What renewable term life insurance means, in short: a term policy that gives you the option, as its end date approaches, to carry the cover on for another set period without the person covered facing medical questions again. Only a policy whose own documents include that option can be renewed this way; an ordinary term policy comes to an end on its end date.

Whether a given plan has the option is written in its cover summary or policy summary. To have an FCA-authorised broker look over that wording with you, for a policy you hold or one you are weighing up, name the plan on the form on this page so a free call can explain it.

How does a renewable option work when the term ends?

Royal London's plan details booklet for its Personal Menu Plan life or critical illness cover (July 2025) sets the option out in full, and it shows what renewal wording looks like in a UK policy. It applies only to cover whose cover summary marks the term as renewable. At least a month before the original end date, Royal London asks whether you want to carry on, and you have until five days before that date to say yes. Nothing medical is asked at that stage: "The person covered doesn’t need to answer any medical questions." Each renewal runs for five or 10 years, the choice depending on how long the original term was and on how old the person covered will be at the new end date.

Saying nothing lets the cover lapse. Without your confirmation, the policy stops on the end date in the cover summary and there is no cover from then on. Age can also close the door: where the new end date would take the person covered past Royal London's maximum age at that time, the new term is cut to the whole years left before that age, and if that falls short of the insurer's minimum term the option cannot be used.

Royal London works out the renewed premium from three things: the terms applied to the original cover (or those that applied if it was restarted), its pricing when the original cover was applied for, and the age of the person covered when the new cover begins. That person is older by then, and Legal & General's guide to changing a policy (22 October 2025) notes that life insurance is generally cheaper when you are younger. The renewed cover does keep the original's additional features, on the terms and conditions offered when it first started.

Without such an option, nothing carries over. Legal & General's guide on outliving a policy (13 May 2026) says your cover "will simply stop rather than automatically renew", and Aviva's guide (WC05629, June 2026) says "There is no automatic renewal, because you buy life cover for a set period of time, and only that set period of time." What else happens at that point, and how the length of a term is chosen in the first place, is on how long term life insurance lasts.

Do UK insurers offer renewable term life insurance?

Royal London's booklet shows the option is sold in the UK, but it is one plan's wording, given to everyone who buys that cover, not a market standard. Legal & General and LV= describe something different in their documents: asking to extend a policy while it is still running, which the insurer considers rather than grants as of right. Aviva's general guide paints the same picture.

Asked whether you can extend, Legal & General answers "Yes, you can apply to extend the length of your policy", with the warning that extending could change what you pay and that it would assess the request on your circumstances at the time. The same guide treats a policy as renewable only before its term ends.

LV='s Life Protection policy conditions (48926-2026, March 2026) let you ask to change the end date at any time, but LV= cannot guarantee to agree: that depends on whether it still offers the cover and on your age and circumstances, and it will want up-to-date health and lifestyle information first, with at least six months' notice before the end date. A narrower route sits in LV='s guaranteed increase option. If you extend your mortgage term, or take a new mortgage whose repayment date is more than one year after the policy's end date, the policy can be replaced by a longer one without further health questions within three months of that event. That holds as long as payments are all up to date and the person insured is 54 or under (the older person, on a joint policy) and has not been diagnosed with a terminal illness, unless LV= said before the policy started that it could not offer the option. The new policy must end before both insured people reach 90 (level and decreasing cover) or 85 (inflation-linked cover), no later than the new mortgage, and for no more than the current cover or the amount owed. How these life-event options work is covered under increasing the cover on a term policy.

Aviva's guide says that, generally, a term policy cannot be extended once it has expired, though you might be able to amend and extend it while it is still active, and it tells readers to check with their insurer, which may ask for additional information or a medical exam. Which other insurers write a true renewal right into their plans is something the broker can check for you when they call back.

How is renewable term different from convertible term?

Renewable cover keeps you on term insurance for another period. Convertible cover is a different option: the right to change a term policy into permanent cover. Royal London's guide puts the two together in one sentence: "Some term life insurance policies can be extended or converted into permanent life insurance policies. Check the small print to see if yours can."

