Mortgage life insurance
Life insurance set up to help pay off your mortgage if you die before it’s repaid.
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What is mortgage life insurance?
Mortgage life insurance is life cover you set up to match your mortgage. You choose an amount of cover and a term that fit what you owe, so that if you die before the mortgage is repaid, the payout can clear it and the people you live with can stay in the home. HMRC describes mortgage protection policies as policies taken out to pay off the outstanding loan on a property when the policyholder dies.
It’s a type of term life insurance: it lasts for a set number of years and pays nothing if you outlive the term. That’s the difference from whole of life insurance, which pays out whenever you die, as long as you keep paying the premiums.
Mortgage life insurance is normally decreasing term cover, where the amount paid out falls over the term, roughly in line with a repayment mortgage. HMRC describes mortgage protection cover as decreasing insurance, and Legal & General says its Decreasing Life Insurance is often called mortgage life insurance. Not every insurer uses the name: Aviva sells decreasing cover on its Life Insurance Plan as mortgage protection, and Beagle Street calls it mortgage term life insurance.
When a lender asks for life cover
It isn’t a legal requirement to have life insurance when you get a mortgage, although Nationwide notes that some lenders may make it a condition of lending. Without cover, the mortgage still has to be paid: it’s normally one of the first debts paid out of the estate of the person who died. Our guide on whether you need life insurance for a mortgage goes through when lenders ask for cover, why you might want it anyway and what it means for a joint mortgage.
A higher lending charge isn’t mortgage life insurance. If you borrow more than a set share of the property’s value, usually 75–80%, your lender may make it a condition that you pay for extra insurance, called a higher lending charge or mortgage indemnity guarantee. You pay for it, but it’s owned by the lender, and HMRC says it shouldn’t be confused with mortgage protection policies.
Decreasing or level cover for your mortgage?
The type of cover usually follows the type of mortgage. Most mortgages offered now are repayment mortgages, where the amount you owe gets smaller every month and is repaid by the end of the term, which is usually 25 years. Decreasing cover is designed for this kind of mortgage.
With an interest-only mortgage you pay only the interest each month and repay what you borrowed at the end of the term, so the full amount is owed throughout. Level term cover, where the payout stays the same, is the usual match. Very few interest-only mortgages are now offered, mostly for buy-to-let or borrowing in later life.
| Feature | Decreasing cover | Level cover |
|---|---|---|
| Usually used for | A repayment mortgage, where the loan falls over time | An interest-only mortgage |
| The payout | Falls over the term, roughly in line with a repayment mortgage | Stays the same for the whole term |
| Price | Usually less than level cover | Usually more than decreasing cover |
| After the mortgage is paid off | Little or nothing is left over, as the cover is set to follow the loan | On a repayment mortgage, anything above the balance left is there for your family |
| Watch out for | The cover can fall faster or slower than your mortgage | Rising prices, which make a fixed payout worth less over time |
Level cover isn’t only for interest-only mortgages. Barclays’ mortgage protection, underwritten by Legal & General, offers level cover designed for interest-only and repayment mortgages. If your family would also need money to live on after the mortgage is paid off, level cover or family life insurance can cover both. If part of your mortgage is interest-only and part repayment, you can cover each part with its own type of cover.
Our guide to level term or decreasing life insurance compares the two side by side, including using both together. To see how your balance falls, try the mortgage life insurance calculator. The decreasing life insurance calculator shows how a policy’s cover falls at a given interest rate.
Things to know before you compare
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The policy’s interest rateDecreasing cover usually falls on a schedule worked out at an interest rate set in the policy, not at your actual mortgage rate. Nationwide tells customers to check that the rate used for their policy is the same as, or higher than, the rate on their mortgage.
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Match the amount and the termSet the cover to what you owe and the term to the years left on your mortgage. Best Insurance warns that if the cover or term is less than your mortgage, the policy won’t pay it off in full.
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When your mortgage changesRemortgaging, moving or borrowing more doesn’t change the policy. Barclays says you need to update the policy yourself if your finances change. Some policies let you add cover without health questions when you take out a new mortgage, such as Aviva’s Life Insurance+.
