Life insurance for parents: covering your mum or dad

Yes, if you have insurable interest, and your parent must be involved in the application. Insurable interest means you'd suffer a provable financial loss if they passed away. It's a valid financial reason to insure someone, recognised by the law where you live, and without it you can't set up a policy on someone else.

The rule comes from the Life Assurance Act 1774, which bars insuring a life unless the person who benefits has an interest in it. A policy made without one is null and void (it has no legal effect), and you can't recover more from the insurer than that interest is worth.

In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, being someone's child isn't an automatic reason to insure them, even if they give you monetary support. For a parent, you need a potential financial loss between you, or an obligation such as a court maintenance order. Married couples and civil partners can insure each other without proving insurable interest.

LV= gives two examples where you might have a financial reason to insure a parent. They might owe you money that would be lost if they died, or you might be jointly responsible for repaying a mortgage or other debt.

The rules are slightly different in Scotland. There, a maintenance obligation to children means insurable interest exists until the child is 18, or 25 if they're in education or training for a trade and still supported.

Check whether a policy can be set up on someone else's life (called 'life of another' cover) before you apply. At LV=, direct life insurance can only be taken on your own life or a joint life, so you need to speak to a financial adviser to insure someone else.

Why your parent has to know and agree

On a policy you take out on a parent, you're the owner and your parent is the life assured (the person whose death the payout depends on). The owner and the life assured are often the same person, but they don't have to be. Your parent takes part at three points:

1. Health and lifestyle questions When the person covered isn't a party to the contract, the Consumer Insurance (Disclosure and Representations) Act 2012 treats what your parent tells the insurer as if you'd said it. Anything that turns on what someone knew is judged by your parent's knowledge and circumstances, not yours.
2. Consent to a medical report An insurer must tell your parent and get their consent before asking their doctor for a medical report. The Access to Medical Reports Act 1988 sets this rule in England, Wales and Scotland, and a 1991 Order does the same in Northern Ireland. Your parent can also see the report.
3. Residence and doctor At Zurich, Personal Protection requires the person covered to be a UK resident and registered with a UK doctor when the policy starts and for six months before applying. For Aviva's Whole of Life Insurance+, you must both be in the UK, the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man or Gibraltar when you apply, with a legal right to live there.

At Zurich, the person covered must take reasonable care to answer questions fully, honestly and accurately, and the policyholder is ultimately responsible for the information given about them.

Zurich can cancel the policy if either of you didn't answer all questions fully, honestly and accurately to the best of your knowledge. It can also cancel within 30 days of the start date if your parent doesn't give, or withdraws, consent to it accessing their medical records. See reasons life insurance won't pay out.

The three main options are term cover, whole of life cover and an over 50s plan. Whoever owns the policy, the cover is on your parent's life. Premiums depend on things such as age, health, lifestyle and smoking.

• Term life insurance covers an agreed period and pays a lump sum if your parent dies within it.
• Whole of life insurance pays out whenever your parent dies, as long as premiums are paid. MoneyHelper says it's typically more expensive than shorter-term policies. Its premiums are reviewed every five or ten years, and they can rise and become unaffordable.
• Over 50s life insurance is guaranteed whole of life cover (usually for ages 50–85) that doesn't ask about your health or need a medical check. The older your parent is when they take it out, the higher the monthly premium for the same payout.

Maximum ages vary between providers. Here's when the person covered can apply, and when cover ends:

• Aviva Life Insurance Plan (term) 77 years
• Aviva Over 50s Life Insurance 80 years
• Aviva Whole of Life Insurance+ 85 years
• Legal & General Life Insurance (term) 77 years
• Legal & General Over 50 Life Insurance 80 years
• LV= Life Protection 84 years
• Smart Guaranteed Life, ages 30–80 80 years
• Zurich Personal Protection 83 years

Oldest age to apply for cover on a parent's life, by policy

	Oldest age to apply
Aviva Life Insurance Plan (term)	77 years
Aviva Over 50s Life Insurance	80 years
Aviva Whole of Life Insurance+	85 years
Legal & General Life Insurance (term)	77 years
Legal & General Over 50 Life Insurance	80 years
LV= Life Protection	84 years
Smart Guaranteed Life, ages 30–80	80 years
Zurich Personal Protection	83 years

Listed alphabetically by insurer, not ranked. Ages are for the person covered; the table above also shows the youngest age and when cover ends.

How over 50s plans work: value and waiting periods

For a parent in their 70s or 80s, compare what goes in with what comes out. MoneyHelper says over 50s plans usually aren't considered good value. Someone who starts one in their 50s and lives to 80 or older ends up paying in much more than they get out.

Smart Insurance also warns that, depending on how long someone lives, they (or whoever pays) may pay in more than the benefit amount. MoneyHelper warns that if an over 50s plan is cancelled before the end of the term, all the money paid in is lost.

MoneyHelper says it's worth comparing an over 50s plan with regular life insurance first. Lots of health conditions are accepted, and a regular policy may be cheaper even with an existing condition.

