What happens to life insurance when you die depends on who tells the insurer and on who owns the policy. Someone has to start the claim, the insurer checks it, and the money is then paid to the legal owner of the policy: a surviving joint policyholder, the trustees of a policy held in trust, or the personal representatives of the estate when there is no trust.
If someone close to you has just died, Cruse Bereavement Support runs a free helpline for anyone who is grieving, on 0808 808 1677. Nothing below needs doing today, and the insurer will talk you through what it needs.
The sections that follow take the steps in the order insurers set them out: telling the insurer, what it asks for, where the money goes, joint policies, and how long it all takes.
Thinking ahead to how your own cover would pay out? Send the form on this page whenever suits, and an FCA-authorised broker will go over that with you on a later call, at no cost.
Who tells the insurer, and when?
Legal & General's guide to payouts (April 2026) says that "Anyone can notify us of the policyholders death but the claim has to be paid to the right person", and that you should contact it "as soon as possible after the death of the insured person". Aviva's claims page lets you start by phone or through an online form.
Royal London's bereavement page asks the family to keep making payments for the time being. It says it will tell you when it is all right to stop, and will refund any overpaid premiums.
GOV.UK's step-by-step guide to what to do after someone dies says the death is registered first, within 5 days of the medical examiner's office confirming you can (8 days in Scotland), and that the Tell Us Once service informs government departments. You will separately need to tell organisations outside government.
What will the insurer ask for?
Each insurer words its list differently, but they overlap: details of the person who died, details of the policy, who you are, and a death certificate.
| Insurer | What it says it will ask for |
|---|---|
| Aviva (guide last updated 15 June 2026) | The person's full name, date of birth, home address and policy number; your name, relationship and contact details; whether you hold a grant of probate (confirmation in Scotland); the date and cause of death; whether there was a valid will, a husband or wife, and children. It usually needs an original death certificate, and may ask for medical information from a GP or specialist. |
| Legal & General (guide dated 14 April 2026) | At a minimum "the policy holders name, policy number and cause of death", plus who you are and how you were related. It may then ask for a claim form and further evidence, for example a death certificate, depending on the type of claim. |
| Royal London (bereavement page, read 26 October 2026) | The person's full name, last known address, date of birth, date of death and any policy numbers; the death certificate, and possibly its certificate number; and, if there is a will, the executor's name if you know it. |
Aviva says copies of the death certificate can be bought from the General Register Office through GOV.UK, for a fee. Aviva adds that its claims adviser will talk you through any medical or legal documents it needs, and that if the policy number cannot be found you can contact the insurer with whatever details you have.
Where does the payout go: an estate, a trust or a joint owner?
Legal & General says it pays "directly to the legal owner of the policy", or, where that person has died, to their personal representative, usually the executor of their will. Aviva's guide names the same three possibilities for who is paid: a surviving joint policyholder, trustees, or personal representatives, depending on how the policy was set up. The table shows how Legal & General describes each arrangement.
| How the policy is held | Who Legal & General says is paid |
|---|---|
| Single policy, in trust | The surviving trustees, who then distribute the money or use it for the trust's beneficiaries. |
| Single policy, not in trust | The personal representative, usually the executor; the payout forms part of the policyholder's taxable estate and may be liable for inheritance tax. |
| Joint policy, not in trust | The surviving policyholder, with half of the sum assured treated as part of the policyholder's estate. |
| Joint policy, in a survivor's trust | The surviving policyholder, if they survived 30 days after the death of the first. |
When a policy is not in trust, the money joins the estate. In England and Wales, GOV.UK says that with a will the executors it names can apply for probate, while without one the closest living relative can; Scotland and Northern Ireland have different rules. Without a will, the same insurer's guide warns, the claim can take longer to pay and the proceeds could pass to someone the policyholder never intended to benefit.
A trust works differently. Aviva's guide says a trust sets out who the payout goes to and is not counted as part of the estate, so the trustee can pass the money on before probate is granted. How trusts are set up is covered in what a life insurance trust is, how to put a policy in trust and whether a policy needs to be in trust, and the tax treatment is in is a UK life insurance payout taxable.