The two options answer different worries. Renewable is about not being left without cover because the term was too short; convertible is about wanting cover that lasts for life. What conversion involves, and the questions to ask about it, are on converting term life insurance to permanent cover, and the kinds of permanent plan it can lead to are on types of whole life insurance. Each option has its own conditions, so check them separately in the policy summary; the wider range of cover is mapped in the guide to types of policy.

Is renewable the same as having guaranteed premiums?

No. A guaranteed premium describes the price during the policy; a renewable option describes what you may do when the policy ends. Legal & General says its life insurance "comes with guaranteed premiums (unless you make changes to the policy)", and LV= says it cannot raise its charge because you have made a claim or your health has changed while the policy is active. Neither statement promises a price for any later extension, and Royal London's booklet prices a renewed period partly on the age of the person covered when it starts.

What should you check before relying on a renewal right?

If you are comparing policies, ask for the policy summary and look for these points:

  • Whether the cover summary says the term is renewable, and for how many years each time.
  • The deadline for confirming, and whether the insurer reminds you before it.
  • The maximum age and the minimum term for the new period.
  • How the new premium is set, and whether the extra features and terms carry over.

Without a right to renew, what is left is asking to extend while the policy is still running, as Legal & General and LV= describe, or applying for a new policy. Legal & General's premiums guide (15 May 2026) explains that renewing once a policy has expired means starting a new policy from scratch: the terms would reflect your health at that point, and because you would be older, the premiums would likely be higher. How premiums move with age is on whether life insurance premiums increase with age, and a changed health history is covered on life insurance with a medical condition.

Whether a renewal right is worth having, or a longer term from the start would serve you better, is something a broker can talk through with you; bring it up on the free call that follows the form on this page.

Frequently asked questions

What is a 10 year renewable term life insurance policy?

Ten years is one of the two renewal lengths in Royal London's booklet, the other being five; which one applies depends on the original term and the age of the person covered at the new end date. A policy sold elsewhere under that name sets out its own lengths and limits in its policy summary.

Can you extend a term life insurance policy?

Sometimes, while it is still running. Legal & General lets policyholders apply to extend and assesses the request on their circumstances at the time; LV= lets them ask to change the end date and wants up-to-date health and lifestyle information first. Aviva's guide says that once a term policy has expired it generally cannot be extended.

Is level term life insurance renewable?

Level describes the payout staying the same through the term (see what level term means), where a decreasing term policy lets it fall; renewable describes a right to carry on once the term is over. They are separate features, so a level policy is renewable only if its documents say so.

What is yearly renewable term life insurance?

The name describes cover that renews one year at a time rather than for a longer block such as Royal London's five or 10 years. How any such plan is priced and offered depends on the insurer, and a broker can explain what is open to you when they phone back after you fill in the form.

What is guaranteed renewable term life insurance?

The phrase points to a term policy whose wording guarantees the right to renew. Check whether that wording also fixes the price, because Royal London's booklet sets the renewed premium partly by the age of the person covered.

Sources

  • Royal London, Personal Menu Plan Life or Critical Illness Cover, Plan details (July 2025, PCP8P10010), read 21 October 2026. royallondon.com
  • Royal London, What is life insurance? (undated), read 21 October 2026. royallondon.com
  • Legal & General, Outliving life insurance (13 May 2026), read 21 October 2026. legalandgeneral.com
  • Legal & General, Making changes to your life policy (undated), read 21 October 2026. legalandgeneral.com
  • Legal & General, How are life insurance premiums calculated? (15 May 2026), read 21 October 2026. legalandgeneral.com
  • Legal & General, Changing a Life Insurance Policy (22 October 2025), read 21 October 2026. legalandgeneral.com
  • LV=, Life Protection policy conditions (48926-2026 03/26), read 21 October 2026. lv.com
  • Aviva, What happens if you outlive your life insurance? (WC05629 06/2026), read 21 October 2026. aviva.co.uk