You have a grace period on life insurance policies to pay your premium. The grace period is typically 30 days. After that, the company may or may not allow you to pay back premiums and reinstate the policy. Sometimes this may depend on whether you can provide evidence of good health. But if you are beyond the due date and grace period, you are at the insurance company’s mercy – each company exercises its discretion a bit differently. Of course if you die and the premium has not been paid, and there is no residual value to pay premiums in the policy, the beneficiary would not collect.