Three things happen when the income stops. The bills don't, the premium is one of the bills, and every other source of credit gets harder to reach precisely because you no longer have a job. A HELOC application asks about employment. A policy loan doesn't.
Start with what's available. Call the carrier or open the portal and get the net cash surrender value and the maximum loan available, which are two different numbers. The loan maximum is usually around 90% of cash value on a whole life policy and can be lower on an IUL in the early years. That figure is what you actually have access to, and knowing it changes how you make every other decision this month.
A policy loan takes a few business days, sometimes same day with a wire. No application, no credit pull, no explanation of what it's for. That last part matters more than people expect when you're two weeks into a layoff and every other financial conversation involves justifying yourself.
Don't take it all at once. Borrow what covers eight to ten weeks and take more later if the search runs long. Interest only accrues on what's out, and loans reduce cash value and the death benefit while they're outstanding, so the size of the draw is a real decision rather than a formality.
The premium itself has options that don't involve borrowing. Most contracts let you change the payment mode, so an annual premium can shift to monthly and cut the immediate outlay even though it costs a little more across the year. On a participating whole life policy, dividends can be redirected to pay premium instead of buying paid-up additions. If there's a PUA rider, the PUA portion can usually be reduced or skipped while the base premium continues, which is the single most useful flexibility in a well-designed policy. And if the contract has an automatic premium loan provision, turning it on means a missed premium becomes a loan instead of a lapse.
Order matters. Cut the PUA first, then redirect dividends, then use the automatic premium loan, then borrow. Each step preserves more of the policy than the one after it.
What you don't do is surrender it. Surrendering in a bad year locks in the surrender charge, ends the coverage at an age when replacing it costs more, and can generate a taxable gain on top of everything else. Every other option on this list is reversible. That one isn't.
Once income comes back, the policy needs a repayment plan on the same footing as the credit card and the deferred bills. It won't demand one. That's exactly why it goes on the list in writing with a start date.