UK life insurance companies

Of the 41 companies we review, these provide their own policies: Aviva, Forester Life, HSBC Life, Legal & General, LV=, National Friendly, OneFamily, Royal London, Scottish Friendly, Scottish Widows, Shepherds Friendly, SunLife, The Exeter, Vitality and Zurich.

The others sell policies that one of these insurers provides. Every company is listed in the A–Z above.

Many banks, supermarkets and other brands don’t insure lives themselves: they sell policies that an insurer provides, and that insurer usually deals with claims.

Aviva: British Seniors, NatWest, NFU Mutual, Royal Bank of Scotland, Santander, Tesco Insurance and Ulster Bank.

Legal & General: Barclays, Co-op Insurance, Nationwide, Sainsbury’s and TSB.

National Friendly: Assurity and National Assurance.

OneFamily: Assura Protect, Beagle Street and Virgin Money.

Scottish Friendly: Guardian, Post Office and Smart Insurance.

Scottish Widows: Bank of Scotland, Halifax and Lloyds Bank.

Shepherds Friendly: Best Insurance, Blueberry Life and Octopus Legacy.

Most claims succeed, but insurers check your medical history when you claim, so you need to give them all the information they ask for. ABI members paid out over £4 billion across 50,499 life insurance claims in 2024.

Of the insurers that publish a figure, the share of life claims paid in the latest year runs from 94.2% (Royal London, 2025) to 99.8% (Zurich, 2025). Each insurer counts its claims in its own way, so compare the figures with care.

Usually the policy carries on, and another insurer may look after it. For example, Aegon policies are now with Royal London, AIG Life policies are now with Aviva and Bright Grey policies are now with Royal London.

If an insurer fails, the FSCS repays whole of life, term life and critical illness claims in full, once the insolvency practitioner accepts them. This protection applies only if the failed insurer was regulated by the Prudential Regulation Authority.

A letter from a provider you don’t recognise could be down to a company takeover, the ABI says. Its member register covers mergers and name changes, to help find who now handles a policy. For friendly and mutual societies, the Association of Financial Mutuals keeps a register of closed societies showing, where known, the new name or the organisation it transferred to.

Our former brands and closed books list says who looks after the policies of companies that no longer sell cover.

Look it up on the FCA’s Financial Services Register, a public record of firms that are, or have been, authorised by the FCA or the Prudential Regulation Authority. It also lists firms the FCA has been told are providing regulated products or services without the correct authorisation, or deliberately running scams.

You can get quotes direct from insurers, but not all insurers sell through comparison sites, and specialist brokers are another place to get quotes, MoneyHelper says.

A broker partner compares plans from a panel of UK insurers. Not every broker works with every insurer listed here.