Can you get life insurance with mental health issues? You can apply, and insurers decide case by case. Legal & General (L&G) says "it is possible to get life insurance with a mental health condition", with the decision resting on "the nature of the condition and your most recent medical history".
If reading about this is hard going, Mind (mind.org.uk) has information and support, and Samaritans answer free on 116 123 at any time. Nothing below needs deciding today.
The page covers how applications are assessed and what can follow, alongside our guide to life insurance with medical conditions. Whenever you choose, you can use the free form on this page to have an FCA-authorised broker ring and go over how insurers may read your own history.
What do insurers ask about mental health?
L&G's guide to mental health and life insurance says providers "are used to assessing applications from people with a history of mental illness". For anyone who has had mental health problems, now or in the past, the guide lists what to share when applying:
- the name of the condition and the date of diagnosis;
- any hospital admissions and specialist referrals;
- how severe and how regular the symptoms are;
- how it affects everyday life, such as absences from work;
- any medication and the date you started it; and
- any history of self-harm or suicide attempts.
This is one insurer's list. The guide also says a provider that wants your medical records from your doctor needs your written consent, and the same insurer's page on pre-existing conditions adds that you will be notified and "will have 21 days to arrange a consultation with your doctor to review it, if you wish".
The guide describes the Equality Act 2010 as protecting you from being treated differently for a mental health problem "without good reason", while noting that "a provider is not obliged by law to offer you life insurance after learning of a mental health condition". How a no-medical route works is covered in life insurance without a medical, and the usual question set in medical questions for life insurance.
What can an insurer decide?
In its guide dated 11 November 2025, L&G says it currently offers "around 75% of customers who have told us about their anxiety or depressions a policy immediately". That is its own figure for its own customers at that date, not a market rate. For others it "might be able to offer cover" but would ask for more information, and it is "unable to cover you where there has been a recent increase in the severity of your condition".
Its Underwriting explained leaflet (W10188 09/25) sets out the decisions it can reach. It covers life, critical illness and income protection together, so which of these applies to a given policy is worth asking:
- Standard terms: "If we decide there is no extra risk, you’ll be offered the cover you applied for."
- An increased premium. Aviva's article on suicide and life insurance says a premium "may" rise, "depending on how severe the condition is and whether it affects you often". A price comes from a quote on your own details.
- An exclusion. The leaflet says "Exclusions are likely to apply to medical conditions you have had which may return, for example, back problems, anxiety or depression."
- Postponement. The leaflet's examples are physical ones: a recent heart attack or cancer, medical investigations under way, or waiting for an operation; the leaflet says L&G will then "tell you when we’ll be able to consider a new application". For mental health, the relevant wording is the guide's line above on a recent increase in severity.
- No cover offered, where it judges the risk too high and likely to stay that way.
The leaflet also says Waiver of Premium cannot be offered with certain medical conditions, especially those "that are long term or cause time off work, such as back problems, anxiety or depression", and that anxiety and depression are "significant when applying for disability cover". Other products have their own pages: income protection and stress and critical illness cover and mental health.
How do suicide exclusions work in life insurance?
This section discusses suicide. If it is difficult to read, or you are having thoughts of ending your life, Samaritans are free to call on 116 123, at any time, and you can skip ahead to the next section.
Aviva's article on the subject (last updated 12 June 2026) says "Many life insurance policies include a suicide exclusion clause, this usually applies for 12 to 24 months after the policy starts." It adds that "Once that period has passed, suicide is typically treated the same as any other cause of death, if policy terms and conditions are met", and that such claims "may take longer to assess" because the insurer may need death certificates and coroner's reports.
Two insurers' own terms show how the detail varies. Aviva's Life Insurance Plan page (WC05632 09/2026) rules out a payout where you die in the first 12 months of the policy as a result of suicide or intentional, self-inflicted injury. Under L&G's policy terms (QGI12849 - 2026/10), the policy is cancelled if the life insured dies within its first year from suicide, from intentional and serious self-injury, or from an event that the insurer, in its reasonable opinion, judges to be the life insured taking their own life; without a suicide verdict, it weighs matters including "Previous medical history that we are reasonably entitled to obtain".
