"Why does the bank care if I'm alive in year 7?" Priya (a made-up founder, 33) owns Bramble and Bolt Woodworks (a made-up cabinet shop in Raleigh) as a single-member LLC. She's borrowing $425,000 on a Standard 7(a) loan for a new CNC line and working capital. The term sheet looked done. Then the closing checklist added one line: a $189,000 life insurance policy, assigned to the lender, with Priya paying the premiums.
This is general information, not legal, insurance or financial advice. Confirm every rule with your lender before you apply.
The one tip
Life insurance on a Standard 7(a) loan is sized to your collateral shortfall, not to your loan. Run the shortfall math before you apply, and you'll know the policy amount, and whether you need one at all, weeks before closing.
Under SBA SOP 50 10 8.1 (effective October 1, 2026), Section A, Chapter 5, Paragraph C (Insurance Requirements), Life Insurance:
For Standard 7(a), EWCP, CAPLines and International Trade loans, if the loan is not fully secured, life insurance is required in the amount of the collateral shortfall. It applies to the principals of sole proprietorships, single-member LLCs, and businesses otherwise dependent on one owner's active participation.
The lender must get a collateral assignment naming the lender as assignee, acknowledged by the insurer's Home Office. You pay the premiums.
The lender may accept a pledge of a policy you already own. Credit life or whole life insurance should not be required.
If you're uninsurable, the lender must get written documentation of that from a licensed insurer.
For 7(a) Small loans (up to $350,000) and SBA Express, the lender may follow its own written policy for similar non-SBA loans. That's a lender overlay, not an SBA rule.
How the shortfall is measured
SOP Appendix 19 caps what each asset counts for in the "fully secured" test:
New machinery and equipment: up to 75% of price, minus prior liens.
Used or existing equipment: up to 50% of net book value (or 80% with an orderly liquidation appraisal).
Improved real estate: up to 85% of market value.
Furniture and fixtures: up to 10% of net book value.
Accounts receivable and inventory, if the lender takes them: up to 10% of book value.
Worked example
All names and numbers are made up. The rate is an assumption, not a quote.
Loan: $425,000 Standard 7(a) over 10 years. At an assumed 10.5%, the payment is about $5,735 a month.
New CNC line, $260,000 price, counts at 75%: $195,000.
Existing shop equipment, $60,000 net book value, counts at 50%: $30,000.
Furniture and fixtures, $20,000 net book value, counts at 10%: $2,000.
Receivables and inventory, $90,000 book value, counts at 10%: $9,000.
Total collateral value: $236,000. Shortfall: $425,000 minus $236,000, or $189,000. Priya rents her apartment, so there's no home equity to take first. She runs the shop alone, so the rule applies to her.
Three ways she can handle it:
Pledge what she has. Priya already owns a $100,000 term policy from 2024. The lender may accept it, but then the lender gets paid first from that payout, ahead of her family. She'd still need about $89,000 more.
Buy one new term policy for $189,000 and keep her existing policy for her family. Term is fine. The SOP says whole life shouldn't be required.
Shrink the shortfall. Every dollar of extra equity or collateral cuts the policy dollar for dollar. If she injects $40,000 more cash, the loan drops to $385,000 and the shortfall to $149,000.
What it costs to find out late: insurer underwriting, a possible medical exam and the Home Office acknowledgment all take time. If Priya starts at closing, her equipment vendor's delivery slot and her deposit sit waiting. Starting at the term sheet keeps closing on schedule.
Do this week
Ask your lender: "Is this Standard 7(a), and is the loan fully secured under Appendix 19." Get the shortfall number in writing.
Rebuild that number yourself with the haircuts above. Check each asset's value against your books.
If you own a policy, pull its face amount, beneficiary and insurer contact. Ask whether a collateral assignment is allowed.
Get term quotes sized to the shortfall now, not at closing.
If health is an issue, ask a licensed insurer for a written decline. The lender needs that document.
If another owner works in the business full time, ask the lender how that affects "dependent on one owner."
Short on collateral overall? Read our post on when SBA takes your home equity, and see SBA's hazard insurance rule for the other policy on your closing checklist.
Sources: SBA SOP 50 10 8.1, Section A, Ch. 5, Para. C (Insurance Requirements, Life Insurance); Appendix 19 (7(a) Collateral Requirements: fully secured valuation limits, collateral shortfall), on SBA's SOP 50 10 page; SBA Information Notice 5000-880695, issuance of SOP 50 10 8.1; SBA 7(a) loans overview. More in the series: SBA 7(a) Playbook
Verified against SOP 50 10 8.1 text: November 4, 2026.
