Legal & General mortgage life insurance review 2026
A closer look at Legal & General’s Decreasing Life Insurance: who can apply, how the cover goes down, what’s included, the price, key terms and claims.
- Age to apply
- 18–74
- Up to 67 with Critical Illness Cover
- Policy length
- 5–50 years
- Must end before age 90
- Premiums
- From £5
- A month, guaranteed
- Free Life Cover
- Up to £300,000
- Between exchange and completion
In a nutshell
Legal & General’s Decreasing Life Insurance, often called mortgage life insurance, is designed to help protect a repayment mortgage. It pays out a lump sum if you die, or are diagnosed with a terminal illness and your life expectancy is less than 12 months, while you’re covered, and the amount of cover reduces roughly in line with the way a repayment mortgage decreases. You can buy it directly from L&G online or by phone, or through a financial adviser.
- UK residents aged 18 to 74 can apply (up to 67 with Critical Illness Cover), for 5 to 50 years, in single or joint names.
- Premiums are guaranteed, so they won’t change unless you change the policy, and L&G advertises them from £5 a month.
- The cover falls in line with an interest rate shown on your Policy Schedule. If that rate is lower than the rate on your mortgage, or your mortgage changes, the payout may not be enough to repay the mortgage in full.
- Terminal Illness Cover, Accidental Death Benefit, Free Life Cover of up to £300,000 when you’re buying a home, Wellbeing Support and Care Concierge are included at no extra cost.
- You can add Critical Illness Cover for an extra cost when you apply.
- It has no cash value, and it isn’t linked to your mortgage: it pays out on a valid claim during the policy term whether or not you still have the mortgage.
- In Defaqto’s decreasing life cover ratings, L&G’s Decreasing Term Assurance has 4 stars and its Multi Protection plan 5 stars.
- When we checked on 25 September 2026, buying directly online or by phone came with a £100 gift card, with conditions.
Who can apply for Legal & General mortgage life insurance?
To apply for Decreasing Life Insurance you need to be a UK resident aged 18 to 74, or up to 67 if you add Critical Illness Cover. L&G’s Life Insurance terms add that you must have lived in the UK for at least 183 days in the last tax year. You can take out a policy in your own name or jointly with someone else.
- Age to apply
- 18 to 74 (up to 67 with Critical Illness Cover)
- Where you live
- UK resident, living in the UK for at least 183 days in the last tax year
- Policy length
- 5 to 50 years, ending before age 90 and not before your 29th birthday
- Amount of cover (through advisers)
- No minimum amount (set by the minimum premium); up to £10 million of life cover, subject to underwriting
- Who is covered
- One person, or two people on a joint policy
- Premiums
- Guaranteed, paid monthly or annually; advertised from £5 a month
- Free Life Cover
- Up to £300,000 between exchange and completion, if you’re under 55
- How to apply
- Online (a quote takes around 2 minutes), by phone on 0800 316 5591, or through a financial adviser
If you add Critical Illness Cover, L&G’s policy summary says that part of the cover must end before you turn 75. Through a financial adviser, the maximum age for Decreasing Life Insurance with Critical Illness Cover or Critical Illness Extra is 64, and the policy must end by your 75th birthday.
If you’re using the policy to help protect a repayment mortgage, L&G says the amount of cover should match your outstanding mortgage, and suggests checking that the policy is long enough to cover your mortgage term.
For a quote, L&G asks for your date of birth, contact details and smoker status, the type of cover, how much you need and for how long, and whether the policy is for you alone or for you and another person. It counts you as a non-smoker only if you haven’t used cigarettes, cigars, a pipe, vapes, e-cigarettes or nicotine replacements at all in the last 12 months.
You can apply with a pre-existing medical condition, such as diabetes, a heart condition or kidney illness, but you’ll need to disclose it, and whether you’re offered cover depends on how severe it is and your medical assessment. L&G may restrict some elements of your cover based on your answers.
Answer every question fully and accurately. L&G says you’re not covered if you don’t, and that you shouldn’t assume it will contact your doctor. If inaccurate information is given deliberately or recklessly, it can cancel the policy and refuse to pay; if it’s given carelessly, it can amend the policy to the terms it would have offered. As long as your answers were correct, changes to your health after the policy starts don’t affect it.
