Cancel a Life Insurance Policy in Pakistan Within 14 Days and Get Your Premium Back

You can cancel a new life insurance policy in Pakistan within 14 days and get your premium back. This is the free look period. Write to the insurer with your CNIC and the original policy papers. Only medical exam costs may be kept back. A policy that was mis-sold through a bank can be refunded in full for up to 25 months.

Someone visits a bank branch to open an account or ask about a deposit. They leave with a life insurance plan they did not fully understand, and a yearly premium they cannot really afford. The policy pack arrives a week later, and that week matters. We read the SECP regulations that control policies sold through banks, and State Life Insurance Corporation's own policy conditions and FAQs, to set out exactly what you can do and by when.

The free look period gives you 14 days to change your mind

Pakistani life insurers let a policyholder cancel within 14 days and get the premium back. SECP rules for policies sold through banks count the 14 days from when you receive the policy documents. State Life's own conditions count from the policy's commencement date.

The SECP's Corporate Insurance Agents Regulations 2020 apply to regular premium life policies sold through banks and other corporate agents. They order the insurer to print, in bold on the first page of the policy document, the schedule and the marketing material, that "the policyholder can cancel the policy within fourteen (14) days of the receipt of the policy documents".

State Life's policy conditions use different words: the policy can be cancelled "within fourteen days of its commencement date". The two starting points can be a week apart if the papers arrive late. So act on the earlier date to be safe, and keep the courier slip or envelope that shows when the papers reached you.

Cancel by writing to the insurer, not the bank teller

To cancel, give the insurer a signed written request with your CNIC copy and the original policy documents, and fill its refund form with your bank details. At State Life you do this at the New Business Department of your zonal office.

1. Find the date. Check the commencement date on the policy schedule and note when the papers reached you.
2. Write a short letter. Give your name, CNIC number and policy number, and say you are cancelling under the free look clause and want the premium refunded.
3. Attach the papers. Add a CNIC copy and the original policy document. State Life's FAQ asks for both.
4. Fill the refund of premium form. It asks for the bank account where the money will go.
5. Get a dated receipt. Hand it in at the insurer's office, or send it by courier with tracking, and keep a copy of everything.
6. Stop the debit. If the premium is taken from your bank account, tell the bank in writing too.

The bank that sold you the policy is only the agent. The contract is with the insurance company, so the cancellation must reach the insurer within the 14 days.

The refund is the full premium less medical costs

State Life's policy conditions promise a refund of all premium paid, with no deduction for management expenses, except the cost of any medical exam. Its FAQ is less generous and mentions administrative expenses too. Ask for the deduction in writing.

This is a real conflict between two State Life pages. The policy conditions, which form part of your contract, say all premium is refunded "without any deduction for management expenses, other than expenses incurred in connection with the medical examination". The FAQ says the refund comes "after deduction of administrative expenses plus medical expenses". If the insurer deducts anything other than a medical exam fee, ask it to point to the clause in your own policy that allows it.

A mis-sold policy can be refunded in full for 25 months

If a bank or other corporate agent sold you a regular premium life plan without following SECP rules, tell the insurer within 25 months. The insurer must investigate within 30 days. If it finds mis-selling, it refunds 100% of the premium.

Regulation 15 of the SECP regulations treats a policy as mis-sold if any regulatory requirement was not met "in letter and spirit". That covers the seller's training, what the marketing material disclosed, the sales process, the check of whether you could afford the premium, and the after-sale call. The insurer may also accept a complaint after 25 months, but it is not bound to.

The same regulations list what should have happened when you bought the policy. Check them against your own experience:

• Every document should be in both English and Urdu, line by line on the same page.
• You should have been shown an audio-visual clip of at least two minutes on the product before you got the proposal form.
• You should have received a welcome SMS mentioning the free look period.
• The insurer should have phoned you after the sale, at least one day after it closed, to confirm you understood the plan and could afford it.

If one of these never happened, say so in your complaint. It is the evidence that turns "I changed my mind" into "this was mis-sold".

After the 14 days, cancelling costs money

Once the free look period ends, leaving a life policy usually means surrendering it. At State Life a policy gets a surrender value only after two years in force with no premium in default, so early exits can return little or nothing.

State Life's FAQ also gives a 31 day grace period after each premium due date. A policy lapses if the second premium is not paid within that grace, and a lapsed policy can be revived within five years. None of this is a refund. That is why the first 14 days are worth acting on.

If the insurer refuses the free look refund or the mis-selling claim, complain to the insurer's complaint cell in writing first. After that you can complain to the Federal Insurance Ombudsman, which is free. If the bank keeps deducting the premium after you cancel, that part is a banking complaint, and the State Bank's Sunwai portal takes it.

Common questions

Can I cancel a life insurance policy within 14 days in Pakistan?

Yes. Life insurers give a 14 day free look period. Write to the insurer with your CNIC and the original policy, and ask for the premium back.

When do the 14 days start?

SECP rules for bank-sold policies count from receipt of the policy documents. State Life's conditions count from the commencement date. Use the earlier one.

Will I get my whole premium back?

Under State Life's policy conditions, yes, less any medical exam costs. Its FAQ also mentions administrative expenses, so ask for any deduction in writing.

A bank sold me a policy two years ago. Is it too late?

Not if it was mis-sold. You have 25 months from issue to report it, and a mis-sold policy is refunded in full.

Can I cancel by telling the bank?

Tell the bank, but send the cancellation to the insurance company too. The bank is only the agent and the contract is with the insurer.

Does takaful have the same free look period?

We did not read a takaful operator's own policy wording. Look for the free look clause on the first page of your takaful policy document, and ask the operator in writing if it is missing.

How we verified this

What we checked, where we read it, and what we could not confirm.

Last checked on 3 October 2026. We read the SECP Corporate Insurance Agents Regulations 2020, S.R.O. 1304(I)/2020, in the Gazette of Pakistan of 5 December 2020, including regulations 15 and 18. We read State Life's policy terms and conditions and its FAQs. The two State Life pages differ on deductions, as set out above. The SECP's own website blocked our requests, so we could not check whether any later amendment changed these regulations; we found none referred to in the material we read.