A life insurance company can cancel your policy, but only in a few situations: premiums left unpaid, wrong answers on the application, a fraudulent claim, or action to meet financial-crime rules. A later change in your health is not among the grounds in Legal & General's terms, and reaching the end of your term is the policy finishing rather than the insurer cancelling it.
Not sure how any of this applies to your own policy? An FCA-authorised broker can read the wording with you when they ring back once you have completed the form on this page; the call costs nothing.
This page is about the insurer ending a policy. Turned-down claims have their own page: can a life insurance company refuse to pay. Missed payments in detail are on what a lapsed policy means.
Which situations let an insurer end a life policy?
Legal & General's Life Insurance terms (QGI12849, October 2026) set out most of the grounds, partly in a section on when the insurer can cancel; the rule on fraudulent claims comes from the Insurance Act 2015 and applies to any insurer:
- premiums that stay unpaid beyond the time the insurer allows;
- inaccurate answers when you applied, with remedies that depend on how the mistake happened;
- a fraudulent claim;
- action the insurer takes to meet financial-crime or sanctions rules.
A change in your health or age is not on the list; that is covered further down.
When do missed premiums end the policy?
Insurers print their own limits. Legal & General's terms say: "If your premium remains unpaid for any reason 60 days after the due date of any missed payment, your policy will be deemed cancelled and cover will automatically end." The same terms add that premiums already paid are not refunded.
That is one insurer's rule. Other insurers set different periods, and some allow a policy to be restarted; the lapse page linked above compares them. If a payment has failed, contact the insurer quickly, because what you can still do depends on the days left.
What are the insurer's options after a mistake on the application?
The Consumer Insurance (Disclosure and Representations) Act 2012 (CIDRA) puts one duty on you as the applicant: answer with reasonable care, so that nothing you tell the insurer misleads it. What the insurer can do afterwards turns on the kind of slip, careless as against deliberate or reckless, which life insurance disclosure requirements explains, and the Act leaves the proof with the insurer: "It is for the insurer to show that a qualifying misrepresentation was deliberate or reckless."
| What happened | What the Act lets the insurer do |
|---|---|
| Deliberate or reckless | Avoid the contract and refuse all claims; it "need not return any of the premiums paid, except to the extent (if any) that it would be unfair to the consumer to retain them" (paragraph 2 of the Act's schedule on remedies) |
| Careless, and no cover would have been offered at all | Avoid the contract and refuse all claims, but return the premiums (paragraph 5) |
| Careless, and it would have offered different terms or a higher premium | Treat the contract as made on those different terms if it requires and, where it would have charged a higher premium, also reduce a claim proportionately (paragraphs 6 and 7) |
Before any claim, a careless mistake is treated in a similar way. If no cover would have been offered, the insurer can still avoid the policy and return the premiums; otherwise it can give notice that the different terms or a reduced payout will apply. For other insurance it could end the contract on reasonable notice instead, but paragraph 9 bars that for a contract that is "wholly or mainly one of life insurance". The same paragraph leaves any contractual right to terminate untouched, and Legal & General's terms keep one: after incorrect information it can cancel "even where we may have been able to offer alternative terms", paying no claims and possibly refunding no premiums.
If you think an old application contained a slip, a broker can explain how it might sit with your own policy when they ring after you submit the form.
Can a fraudulent claim end the policy?
Yes. Under the Insurance Act 2015, if the insured makes a fraudulent claim the insurer does not have to pay it and can recover anything already paid on it. It "may by notice to the insured treat the contract as having been terminated with effect from the time of the fraudulent act", and then need not return any premiums. Events before the fraudulent act are not affected.
Aviva's Life Insurance Plan conditions (DA03011, May 2023, adviser library) say that if information given when a claim is assessed is untrue or incomplete, Aviva "may also cancel the policy without refunding any premiums".
Legal & General separately says it can "cancel your policy, deny a claim or take reasonable action to comply with laws, regulations, sanctions regimes, international guidance and/or demands from any authorities". If you want to know whether notice comes first, a broker can check with the insurer for you.
Does a change in your health or age let the insurer cancel?
The Financial Ombudsman Service says that "Usually, the only time you have to give the insurer information is when you buy a policy or when you renew it. But your policy terms might say you need to tell the insurer." So whether you must report a later diagnosis depends on your own wording. A change after the policy started cannot be a misrepresentation under CIDRA, the Ombudsman adds, because you did not tell the insurer anything; if your terms required you to report it, it will consider whether any action the insurer takes is fair. A broker can go through what your own policy asks of you.
Age is different from cancellation. A policy can end when its chosen term or an age limit is reached, which is the policy finishing, not the insurer cancelling it. Whether cover stops at retirement and the oldest age at which cover ends deal with this. Ending it yourself is in what happens if you cancel.
What can you do if the insurer cancels your policy?
Ask the insurer in writing which clause it relies on, and keep the reply. FCA rules say an insurer must not unreasonably reject a claim, and they count terminating or avoiding a policy as a way of doing so (ICOBS 8.1). The Financial Ombudsman Service says to complain to the company first; if no final response arrives within eight weeks, or you disagree with it, you can take the complaint to the Ombudsman, whose service is free.
If a policy has ended and you want to see what cover is available now, the broker can talk it through on the call-back. The form asks only for your name, age band, phone, email and postcode; everything else is for the call.
Frequently asked questions
Can a life insurer cancel without telling you?
It depends on the reason. Legal & General's terms say a policy unpaid for 60 days after the due date is deemed cancelled and cover ends automatically. For a fraudulent claim, the Insurance Act 2015 has the insurer act by giving notice.
Does life insurance cancel after a certain age?
Not as a cancellation. A policy runs for the term or to the age printed in it, and then ends; the policy schedule shows yours. The pages linked above explain age limits and what happens at retirement.
Do you get your premiums back if the insurer cancels?
It depends on why. Under CIDRA premiums come back where a careless mistake means cover would never have been offered; for a deliberate or reckless one they need not, unless keeping them would be unfair to you. For unpaid premiums, Legal & General's terms say it will not refund what you have paid.
Sources
- Legal & General, Life Insurance Policy Terms and Conditions (QGI12849 2026/10), direct version, read 20 October 2026. legalandgeneral.com
- Aviva, Life Insurance Plan Policy Conditions (DA03011 05/2023), adviser library copy linked from Aviva's life insurance page, read 20 October 2026. static.aviva.io
- legislation.gov.uk, Consumer Insurance (Disclosure and Representations) Act 2012, sections 2 and 5 and Schedule 1, read 26 October 2026. legislation.gov.uk
- legislation.gov.uk, Insurance Act 2015, section 12, read 26 October 2026. legislation.gov.uk
- Financial Ombudsman Service, Misrepresentation and non-disclosure, read 26 October 2026. financial-ombudsman.org.uk
- FCA Handbook, ICOBS 8.1 Insurers: general (last updated 1 August 2017), read 26 October 2026. handbook.fca.org.uk