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What does Legal & General mortgage life insurance cover?
L&G’s Decreasing Life Insurance, often called mortgage life insurance, is designed to help protect a repayment mortgage. It pays out a lump sum if you die while covered by the policy, or are diagnosed with a terminal illness and your life expectancy is less than 12 months. The amount of cover reduces roughly in line with the way a repayment mortgage decreases, and your loved ones could use the payout to help pay off the mortgage.
How the cover goes down. L&G applies an interest rate to your policy. It estimates what you repay each month on a repayment mortgage, and the amount you’re covered for decreases accordingly. The rate is shown in your personal quote and on the Policy Schedule you receive when the policy starts. For policies arranged through a financial adviser, L&G’s adviser page says the client can choose for their cover to decrease by 5%, 7%, 8% or 10%.
Why the payout might not clear the mortgage. If the interest rate L&G applies is lower than the rate actually charged on your mortgage, or your mortgage changes, the amount paid out may not be enough to repay the mortgage in full. L&G says to check regularly that your cover will pay off the rest of the mortgage and that the policy’s rate is equal to or higher than your mortgage rate, and to adjust your cover to match any new mortgage arrangements.
- Death during the policy term: L&G pays the amount of cover in full once, and the policy then ends.
- Terminal illness: covered from day one of the policy. The illness must have no known cure, or be past the point where it can be cured, and your hospital consultant and L&G’s Medical Officer must expect it to lead to death within 12 months. The payment is an advance of the death benefit, worked out on the date the definition is met, and it can’t be claimed after death.
- Joint policies pay out once, when either person dies or is diagnosed with a terminal illness that meets L&G’s definition.
- Critical Illness Cover can be added for an extra cost when you apply, as a separate policy. It could pay out if you’re diagnosed with, or have a medical procedure for, one of the specified conditions during the policy and survive for 14 days from diagnosis.
The policy isn’t tied to your mortgage. L&G says it’s a separate product that pays out on a valid claim during the policy term whether or not you still have the mortgage, and your beneficiaries decide how to use the money.
You’re covered only for the length of policy you choose. It isn’t a savings or investment product: it has no cash value, and nothing is paid if you reach the end of the policy without making a valid claim.
If you’d like to know more about the conditions covered when you add Critical Illness Cover, read our Legal & General critical illness cover review.
What’s included with Legal & General mortgage life insurance?
Decreasing Life Insurance comes with these benefits and options. Free Life Cover, Accidental Death Benefit and Terminal Illness Cover are included at no extra cost. Each has its own conditions, set out in the policy summary and terms.
| Benefit | What it does | Available with |
|---|---|---|
| Free Life Cover | If you’re buying a home, covers you if you die between exchange of contracts and completion, for up to 90 days (in Scotland, between completion of missives and the date of entry). It pays the lower of your proposed cover or your mortgage, up to £300,000. You must be accepted on standard terms and be under 55 (both of you, on a joint policy), and there can’t be another policy covering the same mortgage. It ends as soon as your policy starts. | Available with: Included |
| Accidental Death Benefit | Covers accidental death from when L&G receives your application, for up to 90 days or until it accepts, postpones or declines it, up to £300,000 across all applications. | Available with: Included |
| Terminal Illness Cover | Pays the amount of cover early if you’re diagnosed with a terminal illness that meets L&G’s definition. If you then live to the end of the term, you don’t have to pay it back. | Available with: Included on L&G life cover with a term of at least two years |
| Increasing your cover | Within six months of certain events, including a bigger mortgage to move home or make major home improvements, you can increase your cover without more medical questions. After a mortgage increase, each increase is limited to the amount the mortgage went up, and all increases together can’t be more than the lower of £200,000 or 100% of the original cover. You must have taken the policy out before your 55th birthday, you can’t use the option after your 55th birthday, and L&G mustn’t have applied a premium increase to your cover. The increase is set up as an additional policy, and your Policy Schedule shows whether you have the option. | Available with: Policies whose Policy Schedule shows the option |
| Joint life separation | Split a joint policy into two single policies if you divorce or dissolve a civil partnership, or one of you takes over the mortgage, or takes out a new one, in one name. Ask within six months of the event being finalised. Each new policy covers the lower of £1,000,000 or the original amount, and ends on your 70th birthday or a year after the original policy would have ended, whichever comes first. | Available with: Joint policies |
| Replacement cover | After a valid life or terminal illness claim on a joint policy, the other person may be able to take out a new single life policy if they ask within six months of the claim being paid. With Decreasing Life Insurance it covers the amount left on the original policy when the claim was paid, and it ends on their 70th birthday or a year after the original policy would have ended, whichever comes first. | Available with: Joint policies |
| Wellbeing Support | Practical and emotional support from RedArc’s registered nurses from day one of the policy, for you or your immediate family living at home. You don’t need to make a claim: call 01244 623033. | Available with: Included |
| Care Concierge | Free, confidential and impartial telephone guidance on adult and later life care, for you, your partner, your children and your parents. | Available with: Included |
You can also add these for an extra cost. L&G says optional benefits may not be available to everyone, depending on your circumstances and whether you buy directly or through a financial adviser.
