A non-medical limit is the age and cover amount at which a life insurer stops relying on your application answers alone and asks for a nurse screening, blood test or GP report. Each insurer sets its own, so there is no one UK figure.
Because the limits sit with each insurer, a broker authorised by the FCA is the person to ask whether the cover you have in mind is likely to bring one into play; one phones you after you send the free form here, which takes a few minutes.
What is a non-medical limit?
Underwriting is the insurer's assessment of risk. Legal & General's Underwriting explained leaflet (W10188 09/25) puts it as "we’ll make an assessment of the risks – a process known as underwriting". A non-medical limit is a threshold within that process. Below it, the insurer's tables show no automatic evidence; at or above it, the table names the evidence collected as routine.
Evidence can also be asked for outside the grid. Aviva's guide for customers applying through an adviser (PT15825 05/2026) says "Sometimes we will ask for a medical report to help the assessment process, or because you have applied for a high level of cover".
The grids are written for advisers, and they move. Royal London's press release of 23 August 2023 said that for customers aged 29 or under, the initial threshold "has increased from £900,001 to £1,000,001". That is a 2023 figure, quoted only to show that limits are revised; the current one is Royal London's to confirm. For whether you can avoid a medical altogether, see life insurance without a medical; for the questions asked before any of this, medical questions for life insurance.
What do two insurers publish for life cover?
Legal & General's Guide to our underwriting limits (Q41806 10/25) is, in its own words, "intended for professional financial advisers". Vitality's non-medical limits page, on its site for UK financial advisers only, says it is "factually correct as of July 2026". Both work by age next birthday and cover amount. A few cells from each life table are below; the letters are explained in the next section.
| Insurer and document | Age next birthday | Cover amount | Evidence listed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Legal & General adviser guide, Q41806 10/25 | Up to 35 | Up to £1,000,000 | No automatic evidence |
| Legal & General adviser guide, Q41806 10/25 | Up to 35 | £1,000,001 to £1,500,000 | SMR, NSE, COT |
| Legal & General adviser guide, Q41806 10/25 | 61 to 65 | £200,001 to £250,000 | PHR, NSE, COT |
| Vitality adviser page, July 2026 | 0 to 30 | Up to £1,000,000 | No auto evidence |
| Vitality adviser page, July 2026 | 0 to 30 | £1,000,001 to £1,500,000 | VNS, FP, COT |
| Vitality adviser page, July 2026 | 61 to 65 | £200,001 to £300,000 | GPR, VNS, FP, COT |
The bands are not like for like, and the table is not a guide to any other insurer. What the two documents share is that more is asked for as age or cover amount rises; where the steps fall differs, so a figure from one tells you nothing about another. Cover that is not life insurance has its own tables: income protection medical assessment covers that product, and critical illness cover without medical questions covers that one.
What do a nurse screening, blood test and GP report involve?
Aviva's guide describes the usual case: "A medical assessment is usually a simple screening carried out by a nurse at a time and place (usually your home) convenient to you", and "Additional tests may also be requested and can include blood, urine or saliva samples". A medical report is either one "completed by your GP from your medical records", or a nurse or doctor contacts you for an exam, and it "won’t request any information from your GP unless we need to".
Legal & General's key. NSE is a "Nurse Screening Examination". PHR is a report from your doctor, and SMR a "Specific Medical Report" used in its place for some online applications. MER is a medical examination report that may be done by your GP or an independent examiner. The blood tests are a "Non-fasting profile (including Lipids / LFT / RFT / FBC)", where LFT and RFT mean liver and renal function tests, HbA1c, "A test for blood sugar levels", and NT pro BNP, "A blood test for heart failure". COT, a cotinine test, applies if you are a non-smoker. The life table lists an HIV blood test from £1,500,001 to £2,000,000 for those aged up to 35.
Vitality's key. VNS is a "Vitality Nurse Screening" and GPR a General Practitioners Report. FP is a finger prick test for cholesterol and glucose, followed by a venous sample if that is abnormal; Type A is a "Venous Vitality Blood Screen for kidney function, cholesterol, liver function and glucose"; MER is a "Medical Examination (usually completed by a Doctor)"; and COT is "for non-smokers only". How smokers are classed is covered in life insurance for smokers.
Zurich. Its guide to its limits (LIFKN423, 2/26), printed for intermediary use only, says cotinine tests are added to all its nurse screenings and medical examinations for non-smokers and ex-smokers, and that HIV testing at the limits "is saliva unless we are already obtaining blood".
LV=. Its life insurance page says it may ask your GP for a medical report, and that you "must provide consent for this in order to complete the online application".
If you want to know whether your age and the amount you have in mind are likely to bring any of these in, a broker authorised by the FCA can ask insurers for you; the form here is free and leads to a call-back.
