Coventry Building Society life insurance: does it sell cover, and who looks after old policies?

No, not today. Coventry Building Society said in 2014 that it didn’t provide protection insurance, and its current insurance help page and March 2026 mortgage leaflet point mortgage customers to other places to buy it.

The help page says that under the conditions of your mortgage it’s your responsibility to have enough buildings insurance, and that you should also consider protection insurance. For a quote it suggests a financial adviser (you can search for one at unbiased.co.uk), buying directly from a provider online or by phone, the government-backed MoneyHelper service for impartial advice, or price comparison websites, which it says may not include all providers.

Its “Your mortgage – what you need to know” leaflet, correct when it went to print in March 2026, gives the same advice: consider protection insurance, and get it through a financial adviser, directly from a provider, with MoneyHelper as a starting point for impartial advice, or from price comparison websites.

Coventry’s own mortgage advisers recommend Coventry mortgages, and it says it only offers its own mortgages. To find a financial adviser it suggests unbiased.co.uk or vouchedfor.co.uk.

This has been its position for some years. In May 2014 its protection page said: “Although we don’t provide Protection Insurance, we want to ensure that you understand why you should consider Protection Insurance, the options available to you and where you can find out more.” In 2019 its life cover help page said you could speak to an insurance provider or your financial adviser about life insurance.

The FCA register lists Coventry Building Society as able to undertake insurance distribution. The only insurers its insurance help page names are for home and landlord insurance claims and queries, not life cover.

We found no current Coventry Building Society page or document that says in so many words that it doesn’t sell life insurance. This section is based on its 2014 statement that it didn’t provide protection insurance, its 2019 life cover page, its current insurance help page and its March 2026 mortgage leaflet, none of which offer a life insurance product of its own. If that changes, we’ll update this page.

Coventry Building Society didn’t underwrite life cover itself. When it arranged a policy for a customer, the policy was underwritten by an insurer, and Coventry’s own pages named that insurer over the years.

Norwich Union is now part of Aviva, and CGNU is Aviva’s former name. CGNU, formed when CGU and Norwich Union merged in 2000, changed its name to Aviva in 2002, and the Norwich Union brand became Aviva on 1 June 2009. Aviva lists both Norwich Union and CGU among the companies that are now part of Aviva.

Companies House shows that Norwich Union Life & Pensions Limited, the underwriter named on Coventry’s 2006 and 2008 pages, is the company now called Aviva Life & Pensions UK Limited (company number 03253947), an active company whose business is life insurance.

Coventry’s 2001 notes call the life underwriter CGNU Life Assurance plc. Companies House lists a CGNU Life Assurance Limited (00226742), whose 2009 accounts give its registered office as 2 Rougier Street, York, the address Coventry’s notes gave for Norwich Union life assurance complaints. Those accounts say it carried on long-term insurance business until 1 October 2009, when its trade, assets and liabilities were transferred to Aviva Life & Pensions UK Limited. It is now a non-trading company registered at Aviva’s office in York.

So if your policy documents name Norwich Union, CGNU or Aviva, Aviva is the company to contact about the policy or a claim.

Coventry’s page from 2010 describes its specialist advisers recommending protection products, but doesn’t name the insurer.

For a policy taken out around then, or whenever you’re unsure, check the policy schedule and letters for the name of the insurer.

Coventry described its mortgage life assurance as a policy to help repay whatever was left on your mortgage if you died, most suitable for a capital and interest repayment mortgage, and its term assurance as paying a guaranteed cash sum on death, whatever the mortgage balance. Critical illness cover could be added to either.

If you change your mortgage, Coventry’s own advice was to make sure you still have enough cover in place for the amount you borrow and the term.

• Look through bank statements for regular payments to an insurer: Aviva says these might mean a policy is in place.
• If you know which company issued the policy, contact it directly. For Norwich Union, CGNU and Aviva policies, that is Aviva.
• If you’re not sure which company runs a policy now, the Association of British Insurers keeps a register of financial companies that have merged, changed their name or been sold.
• To look for someone else’s policy you need their permission or a legal reason, for example as their attorney, executor or personal representative.
• Our guide to lost life insurance policies has more ways to trace a policy.

Trustpilot’s Coventry Building Society page rates the building society as a whole, with its savings and mortgages. It isn’t a rating of life insurance, which Coventry doesn’t provide.

Ratings were checked on 3 October 2026 and may have changed since.

This page is for general information only. Life Cover Quotes does not endorse any specific insurance company.