Vitality life cover is sold as the VitalityLife Personal Protection Plan: life insurance that can also carry serious illness cover, income protection and an option that links the premium to the Vitality health programme. This page sets out what Vitality's own documents say about each and how points and status can change a premium.

Prices depend on the person. For quotes on your own details from the insurers an FCA-authorised broker works with, send your answers through this page's form, at no cost to you. The broker is not Vitality.

What life insurance does Vitality offer?

Vitality's life insurance page (reviewed June 2026) lists whole of life, term, joint, over 50s and family cover, plus serious illness, income protection and mortgage protection. The detail below is from two adviser-literature documents that page links: the Personal Protection Plan Summary (VLTD182053WF_02/25) and the Plan Provisions (September 2024). Ask Vitality or an adviser whether newer versions apply to a plan you are offered.

The summary says: "We offer four core covers: Life Cover, Serious Illness Cover, Life with Serious Illness Cover and Income Protection Cover." Life Cover can be whole of life or fixed term; it pays a lump sum if you die while covered, or on diagnosis of a terminal illness where life expectancy is no more than 12 months. Income Protection Cover pays a monthly tax-free income if you cannot work, for a maximum of 12, 24 or 60 months or until the end of the term, as you choose. Extras include Child Serious Illness Cover, Accident and Fracture Cover, Waiver of Premium on Incapacity and LifestyleCare Cover.

Applicants must be aged between 16 and 74 inclusive and UK residents, which the summary says excludes the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. The minimum term is five years, and fixed term Life Cover runs only "up to your 90th birthday". Cover can be level, indexed to the Retail Prices Index, or decreasing "in the same way that the outstanding capital on a repayment mortgage would do". A joint first-death plan stops when one of you dies; a second-death plan stops after both have (more on term, whole of life and joint cover).

How do Vitality points and status change a life insurance premium?

The Vitality Programme, with Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum status, comes with the plan. Optimiser is an option that ties the premium to that status. The summary says the person covered starts on Bronze, and "The higher their status the greater the discounts and rewards." Vitality's Optimiser page names linking a device to track activity and earn points, and taking a health check, among the ways to improve status. What any activity earns is set by the Programme's terms.

The Plan Provisions say: "With Optimiser your initial premium starts lower than an equivalent plan that does not include Optimiser and your premium may change on each plan anniversary." At each anniversary, based on status:

Vitality statusPremium change in the Plan Provisions
Bronze+2.5%
Silver+1.5%
Gold+0.5%
PlatinumNo change

None of the four rows is a reduction. The summary says "your premium may increase or stay the same depending on your Vitality Status", and Vitality "will recalculate your premium on each plan anniversary until the date of expiry of each cover". So with Optimiser a premium can rise every year; only Platinum holds it level. The changes come "in addition to any other changes that are due", with at least a month's notice.

What Optimiser offers in return is a lower start. Vitality's Optimiser page (March 2026) puts it at "Up to 40% lower than our standard premium on Whole of Life Cover – dependent on your age" and "Up to 30% lower than our standard premium on fixed-term cover – dependent on the length of their term". Those are Vitality's maximums, not a saving any one reader will get. With Optimiser, a starting premium of £45 or more (single life) or £60 or more (joint) brings the full rewards tier, Vitality Plus; the provisions say these requirements "may change", and the web page adds that "An extra monthly fee of £5.50 per adult, per month, may apply".

If Optimiser is removed, the provisions say that to keep the premium the same "the level of cover will be reduced", and to keep the cover "the premium will increase". Vitality also says parts of the programme may be "significantly enhanced, changed or withdrawn", and if you are unhappy with a change, "you may cancel your plan".

Whether a cheaper start is worth a premium that can climb turns on figures only a quote can give. Once you send this page's form, an FCA-authorised broker can lay quotes on your details side by side; nothing is promised about price or acceptance.

What sets the price of Vitality life insurance?

How Vitality's price compares with other insurers' depends on your own details. Vitality's page says a quote can depend on how much cover you need, "Your health and lifestyle, including previous conditions or smoking", and a high-risk job. The summary adds age, term, occupation and dangerous activities, and says the list is not exhaustive.