Over 50s plans typically pay full cover only after a waiting period at the start (called a moratorium):

• Over 60s life insurance: cover options in your 60s
• Over 70s life insurance: maximum ages and costs over 70
• Over 80s life insurance
• Guaranteed life insurance (ages 50–85): cover for ages 50–85 that doesn't ask about your health

The money can come from your parent's estate, an over 50s plan, a pre-paid funeral plan or, if you get certain benefits, a Funeral Expenses Payment. Almost half (46%) of the funerals in the British Seniors survey cost £2,000 to £5,000, and 39% cost more than £5,000.

0%

20%

40%

60%

8%

46%

39%

Less than £2,000 £2,000 to £5,000 More than £5,000

What the funerals in the British Seniors survey cost in total

	Share of funerals
Less than £2,000	8%
£2,000 to £5,000	46%
More than £5,000	39%

From 1,500 UK adults who had arranged a funeral in the past five years, surveyed in December 2024. The shares add up to 93% as published.

MoneyHelper puts the average UK funeral cost at around £4,510 before optional items such as flowers and catering.

An over 50s plan pays a fixed lump sum that's often put towards funeral costs, though beneficiaries can spend it however they wish. Because the sum usually doesn't rise with inflation, it might not cover the whole funeral. Legal & General says its Over 50s Fixed Life Insurance isn't designed to meet the full cost.

With a pre-paid funeral plan, your parent pays in advance for some of their funeral at today's prices. If the plan is cancelled, they don't lose the money in it, unlike with most over 50s plans. See life insurance vs a funeral plan and funeral life insurance.

Check who can apply for a policy on your parent's behalf. At British Seniors, you need power of attorney over someone's affairs to take out its funeral life insurance plan on their behalf.

Scottish Friendly will pay the funeral director directly from the policy if sent the funeral invoice, or reimburse whoever paid once it receives the original receipt. Royal London's Over 50 Life Insurance terms, now on its pages for existing policyholders, include a Funeral Benefit Option that sends the payout directly to a funeral provider.

Funeral Expenses Payment

A Funeral Expenses Payment can help if you get certain benefits and need help paying for a funeral you're arranging. You or your partner must get at least one of Universal Credit, income-related Employment and Support Allowance, Pension Credit or Housing Benefit. A Support for Mortgage Interest loan might also qualify you. In Scotland, the Funeral Support Payment has replaced it.

• As a close relative or friend, you might qualify if your parent didn't have a partner when they passed away. You might not get it if another close relative (such as their sibling or parent) is in work or not getting a qualifying benefit.
• It won't usually cover the whole funeral. Alongside some specific costs, it pays up to £1,000 for other funeral expenses such as funeral director's fees, flowers or the coffin.
• If your parent had a pre-paid funeral plan, you can only get up to £120 for items the plan doesn't cover.
• The amount depends on other money available, such as from an insurance policy or your parent's estate, and is deducted from any money you get from the estate.
• You must apply within 6 months of the funeral, even if you're still waiting for a decision on a qualifying benefit. You can claim before the funeral with an invoice or signed contract from the funeral director, but not with an estimate.

The payout goes to the policy owner, or to someone else named under its terms. HMRC defines the owner as the person who applies for the policy and agrees to pay for it.

Assigning your parent's policy to you

Your parent can insure their own life and transfer ownership to you with a Deed of Assignment, a legal document a lawyer or financial adviser can provide. Because the law assumes an owner would only transfer a policy to protect the new owner financially, you don't need to prove insurable interest. Zurich, for example, must be told of the transfer by a notice of assignment.

Putting the policy in trust

Your parent could instead put their policy in trust, where trustees manage it for the beneficiaries. A policy in trust isn't treated as part of the estate, so it can be paid outside probate (the legal process of dealing with an estate) and Inheritance Tax. Many insurers offer a trust when you buy cover.

The payout goes straight to the people your parent chose. Probate can take months, so the money can arrive much more quickly (see life insurance in trust). If an over 50s plan has a Funeral Benefit Option, check its terms first: at Royal London, the policy can't go in trust or be assigned unless that option is cancelled.

Paying for your parent's own policy

Insurers set their own rules on who can pay. At Octopus Legacy, the Direct Debit payer must be the policyholder, paying from a personal UK bank or building society account. Ask the insurer before setting up payments from your own account for a policy your parent owns.

If you're a parent looking to protect your own young children, the policy goes on your own life. MoneyHelper says life insurance is especially important while children are young, and the amount you need depends on your debts, mortgage or rent, income and number of dependants.

• Life insurance for mums
• Life insurance for dads
• Family life insurance: cover for parents of dependent children
• Family income benefit: a monthly income instead of a lump sum

Before you arrange cover on a parent's life, check these five things.

1. Your insurable interest In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, being their child isn't enough on its own. You need a potential financial loss between you, or an obligation such as a court maintenance order.
2. Your parent's agreement What your parent tells the insurer counts as if you'd said it, and the insurer needs their consent before asking their doctor for a medical report.
3. Who will own the policy The payout goes to the policy owner or a named beneficiary. An assignment or a trust passes legal ownership to the new owner or the trustees.
4. Who can pay the premiums Some insurers, such as Octopus Legacy, require the policyholder to pay the Direct Debit. Premiums you pay on your parent's own policy may also count as a transfer from you for Inheritance Tax.
5. The waiting period on an over 50s plan Over 50s plans typically pay full cover only after a waiting period. Until then, a non-accidental death at Aviva, Legal & General or Smart Insurance only gets back the premiums paid.