You can only take out life insurance on a grandparent if you would suffer a provable financial loss if they died, which is what insurers call an insurable interest, and the law does not treat being their grandchild as enough on its own. If you want to know whether you can get life insurance for your grandparents, the route the law clearly allows is for them to take a policy on their own life, with you or the grandchildren set to benefit from it.

What a grandparent could be offered at their age is easier to judge with help: via the form on this page, an unpaid discussion with an FCA-authorised broker about the options can be arranged.

What does insurable interest mean when the person is a grandparent?

The rule dates from the Life Assurance Act 1774: a policy on someone's life is void where the person it is made for has no interest in that life. The Act does not say what counts as an interest; the Law Commission explains that later court cases and statutes settled it. In its 2015 issues paper it says "natural affection extends only to give the insured an interest in their own life" and that of a spouse or civil partner. Outside those, the usual route is a financial loss the law recognises, a test the Commission calls "very narrow, requiring the insured to have a legal right to payment and not a reasonable expectation based on a less formal arrangement".

LV= describes the test as some provable financial loss should the other person die. Of parents, it adds that in England, Wales and Northern Ireland "there is no automatic reason to insure your parents, even if they provide monetary support". It does not discuss grandparents, and provable loss is the test it describes for anyone.

Vitality's Personal Protection Plan Provisions (VLTD174857WF_J3779_02/2025) give two conditions: the person taking out the plan must stand to be financially worse off if the person covered dies or becomes seriously ill, and there must be a legally recognised relationship between them. Its list of such relationships includes your own life, marriage and civil partnership, an employer who would lose out financially if an employee died or fell seriously ill, business partners, trustees who would owe inheritance tax on a beneficiary's death, and a creditor on a debtor's life up to the amount of the debt; a grandparent and grandchild are not on it. Vitality adds that the interest must exist when the plan is taken out, and that a plan becomes void if it does not.

Affection alone is not a financial link. LV='s own example is a person who owes you "a large sum of money which wouldn't be repaid if they died", a debt being the kind of legal right to payment the Law Commission describes. The Law Commission's project page records stakeholders telling it the current law is "antiquated and overly restrictive" and that it prevents "socially useful insurances for children or cohabitants". Its June 2018 draft Bill would still not give anyone an automatic interest in a parent's or grandparent's life, citing the vulnerability of older people, though its notes say a wider financial test would cover a family that relies on a grandparent for childcare. That Bill remains a draft: the project page says the Commission is analysing responses and will make final recommendations later.

Does your grandparent have to agree, and who is paid?

Legal & General, writing about parents in a guide dated 9 March 2026, says the parents must consent, and that the insured person has to fill in the application personally. That is one insurer's rule. Whether another lets someone else sign, or lets you pay the premiums, is worth putting to a broker when they phone.

LV= says its own life insurance can only be taken on your own life or a joint life, and tells anyone wanting cover on someone else to speak to a financial adviser. Legal & General says a payout is paid to the legal owner of a policy. When you own a policy on a grandparent, you are the one paid, unless it has been placed in trust. If an older relative is seriously ill, insuring a sick parent sets out what to ask, and the wider questions about a parent's cover are in life insurance for parents.

What can a grandparent buy on their own life?

Legal & General notes that "we all automatically have an insurable interest in our own lives", so a grandparent can apply for a policy on themselves. The options differ by age and health:

  • Over 50s plans with no health questions. Legal & General's Over 50s Fixed Life Insurance (QGI12836 11/2025) accepts people aged 50 to 80, with a maximum cash sum of £10,000, and Aviva's Over 50s page (WC05649 09/2026) says applicants must be aged between 50 and 80 and be UK residents.
  • Cover that asks about health. Aviva's Life Insurance Plan is open from 18 to 77, and Aviva puts some health and lifestyle questions to applicants.

Both plans carry points worth reading first. Legal & General says that if you die in the first year, it refunds the premiums paid, but pays full cover for an accidental death, and both insurers say total premiums can exceed the payout. For the details see life insurance over 50, whether over 50s cover is worth it and how whole of life cover works.

If age or health makes it hard to judge what a grandmother or grandfather could be offered, the broker who calls after you send the enquiry can talk it through, and that call is free.

Can a grandparent's policy be written in trust for grandchildren?

