Life insurance for expats is rarely a standard UK policy, because the UK insurers covered here sell new cover only to people who live in the UK; Legal & General says "our life insurance is only available to UK residents". A policy you already hold is a different matter, and several insurers' documents let it carry on after a move, on conditions set out below.
Leaving the UK, or already gone? An FCA-authorised broker can talk through how the UK insurers it works with might view your move. Complete the form on this page, which asks only for a few contact details, and the broker phones you back at no cost.
Which UK insurers take applications from people living abroad?
Each insurer words its residence test differently, so one person can pass one test and fail another.
| Insurer and document | Who can apply |
|---|---|
| Aviva, Life Insurance: Insurance Details booklet (EDCO2264, January 2026 edition) | "When you apply for your insurance, you must be resident in the UK. You’ll need a UK bank account." At the point of applying you must also have a legal right to live in the UK, regard it as your main home and have no current plan to settle permanently anywhere else. |
| Legal & General, Life insurance when moving abroad (28 October 2025) | "Our definition of a UK resident is someone who is currently living in the UK and has spent at least 183 days in the UK in the last tax year." Crown employees (armed forces, civil servants, diplomats) and Merchant Navy staff can be considered. |
| Vitality, Life insurance and moving abroad explained (last updated 26 November 2025; read in a web archive capture of 18 February 2026) | "This means you must be permanent resident living in the UK when you buy or change your policy." Its guide counts you as resident in a country after 183 days or more there in the previous twelve months. |
| Zurich, Zurich Personal Protection terms and conditions (PW720480017 04/26; a policy sold through advisers) | The policyholder must be UK resident when cover begins. Each person insured must be UK resident then too, and must have been on a UK doctor's register for six months before applying as well as at the start. |
The 183-day windows differ: Legal & General looks at the last tax year, Vitality at the previous twelve months. Aviva ties the test to where your main home is and what you intend, not only to days spent in the country.
What if you are about to leave the UK for good?
Legal & General puts the cut-off in one sentence: "And if you plan to leave the UK permanently within the next three months, we won’t be able to offer you a life insurance policy." Vitality's version has no time window: a plan to leave permanently rules out buying its life cover at all. Aviva's test looks at your intention on the day you apply.
Shorter absences are another matter. Legal & General and Vitality each say they can usually offer cover to customers travelling temporarily to safe territories. What insurers ask about trips, and whether a death overseas is paid, is covered in does life insurance cover you abroad.
Whether a long posting, or a move with no fixed end date, counts as permanent is the insurer's call; the broker can explain how that question is usually put when they phone you, free.
Is your existing life insurance still valid if you move abroad?
Usually the first answer is in the documents you were sent. Legal & General's guide says that in most cases a policy with it stays valid after a move, provided premiums keep coming from a UK bank account and you keep a UK address it can write to.
Aviva's January 2026 booklet asks you to let it know once your main home is in another country. It warns that local law there "may affect your ability to continue to benefit fully from the features of your policy", that Aviva might alter, cut back or take away policy terms, and that you should take independent advice. On claims it is broader: "For a death claim, you can be anywhere in the world." A terminal illness claim can be made wherever you live, but the consultant must practise in one of the booklet's eligible countries (Australia, Canada, Spain and the USA among them), and claims outside those limits may still be considered if Aviva can get enough reliable information to assess them.
Zurich's April 2026 terms for Personal Protection want notice in advance: tell Zurich about a planned change of residence before it happens. If UK or local law gets in the way of running the policy, Zurich keeps the right to cancel it: "Wherever possible, we’ll let you know at least 30 days before we cancel your policy." Vitality's guide, speaking of insurers in general, is more hopeful: "As long as you didn’t know you would be moving abroad when you took out your policy, you should be covered when you move."
For its adviser-sold Personal Menu Plan Life Cover, Royal London's plan details (December 2024, from its adviser library) show how a move can limit options: "You can’t add a new cover to your plan or increase an existing cover if you’re no longer resident in the UK, Jersey, Guernsey or Isle of Man." Whether a claim can be turned down is a separate question, explained on when life insurers can refuse to pay out.
Want your current policy's wording looked at before you go? Send the form on this page, then name your insurer when the FCA-authorised broker returns your call; it is free.
