Myself
My
My Income
Axa Equity and Law review. Compare broker deals.
Axa Equity & Law
Background History
The Equity and Law Life Assurance Society plc was established in London in 1844. Although the name was based around the legal professions, the founders intended that their new company should provide insurance “on the lives of persons in every profession & station of life”.
Equity & Law then went onto become a long standing traditional Life Insurer, with a large UK sales force, based from their Head offices in High Wycombe, Berks.
In the mid 1990’s, Equity and Law were acquired by Axa, to form a new ‘Axa Equity & Law’ Uk brand. Then in 1997, Sun Life bought Axa to form the Axa Sun Life Group. Both Axa Equity & Law and Sun Life were owned by Axa-UAP, the giant French insurance company.
To help promote their new brand name, Axa Equity and Law sponsored the County Cricket league for several years.
Note that Axa Equity & law were once a popular proposition in Uk life insurance & pensions market also for both IFA & Brokers among Uk Life Insurers.
AXA Life Insurance UK
Maybe amongst other things like marketing, they decided name was too long? Either way over time, the long standing established ‘Equity & Law’ brand name linked with Axa was then sadly dropped.
It later became just simply known as Axa Life Insurance UK, who continued to then sponsor the UK Sunday Cricket League.
Who took over Axa Equity and Law?
In 2010, Axa then instead agreed to sell its life assurance arm to Resolution & then rename the new company Friends Life. Their old sales force was then disbanded.
‘AXA Insurance UK plc’ continues, but is now mainly operating in the general insurance & health sales marketplace in the UK but as a standalone brand.
The new Friends Life Group was finally launched in 2011, this following the merged UK life operations of 3 old life insurance companies – Friends Provident, AXA and BUPA life assurance. Their products were now mainly sold via IFA’s and Brokers.
Aviva Friends Life
However by 2015, Friends Life had now become part of Aviva Life Group & the new Friends Life brand name was slowly dropped also.
Parent insurers Aviva had done similar with dropping once established old brands in the life & pensions industry eg; Norwich Union & General Accident.
Aviva to date has acquired numerous long standing UK heritage legacy life insurance companies, including Axa Equity & Law, BUPA & London and Manchester.
Axa Equity and Law | FAQ Broker Questions
Is Axa Equity & Law now part of Aviva?
Yes, Aviva look after their old ‘AXA insurance UK’ life policy administration eg; like the Axa Equity and Law Multiplan policy.
Please contact Aviva customer services – for any ongoing Axa life insurance plans.
Note: they do not deal with existing income protection axa credit protection queries or AXA Sun Life over 50 plan.
Can you make changes to your old Axa Equity Law life insurance policy?
In terms of changing your existing Life Insurance policy, often you can request some of the following now via Aviva re your AXA life insurance monthly payment:
- reduce or perhaps extend the period of cover
- decrease or increase the amount of lifecover
- remove indexation option or any specific paid for policy features
- change the collection date of your usual premiums
- take off a life assured from a joint policy eg; if a unmarried couple or new parents sadly split up
These changes could be subject to new Aviva medical underwriting based on your circumstances at the time & may well affect your old ‘Axa life insurance’ premiums.
How do I cancel my ‘AXA Life Insurance’ UK Policy?
You may cancel your existing ‘AXA Life Insurance UK’ plan at any time, if your circumstances change but your death insurance life cover would then end.
However, if you should cancel the insurance policy, you may not get anything back, if your policy has no cash in values. This also means if your health changed adversely afterwards & you then tried to request a new (now Aviva life insurance) policy is put back onto cover again, this maybe declined.
We suggest you seek professional advice before taking this course of action.
‘AXA Equity & Law’ Review
Should I put my Life Insurance policy into Trust?
When a life insurance policy isn’t written into trust, it will be paid to the executors of the deceased’s estate.
They will handle the administration, known as probate in N Ireland, England, Wales and confirmation in Scotland. If not, the benefits will fall into your estate if you died prematurely. If you have not made a will, this can then cause further complications with the life insurance monies.
Until probate is fully granted, no monies can be paid out to those named in the will. On average, this can take upto 6 months. By not placing the plan into trust may also swell up the total estate values, leading to potentially Inheritance Tax IHT issues.
So placing a policy in trust can help to ensure that the policy proceeds go to the correct beneficiaries you decide to nominate at that stage. It can also help avoid possible probate delays & IHT costs. Ask the Insurers to kindly provide their available standard trust form wordings re old ‘axa life insurance uk’ policies & seek legal advice if unsure.
Importance of Disclosure & Claims?
All Insurers are in business to protect, insure & payout. Insurance cover is therefore based on your full disclosure at the time you took the original insurance policy out ie; being 100% as honest & accurate as possible. It is not always easy to remember all your historic health details when applying.
The Consumer Insurance Act 2013 says you must not be acting careless, deliberate or reckless when applying. eg; Not disclose if you familial history of high blood pressure or cholesterol.
Should you make a claim, your Insurers will send you a claim form for you to complete. Once received back, they will usually contact your GP to confirm any health details. They will then assess if your insurance claim is valid and cross check if you originally disclosed all the correct details.
If you look at most Insurers recent claims payout, you will see if doing a ‘AXA life insurance review’ that it is Good (but like most Insurers – not 100%).
What if my health or lifestyle changes after I had taken the Life policy out?
Any health or lifestyle changes since, usually does not void your existing Equity & Law life insurance policy, if it wasn’t relevant at that time of initial underwritten insurance application. It maybe the Insurers request GP reports when you originally apply, to check any health details disclosed. Likewise they may not.
So take care to doubly re-check on your old AXA Life or AXA income protection application what you initially disclosed to the Insurers, as this information then stands now and in the future. Please check your original T&C’s.
If I start smoking after taking out the Insurance do I tell them?
If you had legitimately quit smoking for over 12 months at that time of original insurance application, you may wish to advise them you have started smoking again. This should not affect the original policy terms which should still stand, as you were being honest. Also maybe suggest letting your GP know if this is the case.
Today, AVIVA have grown to be one of the major Life Insurers UK selling Life Insurance in United Kingdom (inc NI)
Article on ‘Axa Equity and Law’ & Axa Life Insurance Review by Martyn Spencer Financial Adviser 2025
 |  |
'There is...ONLY 1 YOU' 