| Optional extra | What it does |
|---|---|
| Critical Illness Cover | Added when you apply, as a separate policy. It could pay out if you’re diagnosed with, or have a procedure for, one of the specified conditions and survive for 14 days from diagnosis. |
| Waiver of Premium | Added at the start of the policy. You won’t have to pay premiums once the person covered has met L&G’s definition of incapacity for 26 consecutive weeks, until the incapacity ends, the cover is paid or the policy ends. |
| Critical Illness Extra | Offered through financial advisers, who can add it to Decreasing Life Insurance: everything in Critical Illness Cover, plus extra conditions and additional cover with higher payout limits. |
How much does Legal & General mortgage life insurance cost?
We didn’t find any price examples published by Legal & General for Decreasing Life Insurance, so we don’t show any here. The price you’re quoted depends on your own circumstances and the cover you choose.
- Your age
- Your health, height, weight and medical history
- Whether you smoke
- Your job and any hazardous hobbies
- How much cover you need
- The type of cover you choose
L&G advertises Decreasing Life Insurance with fixed premiums from £5 a month. The premiums are guaranteed, so they stay the same for the whole policy unless you make changes, even though the cover goes down, and you can pay monthly or annually. L&G says the older you are, the higher the premium normally is.
Alongside price examples for its level Life Insurance, L&G’s Life Insurance page says Decreasing Life Insurance could be cheaper, but it’s specifically designed to protect a repayment mortgage.
Through a financial adviser, if you add Critical Illness Cover or Critical Illness Extra you can choose guaranteed or reviewable premiums. With reviewable premiums, L&G checks every five years, from the fifth policy anniversary, whether they’re enough to keep your chosen cover.
As a general rule, decreasing cover usually costs less than level cover for the same starting amount, because the amount that could be paid out falls over the term.
Our decreasing life insurance calculator shows how much cover a decreasing policy could have left each year, and our mortgage life insurance calculator shows how a repayment mortgage balance could fall over the term.
Legal & General mortgage life insurance offers
Note: Free gifts are offered by select brokers only, our life insurance brokers do not offer free gifts.
When we checked on 25 September 2026, L&G was offering a £100 Amazon.co.uk Gift Card or M&S e-Gift Card to customers who take out Decreasing Life Insurance or Life Insurance, with or without Critical Illness Cover, directly online or by phone.
The offer isn’t available through a financial adviser, a comparison site or a cashback site, or to anyone who has held and cancelled an L&G Life Insurance or Decreasing Life Insurance policy in the last 18 months. L&G can change or withdraw it at any time.
- Gift
- £100 Amazon.co.uk Gift Card or M&S e-Gift Card
- When it’s available
- Six months after the policy starts, if it’s still in force and paid up
- Claim it within
- 12 months of the policy start date
- Limit
- One e-gift card per policy sold
Offer terms checked on 25 September 2026. They may change.
See other insurers’ offers and their conditions in our guides to life insurance with a free gift and over 50 life insurance with a free gift.