A guaranteed premium "will only change over the term of your cover as a result of choices that you make", though status can still change it at each anniversary. A reviewable premium is different: "we do not look at your individual circumstances such as your health." Premium Step, offered only on whole of life with guaranteed premiums, starts lower and then "At each plan anniversary your Whole of Life Cover, or Whole of Life Cover with LifestyleCare Cover, premium will increase by 2.5%." How such factors work across the market is on what life insurance costs.

How does Vitality's serious illness and combined cover pay out?

Vitality calls it Serious Illness Cover, not critical illness cover, and says the payment for a condition it covers could be higher than, equal to or lower than what a policy with Critical Illness Cover would pay. Payments run on a scale "from 5% (Severity G) for the lowest severity level of a condition, to 100% (Severity A) for the highest", so the provisions' definitions decide each payment.

Life with Serious Illness Cover is the combined option: a lump sum on death, on a terminal illness with life expectancy of no more than 12 months, or for "an illness or condition that we cover and that meets our definition of that condition". It "can’t be chosen with Serious Illness Cover under a single plan", and on a single life plan "once you make a life claim, your cover will end". Vitality "won’t pay out under Serious Illness Cover if you do not survive for at least 14 days" after the event behind the claim (compare life and critical illness cover).

How Vitality treats any particular condition is for it to assess on your application.

How do you buy, change or cancel a Vitality life policy?

Vitality's life page describes a quote online, a plan built with its team, and paying "every month, by direct debit". The summary warns that if information "is incomplete, incorrect or untrue, it’s likely that we’ll reduce the value of any claims you make" (medical questions).

To increase cover, "we will usually ask for new medical evidence", and changes are "subject to the premium rates applicable at the time of the request". Guaranteed Insurability options allow increases at life events "without giving us any more information about your health", but only "as long as" everyone covered was accepted "at standard rates" with no special exclusions.

If you stop paying, "your cover will also stop", and the plan "does not have any cash value". Cancelling within 30 days of receiving your plan details gets the premium refunded if no claim has been made; paying monthly, after 30 days Vitality "will not refund your plan premium" (cancelling life insurance). To ask for a change or to cancel, Vitality's Member Zone and contact routes sets out who to contact.

The summary says Vitality "will pay any benefits to the person legally entitled to receive them". The cash sum is free of income tax and capital gains tax, but if it forms part of the estate "it may not be free of inheritance tax". For putting the plan in trust, it says you should talk to a solicitor (what a life insurance trust is).

Who stands behind Vitality life cover, and what is its claims record?

The summary says: "Vitality Life Limited (registration number 03319079) is the insurer that underwrites the VitalityLife plan." It adds that Vitality Life Limited is authorised by the PRA and regulated by both the PRA and the Financial Conduct Authority. This site is not Vitality and is not partnered with it.

The summary says Vitality is covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) and that you may be entitled to compensation from the scheme if it cannot meet its obligations. If Vitality does not resolve a complaint, "you can refer your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service", which the summary describes as free and independent.

Vitality publishes its own claims record: its life page (reviewed June 2026) says "In 2025, we paid £105m in Life Cover claims. That's 99.4% of all life cover claims." It credits a 2026 Vitality report. It is Vitality's own figure, not a comparison across insurers (life insurance claims statistics). Other firms, Zurich among them, are under insurers compared.

Frequently asked questions

Is Vitality a health insurer or a life insurer?

Both: Vitality's website offers health insurance and life insurance as separate products, each with its own quote. The life plan, the summary says, is "underwritten by Vitality Life Limited".

Does Vitality offer mortgage life cover?

Vitality's life page lists mortgage protection insurance, and its summary describes decreasing cover that follows a repayment mortgage. What happens if you move house is for Vitality to confirm (life insurance for a mortgage).

What does Vitality's Child Serious Illness Cover include?

The summary says it "pays a lump sum if any of your current or future children suffers from a serious illness that we cover", up to £100,000 shared across all your children and all your VitalityLife plans. You do not need Serious Illness Cover yourself to add it, and pre-existing conditions are excluded (child critical illness cover).

When you want Vitality's approach weighed against other insurers' for your own circumstances, an FCA-authorised broker can go through it with you, and this page's form is how to ask, with no obligation.

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