to "collect". Because you no longer work for the company that was paying the premium and because you are not paying the premium to continue the policy there is no policy to "collect" on.

Where did the money go? It went toward the payment of the death benefit for some other poor chap that died while his policy was in force.

Have you ever seen a big shiny insurance company office or a golf tournament sponsored by an insurance company? When you pay premiums and don't collect, they keep your money and give you nothing in return.

That's the insurance biz.

You should have the option to convert your plan into a life insurance policy that you can take with you. It is correct that the policy would then follow you, protecting your beneficiaries in the event of your death. The problem is converting life policies from your employer into a personal one can be expensive. If you are insurable (healthy) consider shopping around for some good rates with a policy that has the same benefit amount.

You can find out what is available by requesting life insurance quotes from different agents in your area by filling out a quote form at http://www.myinsurancequotes.net.

Make sure you are getting the best deal because prices vary alot from company to company.

Jared Balis
http://www.utahinsurance.org