Term life insurance pros and cons, in brief: it covers a set number of years, usually for less than a policy lasting your whole life, but if you are alive when the term ends nothing is paid and nothing comes back. Whether it is worth it depends on what the money would do and for how long others would rely on it; both sides follow, with no verdict.

Curious what term cover would cost you? Fill the form on this page in, and an FCA-authorised broker telephones, free, with quotes matched to your age and health.

Why term cover usually costs less than whole of life

Price is the biggest point in term's favour. Vitality's consumer life insurance page (reviewed June 2026, read in an archived copy from 23 August 2026) says of whole of life cover: "This also means that the monthly premiums are more expensive." Legal & General's 13 May 2026 guide on outliving cover puts that down to the open-ended length, adding that whole of life is generally sold only through advisers. Royal London's consumer page makes the same comparison, though its own level and decreasing term cover is offered only via a financial adviser.

The size of the gap varies with age, health and the sum chosen. The difference between term and whole of life insurance sets the two side by side, and the pros and cons of whole of life cover weigh the other product.

Cover for a set number of years, and the catch when they run out

In its 19 June 2026 explainer on the kinds of cover, Legal & General describes term insurance as protection for a set period: you choose the amount and a length that might follow a mortgage or your children's school years, and it pays on death, or a qualifying terminal illness, inside that period. Aviva's policy summary (DA03008, May 2023), the one its direct page links, allows one to 50 years; how long term life insurance lasts compares the limits.

The flip side of a fixed term is its end date. Aviva's guide to outliving a policy (last updated 2 June 2026) puts it plainly:

If you survive your policy term, you won’t receive a refund on the money you have paid, you’ll also not receive a payout.

Scottish Widows' policy summary (61041, January 2026, hosted on its adviser website) likewise says a policy with no claim before expiry ends without paying anything. Nothing builds up along the way either: Aviva, Legal & General, Royal London, Scottish Widows and Vitality all say their life cover has no cash value and pays only on a claim. Legal & General offers a kinder reading: "Of course, in one sense, the fact you’ve outlived your life insurance is a good thing." Whether a policy can pay anything while you are alive is covered separately.

After that, cover simply stops. Aviva says there is no automatic renewal and that an expired term policy generally cannot be extended, though one still running might be amended and lengthened. Legal & General says you can apply to extend, but the request would be judged on how things stand for you then, and the price could change. Some policies carry a renewal option or a right to convert to permanent cover; whether a plan you hold or are weighing up has either is a point the broker can clear up free when they ring.

Timing: why waiting tends to cost more

Buying earlier usually means a lower premium. Legal & General's guide to when to get life insurance (4 November 2025) says cover is generally more expensive the longer you leave it, and Aviva says cost tends to rise as you get older. Vitality's Personal Protection Plan summary (VLTD182053WF_02/25, a February 2025 edition hosted on Vitality's adviser website) warns that because premium rates increase with age, cover restarted later is very likely to cost more.

The same Legal & General guide, as it stood in October 2026, carries a worked illustration priced a year earlier: £150,000 of cover over 25 years was quoted at £11.16 for a non-smoker aged 35 and £28.47 for a non-smoker aged 45, in quotes taken from legalandgeneral.com on 23 October 2025. L&G notes that premiums depend on individual needs and circumstances, so read the pair as an October 2025 example of the direction, not today's price for anyone.

Prices at your age and health now come as quotes, which a broker can fetch when they phone you, free; the form on this page opens that conversation whenever you choose. Why premiums climb with age explains the pattern.

Level or decreasing: what each version gives up

A level term sum stays put, which Scottish Widows' consumer page presents as a benefit: your family knows what a claim would bring. The price of that certainty is inflation. Legal & General lists among level cover's drawbacks that it can cost more than equivalent decreasing cover and that the payout does not rise with inflation, and Aviva's direct life insurance page (September 2026) says inflation will make a level lump sum worth less over time. Vitality's consumer page offers indexation as an add-on that it says protects against rises in the cost of living; increasing term life insurance explains cover that grows.

Decreasing cover, which Legal & General says will generally cost less than an equivalent level policy, swaps price for a falling sum, and its risk is a shortfall. Scottish Widows' summary names four cases where its payout might not clear a mortgage: the mortgage rate climbs above the rate picked for the policy, the borrowing exceeds the cover, policy and mortgage terms differ, or repayments go into arrears. Legal & General's Policy Terms and Conditions (QGI12849, October 2026) warn of a gap if its applied rate sits below your mortgage rate or the mortgage changes, and add:

You should check regularly that your amount of cover will be enough to pay off the rest of your repayment mortgage.

Decreasing vs level term insurance goes further into the choice.

Fixed premiums, optional extras and the duty to keep paying

At Aviva, premiums on level or decreasing cover are guaranteed and stay the same unless you make a change, and Legal & General's terms offer guaranteed premiums on that same basis. Altering a plan has knock-on effects: Aviva says changing the amount or length may mean it changes or replaces the policy or issues a new one, and you might have to supply health and lifestyle information. Vitality's summary offers a choice of guaranteed premiums or reviewable ones, which it says it will review periodically and potentially change.

Extras add protection and cost together. Critical Illness Cover is an extra-cost add-on at Legal & General, and waiver of premium carries an extra premium in Vitality's summary, which also builds in Guaranteed Insurability options, letting you raise certain covers when particular life events happen without giving more health information, automatically if you were accepted at standard rates with no special exclusions; increases are capped and priced at your age and the rates in force when you ask. Whether critical illness cover is worth it is a separate question.

The commitment runs for the whole term. Vitality expects premiums to be paid throughout it, so affordability over every year matters; Legal & General and Aviva say cover ends if payments stop. Aviva lets you cancel at any time, though after the first 30 days it keeps premiums already paid, while Scottish Widows' consumer page says you can cancel at any time free of charge. More on what happens if you cancel life insurance.

When term cover tends to make sense, and when it may not

Term cover fits a need with an end date. Legal & General's outliving guide says that once children have grown up, the mortgage is repaid and other savings or assets have built up, it may make little sense to keep paying for cover after a policy ends. Vitality's consumer page adds that some people may not need life insurance at all: those with substantial savings, or with no dependants and a partner whose income covers their needs. It also asks readers to weigh any death in service benefit from an employer when deciding how much cover to buy.

Points that tend to settle it:

  • how many years someone would rely on your income, or on the mortgage being cleared;
  • whether the premium is affordable in every one of those years;
  • whether a level or a falling sum fits the need, on a guaranteed or reviewable premium;
  • who should receive the payout. Legal & General says a level payout could be subject to Inheritance Tax and that placing the policy in trust can manage this; that is its general position rather than tax advice, and what a life insurance trust is explains the options.

Do I need life insurance takes the first question further, how much life cover you might need deals with the sums, and whether life insurance is a good investment explains why protection is not saving. How separate insurers would view your age, health and the years you want covered is something the broker can talk through, without charge, on the call-back.

Frequently asked questions

Is term life insurance worth it at 65?

That depends on whether anyone would still rely on the money, and for how many years. The oldest starting age in Legal & General's guide is 77 for Life Insurance, or 74 for Decreasing Life Insurance, and those policies must end by the 90th birthday. The premium reflects the age you start at and your health.

Is it money wasted if you outlive a term policy?

Nothing is refunded, and that is the most common complaint about term cover. Set against it, the premiums paid for protection during every year the policy ran, at a price insurers describe as lower than whole of life cover.

Real numbers rather than old examples begin with the form on this page, used whenever you like: the broker who rings back charges nothing, and buying or not stays your call. Other kinds of cover are listed in the types of policy guide.

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