Key policy terms
These are the main terms, taken from L&G’s Decreasing Life Insurance page, the policy summary and the Life Insurance policy terms.
| Term | Decreasing Life Insurance |
|---|---|
| Policy term | 5 to 50 years, ending before age 90. You’re covered until the expiry date unless the cover is paid out or the policy is cancelled |
| Premiums | Guaranteed: they won’t change unless you change the policy. Paid monthly or annually |
| How the cover reduces | In line with an interest rate, shown on your Policy Schedule, that estimates your monthly repayments on a repayment mortgage |
| Mortgage rate risk | If the policy’s rate is lower than your mortgage rate, or your mortgage changes, the payout may not repay the mortgage in full |
| Terminal illness | Covered from day one if death is expected within 12 months; paid as an advance of the death benefit and can’t be claimed after death |
| Death in the first year | The policy is cancelled and the claim declined if the person covered dies by suicide or intentional and serious self-injury, or L&G reasonably believes they took their own life |
| Missed premiums | Cover ends 60 days after the first missed premium, and you won’t get anything back |
| Cash-in value | None: nothing is paid if the policy ends without a valid claim |
| Cooling-off period | 30 days from receiving your welcome pack, with a refund of premiums paid |
| Cancelling later | Possible at any time. Monthly payers get nothing back; annual payers get a proportionate refund |
| Changing the policy | You can ask to extend or reduce the term, increase or decrease the cover or remove a life from a joint policy. Changes may affect your premium and are assessed on your circumstances at the time |
| Separating a joint policy | Not possible once either person has had a valid life insurance or terminal illness claim. Both must agree and answer a short questionnaire about health, residency and leisure activities |
| Accidental Death Benefit exclusions | Death from suicide or self-injury, a dangerous sport or pastime, flying other than as a fare-paying passenger on a licensed airline, crime or assault, war or riot, alcohol or non-prescribed drugs, or an accident before you applied |
| Paid once | The lump sum is paid only once: under Accidental Death Benefit, Free Life Cover or the policy itself |
| Tax | Payouts should be free from UK Income Tax and Capital Gains Tax. Without a trust, the payout on death normally goes into your estate and Inheritance Tax may apply |
| Trust | Can be put in trust at no extra cost, when you take the policy out or at any time after |
| Living abroad | L&G’s customer help page says life cover stays valid however long you travel or live abroad, as long as you keep paying premiums from a UK bank account. The policy summary asks you to check the policy terms if you move abroad, as your policy may be affected |
| Compensation scheme | L&G is covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), which pays 100% of the value of an eligible claim |
Making a claim on Legal & General mortgage life insurance
L&G’s claims statistics don’t show Decreasing Life Insurance separately: its life insurance figures cover all its Life and Over 50s life insurance claims. For 2025 it reported:
- Life claims paid in 2025 (all L&G life insurance, including Over 50s)
- 97.5%
- Number of life claims paid in 2025 (all L&G life insurance, including Over 50s)
- 13,950
- Average life claim paid in 2025 (all L&G life insurance)
- £37,788
- Terminal Illness Cover claims paid in 2025 (not shown by policy)
- 94.8%
L&G paid between 96.7% and 97.5% of life claims in each year from 2022 to 2025. In 2025 it paid £527m in life claims, and cancer was the most common cause (32.1%). The 2025 figures are based on claims finalised in 2025, with fraudulent claims removed.
How to claim. L&G says the fastest way to make a claim is online: through My Account if you’re named on the policy, including a joint policy where the other policyholder has died, or through its Claim Portal for someone else’s policy. You can also call the life claims line on 0800 137 101.
For a claim after a death, have ready the policy number (or direct debit reference), the full name of the person who has died, the date, place and cause of death if known, your name and relationship to them, and the legal next of kin if known. L&G may ask for a death certificate or more details and might contact the GP or coroner. For a terminal illness claim, it needs details of the illness and diagnosis.
L&G pays the claim as a lump sum in pounds to a UK bank account: to the policy owner, or their personal representative (usually the executor of their will) if they have died, to the trustees if the policy is in trust, or to the assignees if it has been assigned. It says accepted life claims are paid within 5 working days.
A claim on a policy in trust avoids probate, which L&G says often means it can be paid quicker. Its Funeral Payment Pledge can advance up to £10,000 of a valid life claim to cover funeral costs, but not on policies that are assigned, in trust or subject to bankruptcy.
If you pay annually, L&G refunds the premium for the rest of the year when it pays a claim under full cover. A policy that has lapsed through missed payments before the death or diagnosis won’t pay out.
