Whether life insurance has gone up depends on which price you mean: the premium on a policy you already hold, a quote for a new one, or prices across the whole market. Each insurer sets and reviews its own rates, so there is no single direction that applies to every policy; what moves your own price is set out below.
A higher premium on a renewal letter is worth asking about. Complete the form on this page, then an FCA-authorised broker rings to explain why it moved, and that costs nothing.
What can push up a premium you already pay?
Once cover has started, only some policies let the price move, and your policy summary or schedule says which yours is.
| Arrangement | Can the premium go up? |
|---|---|
| Guaranteed (fixed) premiums | Not by the insurer's choice; it changes only if you change the policy |
| Reviewable premiums | Yes, at a review; at Aviva a review can also leave it the same or lower it |
| Increasing cover | Yes, by a set formula as the cover rises |
Legal & General's premiums guide (15 May 2026) says fixed premiums are "guaranteed to remain fixed for the duration of the policy unless you make any changes to it", while reviewable ones are those "where the cost can increase at a later date". So a higher payment on a guaranteed policy points to a change, such as extra cover you asked for.
On increasing cover, a yearly rise is the product working as designed. Aviva's direct Life Insurance Plan summary (print reference DA03008 05/2023, still the summary its life insurance page linked to on 1 November 2026) says premiums "will go up each year at 1.5 times the rate of the CPI increase", by no more than 15% in any year, and not at all if the CPI does not rise. Other insurers use their own factor and index. The page on whether premiums rise as you get older sets several insurers' wording side by side, and how increasing term cover works explains the idea.
When can a premium come down instead?
A reviewable premium is not tied to your birthday. Aviva's Life Insurance+ summary (print reference AL50001 02/2026) offers reviewable premiums only with life and critical illness cover; life cover on its own has guaranteed premiums. It reviews them every five years, looking at "our claims experience, medical advances, changes in the law and the insurance industry", decides "whether they should go up, down or stay the same", and leaves your age and health out of that review.
The same summary says that if one of the benefits you chose ends before the policy does, your premium is reduced. Age can still count elsewhere. On its Reviewable Whole of Life Plan, Royal London tells existing customers the cost is fixed for a first period and is then "reviewed periodically and may increase significantly as you get older, depending on your plan".
What are your options once the premium has risen?
That depends on why it rose. On reviewable premiums under Aviva's Life Insurance+, the summary says you can keep paying what you pay now and bring your cover amount down instead. On increasing cover under its Life Insurance Plan, you can turn down that year's increase, and your cover amount and premium then stay the same for the year.
Stopping the policy and starting again is another route, but new cover is priced afresh, as the next section explains. Our page on what happens if you cancel life insurance sets out what you give up, and adding cover to an existing term policy covers a change you make yourself.
Why is a new quote higher than the policy you took out years ago?
Here the comparison is with yourself years ago, not with the market. A new policy is priced on you as you are now. Legal & General says that, depending on general health, the later you take out life insurance, the more likely a claim is, and that "provided you’re in good health, life insurance premiums will normally be cheaper when you are younger". Aviva's life insurance page says the cost "tends to rise as you get older".
The same applies if a term policy ends and you want cover again. Legal & General's guide says a replacement is a new policy on your health at the time, and being older, your premiums "would likely be more expensive". Smoking status and the amount and length of cover also matter; the page on the cost of life insurance for smokers and the general cost of life insurance page cover those.
Because so many things differ between a quote today and a quote years ago, comparing the two figures tells you little about whether insurers as a whole charge more.
Are prices across the whole market rising or falling?
There is no one direction that holds for every insurer or every policy. Each insurer prices its own products, and a review such as Aviva's weighs that insurer's own claims experience, so what happens on one plan says nothing certain about another, and a quote today reflects your age and health as well as the insurer's rates.
To see what your own age, health and cover would be priced at now, a broker who picks up your form here can ask insurers for current terms and tell you whether each price is guaranteed or reviewable, the difference that matters most over the years.
Frequently asked questions
Has life insurance gone down in price?
For a policy you already hold, a reviewable premium can fall at a review, as Aviva's summary says it may go up, down or stay the same. A guaranteed premium stays where it is. For a new quote, the price depends on you as you are now.
Have life insurance premiums increased since I took mine out?
Only if your policy lets them. On guaranteed premiums, the insurer says they stay the same unless you change the policy. On reviewable or increasing cover, they can move on the terms your documents set out.
Sources
- Legal & General, How are life insurance premiums calculated? (15 May 2026), read 1 November 2026. legalandgeneral.com
- Aviva, Life insurance (product page, WC05632 09/2026), read 1 November 2026. aviva.co.uk
- Aviva, Policy Summary of Life Insurance+ (AL50001 02/2026), read 1 November 2026. static.aviva.io
- Aviva, Life Insurance Plan Policy Summary (DA03008 05/2023), read 1 November 2026. static.aviva.io
- Royal London, Reviewable Whole of Life Plan (web page for existing plan holders), read 1 November 2026. royallondon.com