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Article on: Best UK Life Insurance Companies
‘Best Life Insurance Companies UK’ & England
Help finding the best life insurance companies in Uk, could save you both time & money when checking for Life Insurance compare quotes & deals The best life insurance in uk protection policies could help protect yourself, your family or business.
We compare below some ‘best for’ types of cover from some of the Top 10 Best Life Insurance Companies UK & England in 2020’s we currently work with – as whole of market Life Insurance Brokers.
As Financial Advisers, we understand that insurance protection is the bedrock of sound financial planning. Therefore, we’re committed to help protect you, if and when you & your family or business may need it most.
The ‘best for’ are all in alphabetical order here of some top ‘life insurance companies in the UK’. The best life insurance in the UK are then listed into their various protection insurance areas they may specialize in.
Note: Any broker recommendations for Uk best life insurance companies, will always depend upon your own individual circumstances, when considering any Top Insurance Companies in the UK.
‘Best Life Insurance Companies UK’ & England
Best UK Life Companies for ‘Term Insurance’ Quotes >
| TERM LIFE INSURANCE | |
Best UK Life Companies for ‘Income Insurance’ Quotes >
| INCOME PROTECTION | |
Best UK Life Companies for ‘Critical Insurance’ Quotes >
| CRITICAL ILLNESS | |
Best UK Life Companies for ‘Business Insurance‘ Quotes >
| BUSINESS PROTECTION | |
Best UK Life Companies for ‘Whole Life Insurance‘ Over 50 Quotes >
| WHOLE OF LIFE | |
‘Best Life Insurance Companies in UK’
As you can see above, there are still a good choice available of some of the Best UK Life Insurance Companies in 2020’s.
However, many of the once top Life Insurance Companies in UK have also sadly disappeared, merged or amalgamated over the years with some of the largest life insurance companies in UK.
Trying to track down some of these old providers is often a difficult task. As brokers, we are often asked what happened to such & such insurance company. Who deals with them now?
These now also include in the early 2020’s once leading UK protection providers leaving the marketplace eg; Canada Life. Or Aegon Life Insurance UK whose old customer policies are being dealt with via Royal London or AIG over to Aviva.
It could be you need to make a insurance claim or a family member has died. Or you are after more protection cover or perhaps just wish to get a better deal on policies.
Unlike perhaps smaller friendly societies, many banks, building societies, supermarkets or other providers no longer had their own individual life insurance business & underwriters. For example, Barclays Life or NatWest Life no longer provide their own in house insurers.
So these blue chip companies partnered usually instead alongside one of these larger ‘best companies for life insurance uk’ available to offer eg; Legal & General, Aviva or Royal London.
However, this can also make it harder to track down sometimes, as over time they also then often swopped over from one insurance provider to another.
We have provided a helpful resource guide below & which also includes many once Top Insurance Companies in the UK & distributors for Life Insurance in United Kingdom.
Life Insurance Companies UK list
Top 10 UK Life Insurance Companies Best – FAQ
1] Can you make changes to your ‘UK Life Insurance Company’ policy?
In terms of changing your policy, often you can request some of the following via your ‘top 10 life insurance companies in uk’:
- reduce or perhaps extend the period of cover
- decrease or increase the amount of lifecover
- check out if it has a guaranteed insurability option
- remove indexation option or any specific paid for policy features
- change the collection date of your usual premiums
- remove a life assured from a joint policy eg; if a unmarried couple or new parents sadly split up
The changes on any uk life insurance companies list of their terms could be subject to medical underwriting, based on your circumstances at the time & may well affect your premiums. Please contact your appropriate british life insurance companies help desk.
2] Why is Income Protection & Critical Illness more expensive than Life Cover?
The reason being that the chances of a person making an income protection or critical illness claim before retirement are statistically quite high. So, they are roughly 4 x the price of a quote for life insurance cover alone often with the best insurance life companies (check out broker prices).
A comprehensive critical illness life cover policy could cover you for over 50 different types of illness.