L&G has up to 60 Samaritans-trained claims assessors, and where possible one assessor handles a claim throughout. Life claims can be made from anywhere in the world, as long as L&G can verify the claim is valid.
- Life claims
- 0800 137 101
- Terminal illness claims
- 0800 068 0789 on L&G’s claims page; the policy summary gives 0800 137 101 for Life or Terminal Illness Cover claims
- Opening hours
- Mon–Fri, 9am–5.30pm (the Life Insurance page says 9am–5pm)
- Calling from abroad
- +44 (0)1273 374 665
- Claims email
- life.claims@landg.com
- Start a claim online
- My Account or Claim Portal (opens in a new tab)
Claims figures from L&G’s 2025 claims statistics. Phone numbers and hours as published by L&G when we checked on 25 September 2026.
Legal & General mortgage life insurance ratings
Defaqto ratings
Defaqto rates each product from 1 to 5 stars, and it can rate the same product in more than one category. It rates L&G’s Decreasing Term Assurance 4 stars for decreasing life cover and 3 stars for decreasing critical illness cover. It rates another L&G product, Multi Protection, 5 stars in both categories. L&G’s Decreasing Life Insurance page describes its cover as “5 Star Defaqto rated” without saying which Defaqto product or category that refers to.
| Policy | Range | Defaqto rating |
|---|---|---|
| Decreasing term life insurance | Decreasing Term Assurance | 4 out of 5 stars |
| Decreasing term life insurance | Multi Protection | 5 out of 5 stars |
| Decreasing term with critical illness | Decreasing Term Assurance | 3 out of 5 stars |
| Decreasing term with critical illness | Multi Protection | 5 out of 5 stars |
Ratings checked on 24 September 2026 and may have changed since. Product names are as Defaqto lists them. Defaqto ratings: defaqto.com (opens in a new tab)
L&G’s Decreasing Life Insurance page says that, as of 2 September 2026, 1,811 customers had rated its life insurance an average of 4.4 out of 5 on Trustpilot. That score is for L&G’s life insurance as a whole.
Is Legal & General mortgage life insurance good?
L&G’s Decreasing Life Insurance is built around a repayment mortgage: the cover falls roughly in line with the mortgage, premiums are guaranteed and advertised from £5 a month, and you can apply from 18 to 74 for 5 to 50 years, alone or with someone else. Terminal Illness Cover, Accidental Death Benefit, Free Life Cover while you’re buying a home, Wellbeing Support and Care Concierge are included, and you can add Critical Illness Cover.
The main thing to watch is the interest rate. The cover falls according to the rate on your Policy Schedule, so if your mortgage rate is higher, or your mortgage changes, the payout may not clear the mortgage. L&G says to check your cover regularly and adjust it to match any new mortgage arrangements.
In Defaqto’s decreasing life cover ratings, L&G’s Decreasing Term Assurance has 4 stars and its Multi Protection plan 5 stars. L&G’s claims figures, which cover all its life and Over 50s policies, show it paid 97.5% of life claims in 2025.
Pros
- Cover reduces roughly in line with a repayment mortgage
- Guaranteed premiums, advertised from £5 a month
- Apply from 18 to 74, for 5 to 50 years, in single or joint names
- Free Life Cover of up to £300,000 between exchange and completion
- Terminal Illness Cover and Accidental Death Benefit included
- Can increase cover without more medical questions when your mortgage goes up to move home or improve it, if your Policy Schedule includes the option
- Joint life separation and replacement cover on joint policies
- Wellbeing Support and Care Concierge included
Cons
- The payout may not clear the mortgage if your mortgage rate is higher than the policy’s rate or your mortgage changes
- Critical Illness Cover costs extra, and the age limit to apply falls to 67 with it
- No cash value, and nothing back if you cancel after 30 days and pay monthly
- Cover ends 60 days after a missed premium
- The option to increase cover needs a policy taken out before age 55, can’t be used after your 55th birthday, and all increases together are capped at the lower of £200,000 or the original amount of cover
- Free Life Cover isn’t available if you’re 55 or over
Legal & General mortgage life insurance documents
L&G asks you to check what is and isn’t covered in the policy documents before you apply. These are the documents for Decreasing Life Insurance, which is provided by Legal and General Assurance Society Limited:
-
Decreasing Life Insurance (opens in a new tab)
L&G’s product page: eligibility, what’s covered, things you need to know, FAQs and the current offer.
