How much life cover you need depends on what a payout would have to do for the people who rely on you: clear debts, replace income for as long as it is missed, and meet costs such as childcare and a funeral, less anything already in place. This page sets out how insurers and MoneyHelper describe working that out; it gives no figure for you, because it depends on your household.
Once you have a rough picture, an FCA-authorised broker can test it against your own circumstances. The short form on this page asks for an introduction to one; it is free, and whether to buy stays your decision.
How do you work out a sum assured?
The sum assured is the amount a life policy pays out, and you choose it when you buy. Aviva's life insurance calculator page (WC05624, July 2026) calls it the cover amount, "the money you leave behind"; Legal & General calls it the cash sum.
There is no standard good amount, and nobody sets the figure for you. Aviva's page says "How much life insurance cover you need is your decision and will depend on the people and priorities you want to help protect." Royal London's consumer page (undated, copyright 2026) puts it as "what you want to protect, for how long and for how much". MoneyHelper (archived August 2025) lists what the amount depends on: "any debts", "mortgage/rent", "number of dependents" and "take-home pay or income from other sources".
Legal & General's life insurance calculator page (undated, copyright 2026) turns those into questions you answer one after another:
- how much you would like to leave your dependants, as income over a period;
- how much of your mortgage is outstanding;
- what would be needed to pay "any major loans or debts such as credit cards and funeral expenses";
- what existing cover or investments would pay out on your death, so they can be counted.
That is a method, not an answer. Legal & General: "Remember, this shouldn't be treated as advice. You will have to decide the amount of cover and the type of policy that is right for your needs." Aviva's results are "examples only, based on your answers and certain assumptions". The next sections take the parts in turn.
What should you count: debts, income, children and a funeral?
Debts and the mortgage. Legal & General's calculator asks for the mortgage as "the amount required to clear your mortgage completely", and treats other loans and credit cards separately. If a repayment mortgage is the only thing you want covered, the debt shrinks as you repay it, which is what decreasing cover is built around (below). Whether you need cover for a mortgage at all is a separate question, answered in do I need life insurance for a mortgage.
Income for dependants, and for how long. This is the part with the most room for judgement. Legal & General's calculator prompt is: "Think of your annual salary multiplied by the number of years you wish to cover your dependants." It can look like a rule of thumb, but it is how that calculator frames the sum, not an industry rule or a figure for your household. Its list of things to weigh is the cover your family needs "to maintain lifestyle and everyday living expenses", and whether losing your income would affect plans such as "a partners planned retirement age or children’s education".
How long is the other half. Aviva's page asks: "Do you need cover up to retirement age or perhaps until your children reach adulthood?" It also asks you to "consider what portion of your monthly salary supports your partner", so the starting point is what your own pay contributes to the household, not necessarily all of it.
Children. Legal & General says "If you have children, how much would they need to cover childcare costs or university fees". Aviva adds "from nursery and school fees to university costs, or even help with a first home or wedding". If you are a parent working this out, life insurance when you have a child goes through the questions around it. Insuring a parent rather than yourself is a different question, starting with consent (Legal & General says "the parents must consent"); see life insurance for parents.
Funeral costs. Both Aviva and Legal & General include funeral costs among the amounts to count. For scale only, SunLife's Cost of Dying Report 2026 puts the average cost of a simple attended funeral at £3,828, a survey average for funerals held in 2025 rather than what any one funeral costs. Average funeral costs in the UK sets out the other types and regions.
With those pieces written down, you could pass them on through the enquiry form here; an FCA-authorised broker can explain how insurers would view an amount of that size for someone of your age and health.
How does cover you already have change the amount?
The last step in Legal & General's calculator asks about any existing life cover or investments that would pay out on your death, so that their value is included in the calculation. For many people the largest item is an employer's death in service benefit, which MoneyHelper describes as cover linked to your salary that stops if you stop working for that employer. So the number to take off is what that benefit is worth now, bearing in mind it may not move with you; life insurance alongside death in service goes into that. Savings and a partner's income come off the same way, and whether they make cover unnecessary altogether is the question do I need life insurance answers.
