A Royal London life policy today means cover that Royal London sells through financial advisers: term life, whole of life, a diabetes-specific plan, and critical illness and income protection that can be added. Below are its product terms, its price factors and its 2025 claims record, drawn from Royal London's own pages.
If you would like an FCA-authorised broker to ask several insurers how they would treat your own circumstances, complete this page's form; it costs you nothing. The broker is not Royal London, and the form does not request a Royal London quote.
Which Royal London policies can you buy, and how?
Royal London's life insurance page lists three products, each marked as available only through a financial adviser. The ages below are from the product pages (undated, read 18 October 2026).
| Product | What Royal London's page says | Ages and limits |
|---|---|---|
| Advised Life Cover (also called the Personal Menu Plan) | Pays a sum of money if you die or become terminally ill during the term. The payout can be a lump sum or an income. Level and decreasing cover are listed. | UK residents aged 18 to 88. Cover up to an unlimited amount, or up to a maximum of £5 million with an increasing cover option. |
| Whole of Life Cover | Pays a sum of money when you die or become terminally ill; cover lasts for the rest of your life, or as long as you want it. | UK residents aged 18 to 88. |
| Diabetes Life Cover | For people with type 1 or type 2 diabetes; pays a sum if you die or become terminally ill during the term. Lump sum only, with the amount level throughout. | UK residents aged 18 to 88; the plan must end before you turn 90. Level term cover up to £1,000,000. |
The overview also describes level term, with the same cover throughout, and decreasing term, "Designed to help repay a repayment mortgage and or another debt". See how term life insurance works and decreasing against level term.
How does Royal London's whole of life policy work?
Royal London says the Whole of Life plan continues until you die or stop paying the monthly payments, and that the payment stays the same over the full term unless you choose reviewable payments or increasing cover. Expect to answer medical questions, and you may need to attend a medical, before cover starts. Royal London says the plan can cover you and your partner (joint life insurance).
An optional Waiver of Premium add-on "pays your monthly payments if you're unable to work through illness or injury". Miss payments and Royal London warns that once a payment is five weeks overdue it cancels the plan, leaving you without cover. You can ask for a restart within six months of the first missed payment, but if your health has changed it may decline or charge more.
The overview adds that whole of life policies "tend to be more expensive than term policies", because the plan can last as long as you keep paying. The general product is explained in what whole of life insurance is.
What does Royal London pay for critical illness, including children's cover?
Royal London's Critical Illness Cover page says it pays a lump sum or monthly income if you are diagnosed with a critical illness or total permanent disability covered by your plan. Additional illnesses, including some early forms of cancer, carry "a payout of 50% of the cover amount, up to £35,000"; the plan's definitions decide what counts (conditions covered). Advised Life Cover can have Critical Illness Cover, Income Protection or Life or Critical Illness Cover added "for an additional cost" (see life and critical illness cover).
Children's Critical Illness Cover can be added if you have Critical Illness Cover or Life or Critical Illness Cover. Royal London's page describes two levels:
- Standard: children from birth to age 22, or 23 if in full-time education, are covered for the main critical illness conditions plus total permanent disability and terminal illness (50% of the Critical Illness Cover amount, up to £30,000); £5,000 is paid on the death of a child.
- Enhanced: the same ages, adding child-specific conditions, total permanent disability at 50% up to £50,000, terminal illness, and £10,000 on the death of a child, plus pregnancy complications at £5,000 for each affected pregnancy.
Royal London says a claim for a child "doesn't affect your main Critical Illness Cover", and that the cover can be added or removed by phone without medical information (child critical illness cover).
How does Royal London decide what a policy costs?
A Royal London price turns on your own details. Royal London's guide to the cost of life insurance (10 June 2026) points to "your health, lifestyle habits, and a range of other personal factors". It calls age "often one of the biggest factors", says smoking is "a significant factor", and says some hobbies "categorised as risky" can raise a premium, as can more cover or a longer term. Royal London puts it simply: the longer the term, the more expensive the payments.
How Royal London's price compares with another insurer's depends on your own details (what life insurance costs). Royal London says independent financial advisers "can give advice on the whole market", and that advisers "charge in different ways – some charge a set fee, others are paid from commission".
If you would rather start with a broker who can ask several insurers about you at once, this page's form is a free first step.
How many claims does Royal London pay, and what do customers say?
