Whether you can get life insurance with COPD depends on the insurer and on the details of your own lung history, and no guide can say in advance how an application will go. Aviva puts "respiratory conditions, like COPD and emphysema" in its list of health conditions that can raise the amount you pay or change the type of cover offered, and adds that a condition that is well managed may not be treated as higher risk at all. Lung function, smoking and oxygen use are the details that recur in insurers' documents, and each is taken in turn below.

A broker can look over those details with you before anything goes to an insurer. If you would like that conversation, use the free enquiry on this page and an FCA-authorised broker rings you to arrange it.

How do COPD, emphysema and chronic bronchitis fit together?

The NHS describes COPD as "the name for a group of lung conditions that cause breathing difficulties", with emphysema ("damage to the air sacs in the lungs") and chronic bronchitis ("long-term inflammation of the airways") among them. It says the lung damage is permanent but that treatment can help slow its progression, and that a breathing test helps diagnose COPD and rule out other conditions such as asthma. That NHS page was last reviewed on 11 April 2023 and its next review, due 11 April 2026, has passed, so for anything about your own condition your GP or respiratory team is the better guide.

The grouping matters on an application, because the forms quoted on this page each fold the three names into one lung question. Legal & General's consumer page on asthma (11 September 2025), for example, says it asks applicants whether they have been diagnosed with bronchiectasis and/or COPD, "including emphysema or chronic bronchitis". Aviva's guide to high-risk life insurance (6 May 2026) says every insurer treats health conditions differently, with the outcome depending on "your medical history, test results and how well your condition is controlled".

Which lung questions might you be asked?

Royal London's Personal Menu Plan application form, an adviser-channel form (July 2025, P1A0023/24), asks about "Asthma, bronchitis, or any other disorder affecting your lungs or breathing?" and names emphysema and COPD among the conditions it includes. It tells applicants to leave out common colds or flu and "one-off chest infections that you've fully recovered from". Legal & General's business protection application form (W13430 03/26), used for cover a business takes out rather than a personal policy, words its own version as "any condition affecting your lungs or breathing, for example asthma, emphysema, sleep apnoea, sarcoidosis?" and likewise sets aside hay fever and one-off chest infections.

Behind a yes, an underwriter wants detail. Royal London's medical conditions tool, written for advisers, notes that chronic bronchitis is usually diagnosed when coughing is present most days of the month for three months. For a COPD or emphysema answer it lists how often symptoms come and how long they last, the dates and results of any investigations, regular and occasional treatment, hospital treatment, time off work and when symptoms were last present. Legal & General's asthma page adds that it may ask for a medical report, a health check or a telephone medical interview.

Gathering those dates and results is easier with help. Leave your details in the form and a broker will call to go through the lung questions with you; there is no charge.

What do FEV1 and oxygen mean in insurers' documents?

FEV1 is the breathing-test figure that turns up most often. Legal & General's underwriting guide for annuities (Q0058034 05/25), a document for advisers about a different product from life cover, defines it as "the amount of air forcibly expired in one second, expressed as a percentage of a theoretical normal value for age". It is quoted here only for that definition: it says nothing about how a reading would affect life insurance.

In the protection documents quoted on this page, FEV1 thresholds and oxygen use appear in critical illness definitions, which set the test for paying a claim, not for accepting an application. Legal & General's critical illness terms (QGI13939 - 2026/10) define "Respiratory failure - of advanced stage" as advanced emphysema or other chronic lung disease resulting in all of the following: "The need for regular oxygen treatment on a permanent basis" and lung function tests showing FVC and FEV1 "less than 50% of normal". Royal London's chronic lung disease definition (current version March 2022, adviser site) requires a consultant physician to confirm chronic lung disease with "continuous daily oxygen therapy on a permanent basis", FEV1 below 50% of normal and vital capacity below 50% of normal.

Neither definition says how an underwriter would view a breathing-test reading or home oxygen when you apply for life cover. That is a question to put to the insurer or a broker, with the date and result of your latest test to hand.

