Life insurance and cannabis in the UK: the application forms from Aviva, Legal & General and Royal London ask about cannabis in a question on recreational drugs over the last 10 years, rather than inside the smoking question. What follows differs by insurer, and nothing on this page is a judgement about anyone.
An FCA-authorised broker can talk through your own use, past or present, before anything goes to an insurer, and that call can be requested, free, with the form on this page.
Is cannabis treated as smoking, or as a drug?
On the forms quoted here, cannabis sits in the drugs question. Aviva's personal protection application (AL55001 08/2026) has a smoking question about cigarettes, vapes, e-cigarettes and other tobacco or nicotine products, and a separate drugs question that lists "Recreational drugs, for example cannabis, cocaine, ecstasy, heroin etc." Royal London's Personal Menu Plan application (P1A0023/24) is laid out the same way: tobacco and nicotine in the smoking question, cannabis among the examples in a later question on recreational drugs.
Legal & General's adviser lifestyle page (© 2026, read 20 October 2026) frames its smoker rule around tobacco and nicotine, applying smoker's rates to anyone who "has smoked cigarettes, e-cigarettes, cigars, pipes, or used nicotine replacements" within the last 12 months. Aviva's Understanding Underwriting guide (PT15357 0926) likewise defines a non-smoker by tobacco and nicotine replacement use. None of these wordings names cannabis, so whether smoking it on its own is rated like tobacco is down to the insurer; ask the broker when they ring, free.
Legal & General's business-protection and relevant life forms, described below, also ask how often you use cannabis and whether you smoke or vape it, without saying what difference the answer makes. If you mix it with tobacco, the smoking questions do name tobacco, so ask how that would be recorded before you answer. Nicotine products have their own page: does vaping count as smoking.
How do Aviva, Legal & General and Royal London word the drugs question?
All five forms below are adviser documents. Three are for business cover, not a policy you buy for yourself: L&G's OLP Connect form (W13430 03/26) is for business protection, and L&G's W13545 and Royal London's P9A0030/23 are relevant life plan forms, which an employer takes out for an employee. L&G adds that its form may not match its interactive application. The table shows how each insurer phrases the question; your own application may differ.
| Form | What it asks about | Details it wants |
|---|---|---|
| Aviva, personal protection application (AL55001 08/2026) | Use in the last ten years of recreational drugs such as cannabis; stimulants, sedatives, tranquillisers or anabolic steroids "that have not been prescribed by a doctor"; methadone; and misuse of, or addiction to, a prescription medication | Each drug, how long you took it and when you last used it |
| Legal & General, OLP Connect business protection (W13430 03/26) and relevant life plan (W13545 02/26) | Use in the last 10 years of cannabis, other recreational drugs, steroids or performance enhancers not prescribed by a doctor, and addiction to or misuse of any medication, prescribed or not | How long ago you last used; for cannabis, "how many times during a typical week" and whether you smoke or vape it |
| Royal London, Personal Menu Plan (P1A0023/24); its relevant life plan form (P9A0030/23) asks the same | "Have you used recreational drugs during the last 10 years?", with cannabis, cocaine and anabolic steroids among the examples | The drug, how often, and when you last used each one |
Aviva and Legal & General both explain how they use the answer. Aviva calls it confidential and says it is used to assess your application and in the event of a claim. Legal & General says it uses the answer to assess the application and at claim stage, and that there are "no ‘legal implications’ in answering yes".
How does it change the price?
Aviva's Understanding Underwriting guide, an adviser document covering life, critical illness and income protection, is the most specific on cannabis. "For cannabis use, terms will depend on frequency of use and associated risk factors," it says, and "Final decisions usually vary from standard rates to smaller premium increases", though in some instances it may not offer cover at all. It adds that "Cannabis use only can potentially be considered even with current use", again depending on how often and on any other risk factors. No figure is attached, and it describes Aviva's approach, not any one outcome.
Other drugs are a different matter for Aviva. Its guide says it cannot offer cover where drugs other than cannabis were used in the last five years. After five years the case goes to manual underwriting, with a GP report if cover can be considered, and the premium is likely to rise if terms are offered.
Legal & General's adviser lifestyle page, which covers its life, critical illness and income protection applications, says recreational drugs raise mortality and morbidity and that "we may rate or decline their application". Royal London's two forms ask the question but give no outcome. There is no one price for cannabis use: frequency, recency, your wider health and the cover all count. If a smoker rate applies as well, what smokers pay explains how that works.
Because each insurer weighs frequency and recency its own way, a broker can describe your pattern of use to a few of them first; sending the form here arranges that call, free.
Where do CBD oil and prescribed cannabis fit?
