Life insurance frequently asked questions

If you have a Life Insurance Plan with decreasing cover, the cover amount decreases over time, broadly in line with the repayment mortgage or long-term loan that you’re repaying. Your premiums stay the same during the term of the policy, unless you make changes to the cover. Decreasing cover usually costs less than level cover. 

The policy will pay out if you die, or are diagnosed with a terminal illness during the policy term that meets our definition. Once the payment is made, your policy will end, and no further claims will be paid. There's no cash-in value at any time and if premiums stop, your cover will end.

If you have a life insurance policy with increasing cover, your monthly payments may increase over time, to help protect your cover amount from the effects of inflation.

With our Life Insurance Plan with increasing cover, the level of cover increases annually in line with the Consumer Price Index (CPI), a recognised measure of inflation, and your premiums will also increase annually to reflect this. The maximum amount your cover can increase by is 10%, and your premiums could increase by a maximum of 15%. If you choose not to accept the increase, or if the CPI doesn't increase, your cover and premiums will stay the same. If premiums stop, the cover will end.

The policy pays out a lump sum if you die or are diagnosed with a terminal illness during the policy term that meets our definition. Once the payment is made, your policy will end, and no further claims will be paid. There's no cash-in value at any time and if premiums stop, your cover will end.

You can get life insurance whenever you like, but it’s worth noting the cost tends to rise as you get older. Some life events may make you think you need life insurance, like buying a home, getting married, or having a child. You may want to make sure you’re looking after anyone who is dependent on you should anything happen to you.

Your policy conditions and policy schedule documents will explain what you're covered for. These will have been sent to you when you first took out your policy. If your policy is available in MyAviva, you can log in or register and check your cover details there.

If you're not sure please contact us

Yes. You need to be aged between 18 and 77 to take out a Life Insurance Plan with us. You can take out a policy to cover you for any duration from short term to 50 years, but your age when the policy expires must be younger than 91.

This depends on your age, the cover amount and the information you gave us about your health on your application. Most people who apply for our cover don’t need a medical. However, if you're applying for a large amount of cover, we might ask you to have a medical with either a nurse or a doctor. We look at everyone’s application individually. If you're asked to have a medical, it’s so we can learn more while we assess your application. It doesn’t automatically mean your application won’t be accepted.

Yes, our Life Insurance Plan includes terminal illness benefit. This means we’ll pay out if you’re diagnosed with a terminal illness during the policy term that meets our policy definition. Once payment is made, your policy will end, and no further claims will be paid. There is no cash in value at any time.

Yes, you can have more than one life insurance policy. If your combined cover is for a high amount, we might need to do a more in-depth financial assessment to make sure we're insuring you for the right amount.

Our Life Insurance Plan covers you for a specific amount of time, but our Over 50 Life Insurance Plan covers you for the rest of your life. The lump sum payout on an Over 50 Life Insurance Plan is usually much smaller than the payout on a Life Insurance Plan. The other difference is that you can’t take out a joint policy for our Over 50 Life Insurance Plan.

Over 50 Life Insurance Plan

You must be aged between 50 and 80 and a UK resident. You pay the same premium for life, and you won’t need a medical or health check.

The cover amount is fixed so it’s real-life value will go down over time because of inflation. You can hold a number of policies, but there’s a maximum premium limit of £100 across all policies.

You can choose either the level of cover you want or a premium you’d like to pay each month. The payout will go to your loved ones after you die, who can use it however they like.

You’ll no longer pay premiums once you’ve had your policy for 30 years or from the policy anniversary after your 90th birthday. However, your cover will continue.

For our Over 50 Life Insurance Plan, we’ll pay the full cover amount if you die after the first 12 months. We’ll also pay the full amount if you die from an accident during the first 12 months of the policy. If you die within the first 12 months of cover from anything other than an accident, we’ll pay an amount equal to the premiums  paid. Depending on how long you live, you may end up paying more in premiums than the amount we pay out when you die.

Life Insurance Plan

You must be aged between 18 and 77 to apply, and your cover stops at the end of the policy term. We’ll ask you a few health and lifestyle questions when you apply. You choose a cover amount and if you want your cover to stay the same, rise in line with inflation, or go down over time in line with a repayment mortgage or loan. You can take out a single or joint life insurance policy.

There is no cash-in value at any time for either product.

