Legal & General life insurance, as the firm's own documents describe it, is a set of term policies: level cover, decreasing cover for a repayment mortgage, an optional critical illness policy added alongside, and a separate over-50s plan. This page sets out what they say about the limits, buying, claims and checking a policy you hold. It gives no prices and no verdict on the firm.
If you would like cover priced for your own circumstances, sending your details through the form here gets a call back from an FCA-authorised broker to talk over life cover options. There is no charge.
What life cover does Legal & General sell?
The insurer behind them is Legal and General Assurance Society Limited; its October 2026 policy summary (QGI14786) names the Prudential Regulation Authority as its authoriser and both the PRA and the Financial Conduct Authority as its regulators. The main products, from the summary and L&G's consumer pages (reviewed June 2026), are below.
| Product | How L&G describes it |
|---|---|
| Life Insurance (level term) | The amount of cover and the premium stay the same for the whole policy unless you change them. |
| Decreasing Life Insurance | Cover falls over time, roughly in line with a repayment mortgage; L&G often calls it mortgage life insurance. |
| Joint policy | One policy for two lives; L&G's page says it pays on the first death and the cover then stops. |
| Critical Illness Cover | Added alongside life insurance as a separate policy, for an extra cost. |
| Over 50 Life Insurance | Whole of life cover for people aged 50 to 80, a different plan with its own terms. |
The critical illness policy pays on diagnosis of, or a procedure for, a listed condition if you survive 14 days; our critical illness guide covers the list. Decreasing term life insurance explains the interest-rate point L&G raises for mortgages. On the over-50s plan, L&G says total premiums may exceed the cash sum, so read our over-50s comparison too.
What are the key terms in L&G's documents?
These limits come from L&G's direct policy summary (QGI14786, October 2026). The minimum age to take out a policy is 18, and a policy cannot have an expiry date before the buyer's 29th birthday.
| Product | Oldest age to buy | Shortest and longest term | Policy must end before age |
|---|---|---|---|
| Life Insurance | 77 | 1 year to 50 years | 90 |
| Decreasing Life Insurance | 74 | 5 years to 50 years | 90 |
| Critical Illness Cover | 67 | 2 years to 50 years | 75 |
Those are the direct terms. One partner channel was also read: the summary for Life Insurance arranged by Barclays (QGI14768, October 2026) gives 74 as the oldest age to buy, with a 5-year minimum term, so a Barclays-arranged policy follows its own table.
Both the direct summary and the terms (QGI12849, October 2026) set out what comes with a life policy:
- Accidental death benefit while you apply. Cover from when L&G receives the application, for up to 90 days or until it decides, capped at £300,000.
- Free life cover when moving home. Between exchange of contracts and completion, for up to 90 days, provided you are accepted on standard terms and L&G has what it needs to start the policy; it covers the lower of the proposed cover or the mortgage, capped at £300,000, and is not available at 55 or over.
- Missed premiums. Sixty days on from an unpaid premium the policy is treated as cancelled (unless it was due to expire sooner anyway), and premiums already paid are not refunded.
The summary says payouts should be free from UK Income Tax and Capital Gains Tax; is a life insurance payout taxable covers the estate position.
A broker you reach through the form can go through which of these limits would apply at your age and for the cover you have in mind.
Can you buy direct, through an adviser or through a bank?
L&G sells direct. Its online quote takes about 2 minutes: you give your date of birth, smoker status and contact details, say what kind of cover you want, how much and for how long, and whether a second person is to be covered.
The summary adds a caution: some optional benefits may not be available to everyone, depending on your circumstances and on how you bought the policy, such as directly or through a financial adviser. Barclays is one channel that arranges L&G cover, so check a document's footer for who arranged it before treating its limits as yours.
L&G's customer pages suggest speaking to an adviser before changing a policy, and say you can check an adviser's authorisation on the Financial Conduct Authority Register. Whoever you speak to, the broker reached through this site included, it is fair to ask which insurers they can place cover with. Our life insurance quotes guide covers what a quote involves.
L&G's decreasing-cover page mentions a gift card for some direct buyers, six months in, if the policy is live and payments are up to date. Choose cover on what it provides, not the gift.
How does an L&G claim work, and what figure does L&G publish?
If you are reading this because you or someone close to you has a terminal illness, Marie Curie offers practical information and emotional support on 0800 090 2309. The rest of this section is here for whenever it is useful.
The direct summary includes terminal illness cover with its life insurance. It pays the amount of cover once, and the policy then ends; terminal illness benefit explains the definition and the two-year minimum policy length. L&G's claims page says the policyholder could receive the full payout while still alive. A claim needs the policy number, details of the diagnosis and contact details for the GP or consultant, and the page lists 0800 068 0789 for terminal illness claims.
For a death claim, the same page calls online the fastest way: through My Account if you are named on the policy, which includes a joint policy where the other person has died, or through the Claim Portal for someone else's policy. By phone, life claims go to 0800 137 101 on weekdays. Have ready the policy number or direct debit reference, the person's full name, your relationship to them and the legal next of kin if known. L&G may ask for a death certificate and may contact the GP or coroner.
