Homeowners who tied the term of their life insurance policy to the final payment of a mortgage may find themselves in trouble after refinancing their mortgage for a longer term, according to an industry expert.

For homeowners who find themselves experiencing this “unintended and potentially adverse consequence” of refinancing a home loan for a longer term, the answer should be “recalibrating” the term life policy as soon as possible, according to Gary Lardy, CEO of Intelliquote Insurance Services, an online life insurance agency.

Record low interest rates have led many homeowners to refinance their mortgages once or more in the last few years, and often people choose to extend the term of the mortgage to 15, 20 or 30 years.

Lardy suggests that many buyers of term insurance choose the term based on when they will finish mortgage payments, thus protecting themselves from leaving family members with a big bill in the event of an untimely death.

However, if they change the term of their mortgage when they refinance, which is quite common, they typically fail to extend the term life policy as well.

“Often people don’t discover the problem until they reach 65,” Lardy said in a statement, “and they are getting a letter from their life insurance company saying their coverage is about to expire. They request a quote for an additional 10 years of coverage and receive the shock of their lives.”

Premiums can quadruple for as little as half of the prior coverage, he said. “And that’s if they medically qualify without ratings and exclusions, which many do not.”