However, most claims via the largest uk life insurance companies relate to the Top 3 types of Cancer, Heart Disease or Stroke eg; AIG state over 80% of their main 3 adult claims relate to these.
3] Can you have a policy with several ‘Best UK Life Insurance Companies’?
You can take out several policies with more than one uk life insurance company. Again, there is no UK law to prohibit this. For example, the cheapest deal for a mortgage life quote is with Provider 1, so you apply to them. But that same insurer for critical illness & income protection is less comprehensive and more expensive. So you apply to Provider 2 for these 2 ‘life insurance companies best’ UK plans instead.
Note, most of the best uk life insurance companies will ask in their application forms the total amount of cover types you maybe applying for across all Insurers. You can potentially claim on as many valid life insurance plans as needed, when doing quotes via any good life insurance companies uk.
4] Could 1 person have 2 or more Life Policies?
Yes. Absolutely, it is legal to have several life insurance policies eg; You could have cover for your mortgage in the event of death or serious critical illness coverage claim plus another separate over 40’s lifecover to help protect the main family breadwinner’s income.
Many people also have life insurance benefits through their employer, which then usually runs until you retire. So, you may choose to compare quotes on best insurance life companies for 1 policy that runs upto retirement & another over 65 insurance policy alongside that runs well into retirement ie; you are not left without cover then at retirement, if that concerns you.
Bear in mind, you may sometimes get a better quote for life insurance by sticking with the same uk life insurance company. Broker deals via some of the Top Insurance Companies in the UK may offer us broker discounts for taking out multi-cover.
5] Is Vaping still Smoking for a Quote on Life Insurance?
If you have quit smoking cigarettes but now vape or used any ‘replacement products’ within the past year, an insurer will still classify you as a Smoker ie; this includes the use of vapes, e-cigarettes, nicotine patches and gum. As a result, an applicant who smokes 5 cigarettes a day, maybe charged the same quote for life insurance premium, as someone who vapes.
You may feel different and should be offered insurance rates that reflect that it is maybe less harmful than smoking. Note, only a few of the life insurance companies best in uk may charge less for vapers but check if their prices are still competitive. However, Insurers do look to medical science who still feels there are adverse health side effects of vaping without nicotine.
6] 2 x Single Plans or Joint Life Insurance?
Under a joint life policy, it means both parties are insured for the same amount. However, if a claim is made then the benefit is paid out upon that 1’st claim only, the joint plan then ends. This makes sense for example if you are a married couple covering a joint mortgage with life insurance upon 1’st death only. It is also usually cheaper than taking out 2 x individual policies, as the Insurer only has to payout once.
However, sometimes it makes sense instead to do say a family quote on life insurance for 2 x separate plans [also known as dual life insurance]. This could be because you are not married but still have young dependent children. You are both therefore concerned if one dies or has a critical illness then the other still has cover.
7] Death Insurance Claims, Life Trusts & Life of Another
Who the life insurance maybe actually then paid out to can be more complicated & many people wrongly assume it is a simple process as they are dealing with some of the best life insurance companies in uk
If it is a joint life 1’st death policy or if it single life policy owned by another person “life of another” then it will just be paid to the survivor.
However, if it is a single life policy it can be more complex. Check if the policy was setup & written into a trust. If so the Insurer will pay the life insurance via the trustees named to the nominated beneficiaries directly. Sometimes there are a named beneficiary & others times a list of potential beneficiaries. The life insurance paid out doesn’t have to be included in the legal documents sent for probate and potentially it won’t be liable for inheritance tax either.
8] Should I put my Life 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 insurance life companies claims process.
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. Most of the best life insurance companies in uk kindly provide their available standard trust form wordings. Seek legal advice if unsure.
9] Importance of Disclosure & Claims?
All the best life insurance companies UK based are in business to protect, insure & payout. Insurance cover is therefore based on your full disclosure at the time you took the original uk life insurance companies 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 raised cholesterol (even if it costs more). If so, it may not payout !
