Sainsbury’s life insurance review 2026

Sainsbury’s holds 3 to 5 stars from Defaqto and a 76.44% customer experience score from Fairer Finance for life insurance. Its Trustpilot (4.2 out of 5) and Smart Money People (2.87 out of 5) scores cover Sainsbury’s Money as a whole, not just life cover.

Defaqto ratings for each Sainsbury’s policy

Defaqto scores policies from 1 to 5 stars and can list the same plan in more than one category. Sainsbury’s term plans get 5 stars in the direct categories, 4 stars for level and decreasing life cover, and 3 stars for critical illness in the level and decreasing term categories. Both over 50s plans hold 5 stars.

In Fairer Finance’s life insurance table, Sainsbury’s claims (69%) and complaints (86%) scores are the same as those of Legal & General, the insurer that handles the claims. Defaqto and Fairer Finance disagree on over 50s cover: Defaqto gives both Sainsbury’s plans 5 stars, and Fairer Finance gives them 3.

Sainsbury’s Money offers two term policies, Life Insurance (level cover) and Decreasing Life Insurance, with an optional Critical Illness Cover add-on. It also sells whole of life Over 50s Life Insurance. Legal & General provides all four.

• Level term
  The payout stays the same throughout the policy unless you change the cover. Single or joint.
• Decreasing term
  The cover reduces roughly in line with a repayment mortgage, while the premium stays the same unless you change the policy.
• Life & critical illness
  Adds cover for specified critical illnesses to a life policy, at extra cost. Cover must end before age 75.
• Over 50s
  Whole of life cover with guaranteed acceptance and a cash sum of up to £10,000.

Life Insurance (level term)

With Life Insurance, your cash sum and monthly payments stay the same throughout the term unless you change the policy. You can apply aged 18 to 77 for a term of 1 to 50 years, ending before age 90 (and not before your 29th birthday). Applicants must be UK residents who lived in the UK for at least 183 days in the last tax year.

Sainsbury’s says cover starts from £5 a month, depending on the protection you choose. Quotes on its website run on an L&G page ‘introduced by Sainsbury’s Money’, where you can enter either a total cover amount or a monthly budget. You can also call L&G for a quote on 0800 027 7166 (8.30am to 8pm Monday to Friday, 9am to 1pm Saturday).

Sainsbury’s points out that a level payout won’t rise with inflation. L&G’s policy terms say you may have the option of increasing cover, which rises with inflation each year without further health questions. L&G’s policy summary adds that optional benefits may not be available to everyone, depending on how you bought the policy.

Decreasing Life Insurance

Decreasing Life Insurance (also called repayment mortgage life insurance) is designed to help clear a capital and repayment mortgage if you die or are diagnosed with a terminal illness. It isn’t suitable for interest-only mortgages. Your monthly premium stays the same unless you change the policy.

L&G reduces the cover roughly in line with a repayment mortgage, using an interest rate shown in your quote or policy schedule. You must check that your actual mortgage rate doesn’t exceed that rate: if it does, or your mortgage changes, the payout may not clear the loan in full.

You can apply aged 18 to 74 for a term of 5 to 50 years, ending before age 90. Sainsbury’s says cover can cost from £5 a month and is generally cheaper than level cover because the amount insured falls over time.

Critical Illness Cover

Sainsbury’s Money sells critical illness cover as an optional add-on when you buy level or decreasing life cover, set up as a separate policy alongside it. In L&G’s policy summary, you can apply aged 18 to 67 for 2 to 50 years, with cover ending before age 75. Some answers on Sainsbury’s FAQ page give different limits: terms of 2 to 40 years, up to age 70.

It pays out if you’re diagnosed with, or have a medical procedure for, a covered critical illness and survive 14 days from diagnosis. A verified UK consultant in an appropriate specialism must confirm the diagnosis. Some cancers aren’t covered, some illnesses require permanent symptoms, and the policy ends once a full claim is paid.

Sainsbury’s FAQs say a life and critical illness policy pays out only once, either for a specified critical illness or on death. A claim for carcinoma in situ of the breast (treated by surgery), low grade prostate cancer (requiring treatment) or a child’s critical illness doesn’t end the policy, though. Children’s cover and family benefits are included, and Total and Permanent Disability is optional.

Over 50s Life Insurance

Over 50s life insurance from Sainsbury’s is whole of life cover with guaranteed acceptance for UK residents aged 50 to 80, and doesn’t ask about your health. You can choose a Fixed Plan or an Increasing Plan, both described in the over 50s section below.

Sainsbury’s over 50s Fixed Plan vs Increasing Plan

Sainsbury’s over 50s cover comes as two plans, the Fixed Plan and the Increasing Plan:

Sainsbury’s life insurance at a glance

The main limits for each type of policy. The cover you’re offered depends on your circumstances and the insurer’s assessment.