-
Life Insurance and Critical Illness Cover policy summary (opens in a new tab)
How decreasing cover works, age and term limits, what is and isn’t covered, Free Life Cover and Accidental Death Benefit.
-
Life Insurance policy terms and conditions (opens in a new tab)
The full terms: claims, terminal illness, the interest rate on decreasing cover, increasing your cover, joint policies and cancelling.
-
£100 gift card terms and conditions (opens in a new tab)
Who qualifies for the gift card, and when and how to claim it.
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Putting life insurance in trust (opens in a new tab)
L&G’s guide to trusts: how they work, the types it offers and how to set one up.
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Adviser Life Insurance page (opens in a new tab)
For financial advisers: Decreasing Life Insurance limits, cover options and the decreasing term calculator.
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Adviser policy summary: Life Insurance with Critical Illness Cover and Critical Illness Extra (opens in a new tab)
For policies bought through a financial adviser, including Decreasing Life Insurance with Critical Illness Cover and reviewable premiums.
Documents are published by L&G and open on its website. We read the policy summary QGI14786 (2026/01) and the policy terms PDF QGI14872 (2026/07), which holds the Life Insurance terms (QGI12849) and the Critical Illness Cover terms. If you already have a policy, check your own policy documents.
How Legal & General mortgage life insurance compares
Mortgage life insurance policies can look alike, but the details that decide whether a payout would clear your mortgage differ from one policy to another, so it’s worth comparing more than the monthly premium.
The points worth checking on any policy are the ones covered on this page. For L&G’s Decreasing Life Insurance: you can apply from 18 to 74, cover lasts 5 to 50 years, premiums are guaranteed, the cover falls in line with an interest rate shown on your Policy Schedule, and Terminal Illness Cover, Accidental Death Benefit and Free Life Cover of up to £300,000 are included.
Decreasing or level cover. L&G’s adviser product guide says its decreasing life insurance plans are designed for clients with a repayment mortgage, and its level life insurance plans for clients with an interest-only mortgage. If you’d rather your cover didn’t go down, L&G points to its Life Insurance, where the amount of cover stays the same for the whole policy.
Whichever type you choose, check that the amount and length of cover match your mortgage, and look again whenever you remortgage, move home or borrow more. Our guide to decreasing term life insurance explains how the cover falls, and our mortgage life insurance calculator shows how a mortgage balance could reduce over time.
Our guide to mortgage life insurance explains how this type of cover works and lists the insurers in our reviews that offer it, alphabetically.
Read our full Legal & General life insurance review, or see all our insurer reviews.
Legal & General mortgage life insurance FAQs
Yes. L&G’s Decreasing Life Insurance, often called mortgage life insurance, is designed to help protect a repayment mortgage. The cover reduces roughly in line with the way a repayment mortgage decreases, and the policy pays out if you die, or are diagnosed with a terminal illness and your life expectancy is less than 12 months, while you’re covered.
L&G’s adviser product guide uses “mortgage protection” for its plans that pay out a lump sum to help protect a mortgage if the person covered dies during the policy. It says its decreasing life insurance plans are designed for clients with a repayment mortgage, and its level life insurance plans for clients with an interest-only mortgage.
L&G applies an interest rate to your policy that estimates what you repay each month on a repayment mortgage, and your cover decreases accordingly. The rate is shown on your Policy Schedule. If it’s lower than the rate on your mortgage, or your mortgage changes, the payout may not be enough to repay the mortgage in full, so L&G says to check your cover regularly.
L&G’s adviser website lists a decreasing term calculator, an xlsx spreadsheet, under its tools and calculators. That site is designed for professional financial advisers and says it shouldn’t be relied on by anyone else. L&G’s Decreasing Life Insurance page links to a life insurance calculator to help you work out how much cover you might need, and a personalised quote takes around 2 minutes.
Our decreasing life insurance calculator shows how much cover a decreasing policy could have left each year and how it compares with your mortgage.
