What Happens If I Cancel My Universal Life Insurance Policy? 
Universal life policies are somewhat tricky . What happens when you cancel a universal life policy depends on when you cancel the policy . In the beginning years of a UL it has no cash value accumulated , so if you cancel during that stage nothing happens other than the policy terminates . You get no money back . In the mid range years of the policy it will likely have some cash value , so if you cancel it during that period you may receive the cash value . In the later years of a UL , unless you have kept pace with the increasing `` cost of insurance '' , -LRB- in other words paid increasingly higher premiums -RRB- , the cash value that has accumulated may be reduced by they increasing cost of insurance until there is no more cash value remaining . At that point the policy may terminate . So if you cancel the policy while it has cash value you will receive the cash value . If there is no cash value when you cancel the policy it will simply terminate . 