When lightning hit Carlo Viqueira's boat, twice, he didn't sell anything from his brokerage account to pay for the repairs. He put them on credit cards with a 0% introductory rate, wrote down the date each promotion ended, and paid the balances off before then with cash or a policy loan. He told the story while we were swapping examples for an episode of the LIFE Pod on how each of us uses our policies.
While the promotion lasts, a 0% card costs nothing. A policy loan charges interest from the day you take it, so borrowing from the policy on day one would have paid interest for months the card covered for free. The policy is the backstop. Whatever's left when the promotion ends gets paid off, so the card never gets to charge its regular rate, which is often above 20%.
Carlo and I work from the same rule: borrow at the lowest rate available, wherever it is, as long as the cash value is sitting there to pay it off. A policy is the source you control, and it doesn't have to be the source you use first. I made the same call when I financed an ATV through a bank at 4.49% instead of borrowing from my policy, which I explained in why I financed an $8,000 ATV at 4.49%.
Read the card terms before you charge anything. A true 0% purchase rate, which means the rate on new purchases, charges nothing during the promotion and starts charging only on what's left after it ends. A deferred-interest offer, common on store cards, works differently. If any balance remains when that promotion ends, it charges all the interest back to the date of purchase. Stay away from those for a plan like this. Balance transfer offers usually add a fee of 3% to 5%, so a repair charged as a new purchase costs less than moving an existing balance. You still owe the minimum payment every month during the promotion, too.
Time the policy loan so it lands before the deadline. A loan request usually takes a few business days to reach checking, and some carriers take longer, as covered in how long a policy loan takes to land in your checking account. Request it at least a week before the promotion ends, pay the card in full, and then pay the policy loan back on a schedule you set yourself. A policy loan reduces the cash value and death benefit until it's repaid.
A new card also brings a hard inquiry on your credit, and a big balance raises your utilization until it's paid. If you're applying for a mortgage or a refinance in the next few months, wait until after.
The day you put a big expense on a 0% card, set a reminder for 30 days before the promotion ends. Request the policy loan that day, and the money will land before the 0% rate runs out.