If you're unsure which one might be right for you, you can speak to a financial adviser. If you don't have a financial adviser, you can find one at unbiased.co.uk. Please be aware that you may need to pay for this advice.

The Aviva DigiCare+ app, offers access to a range of services to help you look after yourself. It can help detect, manage, and prevent physical and mental health problems. You'll have access to this service through an Aviva Life Insurance Plan, Critical Illness Plan or Over 50s Life Insurance. The services available are:

• Annual health check
• Access to a 24/7 Bupa Anytime Nurse HealthLine 
• Mental health consultations
• Bereavement support
• Nutritional support
• Second opinion service

Aviva DigiCare+ is a non-contractual benefit Aviva can change or withdraw at any time. To be eligible for these services, you must be a permanent resident of Great Britain, Northern Ireland, the Channel Islands or Isle of Man. Terms and conditions and the privacy policy can be found within the app. The app is provided by Square Health and the services are provided by Square Health and a handful of other carefully selected providers. Find out more about all these Aviva DigiCare+ services.

We take many factors into consideration when pricing our life insurance, but our Life Insurance Plan starts from as little as £5 a month. There is no average cost as the price you pay depends on the level of cover you choose, the duration and your personal circumstances.

You can pay your premiums monthly by Direct Debit.

If you choose level or decreasing cover, your monthly payments are guaranteed to stay the same for the duration of your policy.

For decreasing life insurance, premiums are set at the start of the policy to consider the decreasing amount of cover you'll need during the policy term. Premiums for decreasing cover are often cheaper than other types of life insurance.

With level cover, if you choose to help protect your payments from the effects of inflation, so the lump sum won’t be worth less in the future, your monthly payments may rise. The maximum annual increase would be 15% to your premiums and 10% to your cover.

For level or decreasing cover, it's worth noting that if premiums stop, the cover will end. There is no cash-in value at any time.

If you’re feeling any financial pressure, we're here to help you. You can explore options like reducing your monthly payments by lowering your cover amount or shortening your policy term, which could make things more manageable. We also offer a cost of living support scheme. This lets you lower your payments for now, with the freedom to increase them again in 12 and/or 24 months when you’re back on track.

If you don't pay your premiums, your policy will automatically end. There's no cash-in value at any time.

Yes, you can. When you first buy a policy, you have 30 days from either the day we tell you your policy will start or the day you get your policy documents (whichever is later) to change your mind. If you cancel during this 30-day cooling off period, we'll refund any premiums you've already paid.

You can still cancel your policy at any time after the first 30 days, but we won’t refund any premiums you’ve already paid.

Remember, your life insurance policy has no cash-in value at any time and cancelling it means you won't be able to make a claim. If you’re thinking of leaving us, we can help you consider your options.

If you decide you do want to cancel, we’ll make it as easy as possible. All you need to do is contact us.

Or you can write to Aviva Life, Norwich BCC, PO Box 520, Norwich, NR1 3WG.

No. Our Life Insurance Plan has no cash-in value at any time.

You have a 30-day cooling off period from your policy start date, or from when you get your policy documents (whichever is later), to change your mind. If you want to cancel within this time, we'll refund any premiums you've paid. If you want to cancel the policy after the cooling-off period ends, your premiums won’t be refunded. If you cancel your policy, you won't be able to make a claim.

If your name has changed, please contact us. Dependent upon the circumstances, we may need to see evidence of the change in the form of an original or certified legal document.

If you've moved house, please contact us or write to Aviva Life, Norwich BCC, PO Box 520, Norwich, NR1 3WG. 

We can update your Direct Debit details over the phone. Please have your new details handy and and please contact us . You may also be able to do this online via MyAviva. Your new Direct Debit will be active within 14 days.

In most cases, yes, you can keep your cover in place - as long as you continue to pay your premium from a UK-based bank account. But, there might be times we can't continue to cover you as moving abroad may affect the ability to continue to benefit fully from the features of the policy, and we may need to change, reduce or remove any policy terms. If you're unsure about which cover is right for you, you can speak to a financial adviser. If you don’t have a financial adviser, you can find one at unbiased.co.uk. Please be aware that you may need to pay for this advice.

If you're thinking about living abroad and you'd like to find out how it may impact your cover, call the team on 0800 285 1098. Our opening hours are Monday to Friday, 8am - 6pm. For our joint protection, telephone calls may be recorded and /or monitored.