Depending on the policy you choose, these benefits are included:

These extras are optional, and Critical Illness Cover and Waiver of Premium cost extra:

You can write a Sainsbury’s life insurance policy in trust, though the separate Critical Illness Cover policy can’t be placed in trust. Sainsbury’s trust guide says a policy in trust isn’t treated as part of your estate, and trustees can pay out before probate is granted. The guide adds that putting a policy in trust is irrevocable: once it’s done, you can’t cancel the trust.

L&G says a life policy under a suitable trust should stay outside your estate for Inheritance Tax purposes, and it pays the claim to the trustees. Without a trust, the payout normally goes into your estate and Inheritance Tax may apply. Sainsbury’s refers you to your financial or legal adviser for help setting up a trust, and its guide suggests a legal adviser or solicitor to get the wording right. The guide also describes a survivor’s discretionary trust, which is designed only for joint policies.

You can also put an over 50s policy into trust at any time by completing a form called a trust deed. You keep paying the premiums, and your trustees keep the deed safe and make the claim when you pass away. L&G can’t advise you on whether to do this.

Read how trusts work, and what other insurers offer, in our guide to life insurance in trust.

Claims go to Legal & General, which provides the policies, and it reported paying 97.5% of life insurance claims in 2025. These figures cover L&G’s whole retail protection business (with over 50s plans in the life figures), not only policies bought through Sainsbury’s:

Life claims paid

97.5%

Terminal illness claims paid

94.8%

Critical illness claims paid

92.9%

Paid in life claims

£527m

Legal & General claims paid by year

Source: Legal & General published claims statistics for 2023, 2024 and 2025. The figures cover Legal & General’s whole retail protection business, with over 50s plans included in the life figures, not only policies sold through Sainsbury’s.

Across its retail protection business in 2025, L&G paid 13,950 life claims with an average payout of £37,788, and cancer was the leading cause of life claims (32.1%). The statistics cover claims finalised during the year, excluding fraudulent claims.

For over 50s cover, Sainsbury’s comparison guide says most valid claims are paid out in one day, without publishing figures. A Sainsbury’s FAQ adds that L&G sometimes refers over 50s claims to third parties, which can cause delays.

L&G can cancel a policy and refuse a claim if you give inaccurate information deliberately or recklessly. If it’s given carelessly, L&G can change the policy to the terms it would have offered. L&G also warns not to assume it will contact your doctor for your full medical details, so answer every application question fully.

How to make a Sainsbury’s life insurance claim

You make a claim to Legal & General, which says the fastest way to claim is online, and you can submit a claim at any time without waiting for office hours. More than 40% of L&G’s retail protection claims now start online, through MyAccount or a third-party portal. You can also call L&G’s claims team or write to its Claims Department at City Park, The Droveway, Hove, East Sussex BN3 7PY.

After you tell L&G about a claim, it sends a claim form and may ask for certificates or other evidence; if the policy is in trust, it pays the trustees. Over 50s claims require the policy number, the name of the person who died and a copy of the death certificate. Critical illness claims need the policy number, diagnosis details and GP contact details, and L&G asks you to keep paying premiums while it assesses the claim.

L&G says its claims team is Samaritans trained. Sainsbury’s support page and L&G’s claims page list different phone numbers for terminal illness claims: 0800 137 101 and 0800 068 0789.

Key policy terms

The main rules from L&G’s policy documents and Sainsbury’s support pages. Always check the schedule and terms for the plan you’re offered.

Before you take out a policy, it’s worth reading the policy summary and terms for the exact product you’re offered. These are the official documents for Sainsbury’s life insurance, from Legal & General, which provides the policies:

• PDF
  Life Insurance with Critical Illness Cover policy summary (opens in a new tab)

  Cover, age limits, included benefits and exclusions for Life Insurance, Decreasing Life Insurance and Critical Illness Cover (QGI12838).

  PDF · documents.4rgos.it

• PDF
  Life Insurance and Critical Illness Cover terms and conditions (opens in a new tab)

  The full terms, including increasing your cover, separating a joint policy and optional benefits (QGI12849).

  PDF · documents.4rgos.it

• PDF
  Over 50s Life Insurance policy summary (opens in a new tab)

  A summary of the Fixed and Increasing Plans, the maximum cash sum and what isn’t covered (QGI13077).

  PDF · documents.4rgos.it

• PDF
  Over 50s Life Insurance terms and conditions (opens in a new tab)

  The full terms of the over 50s plans, including trusts, missed premiums and cancelling (QGI11740).

  PDF · documents.4rgos.it

• PDF
  Guide to Critical Illnesses Covered (opens in a new tab)

  Full definitions of the critical illnesses covered by Critical Illness Cover (QGI14860).

  PDF · documents.4rgos.it

• PDF
  L&G Wellbeing Support guide (opens in a new tab)

  How the RedArc Wellbeing Support service works and how to contact it.

  PDF · documents.4rgos.it

The documents open on the document server that Sainsbury’s Money links to. They may be updated — the version you receive with your policy is the one that applies.

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