Under the terms (QGI12849), the money goes to you as policy owner. If the owner has died it goes to their personal representative, usually the executor; if the policy is in trust, to the trustees; if assigned, to the assignee. L&G also has a Funeral Payment Pledge, which advances up to £10,000 of a valid life claim for funeral costs.
On timing, L&G's life insurance page says that once a claim is accepted, payment reaches the personal representative within 5 working days. The claims guide says the time can vary, and names a grant of probate or letters of administration as the main causes of delay, which a trust often avoids. Putting a policy in trust explains the options.
The figure L&G publishes, in that guide (April 2026), is its own: in 2025 it paid out over £527 million in life claims, an average of £1.4 million a day, helping almost 14,000 people and their families. It is a yearly total of life claims paid. It does not say what share of claims was accepted, so it is not a payout rate, and it is not a rating of the firm.
How do you check or change an existing L&G policy?
L&G says the easiest route to your policy documents and policy number is your online account. Its decreasing-cover page also offers a Policy Documents Request Form that emails you a policy summary. Your policy wording is the Policy Terms and Conditions together with your Policy Schedule.
- Name or address. Live Chat in your account is the quickest way to change a name; the online form asks for evidence such as a marriage certificate or deed poll.
- Missed payment. For a monthly policy, the Direct Debit is tried again before L&G gets in touch. In some cases it may ask for a health questionnaire before the policy continues, and if more than 60 days have passed since the missed payment, cover ends.
- Cancelling. Cancel within the first 30 days and L&G refunds premiums paid; cancelling L&G life insurance covers later cancellations. A policy in trust needs written authority from all trustees as well. See what happens if you cancel life insurance.
- Living abroad. Life cover stays valid however long you travel or live abroad, as long as you keep paying from a UK bank account and tell it your overseas address.
- Joint policies. L&G offers joint life separation after a divorce or dissolution, with a request needed within 6 months of the event being finalised, according to its decreasing-cover page. What happens to a joint policy after divorce goes further.
What protection is there if something goes wrong?
A complaint goes to L&G first, on 0370 010 4080 for life cover. If it has not issued a final response within eight weeks, or you are dissatisfied with its answer, you can ask the Financial Ombudsman Service for an independent review.
On the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, L&G's terms say: "The FSCS will pay 100% of the value of the claim." It adds that the scheme first tries to keep the policy going, through another insurer or a new policy, and that what you can claim depends on your circumstances. The scheme's own page sets the conditions: the failed company must have been regulated by the Prudential Regulation Authority, and claims count only if the insolvency practitioner accepts them. Whole of life claims are then repaid in full. Term life claims are repaid in full where the firm failed on or after 3 July 2015, and at 90% where it failed before.
If you are weighing L&G beside other insurers, insurers compared links the other firm pages, including Scottish Widows. A broker's call-back, which the form arranges, is a way to ask what each would mean for you.
Frequently asked questions
Is Legal & General a good life insurer?
This page does not rate firms. You can check the terms you would be buying, the complaints route (L&G first, then the Financial Ombudsman Service) and the FSCS position above.
Does an L&G policy have a cash-in value?
No. L&G's support pages say a policy is worth nothing in cash without a valid claim, though some historic L&G products have a surrender value, so check your documents. Cashing in life insurance and cancelling an L&G policy explain more.
What happens to a joint L&G policy after one person claims?
The summary says the amount of cover is paid once, on the first person's death or valid claim. L&G has a replacement cover option that could let the other person take out a new single policy; see joint life insurance.
Does L&G offer life insurance over 50?
Yes, a whole of life plan with guaranteed acceptance and no medical for UK residents aged 50 to 80. L&G over 50 life insurance covers the first-year rule; see also life insurance over 50.
Sources
- Legal & General, Life Insurance and Critical Illness Cover Policy Summary (QGI14786 - 2026/10, direct version), read 19 October 2026. legalandgeneral.com
- Legal & General, Life Insurance Policy Summary, Barclays-arranged version (QGI14768 - 2026/10), read 19 October 2026. legalandgeneral.com
- Legal & General, Life Insurance Policy Terms and Conditions (QGI12849 - 2026/10), read 19 October 2026. legalandgeneral.com
- Legal & General, Life Insurance (reviewed 1 June 2026), read 19 October 2026. legalandgeneral.com
- Legal & General, Decreasing Life Insurance (reviewed 1 June 2026), read 19 October 2026. legalandgeneral.com
- Legal & General, Over 50 Life Insurance (reviewed 8 June 2026), read 19 October 2026. legalandgeneral.com
- Legal & General, Life insurance claims information (April 2026), read 19 October 2026. legalandgeneral.com
- Legal & General, How do I make a claim, read 19 October 2026. legalandgeneral.com
- Legal & General, Contact us about your life insurance, read 19 October 2026. legalandgeneral.com
- Legal & General, Making a complaint, read 19 October 2026. legalandgeneral.com
- Financial Services Compensation Scheme, Insurance protection and compensation, read 19 October 2026. fscs.org.uk
- Marie Curie, Information and support, read 19 October 2026. mariecurie.org.uk