What are your options if you already live abroad?
Legal & General describes three kinds of expat cover: a UK policy that stays in force while you live overseas, a policy bought in your new country that is valid there alone, and an international policy covering several countries or the whole world. For a long spell overseas it suggests a specialist insurer and detailed advice. Vitality's guide adds that expat life cover for frequent travellers usually comes from specialist providers, who ask why you travel, what work you do and how long you will be away.
Legal & General also says some insurers may offer cover to expats who can prove an "insurable interest" in Britain, such as a mortgage, financial dependants, a company they own or a possible inheritance tax bill (see life insurance for inheritance tax). Buying locally is another route, though each country has its own consumer protection laws. If it is a parent who lives overseas rather than you, buying life insurance for parents in another country has its own page.
For people who keep moving between countries, Vitality says a UK plan is unlikely to suit, especially with more than six months a year spent outside the UK or all financial ties cut. If you still split the year with the UK, the broker can go through how UK insurers would read your residence on the free call-back.
Where do tax, trusts and local law come in?
The insurers here leave tax to you. Zurich's terms say it gives no tax advice and recommend independent advice on the tax effects of changing country, and Legal & General says tax and legal rules in the UK or your new country can make expat cover harder to arrange.
Vitality raises the trust point. A UK trust keeps a policy outside your estate for inheritance tax, its guide says, but "this may not be the case in other countries", and some countries' inheritance rules complicate payouts. The UK basics are in what a life insurance trust is and whether a payout is taxable in the UK. Those pages give the general UK position, not tax advice for someone living overseas.
What to check before you move, or apply from abroad
- Whether you must tell the insurer before a move or once it has happened. Zurich wants notice beforehand; Aviva asks to hear when your main home changes country.
- Where claim evidence can come from. Aviva's eligible-country list governs terminal illness claims; Zurich names the UK, EU states (as of 2021) and a handful of others such as Australia, Canada and the USA for medical evidence, and will also accept evidence from elsewhere if it is thorough enough to assess the claim.
- How premiums are paid. Aviva collects by sterling Direct Debit from a UK bank account, and Legal & General expects UK-account payments to continue after a move.
- How the money would reach family overseas (see the last question below).
Those questions suit a broker call. When you are ready, the form on this page gets you a free call-back about them; how prices are set is covered in what life insurance costs.
Frequently asked questions
Can a UK citizen living abroad get UK life insurance?
The tests above look at where you live, not your passport. Aviva asks for UK residence and a UK bank account, and Legal & General counts 183 days in the UK in the last tax year, so a British citizen living abroad full time may not meet either.
Do international students count as UK residents for life insurance?
Aviva's booklet wants a legal right to live in the UK, the UK as your main home and no current plan to settle elsewhere; Legal & General's test is 183 days in the last tax year. How a particular student's stay would be read varies by insurer, and a broker can explain it free on the call-back.
Do Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man count as the UK?
Insurers draw the line differently. Aviva's booklet defines the UK as England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, while Royal London's plan details group the UK, Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man together for residence. Ask the insurer how it treats your address before you apply.
How is a payout made if my family lives abroad?
Aviva pays in sterling by bank transfer into a UK account named by the policyholder, assignee, trustee or personal representative. Anyone wanting the money abroad arranges the transfer from that account at their own cost and carries any exchange-rate risk. What a policy pays for is set out in what life insurance pays out for.
Sources
- Aviva, Life Insurance: Insurance Details (EDCO2264, AV1403350_EDCO2264_0126), read 22 October 2026. protection.aviva.com
- Legal & General, Life insurance when moving abroad (28 October 2025), read 22 October 2026. legalandgeneral.com
- Vitality, Life insurance and moving abroad explained (last updated 26 November 2025), Wayback Machine capture of 18 February 2026, read 22 October 2026. web.archive.org
- Zurich Assurance Ltd, Terms and conditions of the Zurich Personal Protection policy (PW720480017 04/26; served from Zurich's adviser site), read 22 October 2026. zurichintermediary.co.uk
- Royal London, Personal Menu Plan Life Cover plan details (December 2024, PCP8P1 0004/10; adviser-sold plan, adviser library), read 22 October 2026. royallondon.com