Who counts as a beneficiary, and what happens if there is none, have their own pages: what a life insurance beneficiary is and whether you have to name one. How an insurer treats a person named on your own policy is something a broker will explain at no charge when they ring you back.
What happens to a joint policy, and if both parents or both partners die?
When one partner dies, the survivor on a joint policy is paid, as the table above shows. Legal & General's guide also covers the harder case. If both policyholders die and the joint policy is in a survivor's trust, the lump sum goes to the trustees, who distribute it or use it for the trust's beneficiaries. If it is not in trust and both die at the same time, the guide says "the younger person is deemed to have survived the older person", and adds that the payout would then form part of a taxable estate and could be liable to inheritance tax.
If the survivor later dies, the money is distributed under their will or, without a will, under the rules of intestacy, which could send it to someone the policyholder had not wanted to benefit.
Where each parent has a separate single policy, each is treated on its own terms: a policy in trust is paid to its trustees, and any other joins that parent's estate. Whether a joint policy pays on the first or the second death is a separate question, answered on what a joint life insurance policy is and second death life insurance. If the person named to receive the money has died too, see what happens if your beneficiary dies before you.
A couple who would like their own cover looked at can ask a broker to go through it, free, on a call-back after using the form on this page.
How long does a payout take, and what about the funeral bill?
Aviva says that once it has agreed to pay and has everything it needs, payment can take as little as a week, but that this depends on having the information to decide the claim. Where probate is needed the wait is longer: the guide, citing Unbiased, says "even simple estates usually take at least six months to complete probate".
Legal & General offers a Funeral Payment Pledge: "we agree to pay part of a claim amount early and advance up to £10,000 on any valid life claim to cover the cost of the funeral". Other ways of paying are on how to pay for funeral expenses, and whether life insurance covers funeral costs explains how a payout relates to the bill.
A payout is made only on a valid claim. Why claims are sometimes refused, and how often insurers pay, are on whether a life insurance company can refuse to pay and UK life insurance claims statistics.
What if you do not know whether there was a policy?
Aviva suggests checking bank statements for direct debits to an insurer, where the payment reference is usually the policy number, and asking an adviser or accountant. It also points to the Association of British Insurers if you are unsure which insurer it was, and to the Association of Financial Mutuals for older policies that began with a friendly society.
A whole of life policy may be active even though no premiums are being paid any more. Aviva says that after 7 years without contact from a claimant it may transfer a policy to the Dormant Assets Scheme, and that unclaimed money remains its owner's property and can still be reclaimed.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need probate before the insurer will pay?
Not always. Aviva says a trust can speed things up because the trustee can pass the money on before probate, and GOV.UK says that whether probate is needed to reach an asset is up to each organisation: "Every organisation has its own rules." The insurer's claims adviser can say what it requires for a particular policy.
Do both parents need life insurance?
That depends on the household, and these pages work through it: life insurance for parents, for single parents and for a stay-at-home parent. Expecting parents may want life insurance while pregnant, and parents without paid work life insurance on benefits. If parents have separated, what happens to a joint policy after divorce comes first.
Can the payout be sent to a relative living abroad?
Legal & General's guide says a claim is paid as a lump sum in pounds sterling into a UK bank account, and that payment outside the UK can be arranged at your own expense. Other insurers set their own arrangements, so ask the claims team handling the policy.
Should any of this leave you wondering about your own policies, send your details and a broker will ring back, free of charge, to go through them.
Sources
- Aviva, What happens to a life insurance policy when someone dies? (last updated 15 June 2026), read 26 October 2026. aviva.co.uk
- Aviva, Make a life insurance claim, read 26 October 2026. aviva.co.uk
- Legal & General, How do life insurance payouts work? (14 April 2026), read 26 October 2026. legalandgeneral.com
- Royal London, Tell us about a bereavement, read 26 October 2026. royallondon.com
- GOV.UK, What to do after someone dies: Register the death, read 26 October 2026. gov.uk
- GOV.UK, Applying for probate, read 26 October 2026. gov.uk
- Cruse Bereavement Support, Helpline, read 26 October 2026. cruse.org.uk