Who supports people living with COPD?

Asthma + Lung UK describes COPD as "the name for a group of lung conditions that includes chronic bronchitis and emphysema", and its COPD page says: "This information is for people living with COPD, including chronic bronchitis and emphysema." For anyone who wants to talk to someone, the charity's own words are: "If you have health concerns or need clinical advice, call our helpline on 0300 222 5800 between 9am and 5pm on a weekday".

Where does smoking fit in?

On the NHS page, smoking is the main cause of COPD, though the condition can sometimes affect people who have never smoked, and stopping is "the most important thing you can do" if you have COPD and still smoke. The two application forms above ask about smoking and vaping in questions of their own, separate from the lung question, and Aviva counts stopping smoking among the changes that can make a difference both to whether you can get life insurance and to the premium.

Which products count as smoking, and how insurers check what you tell them, is set out in does vaping count as smoking for life insurance. Cannabis has its own page, cannabis and life insurance, and the effect of a smoker rate on price is covered in what smokers pay for life insurance.

Is one insurer's decline the final word?

A postponement or decline is one insurer's answer to one application. Insurers word their questions differently, as the two forms above show, and a broker can put your history to more than one, though nobody can promise an offer. What to do if you are declined sets out the next steps, and life insurance with medical conditions looks at the wider options.

Whichever insurer you approach, the Consumer Insurance (Disclosure and Representations) Act 2012 expects you to take reasonable care not to misrepresent anything. What you must disclose explains that duty, and when an insurer can refuse to pay covers what a wrong answer can mean later. Both forms above include sleep apnoea in their lung question; if you have it as well, see life insurance with sleep apnoea.

Frequently asked questions

Can you get life insurance with emphysema?

Emphysema is part of COPD in the NHS's grouping, and the Royal London and Legal & General forms quoted here name it inside their lung questions rather than asking about it on its own. Each insurer reaches its own decision on what you tell it, so the useful step is to find out what it would want to see.

Is there a best insurer for COPD?

This guide does not rank insurers. Aviva's guidance says every insurer treats health conditions differently, which is why a broker may ask more than one how it would view the same answers.

Do mild or early COPD symptoms need to be mentioned?

The questions quoted above ask about a diagnosis or any condition affecting your lungs or breathing, and Royal London's form tells applicants who are unsure whether to include something to include it. If you would like someone to go through the wording with you before you apply, the enquiry here costs nothing, and a broker gets in touch to talk it over.

Sources

  • NHS, Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) (page last reviewed 11 April 2023; next review was due 11 April 2026), read 20 October 2026. nhs.uk
  • Aviva, High risk life insurance (6 May 2026), read 20 October 2026. aviva.co.uk
  • Legal & General, Life insurance with asthma (11 September 2025), read 20 October 2026. legalandgeneral.com
  • Legal & General, Underwriting annuities: a guide to our underwriting requirements (Q0058034 05/25; for professional advisers; annuities, not life insurance), read 20 October 2026. legalandgeneral.com
  • Legal & General, Business Protection application form (W13430 03/26; adviser literature, business protection only), read 20 October 2026. legalandgeneral.com
  • Legal & General, Life Insurance with Critical Illness Cover and Critical Illness Extra: Policy Terms and Conditions (QGI13939 - 2026/10), read 20 October 2026. legalandgeneral.com
  • Royal London, Personal Menu Plan application form (July 2025, P1A0023/24; adviser literature), read 20 October 2026. adviser.royallondon.com
  • Royal London, Medical conditions tool (adviser site, for financial advisers only; undated page), read 20 October 2026. adviser.royallondon.com
  • Royal London, Definitions tool: chronic lung disease (current definition March 2022; adviser site, for financial advisers only), read 20 October 2026. adviser.royallondon.com
  • Asthma + Lung UK, Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) (page last reviewed 29 May 2025), read 20 October 2026. asthmaandlung.org.uk
  • Consumer Insurance (Disclosure and Representations) Act 2012, section 2, read 20 October 2026. legislation.gov.uk