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 any of the ‘Top 10 Life Insurance Companies UK’ best recent claims payouts, you will see that it is Good (but like most Insurers – not 100%).
10] What if my health or lifestyle changes after I have taken the policy out?
Any health or lifestyle changes since, usually does not void your existing insurance life companies policy, if it wasn’t relevant at that time of initial underwritten insurance application.
For example, later on diagnosed diabetic type 2. It maybe the Insurers request GP reports when you originally apply, to check any health details disclosed. Likewise they may not now but they will do at claim.
So take care to doubly re-check on your application what you initially disclosed to the Insurers, as this information then stands now and in the future. Please check your original uk life insurance company T&C’s.
How much Insurance cover?
For Martin Lewis on Life Insurance, his UK life insurance advice is for a good rule of thumb use the ‘THE 10 x RULE’.
His basic MSE cover formula is to therefore aim to cover ’10 x the Annual gross income of the highest earner or main breadwinner (probably you) until any kids have finished full-time education.
Using that principle, if you earned say £33,000pa gross, he thinks you should maybe consider insuring yourself (after any mortgage, loans & debts are repaid) for @ £330,000 life insurance (ie; 10 x the annual gross income).
Interestingly, he recommends just insuring your gross income of £33,000pa – but not get complicated with calculating net after tax incomes.
As such, unlike the 10 x £33,000 gross salary insurance example – you could instead protect your family with either;
- Income = £2,750pm or £33,000pa family income benefit lifecover policy
- Lump sum = £1 million level term life insurance coverage [if invested @3.3% = £33,000pa]
- Or a mixture of the 2 policy types – all dependant on your family circumstances.
Neither takes into account any possible employer death in service cover or repaying any mortgages, loans or debts.
- You can decide wether you want the insurance cover to be level or inflation linked
- Single plan | 2 x seperate plans | Joint life insurance 1’st claim | Lump Sums or Family Income Benefits options
Apart from losing a loved one, this real hidden income threat is what could be lost if sadly the main household breadwinner died prematurely.
Re Critical Illness or Income Protection cover, Money Savings Expert says that good starting point is to calculate your usual monthly outgoings that you would need to cover.
On top of that figure, they suggest you add a buffer for any additional costs that might crop up relating to a diagnosed critical illness.
For example, travelling to and from any treatment clinics (that never tend to be local), private medication costs or higher than normal utility bills to run any specialist medical equipment.
They state this should then give you a rough figure to work from, which you can then multiply by the number of months you would ideally like any payments to last eg; upto retirement or your mortgage term.
He does not comment on anywhere who maybe ‘best life insurance in UK’ for all this (as that would be giving advice) so MSE always says if unsure, talk to a Financial Adviser.
So, as Financial Advisers we are not saying this Martin Lewis formula of 10 x salary is therefore a 100% one size fits all ie; not applicable for everyone’s own personal family or business situation.
You may also feel this is either not enough cover, or perhaps too much for your own circumstances, if trying to be money savvy on your insurance protection decisions.
So, I would re-summarize the Martin Lewis insurance protection formula as follows…
That is to ideally ‘Protect 3 Things’…
- LUMP SUM > Repay any mortgage & debts, final expenses costs
- INCOME > Help to cover all your monthly bills
- LUMP SUM > Back up Plan for holidays, education, emergencies
Conclusion: Best Life Insurance in UK and England 2025
Ideally, we suggest to help protect your lifestyle & finances you should have some form of insurance protection plans in place. Ideally this would be with some of the best life insurance in UK providers.
Whether that cover be for life insurance, critical illness or income protection (alongside any provided by your employers) or all three if your budget allows this.
For more information on all this re all aspects of the best life insurance UK deals, get an online quote & costs or talk to our professional brokers here.
Article on Best ‘UK Life Insurance Companies’ by Martyn Spencer Financial Adviser (2025)
For reassurance re health for men & women – we review many of the best Life Insurers selling Life Insurance in UK & England (inc NI)
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