Yes, a grandparent can name grandchildren to receive the payout. Aviva's trust page says that under its discretionary gift trust the trustees receive any payout for the benefit of potential beneficiaries that include children and grandchildren, and Aviva's guide to trusts (EDCO0853 0126) says a beneficiary can be any age. Those trusts can be used with the Life Insurance Plan or Over 50s life insurance, and a policy in trust stays outside the settlor's estate, Aviva says.

The trust matters for young beneficiaries: Aviva says its trustees either pass the money straight on or look after it until the beneficiaries can manage it, for example while they are young children. HMRC's manual makes a similar point about a legacy, noting that a minor beneficiary cannot give a valid receipt, so trustees hold it for them. Choosing trustees and the type of trust is for the grandparent and a professional, and the tax position can change. The steps are in what a life insurance trust is and life insurance in trust for a child.

Can grandparents buy life insurance on a grandchild?

Not on affection alone under the current law. The Law Commission's June 2018 notes say that where a parent depends financially on an adult child, that interest "cannot currently be insured", and natural affection does not reach children or grandchildren. Its draft Bill would give an insurable interest in "the lives of their children and grandchildren", but it has not become law. Legal & General lists grandchildren among the financial dependants a policyholder might protect, but that is about the grandparent's own cover, not a policy on the child. Which insurers would look at such an application is a question for the broker.

Policies on children are set out in life insurance for children, funeral cover for a child in funeral insurance for children, and whether a parent's policy reaches a child in life insurance through parents. Cover on other relatives, friends and partners is on life insurance on someone else.

Frequently asked questions

How do I get life insurance for my grandma if she is over 80?

The over 50s plans quoted above take people up to 80, and Aviva's health-assessed plan stops at 77. Past those ages, the insurers themselves, or a broker, can say whether any plan would consider her.

Who receives the money if I insure my grandfather?

The legal owner of the policy, which would be you, unless it is held in trust. Legal & General says the payout goes to the owner.

Can I take out life insurance on a grandparent without telling them?

Legal & General's rule, written about parents, is that the person insured must consent and complete the application themselves. How other insurers handle consent is worth asking before you apply.

Does a grandparent need an insurable interest in their own life?

No. Legal & General says each of us automatically has an insurable interest in our own life, so a grandparent can take a policy on themselves and, if they wish, put it in trust.

Can grandparents get life insurance on grandchildren without parental consent?

Insurable interest comes before consent: the law's automatic interest covers only your own life and a spouse or civil partner, the Law Commission says, so a grandparent needs a financial loss the law recognises. The broker who rings after your enquiry can explain how insurers deal with consent.

Is there life insurance specifically for grandparents?

The plans aimed at older people are over 50s plans and whole of life, covered in the sections above. Aviva says you cannot take out a joint policy for its Over 50s Life Insurance.

Sources

  • Life Assurance Act 1774, section 1, read 29 October 2026. legislation.gov.uk
  • LV=, Can I Insure Someone Else for Life Insurance? (undated), read 29 October 2026. lv.com
  • VitalityLife, Personal Protection Plan Provisions (VLTD174857WF_J3779_02/2025), read 22 October 2026. adviser.vitality.co.uk
  • Law Commission, Insurance Contract Law: Insurable Interest (project page, undated), read 29 October 2026. lawcom.gov.uk
  • Law Commission and Scottish Law Commission, Issues Paper 10: Insurable interest: updated proposals (27 March 2015), read 29 October 2026. lawcom.gov.uk
  • Law Commission and Scottish Law Commission, Updated draft Insurable Interest bill for review: accompanying notes (June 2018), read 29 October 2026. lawcom.gov.uk
  • Legal & General, Can you insure your parents? (9 March 2026), read 29 October 2026. legalandgeneral.com
  • Legal & General, Single vs joint life insurance (11 March 2026), read 29 October 2026. legalandgeneral.com
  • Legal & General, Over 50s Fixed Life Insurance Policy Summary (QGI12836 11/2025). legalandgeneral.com
  • Aviva, Over 50s Life Insurance (WC05649 09/2026). aviva.co.uk
  • Aviva, Aviva Trust for Life Insurance (undated), read 29 October 2026. aviva.co.uk
  • Aviva, Guide to trusts (EDCO0853 0126). protection.aviva.com
  • HMRC, TSEM6075 - legacy to a minor beneficiary, read 29 October 2026. gov.uk