Those are two insurers' clauses; your own policy's wording and period are the ones that apply, and both insurers' policy wording is quoted in full in is there a waiting period for life insurance. If you are replacing a policy, ask whether the period starts again. More on payouts in when an insurer can refuse to pay.
What must you tell the insurer, and what if you don't?
Under the Consumer Insurance (Disclosure and Representations) Act 2012, you must take reasonable care not to misrepresent anything to the insurer. An insurer has a remedy under the Act only if the misrepresentation broke that duty and the insurer shows that without it, it "would not have entered into the contract (or agreed to the variation) at all, or would have done so only on different terms."
What it can do then depends on whether the misrepresentation was deliberate or reckless, or careless. Under the Act it is deliberate or reckless if the consumer "knew that it was untrue or misleading, or did not care whether or not it was untrue or misleading" and knew, or did not care, that the matter was relevant, and it is for the insurer to show that. The Act's first schedule then says:
- for a deliberate or reckless misrepresentation, the insurer "may avoid the contract and refuse all claims";
- for a careless one, if it would not have offered cover on any terms, it "may avoid the contract and refuse all claims, but must return the premiums paid";
- for a careless one, if it would have offered cover on different terms other than the premium, the contract "is to be treated as if it had been entered into on those different terms if the insurer so requires"; and
- for a careless one, if it would have charged a higher premium, it "may reduce proportionately the amount to be paid on a claim".
L&G's policy terms (QGI12849 - 2026/10) draw the same line between deliberate or reckless and careless answers. The point for you is practical: answering the insurer's questions fully, including past episodes and medication, is what keeps a claim straightforward. More in what you must disclose.
What if you have been declined or told to wait?
A refusal or a postponement is one insurer's view of one application. Useful things to ask are whether it is a postponement with a date to reapply or a decline, which part of your history drove it, and whether a different amount, term or type of cover would be considered. Another insurer may look at the same history differently.
Our guides to what to do if you are declined and guaranteed life insurance, which asks no health questions but has trade-offs, cover the wider options. If you would like someone to put your history to other insurers, you can leave your details in the form here at no cost and an FCA-authorised broker will ring to talk it through, though no broker can promise an offer.
Frequently asked questions
Can I get life insurance with depression or anxiety?
You can apply. Whether you are offered cover, and on what terms, depends on how an insurer reads your history; L&G's own offer rate for anxiety and depression is given above, and it is not a market figure.
Does a mental health condition make life insurance more expensive?
It can. Aviva says a premium may rise depending on severity and frequency, while L&G says cover "doesn’t always" cost more. Only a quote on your details gives a figure.
Which life insurance is best for people with depression?
No single policy is best for everyone, because each insurer assesses a history on its own terms. A broker can ask several insurers how they would view yours.
Can I get life insurance with PTSD, OCD or an eating disorder?
L&G's guide lists post-traumatic stress disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder and eating disorders among its examples of mental health conditions, and its list of what to share covers mental health problems generally. It says decisions rest on the nature of the condition and your most recent history.
Do antidepressants affect an application?
They can be part of it: L&G's list above asks for any medication and the date you started it, so have those details to hand. How they weigh in a decision is a question for the insurer.
Should you want a second pair of eyes on your history, the form on this page costs nothing and an FCA-authorised broker will phone you back. Other questions on this theme are in health and underwriting.
Sources
- Legal & General, How does a mental health condition affect life insurance? (11 November 2025), read 19 October 2026. legalandgeneral.com
- Legal & General, Life insurance with pre-existing medical conditions (16 March 2026), read 19 October 2026. legalandgeneral.com
- Legal & General, Underwriting explained (W10188 09/25), read 19 October 2026. legalandgeneral.com
- Legal & General, Life Insurance Policy Terms and Conditions (QGI12849 - 2026/10), read 19 October 2026. legalandgeneral.com
- Aviva, Does life insurance cover suicide? (last updated 12 June 2026), read 19 October 2026. aviva.co.uk
- Aviva, Life Insurance (WC05632 09/2026), read 19 October 2026. aviva.co.uk
- legislation.gov.uk, Consumer Insurance (Disclosure and Representations) Act 2012, sections 2, 4, 5 and Schedule 1, read 19 October 2026. legislation.gov.uk
- Samaritans, Contact a Samaritan, read 19 October 2026. samaritans.org