A Scottish Widows life policy today usually means one of two products: Scottish Widows Protect, quoted by phone, or Plan & Protect, quoted online. This page sets out what each is, how the terms read in Scottish Widows' own documents, how to buy, how to claim, and what to check if you already hold an older policy.
Want quotes from more than one insurer laid out together? Using this page's form is free: an FCA-authorised broker, separate from Scottish Widows, phones back to go through your circumstances.
Which Scottish Widows life policies can you buy today?
Scottish Widows' life cover page (undated, read 19 October 2026) invites readers to "Compare our two life insurance policies: Plan & Protect and Scottish Widows Protect". The table draws on that page and on the two policy summaries it links: Protect (61041, January 2026) and Plan & Protect Life Cover (60292, October 2025).
| Scottish Widows Protect | Plan & Protect | |
|---|---|---|
| Age to start life cover | 18 to 79 | 18 to 59 |
| When life cover ends | Consumer page, "Age when policy ends": 90. Adviser page, "Maximum age when cover finishes": "90 next birthday" | Summary: "must end before you reach age 70" |
| Largest life cover | Level £18 million, decreasing £12.5 million | A total of £500,000 |
| Types of cover | Level, decreasing, increasing | Level only (the consumer page notes decreasing cover under the separate Mortgage Plan & Protect) |
| Joint policy | Yes | "we only offer single cover" |
| Changing cover after it starts | Existing-customers page: "Speak to your financial adviser about any changes you want to make"; the life cover page lists "change your policy after it has started" among things life cover can’t do | Summary: "Once your policy has started you can’t make any changes to your cover" |
Protect also offers critical illness cover, alone or with life cover. How level, decreasing and increasing cover differ is in how term life insurance works.
Both summaries describe cover for a period you choose. If you are looking for cover that lasts for life, ask Scottish Widows or an adviser what it sells for that purpose, and read what whole of life insurance is first.
How do you get a quote or apply for Scottish Widows life cover?
Scottish Widows describes two routes. For Protect, "Speak to one of our insurance experts"; it quotes by telephone for life cover if you are aged 18 to 79, on 0345 878 0044 (Monday to Thursday 9am to 7pm, Friday 9am to 6pm), or you can ask for a callback.
For Plan & Protect, an online quote is available if you are aged 18 to 59. Scottish Widows says the application asks about health and lifestyle, gives an instant decision, takes about 10 minutes and cannot be saved part-way.
Neither page gives a price. In the Protect summary, the monthly cost turns on your starting age, smoking or nicotine-replacement use, how much cover and for how long, the cover type, any added features and your application answers. For level and decreasing cover it says the cost "will never change"; with increasing cover the premium rises each year. How premiums behave with age is in do life insurance premiums increase with age, and why nobody can give a fair figure without your details is in how much life insurance costs.
A real figure needs your own answers. The broker who calls after you use this page's form can gather prices from several insurers in one conversation.
Free accidental death cover may apply while an application is considered, per the Protect summary; the adviser page gives the limit as the lower of the sum applied for or £250,000, for up to 90 days. Read the conditions before assuming cover is in place.
What do the Scottish Widows Protect terms say?
These come from the Protect policy summary (61041 01/26), which says it does not give full details; those are in the policy provisions and your schedule. A Protect policy has no cash-in value, so nothing comes back if you cancel before the end date.
If you or someone close to you has a terminal diagnosis, Marie Curie gives free support and information on 0800 090 2309. Protect's life cover includes terminal illness: the summary pays where the illness has no known cure or can no longer be cured and your consultant expects death within 12 months, provided Scottish Widows is told before the policy's end date; the policy ends once that claim is paid. The terminal illness benefit page compares insurers' wording.
- Who is paid. For a joint policy, "we’ll normally pay out to the person who is still alive", and the policy ends. A single owner's claim goes "to you or your estate, unless you choose beneficiary nomination", which lets you name up to five beneficiaries before the policy starts; it can be overridden by a trust.
- What stops a payout. Scottish Widows may not pay "some or all of a claim" if application questions were not answered honestly and completely. For life cover it will not pay if you take your own life in the first 12 months. If you miss three payments in a row it cancels the policy.
- Decreasing cover. The sum falls on an interest rate you pick, not on your actual loan balance, so the summary warns a payout can fall short of the mortgage; the cases it lists are covered under decreasing term life insurance.
- Cooling-off. You can cancel within 30 days of the start date and get payments back; after that nothing is refunded.
Plan & Protect's summary differs on two points that matter: its suicide exclusion runs for six months, and it cancels cover if you miss three months' payments. Do not carry one product's terms across to the other.
How many claims does Scottish Widows pay, and how does a claim start?
Scottish Widows' life cover page says: "In 2025 we paid out £127 million in claims for life cover, helping almost 9,500 customers and their families." The next line reads: "We paid out 99% of claims." That is the insurer's own statement (read 19 October 2026), not an independent rating. The 99% line gives no year or basis of its own (number of claims or their value), does not say why the rest were declined, and is no forecast for any one claim.
