Aegon life insurance: what happened and who looks after policies now

Aegon stopped selling individual life insurance, critical illness cover and income protection in the UK on 4 April 2023, the day it agreed to sell its UK individual protection book to Royal London.

After a strategic review, Aegon UK decided that individual protection was no longer part of its core strategy. Aegon said the sale supported its focus on its retail and workplace platform business in the UK. At the time the book held life, critical illness and income protection policies for 400,000 customers.

On 4 April 2023 Scottish Equitable plc agreed to transfer the book to The Royal London Mutual Insurance Society Limited, and closed it to new business on the same day.

The move was made by a Part VII transfer, the legal process for moving insurance business from one insurer to another. An Independent Expert, Stephen Makin of Hymans Robertson LLP, reported on the effects on policyholders. The Prudential Regulation Authority and the Financial Conduct Authority reviewed the Scheme, and a judge of the High Court of England and Wales ruled on it on 14 June 2024.

The Scheme was due to take effect at 00:01 on 1 July 2024. On that day Royal London announced that the courts had formally approved the transfer and that the policies of nearly 400,000 customers had transferred to it. From the transfer date, the rights and obligations under the transferring policies passed from Scottish Equitable plc to Royal London, and the policies became Royal London business.

The Independent Expert concluded that the transfer was not expected to have a material adverse effect on the benefits expected to be paid to any group of policyholders, or to significantly reduce the security of those benefits or the standards of service policyholders receive.

Royal London now says Aegon Protection products are no longer available to new customers, and that Aegon Protection Insurance is rebranding to Royal London.

Aegon UK itself is still in business. Scottish Equitable plc is an active company. In 2024 the Independent Expert described it as mainly selling and servicing pensions, and noted that it kept writing significant volumes of new savings and pensions business after it closed its individual protection book. Aegon UK’s product finder lists pensions, bonds and platform products such as Aegon Retirement Choices, Retiready, Aegon Platform and TargetPlan.

On 15 April 2026 Aegon announced the sale of Aegon UK to Standard Life, after the Aegon group decided in December 2025 to focus on the United States. In August 2026 Aegon said it expects the sale to complete around the end of 2026, subject to regulatory approvals. Aegon UK tells its customers there is no immediate change and they do not need to do anything.

Checked on the Royal London, Aegon, Companies House and Financial Services Register pages on 3 October 2026.

If you took out an individual life insurance, critical illness or income protection policy with Aegon (Scottish Equitable plc), Royal London is now the insurer and looks after it.

Royal London says there are no changes to your policy: your benefits, conditions and premiums stay the same. Before the transfer, the Independent Expert said the terms and conditions would not change, except to refer to Royal London instead of Scottish Equitable.

What you will notice is the name. Direct Debits now appear as Royal London on your bank statement, if you pay by cheque or bank transfer you should change the payee name to Royal London, and communications come in Royal London branding.

The transfer did not make former Aegon policyholders members of Royal London, and these policies are not eligible for Royal London’s ProfitShare.

Royal London’s Policy Plus support services are free for people who took out a protection policy with Aegon, and for their families. They include health and wellbeing support, a second medical opinion and help with funeral costs: Royal London pays the funeral director an advance of up to £10,000 on a valid life protection claim.

• Find the policy number. It is on your statements and policy documents. Royal London asks you to have the policy number or policy schedule to hand when you call.
• Check the policy schedule. For a Personal Protection policy, it shows which of the main benefits the policy covers.
• Call or use the form. Policy records aren’t available online, so contact Royal London by phone on 03456 00 14 02 or through its online form.
• Not sure there is a policy? Royal London says that if you had, or think you had, a policy with Aegon Protection Insurance, you can contact it to find out more.
• Ask the adviser. Aegon’s individual protection policies were sold through independent financial advisers, and Aegon’s Personal Protection policy conditions told policyholders to contact their adviser first with questions, so the adviser who arranged the policy is worth asking too.
• If you are looking for a policy after someone has died, our guide to lost life insurance policies explains where else to look.

The transfer covered Aegon’s individual protection business only. Pensions, bonds and investments stayed with Aegon, and so did a small book of group protection policies with claims in payment. For those, Aegon UK’s support pages and product finder point you to the right contact for each product.

Trustpilot’s Aegon UK page rates the whole company, which Trustpilot lists as a pension office. It is not a rating of life insurance alone.

Aegon no longer sells life insurance, critical illness cover or income protection in the UK, so you can’t take out a new Aegon policy.

If you need new or extra cover, compare policies from insurers that are selling today. It usually makes sense to keep an existing policy in place until any new one has started, so you are not left without cover in between.

Our Royal London review covers the insurer that now looks after Aegon’s former protection policies.

The guides below explain the main types of cover, and our insurer reviews cover the companies selling it today.

Guides to life cover

• Term life insurance: Cover for a set number of years, with level or decreasing cover.
• Critical illness cover: A lump sum on diagnosis of a serious illness your policy covers.
• Income protection: A monthly payment if you can’t work due to accident or illness.
• Over 50s life insurance: Guaranteed acceptance for ages 50–85, and what to check before you buy.

Insurer reviews

• Royal London life insurance review
• All insurer reviews: plain-English reviews of UK life insurers, listed alphabetically