Should the cover stay level, decrease, or pay as a monthly income?
The sum is one decision; the shape is another. MoneyHelper and the insurers describe the shapes like this:
| Shape | What the payout does | What the insurers say it is for |
|---|---|---|
| Level | MoneyHelper: the level of cover stays the same throughout. | Aviva calls it family protection: "A lump sum can help your family manage ongoing living costs like mortgage payments, rent, other debts or raising children." |
| Decreasing | MoneyHelper: "the level of cover reduces each year." | MoneyHelper: it is designed for use with repayment mortgages, where the outstanding loan decreases over time. |
| Family income plan | Legal & General: the policy pays a monthly benefit if the life insured dies or is diagnosed with a terminal illness during the term. | A monthly income rather than a lump sum; what family income benefit is explains it. |
The last row draws on Legal & General's terms for its Family and Personal Income Plan (LG2030, October 2026), a document on its adviser area, so it shows what that product is designed to do rather than what every insurer offers. The shapes can be combined. Aviva's calculator says "If you're interested in both a level term and a decreasing term policy, you need to get a quote for each as they are two separate policies."
How the two lump-sum shapes trade off is on decreasing against level, and sizing the income version is on how much family income benefit you need. One more thing affects the sum over a long term: Legal & General's calculator says of its own result that "It does not take into account the effects of inflation". Cover that rises over the term is explained in increasing term life insurance.
Does more cover cost more, and is there a maximum?
Usually, yes to the first. Royal London's consumer page says "In general, the more cover you need and the longer you need that cover for, the more money you can expect to pay as a premium each month." No figure can be given here, because a price depends on your own details; one practical way to see what an amount means is to ask for quotes at more than one sum. What life insurance costs explains what moves a premium, and the cost and quotes guides collect the rest.
On limits, each insurer sets its own. Royal London's Advised Life Cover offers "Level and Decreasing term cover up to an unlimited amount, or up to a maximum of £5 million when you choose an increasing cover option", and is only available through a financial adviser. Other insurers' limits are in their own documents. Whole of life payouts are on how much whole of life pays out.
Because circumstances move, the amount is worth revisiting. Legal & General's calculator says "It is important to review the amount of life cover regularly as your financial circumstances change."
Frequently asked questions
Can the amount be split across more than one policy?
Aviva's calculator page says you can have more than one life insurance policy, and adds "If your combined cover is for a high amount, we might need to do a more in-depth financial assessment to make sure we're insuring you for the right amount."
Which life insurance pays out the most, or the fastest?
The payout is the sum you choose, not something one insurer pays more of: what is paid out depends on the level of cover you buy. How long a claim takes, and who receives the money, is covered in what life insurance costs and pays.
With a rough total in hand, the last step is asking for real quotes: the enquiry form here starts that, and the call carries no charge.
Sources
- MoneyHelper, What is life insurance? (archived 3 August 2025), read 18 October 2026. web.archive.org (moneyhelper.org.uk)
- Legal & General, Life insurance calculator (undated, copyright 2026), read 18 October 2026. legalandgeneral.com
- Aviva, Life insurance calculator (WC05624 07/2026), read 18 October 2026. aviva.co.uk
- Royal London, Life insurance (consumer page, undated, copyright 2026), read 18 October 2026. royallondon.com
- Legal & General, Types of life insurance (19 June 2026), read 18 October 2026. legalandgeneral.com
- Legal and General Assurance Society Limited, Family and Personal Income Plan Policy Terms and Conditions (LG2030 2026/10; on L&G's adviser area), read 18 October 2026. legalandgeneral.com
- SunLife, Cost of Dying Report 2026 (January 2026), read 18 October 2026. sunlife.co.uk
- Legal & General, Can you insure your parents? (9 March 2026), read 18 October 2026. legalandgeneral.com