Royal London's press release of 15 June 2026 says it "paid a record £821m in protection claims in 2025, supporting 62,412 customers, families and businesses", and that it "paid 98.4% of all protection claims". The release adds that the figures include the first full year of claims following the transfer of Aegon's individual protection portfolio.
| Royal London's category (2025) | What it says |
|---|---|
| Term life and terminal illness | £326m paid, with average payouts of £85,437 (life) and £133,238 (terminal illness) |
| Critical illness | £198m to 2,959 customers, average payment £67,000, 89.3% payout rate |
| Income protection | £9.6m to 1,536 customers, 85.2% payout rate |
| Whole of life | £282m paid, 99.9% payout rate |
Royal London's Advised Life Cover page separately shows "94.2%" of Term Life Insurance claims paid in 2025. The rates come from Royal London itself and do not rank it against any other insurer; and an average payout is not a guide to how much cover to buy (life insurance claims statistics).
For customers' experience, Royal London and the Financial Ombudsman Service both publish complaints data. The Ombudsman says it publishes "data every six months showing the number and outcome of the complaints we handle about financial businesses" (22 July 2026).
Who is Royal London, and how do you manage or claim on a policy?
Royal London describes itself as a mutual: "We use our profits to invest in improving our products, not paying shareholders." Its June 2026 release calls it "the UK's largest customer-owned life, pensions, and investment company", with "no external shareholders". The insurer is The Royal London Mutual Insurance Society Limited, which its footers say is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority.
On Aegon, Royal London's page for those customers says that in April 2023 the Royal London Mutual Insurance Society Limited agreed with Scottish Equitable plc (which uses the brand name Aegon) to purchase its UK individual protection policies. It adds that "your policy records aren't available online" (Royal London policy documents).
If an insurer fails, the FSCS's own guide lists long-term insurance as 100% protected where the firm failed after 8 October 2020. A complaint goes to Royal London first, by its online form, phone or post; the Financial Ombudsman Service says a business has "up to 8 weeks" for most complaints, after which you can take it to the Ombudsman, whose service is free.
Existing customers change personal details through Royal London's online form; cancelling a Royal London policy covers ending one. After a death, there is a Tell us about a bereavement page and a dedicated claims specialist (making a Royal London claim after a death).
Helping Hand is Royal London's support service, and Royal London says these services are not part of its terms and conditions and can be amended or withdrawn at any time.
On trusts, Royal London's guide (13 October 2025) says "Once a policy is written in trust, you give up control of it to the trustees. You cannot simply change your mind and take the policy back." Moving an existing policy into trust, it says, usually means speaking to your adviser. Why you might use one is in what a life insurance trust is and how to put a policy in trust.
When you want your own circumstances looked at, a few answers in the form on this page reach an FCA-authorised broker, who will contact you without charge; price and acceptance stay with the insurer.
Frequently asked questions
Can I buy Royal London life insurance directly?
Not for the plans above: Royal London's life insurance page marks each one as available only through a financial adviser, and its Advised Life Cover page says that if you don't already have an adviser, "we can help you", through its Find a financial adviser page.
Is Royal London a good life insurance company?
No single score settles that. What can be weighed is what each plan covers, how its definitions read and Royal London's own claims figures; other firms are under insurers compared, and choosing between policy types under best life insurance policies.
Does Royal London offer over-50s life insurance?
Royal London's Over 50s page sits under existing customers and is for people who already hold a policy, to "Update your details, make a claim, or review policy documentation." Its life insurance page lists the three adviser-sold plans above. Royal London over 50 life insurance covers existing plans; plans for that age group in general are covered in life insurance over 50.
Sources
- Royal London, life insurance, critical illness, income protection and Helping Hand product pages (undated), read 18 October 2026. royallondon.com/insurance/life-insurance
- Royal London, Royal London pays record £821m in protection claims with 98.4% payout rate (15 June 2026), read 18 October 2026. royallondon.com/about-us/media
- Royal London, What factors affect the cost of life insurance? (10 June 2026) and Should I write my life insurance in trust? (13 October 2025), read 18 October 2026. royallondon.com/guides-tools
- Royal London, Aegon, Make a complaint and Manage your Over 50s policy pages for existing customers (undated), read 18 October 2026. royallondon.com/existing-customers
- Financial Ombudsman Service, How to complain and Half-yearly complaints data: H2 2025 (22 July 2026), read 18 October 2026. financial-ombudsman.org.uk
- Financial Services Compensation Scheme, What we cover (undated), read 18 October 2026. fscs.org.uk