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Free cover while you buyMany of the insurers in the table below cover you free between exchange of contracts and completion. There are limits: Legal & General’s free cover is capped at £300,000 and isn’t available if you’re 55 or over.
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Adding critical illness coverCritical illness cover pays a lump sum if you’re diagnosed with a condition the policy covers, and MoneyHelper says it can be used for your mortgage, rent or treatment. Legal & General, for example, lets you add it to Decreasing Life Insurance for an extra cost.
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Answer every question fullyIf you didn’t answer truthfully or accurately when you applied, or left something out, MoneyHelper warns that the insurer might not pay out. Under FCA rules you can cancel within 30 days, without penalty.
Mortgage life insurance, payment protection and income protection
“Mortgage protection” is used for more than one kind of cover. Insurers often use it for mortgage life insurance: Vitality says mortgage protection insurance is also known as mortgage life insurance. Mortgage payment protection insurance (MPPI) is something else. HMRC describes it as cover for your monthly mortgage payments if you’re ill or unemployed, usually for one or two years at most, and says it shouldn’t be confused with mortgage protection life insurance. It’s often called accident, sickness and unemployment (ASU) cover.
| Feature | Mortgage life insurance | Mortgage payment protection | Income protection | Critical illness cover |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pays out if | You die during the term | You can’t work because of illness or unemployment, depending on the cover | You can’t work because of illness or an accident, but not if you’re made redundant | You’re diagnosed with a condition the policy covers |
| What it pays | A lump sum to pay off the mortgage | Your monthly mortgage payments | Part of your income, typically 50% to 65% | A tax-free, one-off lump sum |
| For how long | Once, then the policy ends | Usually one or two years at most, often after a wait of a few months | Until you can work again, retire, die or the policy ends | A one-off payment |
Life insurance only pays out when you die, not if you lose income because of illness or disability. MPPI only covers your mortgage payments. Income protection replaces part of your income, so it can help with other bills as well, and it can be claimed as many times as you need while the policy lasts. There’s often a waiting period before payments start, most commonly 4, 13 or 26 weeks or a year, and a longer wait means lower premiums. Citizens Advice notes that critical illness cover sold with a mortgage isn’t the same as MPPI either.
If you’re thinking of payment protection insurance (PPI) sold with a mortgage in the past: PPI was often sold with mortgages, and the FCA’s deadline for complaints to the firm that sold it was 29 August 2019. You can still buy PPI and other short-term income cover. To work out how much income you’d need if you couldn’t work, try the income protection calculator.
Mortgage life insurance for a joint mortgage
If you’re buying with a partner, you can cover the mortgage with one joint policy or two single policies. The ABI gives a couple buying a home together with a joint mortgage as an example of people who might take out life insurance jointly.
A joint policy is usually cheaper than two single policies, but it only pays out on the first death, while two single policies pay out on each death. A joint policy then ends, so the surviving partner needs a new policy to stay covered. Whichever you choose, cover the whole balance: after one borrower dies, the lender can still recover a joint debt from the other.
If you separate, some insurers let you split a joint policy into two single policies. Legal & General offers this on Decreasing Life Insurance after a divorce, the end of a civil partnership, or when a joint mortgage moves into one name, and Vitality lets you split a joint plan that protected a mortgage within three months of a divorce or dissolution.
How you own the home matters as well. GOV.UK explains that if you own it as joint tenants, the property automatically goes to the other owner if you die, but as tenants in common your share doesn’t.
Insurers that offer mortgage life insurance
These are the 31 insurers, banks, building societies and shops we’ve reviewed that sell decreasing cover for a mortgage. Some banks and building societies sell cover provided by an insurer: Nationwide’s, for example, is provided by Legal & General and Santander’s by Aviva. Each name links to our full review.
The table shows how each policy’s decreasing cover falls, so you can compare it with your mortgage rate, and whether it includes free cover while you buy a home. Free cover has conditions, such as an age limit: you need to be under 55 at Legal & General and under 50 at Vitality.