What are your rights under the Access to Medical Reports Act 1988?
Section 1 gives you a right of access to "any medical report relating to the individual which is to be, or has been, supplied by a medical practitioner for employment purposes or insurance purposes". Section 2 defines that report as one prepared by a registered doctor who is or has been responsible for your clinical care, so it is aimed at your GP or treating doctor. The Act says it "does not extend to Northern Ireland"; there, Part III of the Access to Personal Files and Medical Reports (Northern Ireland) Order 1991 deals with access to medical reports.
Consent first. Under section 3 the insurer may not ask for the report unless it has "notified the individual that he proposes to make the application" and you have "notified the applicant that he consents". The notice must tell you of "his right to withhold his consent".
Seeing it before it goes. Section 4 lets you state, when you consent, that you want to see the report before it is supplied. The doctor then cannot send it until you have had access, unless 21 days pass from the application "without his having received any communication from the individual concerning arrangements" for access. Access means inspecting the report or being supplied a copy; for a copy the doctor "may charge a reasonable fee".
Correcting it. Once you have had access, section 5 says the report cannot go unless you have told the doctor you consent to it being supplied. Before consenting you can ask the doctor to amend "any part of the report which the individual considers to be incorrect or misleading". The request must be in writing. If the doctor declines, you can ask for "a statement of the individual’s views" to be attached.
Afterwards. Section 6 says the doctor must keep a copy "for at least six months", and you can ask for access to a report supplied "in the previous six months".
Limits. Section 7 lets the doctor withhold a part whose disclosure would be "likely to cause serious harm to the physical or mental health of the individual or others", or "likely to reveal information about another person". Section 8 lets a court order compliance where someone "has failed or is likely to fail" to meet it.
The definition is about reports from the doctor responsible for your care. How results of a screening by an insurer's own nurse reach you is for the insurer to explain; Aviva says it will "explain all your rights, and the procedure we follow". Your duties when answering are in what you must disclose.
Who does the underwriting?
Aviva's guide says that when an application is referred, "an underwriter will review your application". Some brands are trading names: Beagle Street's page says "Beagle Street is underwritten by Family Assurance Friendly Society Limited", and its footer describes Family Assurance Friendly Society Limited as "trading as Beagle Street". For any other brand, look for the insurer's name in the policy documents.
Frequently asked questions
What are the non-medical limits for Aviva, Royal London, LV=, Scottish Widows or Zurich?
Each insurer sets its own, and they change; those read for this page publish theirs for advisers. This page quotes Legal & General (Q41806 10/25) and Vitality (July 2026) only, plus Royal London's 2023 release as an example of a revision. For the rest, ask the insurer or a broker for the current table.
Can I see my GP report before the insurer does?
Yes. Section 4 of the Access to Medical Reports Act 1988 lets you ask for access when you give consent, or later by telling the doctor before the report is supplied, and section 5 stops it going until you consent after seeing it.
What if the GP report contains something I think is wrong?
Ask the doctor in writing to amend the part you consider incorrect or misleading. If the doctor declines, you can ask for a statement of your views to be attached to the report.
Does a high BMI or a mental health history change what is asked for?
Each has its own page: life insurance BMI requirements and life insurance with mental health issues. If you have already been declined, life insurance with a medical condition explains the options.
Which of these requests your own age and amount might bring is something to raise with an adviser. Filling in the form here is free, and an authorised broker rings you back to go through it; whether to apply is yours to decide.
Part of our health and underwriting guides.
Sources
- legislation.gov.uk, Access to Medical Reports Act 1988, sections 1 to 8 and 10, read 19 October 2026. legislation.gov.uk
- legislation.gov.uk, Access to Personal Files and Medical Reports (Northern Ireland) Order 1991, contents, read 19 October 2026. legislation.gov.uk
- Legal & General, Guide to our underwriting limits (Q41806 10/25), adviser literature, read 19 October 2026. legalandgeneral.com
- Legal & General, Underwriting explained (W10188 09/25), read 19 October 2026. legalandgeneral.com
- Vitality, Non-medical limits, adviser site (stated correct as of July 2026), read 19 October 2026. adviser.vitality.co.uk
- Aviva, Medical information: what does this involve? / What happens next guide (PT15825 05/2026), read 19 October 2026. static.aviva.io
- Royal London, Royal London improves life cover non-medical limits (press release, 23 August 2023), read 19 October 2026. royallondon.com
- Zurich, Non-medical limits: a guide to our underwriting limits for protection products (LIFKN423 2/26, for intermediary use only), read 19 October 2026. zurichintermediary.co.uk
- LV=, Life insurance page and FAQs, read 19 October 2026. lv.com
- Beagle Street, home page, read 19 October 2026. beaglestreet.com