Legal & General's forms deal with this in so many words. Its cannabis line reads: "Cannabis (unless prescribed by a health professional). You don’t need to answer this question ‘Yes’ if you use or have used CBD oil only." So on those forms a prescription sits outside the cannabis answer, and CBD oil alone needs no yes. Both forms carrying the line are for business protection and relevant life cover, not L&G's personal application, so check the wording on the form you are given.
The NHS says some products, such as CBD oil or hemp oil, are sold legally as food supplements in health stores, and that specific cannabis-based products are available on prescription. Its page was last reviewed on 27 May 2022 and is past its May 2025 review date, so treat it as background. Aviva's and Royal London's drug questions, as printed, are about recreational use and misuse, so check with the insurer first, or with the broker who calls you back, how either would record a prescription or a CBD product; where a form allows details, say what you take and why.
What happens if a drugs answer turns out to be wrong?
Aviva's form tells applicants they "must answer all the questions fully, truthfully and accurately". A wrong answer can affect a later claim, depending on whether it was careless or deliberate. The claim side is covered in can a life insurance company refuse to pay, and what to tell an insurer in the first place in life insurance disclosure requirements. The other health and lifestyle questions are gathered in medical questions for life insurance.
Does use years ago, or time in rehab, still count?
Anything in the last 10 years falls inside the question on every form here. The follow-ups differ: Aviva wants how long you took each drug and when you last used it, Royal London how often and when, and Legal & General how long ago and, for cannabis, how often.
Addiction comes up on two of the forms. Legal & General's list includes being addicted to, or misusing, any medication, and Aviva's includes misusing or being addicted to a prescription medication. Aviva also asks every applicant to consent to a GP report under the Access to Medical Reports Act 1988, which can cover drug misuse. If you have been to rehab, ask each insurer what it would want to see and whether the time since treatment counts. Drinking is dealt with separately in alcohol and life insurance.
Being turned down by one insurer settles only that application. If you are declined and cover with a medical condition set out the routes that remain.
If drug use is something you would like help with, the NHS says anyone with a drug problem is "entitled to treatment in the same way as anyone else who has a health problem", and suggests a GP as a starting point. FRANK's helpline is 0300 123 6600, and it also offers a confidential email service for questions about drugs.
Frequently asked questions
Do life insurers test for cannabis?
Aviva's smoking question says it may test to confirm tobacco or nicotine use; the drugs question on the same form says nothing about testing. When a medical is needed is explained in life insurance without a medical.
Is there a cannabis-friendly life insurer?
None of the three insurers here presents itself that way. Aviva's guide comes closest, saying cannabis-only use can sometimes be considered even when current, but that is one insurer's approach, and a shorter form is not a sign of a softer insurer. A broker can find out how several would view your use.
Does steroid use affect life insurance?
All three insurers ask about anabolic steroids. Aviva's form and L&G's business and relevant life forms limit the question to steroids not prescribed by a doctor, while Royal London lists anabolic steroids among its examples of recreational drugs. Expect to give the drug and when you last used it.
Does Canada Life cover medical cannabis?
How a prescription is recorded on a Canada Life application is a question for Canada Life itself, or for a broker.
Can you get life insurance if you have been to rehab?
None of the three insurers sets a fixed rule on rehab; each decides on the application in front of it. A broker can ask insurers how they would look at your history, though without any promise of an offer.
Whenever you would like your answers looked over, an FCA-authorised broker will ring once the form here is sent. Related questions are in health and underwriting.
Sources
- Aviva, Personal protection application (AL55001 08/2026; adviser document), read 20 October 2026. aviva.co.uk
- Aviva, Understanding Underwriting (PT15357 0926; adviser document), read 20 October 2026. aviva.co.uk
- Legal & General, OLP Connect application form, business protection (W13430 03/26; adviser document), read 20 October 2026. legalandgeneral.com
- Legal & General, Relevant life plan application form (W13545 02/26; adviser document), read 20 October 2026. legalandgeneral.com
- Legal & General, BMI limits and lifestyle (adviser page, undated, © 2026), read 20 October 2026. legalandgeneral.com
- Royal London, Personal Menu Plan application form (P1A0023/24; adviser document), read 20 October 2026. adviser.royallondon.com
- Royal London, Relevant life plan application form (P9A0030/23; adviser document), read 20 October 2026. adviser.royallondon.com
- NHS, Medical cannabis (cannabis oil) (last reviewed 27 May 2022; review was due 27 May 2025), read 20 October 2026. nhs.uk
- NHS, Drug addiction: getting help (last reviewed 13 February 2023), read 20 October 2026. nhs.uk
- FRANK, Honest information about drugs and Email Frank (undated), read 20 October 2026. talktofrank.com