Bupa life insurance: does Bupa sell life cover, and who has old Bupa policies?
Whether Bupa sells life insurance, what happened to Bupa Health Assurance, who looks after its old policies, how to claim and where to find new cover.
- Sells life insurance
- No
- Bupa sells health cover in the UK
- Old policies now with
- Aviva
- Via Friends Life
- Life business sold
- 2011
- Bupa Health Assurance
- Life claims (Aviva)
- 0345 641 6610
- Mon–Fri 9am–5pm
In a nutshell
Bupa doesn’t sell life insurance in the UK today. Bupa Insurance Limited provides its health insurance, dental insurance and cash plans. Bupa sold its life, critical illness and income protection business, Bupa Health Assurance, in 2011, and Aviva now looks after those policies.
- Old Bupa life policies are now with Aviva. Friends Provident Life and Pensions Limited, later renamed Friends Life Limited, bought Bupa Health Assurance on 31 January 2011, and Aviva acquired Friends Life in April 2015.
- For life or critical illness claims on these policies, call Aviva on 0345 641 6610. For customer service on them, the number is 0345 600 3122. Both lines are open Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm.
- For income protection, Aviva’s contact page lists 0345 732 2223 for Bupa Health Assurance customers. Claims on policy numbers that start with H or R and are 10 characters long go to 0345 600 3122.
- Bupa health insurance is a different product: Bupa describes it as cover for the costs of private healthcare. Existing customers can call Bupa on 0345 609 0111.
About Bupa
Bupa says health insurance is at the core of its business. It also provides healthcare through health clinics, digital services, hospitals, dental centres and aged care facilities, and offers health funding products such as subscriptions and cash plans.
- Parent company
- The British United Provident Association Limited (company number 00432511)
- “Bupa” on bupa.co.uk means
- The British United Provident Association Limited and its group companies
- Founded
- 1947
- Structure
- Company limited by guarantee, with no shareholders
- UK health insurer
- Bupa Insurance Limited (company number 03956433)
- PRA and FCA number
- 203332 (Bupa Insurance Limited)
- Registered office
- 1 Angel Court, London, EC2R 7HJ
Bupa provides health insurance in the UK, Australia, Spain, Chile, Poland, Hong Kong, Türkiye, Brazil, Mexico and India, and through an associate business in Saudi Arabia.
Bupa UK says it began in 1947. Its parent company, The British United Provident Association Limited, was incorporated on 3 April 1947 and is a private company limited by guarantee without share capital. Bupa says it has no shareholders and reinvests its profits for current and future customers.
In the UK, Bupa health insurance is provided by Bupa Insurance Limited, a subsidiary of The British United Provident Association Limited. Bupa Insurance Limited is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority. Bupa Insurance Services Limited, another subsidiary of the same parent, arranges and administers Bupa health insurance and is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
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Does Bupa sell life insurance?
No. Bupa sells health insurance, not life insurance. It sold its life, income protection and critical illness business, Bupa Health Assurance, in 2011.
Bupa’s UK help centre says Bupa Insurance Limited provides Bupa Health Insurance, Bupa Dental Insurance and cash plans. For health insurance, Bupa offers two policies: Comprehensive, and Treatment and Care. Bupa says new customers can no longer take out a cash plan.
Companies House records Bupa Insurance Limited’s nature of business as non-life insurance. Bupa’s list of its main UK trading companies places Bupa Insurance Limited under Bupa Health Funding, with insurance as its principal activity. The topics on Bupa’s UK contact page are health insurance, business health insurance, cash plan, health subscriptions, health assessments, care homes, dental insurance, pay-as-you-go healthcare, and intermediaries and healthcare professionals. Life insurance isn’t one of them.
Bupa did sell protection cover in the past through Bupa Health Assurance. Before 1 December 2011, it wrote individual and group protection business in the UK, offering life assurance, income protection and critical illness cover. It also had a closed book of long-term care policies, and its 2011 accounts give 665,792 insured lives for 2010.
