Joint decreasing term life insurance is one policy on two lives whose payout shrinks over the term, and it normally pays once, when the first of the two dies. Legal & General describes decreasing cover as often used to help protect a repayment mortgage, so a joint mortgage is one reason a couple might look at it.

Two names, one mortgage, one policy: this page's form takes a phone number, then an FCA-authorised broker phones back to set out joint decreasing options at no charge. The call takes a few minutes.

How does joint decreasing term cover pay out on the first death?

Two separate features are combined. The joint part decides who triggers a claim and how many times it pays. The decreasing part decides how much is paid.

Legal & General's terms (October 2026 edition) say: "If this is a joint policy, we'll pay you when either life insured dies or is diagnosed with a terminal illness which meets our definition." Aviva's booklet (January 2026 edition) adds the other half: "Once we’ve paid a claim, your insurance will end." Vitality's plan provisions call the same design joint life first death. Whichever of you goes first, there is one claim, and the survivor has no life cover left under that policy.

The amount is whatever the falling schedule has reached by then. Aviva says its decreasing amount "will reduce each month after the first month of your insurance, to reach zero when your insurance ends". On that wording, a claim early in the term pays more than one made near its end. How that schedule is worked out is covered in what decreasing term life insurance is, and the other joint design, which pays when the second person dies, is explained under second death life insurance.

Does a joint policy fit a repayment mortgage?

It can: both a repayment mortgage and this cover are designed to fall as the years pass. Questions worth settling with a broker before you choose:

  • Are the same two people on the mortgage and on the policy?
  • Does the policy end when the mortgage is due to end?
  • Which interest rate does the policy assume? Legal & General warns that if its rate "is less than the interest rate that is actually applied to your repayment mortgage, or your mortgage changes, the amount we pay out may not be enough to repay your mortgage in full." The decreasing cover cost guide covers how the assumed rate relates to price.
  • Would two separate policies suit you better? Joint or single life insurance sets the choice out.

A broker can compare joint decreasing policies from the insurers it works with, using your two ages and the size and length of your loan; the call-back form is the way to ask for that. For the wider picture of what protects a mortgage, see whether life insurance covers your mortgage.

What happens to the survivor's cover after the first claim?

Under the policy as first written, nothing is left: Aviva's booklet, for one, says that once a claim is paid the insurance ends. Some insurers' terms give the survivor a way to ask for new cover, on conditions that differ, and a broker can tell you at no cost, when they ring back, whether a given policy includes one.

Legal & General's terms say "you can ask us to create a new policy for the other person". The request must come "within six months of a valid claim being paid", and the survivor completes a health questionnaire. If the form raises a health point, a full application follows, and L&G may not be able to offer cover. For a decreasing policy, "the amount of cover will be the remaining amount of cover at the time a valid claim was paid on the original policy", and the new policy ends on the person's 70th birthday or one year after the original would have expired, whichever comes first. Premiums and terms "might change or be different to those of the original policy".

Vitality's provisions differ. Its joint first death plan cancels the survivor's Life Cover too, and says "If the surviving person wants further Life Cover they will need to set up a new plan." That new plan is based on the survivor's age and the premium rates at that time, and is subject to underwriting.

If the survivor still has a mortgage to protect, other ways of covering it are collected in the mortgage cover hub.

What cover does each of you keep if the policy is split?

Some insurers' terms let a couple swap one joint policy for single ones after a divorce, a separation or a change of mortgage; the triggers, deadlines and paperwork are set out in what happens to a joint policy after divorce. On a decreasing policy the point that matters most is the amount each new policy carries, and Legal & General, Aviva and Vitality answer it differently.

  • Legal & General says the new single policies "will include the same cover as the original policy", up to £1,000,000, priced on whatever premiums and terms apply at the time of the change. A split is ruled out once either of you has had a valid claim.
  • Aviva caps the total across one or two new single policies at 100% of the original insurance, and the request has to come within six months of a separation and new mortgages.
  • Vitality's provisions say each new plan's cover and term "must not be greater than" the original's, with a maximum of £500,000 for the second person covered, and the split applies only where the joint first death plan protected a mortgage that has since moved into one name or been replaced.

How the falling amount carries over to each new single policy depends on the insurer's own terms, which the broker can set out for your own situation on the call-back.

Frequently asked questions

Which type of decreasing term insurance insures two people?

A joint decreasing term policy does. On the first death design described by Legal & General, Aviva and Vitality, it makes one payout on the first claim and then ends. A last survivor design is a different product.

Is a terminal illness diagnosis treated like a death on a joint policy?

Legal & General, Aviva and Vitality each pay on a terminal illness diagnosis that meets their own definition, as well as on death. Each insurer's definition is in its own terms and differs.

Can one of us come off a joint policy without divorcing?

Aviva's booklet ties its change to one or two single policies to separating and taking out new mortgages. Vitality's provisions let you remove the second person from a joint first death plan, which then runs as a single plan, and Legal & General lists taking one person off as a change you might be able to request, subject to health questions. See whether one person can cancel a joint policy before you act.

Does it matter which of us dies first?

The wording quoted above pays on either life. What changes the amount is the date of the claim, because the cover falls each month on Aviva's decreasing cover.

If you would rather have joint decreasing figures in front of you than read policy wording, the call-back form lets a broker run them for your own ages and mortgage.

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