You can take out life insurance for parents in the UK only if you have an "insurable interest" in them, and with Legal & General your parent must also consent and fill in the application. This page sets out what the law, that insurer's guide (9 March 2026) and other insurers' documents say about who can apply, which policies are open at an older age, and how the payout works.

To find out what an insurer might consider at your parent's age and health, an FCA-authorised broker can contact you through the form on this page. It costs nothing and you are not obliged to buy.

Can you take out life insurance on your parents or grandparents, and do they have to agree?

Sometimes, and the test is whether you have an insurable interest. Section 1 of the Life Assurance Act 1774 provides that no insurance shall be made on a person's life where the person for whose benefit the policy is made "shall have no interest", and that an assurance made contrary to it "shall be null and void to all intents and purposes whatsoever". Section 3 adds that where the insured does have an interest, no greater sum shall be recovered than "the amount of value of the interest of the insured in such life or lives".

The Act does not list who has an interest. Legal & General's guide puts it in practical terms: "you can get life insurance for your parents, but only if you have an ‘insurable interest’ in them", described as proving "that you would face financial hardship if your parents were to die and you would struggle to meet their financial obligations". Its examples:

  • "When the costs incurred by parents – such as debt, a mortgage and medical bills – must be repaid by the children."
  • "When a surviving parent has care costs that must be paid."
  • "The adult child receives financial support from the parents."
  • "There is a parent-child business relationship and the death of a parent could cause financial difficulties."

That is one insurer's reading, not a statutory definition. Insuring a spouse, partner or friend is on life insurance on someone else.

Does your parent have to know about it and consent?

With Legal & General, yes. Its guide says: "the parents must consent before life insurance can be taken out on their behalf. Our application process requires that the person being insured completes the application themselves." So your parent, not you, answers the health questions. That also answers whether you can do it without them knowing: not with that insurer. Other insurers may differ, so ask how they handle consent.

How do you set up life insurance for a parent, and can you pay for it?

Legal & General's guide puts the practical side plainly: "While you can’t simply buy life insurance for your parents, you can point them in the direction of various life cover policies to help them decide on the protection they need." Put together, its points come to this:

  1. Talk it through with your parent first. The guide lists questions such as "Do they have any form of life insurance?" and "Is one parent financially dependent on the other?".
  2. Check you have an insurable interest (above); without one, the guide says, you cannot insure their life.
  3. Choose the type of policy (next section) and who is to receive the payout. Legal & General notes a trust can be used "to choose who receives the cash sum from a successful claim"; see what a life insurance trust is.

Whether someone other than the person insured can pay the premiums is a question for the insurer.

The reverse is simpler: Legal & General says "we all automatically have an insurable interest in our own lives", so you can take a policy on your own life "to benefit your parents".

Through a bank: Barclays' life insurance page says "Life Insurance is arranged by Barclays Bank UK PLC and provided and underwritten by Legal & General Assurance Society Limited", and gives its own applicant range, which is UK residents aged between 18 and 74. So a bank can be a route to an insurer's policy, on the bank's own limits.

Which policies are open to parents at their age, and what are the terms?

Cover that asks about health. Aviva's Over 50s page says applicants to its Life Insurance Plan must be 18 to 77, and that Aviva puts some health and lifestyle questions to them at application. Whole of life and the other underwritten options are set out in life insurance over 50.

Guaranteed-acceptance over-50s plans ask no medical questions within an age band, and the band differs by plan. Legal & General's direct policy summary (QGI12836 11/2025) guarantees to accept people aged 50 to 80, SunLife's terms (S-G050T12.25.V3) take people aged 49-85, and Aviva's Over 50 page (WC05649 09/2026) says "aged between 50 and 80". The terms are stated plainly in those documents, and some people accept them knowingly: the payout is fixed, premiums run for life or to a cap age, the premiums paid can come to more than the payout, at Legal & General, SunLife and Aviva a death in the first year from anything other than an accident returns the premiums paid rather than the cover, and inflation reduces what the payout buys. For the exact wording, see the best life insurance over 50, which goes provider by provider.

How much these plans pay is on funeral cover limits.

If you and your parent would like to know which of these might be offered at their age and health, a broker reached through the form on this page can put the details to several insurers.

What if your parent is seriously ill?

Put two questions to the insurer, or to a broker, before anyone fills in an application: whether the insurer would consider an application from someone with a terminal diagnosis, and, if your parent already has a policy, what its terminal illness benefit would pay and on what conditions. Terminal illness benefit explains how that feature usually works.

Marie Curie's website says it is "here to help with practical information and emotional support about living with a terminal illness, end of life and bereavement", and you can call it on 0800 090 2309.

Is life insurance on a parent a sensible financial decision or an investment?

Over-50s plans are not investments, going by the insurers' own words. Aviva's page says its Over 50s Life Insurance is not a savings or investment plan, and SunLife's says its plan never has a cash-in value.

Legal & General's guide frames the question as whether you would face financial hardship if your parent died, and whether something, such as their savings or an existing policy, already covers it. A general page cannot say whether a policy is sensible for your family; what you can decide together is what it should meet, such as a funeral bill or a shared debt.

If you meant cover for yourself as a parent

For cover on your own life as a parent, see cover when you have a child and how much cover you might need. Aviva's Free Parent Life Cover page says "Each parent could get £15,000 of free life cover for each child under the age of four", that it "will last a full 12 months from whenever you take it out", and that you must be "aged 18 to 66, and a permanent UK resident".

Frequently asked questions

Can you take out whole of life insurance on your parents?

Royal London's booklet for the whole of life plans it took over from Scottish Equitable (printed May 2025) treats the "Policyholder" and "Insured person" as separate roles; who may own a policy on a parent's life is for the insurer or adviser to say, so ask.

Who gets the money if a parent's policy pays out?

It depends on who owns the policy and whether it is in trust. Royal London's booklet defines the owner as "the person(s) who is/are legally entitled to a payment from it", and SunLife, when a claim is made, wants proof that the person claiming is entitled to the policy proceeds. A trust can direct the money, as described in what a life insurance trust is.

Can you take out life insurance on your grandparents?

Legal & General's guide speaks only of parents. Insurable interest and their consent are the questions to put to the insurer.

Can an adult child buy funeral insurance for a parent?

Ask the provider whether it takes an application from someone else.

If it would help to talk the options through with someone, an FCA-authorised broker will ring you back once you send the form on this page. It is free, and what happens afterwards is your decision.

Part of our over-50s and later life guides.

Sources

  • Legal & General, Can you insure your parents? (9 March 2026), read 18 October 2026. legalandgeneral.com
  • Life Assurance Act 1774, sections 1 and 3, read 18 October 2026. section 1; section 3
  • Legal & General, Over 50s Fixed Life Insurance Policy Summary (QGI12836 11/2025, direct version), read 18 October 2026. legalandgeneral.com
  • SunLife (Phoenix Life Limited), Guaranteed Over 50 Plan Terms and Conditions including the Policy Summary (S-G050T12.25.V3; no date printed), read 18 October 2026. sunlife.co.uk
  • Aviva, Over 50s Life Insurance (WC05649 09/2026) and Free Parent Life Cover pages, read 18 October 2026. over-50s; free parent life cover
  • Royal London, Whole of Life policy conditions (for plans taken over from Scottish Equitable, filed among Royal London's historic policy conditions; printed May 2025), read 18 October 2026. royallondon.com
  • Barclays, Life insurance page (arranged by Barclays, underwritten by Legal & General), read 18 October 2026. barclays.co.uk
  • Marie Curie, Information and support, read 18 October 2026. mariecurie.org.uk