Some years ago I took out a small convertible term insurance policy. Premiums were paid by direct debit every 3 (or 6?) months. I noticed recently that nothing had been taken from my bank account for a while. When I did a thorough check I found that no premiums had been taken for some 18 months. My bank confirmed that the insurance company had stopped asking for the premiums. I contacted the company and asked them to reinstate the policy and take the backdated premiums. They responded by saying that the policy had reached the end of its term and therefore could not be reinstated.
I had believed that the policy would automatically be converted before the end of the term (15 years?). I was never asked if I wanted to convert it or to end it. Is there nothing I can do (apart from taking out a now very likely much more expensive new policy)? TIA