Your trustee will need to know about any life assurance policies you have as they may be assets in your bankruptcy. Some policies pay out only on death. Other policies, for example, endowment policies, pay out either on death or on a predetermined date. Endowment policies or policies with an endowment element acquire a surrender value and may be cashed in. Your trustee may do this to bring funds into your bankruptcy.
Often an endowment policy will be formally assigned to your bank or building society. This will happen where you agreed with the lender to pay off all or some of your mortgage with the proceeds of the policy.
What happens to your assigned endowment policy when you are bankrupt will depend on what happens with your house.