28 guides
How life insurance works
The mechanics behind a policy, in plain terms: how cover starts, what a beneficiary is, how claims are paid and what ends a policy.
- Can you have more than one life insurance policy? Yes, you can have 2 life insurance policies in the UK, or more. Legal & General's guide (16 February 2026) puts it plainly: "You can have as many life insu…
- Choosing a life insurance broker The best life insurance broker for you is not a name on a ranking but a firm that passes a handful of checks: it is on the FCA register with the right perm…
- Claiming life insurance without a death certificate Whether you can start a life insurance claim without the death certificate depends on the insurer: some ask only for a copy "if available" when you first g…
- Claiming on a Royal London life policy after a death Royal London says you can tell it that someone has died online, by phone or by post, and which of those is open to you depends on the kind of policy they h…
- Claiming on a Zurich life policy: steps and timing Zurich says it paid 99.8% of its life insurance claims in 2025, and a claim starts with a call or an email to Zurich from the policyholder or from whoever…
- Claiming on an Aviva life policy after a death To tell Aviva that someone with a life insurance policy has died, you can fill in a notification form on Aviva's website or phone its bereavement line on 0…
- Does life insurance cover you abroad? Does life insurance cover you abroad? Legal & General says a UK policy will usually pay out after a death overseas, if the policy is valid and the premiums…
- Does life insurance pay out for a drug-related death? Life insurance can pay out when a death is drug-related, but whether it does depends on the wording of the policy, on what was said when the cover was take…
- Does life insurance pay out for dementia? Life insurance does pay out when someone dies with dementia or Alzheimer's disease, as long as the death falls inside the policy term, the premiums were ke…
- Does life insurance pay out for natural causes and old age? Life insurance does pay out for natural causes, including illness, heart failure and old age, provided the death happens while the policy is in force and i…
- Does life insurance pay out for suicide? Life insurance can cover suicidal death, but many policies exclude a death by suicide for an initial period; in the terms of the four insurers quoted below…
- Does life insurance pay out if you are still alive? Do life insurance policies pay out if you don't die? On the term policies quoted on this page, only in one case: a diagnosis of terminal illness that meets…
- How long does Aviva take to pay out life insurance? Aviva life insurance payout time has no set figure: Aviva's own guide to payouts says "There isn’t a single set time", and that a payout can be made once t…
- How to claim on a British Seniors life policy To make a British Seniors life insurance claim after a death, you contact British Seniors Insurance Agency, the firm that sold the policy, rather than the…
- How to claim on a SunLife Over 50 Plan To make a SunLife Over 50 Plan claim after a death, the family or executor can phone SunLife, send its online claim form or write to it, and will need the…
- How to find a lost life insurance policy in the UK To find a lost life insurance policy in the UK after someone has died, start with what they left behind: bank statements, post and emails usually show whic…
- How to make a claim on Vitality life insurance To make a Vitality life insurance claim after a death, whoever is handling it, whether family, a friend or the executor, rings Vitality on 0345 601 0072. V…
- Is life insurance haram or halal? Whether life insurance is haram is a question on which named Islamic scholars and councils have given answers, and they do not all say the same thing. Belo…
- Life insurance claims statistics and payout rates Most UK life insurance claims are paid. The latest claims statistics from the Association of British Insurers (ABI) give 97.9% as the 2025 payment rate for…
- Life insurance, life assurance and life cover compared The difference between life insurance and life assurance depends on whose pages you are reading: Legal & General and Aviva use the words differently, and s…
- Making a claim on a Post Office life policy For a Post Office life insurance bereavement claim, start with the policy schedule, because the date the policy was bought decides who takes the call. For…
- Types of life insurance explained Life insurance types explained: most UK cover is either term cover (level, decreasing, increasing or family income benefit), whole of life, or an over-50s…
- What a life insurance broker does A life insurance broker, also called a life insurance adviser or life assurance broker, is a firm or person authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority (…
- What causes of death does life insurance pay out for? What life insurance pays out for is a death during the policy term, whether it follows an illness, old age or an accident: the policies quoted here ask whe…
- What life insurance is and how it works Life insurance is a contract, and how it works is simple: you pay a regular premium, and the insurer pays out a cash sum if the person covered dies while t…
- What loan protection insurance is Loan protection insurance is cover that makes, or helps make, your loan repayments if you cannot: usually because of illness, injury or losing a job, and i…
- When life insurance cover starts and ends Whether there is a waiting period for life insurance depends on the type of cover. Underwritten policies, the kind that ask about your health, have no gene…
- Why life insurance claims are refused Yes, a life insurance company can refuse to pay a claim, but only on grounds that the law or the policy sets out, and most claims are paid. The main ground…