You can apply from 18 to 74 as a UK resident, or up to 67 if you add Critical Illness Cover (64 through a financial adviser). The policy lasts 5 to 50 years, must end before you turn 90 and can’t end before your 29th birthday.
L&G advertises fixed premiums from £5 a month. What you pay depends on things like your age, health, smoker status and job, and on the amount and type of cover. Premiums are guaranteed and won’t change unless you change the policy.
Yes. L&G says the policy is a separate product from your mortgage. It pays out on a valid claim during the policy term whether or not you still have the mortgage, and your beneficiaries decide how to use the money.
L&G says the policy may not completely pay off your mortgage unless you adjust your cover to match any new mortgage arrangements. You can ask to change the amount or length of cover, which may change your premium. If you move home or make major home improvements and your mortgage goes up, you may be able to increase your cover within six months without more medical questions, if your Policy Schedule shows this option.
Yes. A joint policy pays out once, when the first person dies or has a valid claim, and the other person may then be able to take out a new single life policy if they ask within six months of the claim being paid. If you divorce, dissolve a civil partnership or move the mortgage into one name, you can ask to split the policy into two single policies within six months of the event being finalised.
Yes, for an extra cost when you apply. Buying directly, you can add it up to age 67; through a financial adviser, the maximum age for Decreasing Life Insurance with Critical Illness Cover is 64. It could pay out if you’re diagnosed with, or have a medical procedure for, one of the specified conditions during the policy and survive for 14 days from diagnosis.
Yes. There’s no added cost, and you can do it when you take the policy out or at any time after. L&G says that with a suitable trust, the payout on death should not form part of your estate for Inheritance Tax.
No. L&G says there’s no legal requirement to take out life insurance when you get a mortgage.
Yes, at any time. If you cancel within 30 days, L&G returns the premiums you’ve paid. After that, you won’t get anything back if you pay monthly; if you pay annually you get a proportionate refund. To talk about cancelling, you can call L&G on 0333 242 7101.
L&G says the fastest way is online, through My Account if you’re named on the policy or its Claim Portal for someone else’s policy. You can also call the life claims line on 0800 137 101.
Sources
The facts on this page come from these sources.
- Legal & General — Decreasing Life Insurance product page (opens in a new tab), legalandgeneral.com, accessed 25 September 2026.
- Legal & General — Life Insurance £100 gift card terms and conditions (opens in a new tab), legalandgeneral.com, accessed 25 September 2026.
- Legal & General — Adviser Life Insurance product page (level, increasing, decreasing, Family and Personal Income Plan) (opens in a new tab), legalandgeneral.com, accessed 25 September 2026.
- Legal & General — Life Insurance and Critical Illness Cover Policy Summary (QGI14786) (opens in a new tab), legalandgeneral.com, accessed 25 September 2026.
- Legal & General — Life Insurance Policy Terms and Conditions (QGI14872) (opens in a new tab), legalandgeneral.com, accessed 25 September 2026.
- Legal & General — Terminal Illness Cover (life insurance additional benefit) (opens in a new tab), legalandgeneral.com, accessed 25 September 2026.
- Legal & General — Legal & General - Contact us about your life insurance (existing customers FAQs, claims contacts, bereavement support) (opens in a new tab), legalandgeneral.com, accessed 25 September 2026.
- Defaqto — Defaqto Star Ratings (Life & Protection) for Legal & General (opens in a new tab), defaqto.com, accessed 24 September 2026.
- Legal & General — Life insurance: information you need to know (opens in a new tab), legalandgeneral.com, accessed 25 September 2026.
- Legal & General — Life Insurance FAQs (opens in a new tab), legalandgeneral.com, accessed 25 September 2026.
- Legal & General — Making changes to your policy (life insurance additional benefit) (opens in a new tab), legalandgeneral.com, accessed 25 September 2026.
- Legal & General — Wellbeing Support (RedArc) page (opens in a new tab), legalandgeneral.com, accessed 25 September 2026.
- Legal & General — Life Insurance with Critical Illness Cover and Critical Illness Extra and Family and Personal Income Plan Policy Summary (QGI13934) (opens in a new tab), legalandgeneral.com, accessed 25 September 2026.
- Legal & General — Life Insurance (level term) product page (opens in a new tab), legalandgeneral.com, accessed 25 September 2026.
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