In October 2010, Bupa Health and Wellbeing UK (Bupa’s UK health insurance business) announced the sale of Bupa Health Assurance to focus on its core healthcare products and services. The sale completed on 31 January 2011 with proceeds of £168.2m. Friends Provident Life and Pensions Limited bought all the shares in Bupa Health Assurance Limited that day, and the company’s ultimate owner changed from Bupa Group plc to Resolution Limited.
Bupa’s 2010 results also list the disposal of Bupa Australia’s MBF Life and Clearview businesses, which were sold on 9 June 2010.
- Sells life insurance today
- No: Bupa Insurance Limited provides health, dental and cash plan cover
- Former life insurer
- Bupa Health Assurance Limited (company number 02774803)
- Sale announced
- October 2010
- Sale completed
- 31 January 2011
- Bought by
- Friends Provident Life and Pensions Limited, now Friends Life Limited
We found no page offering life insurance among the pages listed in Bupa’s UK sitemap, checked on 3 October 2026. Bupa’s own pages name health insurance, dental insurance and cash plans as the cover provided by Bupa Insurance Limited.
Bupa and life insurance: a short history
-
1947
Bupa began in 1947. Its parent company, The British United Provident Association Limited, was incorporated on 3 April 1947.
-
1994
The company that wrote Bupa’s life, income protection and critical illness business took the name Bupa Health Assurance Limited on 8 April 1994.
-
2000
Bupa Insurance Limited was incorporated on 27 March 2000 as Officecard Limited and changed its name on 13 October 2000. It provides Bupa’s UK health insurance today.
-
2010
Bupa Australia’s MBF Life and Clearview businesses were sold on 9 June 2010. In October 2010, Bupa announced the sale of Bupa Health Assurance.
-
2011
Friends Provident Life and Pensions Limited bought Bupa Health Assurance on 31 January 2011. On 1 December 2011, the buyer became Friends Life Limited and Bupa Health Assurance’s business transferred to it under a Part VII scheme. On the same day, Bupa Health Assurance Limited became Friends Life BHA Limited, ceased to transact insurance business and was de-authorised.
-
2015
Aviva acquired Friends Life in April 2015.
-
2017
On 1 October 2017, Friends Life Limited’s long-term business transferred to Aviva Life & Pensions UK Limited under a Part VII scheme. Friends Life BHA Limited was dissolved on 6 October 2017.
Who looks after old Bupa life insurance policies?
Aviva looks after the life, income protection and critical illness policies that were taken out through Bupa Health Assurance.
Bupa Health Assurance’s business moved to Friends Life Limited on 1 December 2011, after final court approval on 18 November 2011. Aviva acquired Friends Life in 2015, and on 1 October 2017 Friends Life Limited’s long-term business moved to Aviva Life & Pensions UK Limited. Both transfers were business transfer schemes under Part VII of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000.
The 2017 scheme moved the whole of Friends Life Limited’s long-term business except excluded policies, including business that earlier schemes had moved into it. Subject to the scheme’s terms, the holders of those policies have the same rights against Aviva Life & Pensions UK Limited as they had before. Future premiums are payable to Aviva Life & Pensions UK Limited.
If you want to keep a policy, keep paying the premiums. Protection cover normally ends if the payments stop.
- Original insurer
- Bupa Health Assurance Limited (company number 02774803)
- Moved to
- Friends Life Limited, 1 December 2011
- Moved again to
- Aviva Life & Pensions UK Limited, 1 October 2017
- Looked after by
- Aviva
- Policy numbers start with
- R, H, F or L
- Find the policy number. Look for it on old letters, statements or the policy schedule. Aviva says Bupa Health Assurance or Friends Life policy numbers start with R, H, F or L. For income protection claims, Aviva’s Bupa line is for policy numbers that start with H or R and are 10 characters long.