No insurer suits everyone: our guide to finding the best life insurance for you explains what else to compare, such as claims records and ratings.
| Insurer | Mortgage cover | How decreasing cover falls | Free cover while you buy |
|---|---|---|---|
| Assura Protect | Decreasing Term Mortgage Cover | Each year, like a repayment mortgage at 8% | Not published |
| Aviva | Life Insurance Plan, decreasing cover (sold as mortgage protection) | Monthly, at a fixed 8%; 4% to 15% on adviser policies | Up to 90 days while you buy a home, up to £500,000 |
| Bank of Scotland | Decreasing cover by phone; cover bought online is level | Scottish Widows Protect: a rate you choose, from 0% to 18% | Scottish Widows Protect: up to 90 days from exchange, up to £1,000,000; new mortgages only |
| Barclays | Life insurance for mortgage protection, level or decreasing | Roughly in line with a repayment mortgage, at a rate shown on your policy schedule | Between exchange and completion, up to 90 days and £300,000 |
| Beagle Street | Decreasing term, also called mortgage term life insurance | 6% if bought direct; 3% to 10% through an adviser | Not published |
| Best Insurance | Best Insurance Life Insurance, decreasing payout | Like a repayment mortgage at a fixed 8% | Not published |
| Blueberry Life | Blueberry Life Insurance, decreasing cover | Monthly, equivalent to 8% a year | Not published |
| Co-op Insurance | Decreasing Life Insurance, to help protect a repayment mortgage | Roughly in line with a repayment mortgage, at an interest rate applied to the policy | Between exchange and completion, up to 90 days and £300,000; not for people aged 55 or over |
| Forester Life | Mortgage Protection, level or decreasing | Each year, as shown in your plan schedule | Not published |
| Guardian | Life Protection and Life Essentials, Decreasing Cover | Monthly, in line with a repayment mortgage at 8% | Not published |
| Halifax | Decreasing cover by phone or through a Mortgage and Protection Adviser | Scottish Widows Protect: a rate you choose, from 0% to 18% | Scottish Widows Protect: up to £1,000,000; new mortgages only |
| Legal & General | Decreasing Life Insurance, often called mortgage life insurance | Roughly in line with a repayment mortgage; 5%, 7%, 8% or 10% through an adviser | Between exchange and completion, up to 90 days and £300,000 |
| Lloyds Bank | Decreasing cover by phone or through a mortgage and protection adviser | Scottish Widows Protect: a fixed rate you choose, from 0% to 18% | Scottish Widows Protect: up to 90 days from exchange, up to £1,000,000; new mortgages only |
| LV= | Life Protection, decreasing cover for repayment mortgages | A claim normally pays what’s left on your mortgage if the policy’s conditions are met; otherwise it’s worked out at 6% | Not published |
| National Friendly | Friendly Life Cover, decreasing, for mortgage or debt protection | Assumes a 6% interest rate | Not published |
| Nationwide | Mortgage life insurance (decreasing cover) | At an interest rate applied to your policy | Between exchange and completion, up to 90 days and £300,000 |
| NatWest | Life Insurance Plan, decreasing cover (mortgage protection) | Monthly, at a fixed 8% | Between exchange and completion, up to 90 days and £500,000 |
| NFU Mutual | Aviva Life Insurance+ decreasing cover, for a capital and interest repayment mortgage | Every month, at a rate set when you apply, usually to roughly track a repayment mortgage | Up to 90 days while you buy a home, for the lower of the amount applied for, the house price or £500,000 |
| Post Office | Post Office Life Insurance, decreasing cover | Monthly, like a repayment mortgage at 8%, with a Mortgage Guarantee if your mortgage rate is higher (conditions apply) | Not published |
| Royal Bank of Scotland | Life Insurance Plan, decreasing cover (mortgage protection) | Monthly, at a fixed 8% | Between exchange and completion, up to 90 days and £500,000 |
| Royal London | Personal Menu Plan, decreasing Life Cover | A set rate from 0% to 15% | Free Cover from your application, extended to mortgage completion; 90 days at most |
| Sainsbury’s | Decreasing Life Insurance, also called repayment mortgage life insurance | At a rate shown in your quote or policy schedule | Between exchange and completion, up to 90 days and £300,000 |
| Santander | Mortgage life insurance: decreasing cover for a repayment mortgage, level for interest-only | Monthly, at a fixed 8% | Between exchange and completion, up to 90 days and £500,000 |