To tell Scottish Widows about a death, its bereavement page offers an online form, a call to 0345 601 4179 (Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm) or a letter, and says "we'll get back to you in five working days". It then asks for a certified copy of the death certificate, and may ask for documents such as the will. If you have already told Lloyds Bank, Halifax or Bank of Scotland, you do not need to tell Scottish Widows (Halifax and Lloyds life insurance).
Scottish Widows' claims page says to keep paying premiums "until we have agreed to pay your claim". For an illness claim it gives different numbers by product, so check the policy name first: 0345 601 4839 for Scottish Widows policies, and a freephone 0800 085 8310 for Plan & Protect (managing a Scottish Widows policy lists its other lines). On the other side of a payout, the questions to ask are in whether a life insurance payout is taxable.
If a claim is turned down or delayed, complain to Scottish Widows first. Its complaints page lists 0345 716 6777 for life complaints, says it will acknowledge in writing within five working days, and says that if there is no final response within eight weeks, or you are unhappy with it, you can ask the Financial Ombudsman Service. The Ombudsman says its service is free.
On the FSCS, the Protect summary says that if Scottish Widows "went out of business, your plan wouldn’t be affected and you’d remain covered". The FSCS's own page puts long-term insurance in its 100% band for an insurer that failed after 8 October 2020.
Can you put a Scottish Widows life policy in trust, and who can be trustee?
The Protect summary says beneficiary nomination "can be overridden by placing the policy into trust", and that once a policy is in trust it is not possible to go back to nomination. If you transfer the legal right to the money, Scottish Widows pays "whoever has that right". For the reasons behind a trust see life insurance trusts explained; the steps are under putting a policy in trust.
On who can act, Scottish Widows' trustees page (undated, read 19 October 2026) says an additional trustee "must be over 18" and should be "someone you know you can rely on to act on your behalf". It advises checking you are not the only trustee, because "Having only one trustee can cause complications if a claim is made or if the trustee is unable to act". Appointing one uses a Deed of Appointment form. Once appointed, trustees get policy information such as missed-premium letters, and changes to beneficiaries or trustees need their signatures; cancelling needs every trustee's. The existing-customers page marks this guidance "For Scottish Widows Protect policies only".
What should you check on an older Scottish Widows policy?
Scottish Widows' existing-customers page names the policies it supports: "Protection for Life, Scottish Widows Protect, My Life Insurance, Plan & Protect and other policies bought directly from Scottish Widows or your bank (Lloyds Bank, Halifax, Bank of Scotland), Clerical Medical or adviser". Start with your policy schedule: its name and number decide the claims line and the terms that apply.
- Cannot find the paperwork? Scottish Widows' trace page covers a policy you have "lost the details for or have simply forgotten about"; managing a Scottish Widows policy explains the trace forms.
- Changing cover. Under "Can I change the level of cover?", the existing-customers page says of Plan & Protect: "You can’t change the level of cover but you can take out another policy." Protection for Life cover cannot be increased but may be reducible; My Life Insurance cover cannot be changed.
- Address, bank details, cancelling or affordability. Contact Scottish Widows to update an address, change bank details, say you cannot afford the premium or cancel.
- Is the cover still right? The same page says to review protection policies "from time to time"; how much life cover you might need sets out a method.
If you want an older policy weighed against cover on sale now, use the form here and an adviser firm will call; there is no charge for asking.
Frequently asked questions
Is Scottish Widows a good life insurance company?
This page gives no rating or verdict. A reader can weigh the cover and exclusions in its summaries, its own claims statement above and the complaints route. Other firms are under insurers compared, and policy types under best life insurance policies.
How does Zurich life insurance compare with Scottish Widows?
This page does not compare the two. Ages, limits and exclusions differ by insurer, so set Zurich's own policy terms beside the Scottish Widows summaries above.
Is there a waiting period before Scottish Widows life cover pays?
The Protect summary describes a 12-month exclusion for taking your own life; Plan & Protect's gives six months. For other terms, see waiting periods in life insurance.
Does Scottish Widows cover children?
The Protect summary includes children's life cover, a £10,000 lump sum for a child aged from 30 days until their 22nd birthday, and children's critical illness cover, with its own conditions; see life insurance for children.
Sources
- Scottish Widows, Scottish Widows Protect Personal Protection Policy Summary (61041 01/26; the version for customers not using an aggregator; adviser site), read 19 October 2026. adviser.scottishwidows.co.uk/.../61041.pdf
- Scottish Widows, Plan & Protect Life Cover Policy Summary (60292(D) 10/25; adviser site), read 19 October 2026. adviser.scottishwidows.co.uk/.../60292.pdf
- Scottish Widows, Life cover, Personal Protection life cover (adviser), Existing life insurance customers, Trustees, Trace a lost policy, Tell us someone has died, How to make a life insurance claim and Complaints pages (undated), read 19 October 2026. scottishwidows.co.uk/life-insurance
- Financial Ombudsman Service, How to complain (undated), read 19 October 2026. financial-ombudsman.org.uk
- Financial Services Compensation Scheme, What we cover (undated), read 19 October 2026. fscs.org.uk
- Marie Curie, help and support (undated), read 19 October 2026. mariecurie.org.uk/help