- Check old bank statements. Regular payments to Bupa, Friends Provident, Friends Life or Aviva can point to a policy and its reference.
- Ask who holds it now. Aviva points people to the Association of British Insurers. It keeps an up-to-date, members-only register of financial services companies that may have merged, changed their name or been sold.
- Our guide to lost life insurance policies explains other ways to trace an old policy.
How to contact Aviva or Bupa and make a claim
For an old Bupa Health Assurance life, critical illness or income protection policy, contact Aviva. For Bupa health insurance, dental insurance or a cash plan, contact Bupa.
Aviva says a life insurance claim can be started by phone or online, and that it may ask for a death certificate and other documents. It helps to have the name of the person who died, your relationship to them, the cause of death, the policy number if you have it, and your contact details.
Aviva says most customers can use MyAviva to view their policy information and cover details and to get access to helplines and contact information. Numbers starting with 03 are charged at national call rates and may depend on your network provider.
- Life insurance claims (Aviva, Bupa Health Assurance or Friends Life policies)
- 0345 641 6610 (Mon–Fri 9am–5pm)
- Life insurance claims email (Aviva)
- avivaheritageclaims@aviva.com
- Critical illness cover claims (Aviva, Bupa Health Assurance or Friends Life policies)
- 0345 641 6610 (Mon–Fri 9am–5pm), or indprotclaims@aviva.com
- Income protection claims (Aviva, policy numbers starting H or R, 10 characters)
- 0345 600 3122 (Mon–Fri 9am–5pm), or protectioncustomers@aviva.com
- Bupa Health Assurance life insurance customer service (Aviva)
- 0345 600 3122 (Mon–Fri 9am–5pm)
- Bupa Health Assurance life insurance customer service from abroad (Aviva)
- +44 1392 844 407 (Mon–Fri 8.30am–6pm)
- Bupa Health Assurance critical illness customer service (Aviva)
- 0345 600 3122 (Mon–Fri 9am–5pm)
- Bupa Health Assurance income protection customers (Aviva; its page labels this line ‘Life Insurance customer’)
- 0345 732 2223 (Mon–Fri 9am–5pm)
- Aviva life insurance help page
- aviva.co.uk/help-and-support/life-cover-and-protection/life-insurance (opens in a new tab)
- Bupa health insurance, existing customers
- 0345 609 0111 (Mon–Fri 8am–8pm, Sat 8am–4pm)
- Bupa cash plan, existing customers
- 0345 606 6003 (Mon–Fri 8am–6pm)
- Bupa health insurance, new customers
- 0800 600 500
- Bupa bereavement team
- 0345 609 0111 (Mon–Fri 8am–8pm, Sat 8am–4pm), or Bereavement team, Bupa Place, 102 The Quays, Salford, M50 3SP
- Bupa bereavement page
- bupa.co.uk/help-and-support/bereavement (opens in a new tab)
If someone with Bupa cover has passed away, you can tell Bupa’s bereavement team by phone, by post or through its online form. When you use the online form, Bupa says its bereavement team will be in touch within 10 working days.
After being told about a death, Bupa says it will stop sending communications, cancel any payments if needed and check whether any refunds are due. It only needs a grant of probate if more than £5,000 is due to be refunded.
Phone numbers checked 3 October 2026 on Aviva’s and Bupa’s websites and may change.
Bupa ratings and reviews
Bupa’s Trustpilot page is for Bupa UK Insurance, which Trustpilot lists as a health insurance agency. It rates Bupa’s health insurance service, not life insurance.
| Review site | Rating | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Trustpilot | 4.5 / 5 · Excellent | Based on 44,600 reviews of Bupa UK Insurance: 73% are 5-star and 8% are 1-star. View on Trustpilot (opens in a new tab) |
Ratings were checked on 3 October 2026 and may have changed since. Life Cover Quotes is not connected with Bupa or Trustpilot.
Looking for new life cover?