It varies, but once we’ve discussed the claim, we can usually estimate timescales. Once we've agreed to pay the claim and have everything we need, we’ll aim to pay out within five working days. The process may be quicker if you consider placing your policy in a Trust. We will pay the claim proceeds to the trustees (provided there is at least one surviving trustee), so we won’t need to wait for personal representatives to be appointed to administer your estate.

To make sure a Trust is the right option for you, it's a good idea to seek independent legal and financial advice before you start, for which there may be a charge.  Visit unbiased.co.uk or lawsociety.org.uk for help finding an independent adviser.

Yes. You could put your life insurance policy in a trust, such as our Aviva Trust, and name who you'd like to benefit from receiving the money if a claim is successful. We will pay the claim proceeds to the trustees (provided there is at least one surviving trustee), so we won’t need to wait for personal representatives to be appointed to administer your estate.

Payments may not be counted as part of your estate, so may not be liable for Inheritance Tax. Tax treatment depends on your circumstances, and bear in mind that tax laws may change in the future. Setting up a trust has legal and financial implications, so you should speak with a financial adviser and/or tax specialist. If you don't have a financial adviser, you can find one at unbiased.co.uk. Please be aware that you may need to pay for this advice.

If your policy is not held under trust, you could include instructions about who receives any proceeds from your policy when you make a will, but this may not provide the same protection against Inheritance Tax.

If a loved one held a life insurance policy with us and has died, find out how to let us know and how to start a claim. We’ll guide you through the claims process step-by-step and you can ask us any questions you have along the way.

For further support we've pulled together a helping you through bereavement guide.

Yes. We need to see the original death certificate and can’t accept a copy. We may also need to see original copies of the document proving your legal entitlement to deal with the estate (eg grant of representation). We'll return these to you as soon as we can. See our claims process.

You may get an interim death certificate if the death gets referred to a coroner and an inquest is opened. We can accept this, but we'll usually need to ask the coroner to give us some more information before we can start to assess the claim. You may need to wait until the inquest is complete before we can assess the death claim.

If your life insurance policy is in a Trust, we may be able to pay the claim quicker than if your policy isn’t in a trust, provided there is at least one surviving trustee. It could also help keep the payout outside the scope of Inheritance Tax. If you're considering a trust, talk to a financial adviser. Bear in mind that tax rules may change in the future. If you don’t have a financial adviser, you can find one at unbiased.co.uk. Please be aware that you may need to pay for this advice.

You can apply for a grant of representation yourself or pay a solicitor or probate specialist to do it for you. In Scotland, you’ll need a certificate of confirmation, which you can apply for at the local Sheriff Court.

If you receive a life insurance payout, you won't need to pay capital gains tax, or income tax - but you might need to pay inheritance tax, unless the money is placed in a trust.

No. There's no cash-in value at any time. At the end of your life insurance policy term you stop making payments and your cover ends.

It depends on the type of life insurance cover you have.

If you have critical illness cover that’s independent of your life insurance, your life cover will continue for both of you if you carry on paying your premiums. If your partner also has critical illness cover, this will also continue, regardless of your claim.

If you have integrated critical illness and life insurance cover, life cover will end for both of you as soon as your claim’s been paid – unless we pay out for children’s benefit or additional critical illness cover, in which case, your cover will continue.

Check your policy documents or contact us if you’re not sure about what your policy covers.

Currently we allow cover to continue where a customer relocates temporarily or permanently to a different country within the EU/EEA during the term of their policy. However, there may be some restrictions on changing your existing policies.

In all EU territories, there’ll be restrictions on increasing the level and length of your cover. In addition, you won’t be able to renew policies or receive any further cover.

Customers residing in France will not be able to change their level of cover or premiums paid at all.  For customers with reviewable premiums this may mean that cover needs to be cancelled. We’ll write to you if this impacts you.

You should take independent financial advice if you’re unsure about what to do.

If you have an Aviva Life Insurance policy, you can get in touch with us using a qualified BSL interpreter for free as part of our partnership with online video interpreting service SignLive. Find out more about how to use the SignLive service.

We're hoping to extend our Signlive partnership to all our customers and for all queries soon. But in the meantime, if you don't meet the criteria to use Signlive, there are other ways to contact us, including using one of our on line forms or LiveChat. You may also be able to to resolve your query by logging into your MyAviva account. For all the ways to get in touch with us, see our contact us page.