You can’t buy life insurance from Bupa today. It sold its life, income protection and critical illness business in 2011, and Bupa Insurance Limited provides Bupa’s health insurance, dental insurance and cash plans.
Health insurance and life insurance do different jobs. Health insurance helps pay for private medical treatment. Life insurance pays money to the people you leave behind if you pass away while you’re covered.
Term life insurance runs for a set number of years and pays out if you die during that term. Over 50s life insurance offers a smaller fixed payout aimed at people aged 50 and over. Critical illness cover, often taken alongside life cover, pays out if you’re diagnosed with a serious illness the policy covers.
If you still have an old Bupa Health Assurance policy, think carefully before cancelling it to buy new cover. You’re older than when you took it out, which usually makes new cover cost more, and a new policy can have different terms. If you do switch, keep your old policy running until the new one has started.
Guides to life cover
- Term life insurance: Cover for a set number of years, with level or decreasing cover.
- Over 50s life insurance: Guaranteed acceptance for ages 50–85, and what to check before you buy.
- Critical illness cover: A lump sum on diagnosis of a serious illness your policy covers.
Insurer reviews
- Aviva life insurance review
- All insurer reviews: plain-English reviews of UK life insurers, listed alphabetically
Bupa life insurance FAQs
No. In the UK, Bupa Insurance Limited provides Bupa’s health insurance, dental insurance and cash plans, and Companies House records its business as non-life insurance. Bupa sold its life, income protection and critical illness business, Bupa Health Assurance, in 2011.
Yes. Bupa Health Assurance wrote individual and group protection business in the UK, offering life assurance, income protection and critical illness cover. Bupa sold the company on 31 January 2011.
Aviva looks after them. Bupa Health Assurance’s business moved to Friends Life Limited in 2011. Aviva acquired Friends Life in 2015, and Friends Life Limited’s long-term business moved to Aviva Life & Pensions UK Limited in 2017. For customer service on a Bupa Health Assurance life or critical illness policy, call Aviva on 0345 600 3122 (Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm).
For a life insurance claim, call Aviva on 0345 641 6610 (Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm) or email avivaheritageclaims@aviva.com. For a critical illness claim, call 0345 641 6610 (Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm) or email indprotclaims@aviva.com. For an income protection claim on a 10-character policy number starting with H or R, call 0345 600 3122 (Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm) or email protectioncustomers@aviva.com.
No. Bupa Health Assurance was Bupa’s life, income protection and critical illness business, which Bupa sold in 2011. Bupa health insurance, which covers the costs of private healthcare, is provided today by Bupa Insurance Limited.
You can tell Bupa’s bereavement team using its online form, by post to Bupa Place, 102 The Quays, Salford, M50 3SP, or by calling 0345 609 0111. Bupa says it will stop sending communications, cancel any payments if needed and check whether any refunds are due. It only needs a grant of probate if more than £5,000 is due to be refunded.
Look for the policy number on old paperwork or bank statements. Aviva says Bupa Health Assurance or Friends Life policy numbers start with R, H, F or L, and you can then contact Aviva with it.
Our guide to lost life insurance policies has more ways to search.
Sources
The facts on this page come from these sources.
- Wikimedia Commons — Wikimedia Commons file page - Bupa Building Manchester (UK), 2022.jpg (photo, CC BY-SA 4.0) (opens in a new tab), commons.wikimedia.org, accessed 3 October 2026.
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- Bupa — Bupa preliminary results announcement for the year ended 31 December 2010 - sale of Bupa Health Assurance (opens in a new tab), bupa.com, accessed 3 October 2026.
- Aviva — Our previous companies - key UK mergers and acquisitions (Aviva) (opens in a new tab), aviva.co.uk, accessed 3 October 2026.
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- Companies House — Friends Life BHA Limited (formerly Bupa Health Assurance Limited) - Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2011, filed at Companies House 23 Mar 2012 (scanned PDF, text by OCR; report of the directors) (opens in a new tab), find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk, accessed 3 October 2026.
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