| Scottish Widows | Scottish Widows Protect and Mortgage Plan & Protect | Scottish Widows Protect: a fixed rate you choose, from 0% to 18% | Scottish Widows Protect: up to 90 days from exchange, up to £1,000,000; new mortgages only |
| Tesco Insurance | Mortgage Protection (decreasing cover) | Monthly, at a fixed 8% | Up to 90 days from exchange, up to £500,000 |
| The Exeter | Real Life, decreasing cover | Monthly, like a repayment mortgage at 8% | Once contracts are exchanged, if the policy protects a mortgage; up to £500,000 |
| TSB | Decreasing life insurance | At an interest rate applied to your policy | Between exchange and completion, up to 90 days and £300,000 |
| Ulster Bank | Life Insurance Plan, decreasing cover (mortgage protection) | Monthly, at a fixed 8% | Between exchange and completion, up to 90 days and £500,000 |
| Virgin Money | Family & Lifestyle Life Insurance, decreasing term | Modelled on 6% | Not published |
| Vitality | Decreasing Life Cover, which Vitality also calls mortgage protection | Monthly, like the capital on a repayment mortgage | Mortgage Free Cover: up to three months before your mortgage or plan starts, up to £300,000 |
| Zurich | Decreasing cover, also known as mortgage life insurance | Online, a rate Zurich sets and shows on your quote; through an adviser, 2% to 18% | Between exchange and completion, up to 90 days and £500,000 |
Listed alphabetically, not ranked. Compiled on 3 October 2026 from each insurer’s published information, checked on 24 September 2026, 25 September 2026 and 3 October 2026. The documents behind each row are listed in our review of that insurer. A dash means we didn’t find it in the insurer’s published information.
What does mortgage life insurance cost?
Your price depends on you as much as on the mortgage. MoneyHelper says premiums depend on things such as your age, health, lifestyle, whether you smoke, your family medical history, the length of the policy and your job. Decreasing cover usually costs less than level cover, because the amount the insurer might pay out falls over the term. If you smoke or vape, see life insurance for smokers.
Some insurers publish example prices for decreasing cover:
| Insurer | Example | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Assura Protect | £350,000 over 20 years, single decreasing cover, aged 35, no medical loadings | £10.00 a month, 26 May 2023 |
| Beagle Street | £200,000 over 20 years, decreasing cover, aged 30, non-smoker | Less than £6 a month (no date given) |
| Royal London | £260,000 over 24 years, joint decreasing cover at 6% through an adviser, a couple aged 34 and 32, non-smokers | £14.38 a month, including a £2.60 plan fee, June 2025 |
| Virgin Money | £215,000 over 25 years, decreasing cover, aged 30, has never smoked | Under £6 a month, January 2026 |
Listed alphabetically, not ranked. Compiled on 3 October 2026 from each insurer’s published information, checked on 24 and 25 September 2026. The documents behind each row are listed in our review of that insurer. These are each insurer’s own examples for the people and dates shown, not a guide to your price.
Insurer guides
Our guides to single insurers’ mortgage life insurance policies, listed alphabetically.
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Mortgage life insurance questions
It isn’t a legal requirement. Nationwide notes that some lenders may make it a condition of lending, so check your mortgage offer. Halifax and Lloyds Bank both say you don’t need their cover to get a mortgage with them.
Often, yes. Vitality, for example, says mortgage protection insurance is also known as mortgage life insurance. Mortgage payment protection insurance (MPPI) is different: it pays your monthly mortgage payments for a limited time if you’re ill or unemployed, and HMRC says it shouldn’t be confused with mortgage protection life insurance.
Decreasing cover is designed for a repayment mortgage, where the loan falls over time. Level cover is commonly used for an interest-only mortgage. Decreasing cover usually costs less, but level cover pays the same amount throughout, so on a repayment mortgage there could be money left over for your family.
The mortgage is normally one of the first debts paid out of your estate. If someone inherits your home with the mortgage still on it, the lender will either ask for the mortgage to be repaid straight away or ask them to take it over.
Not unless you’ve assigned (transferred) the policy to your lender. The policy is separate from your mortgage: Aviva, for example, says it can’t link its Life Insurance Plan directly to your mortgage. Otherwise the money goes to your estate, or to the surviving policyholder on a joint policy, or to the trustees if the policy is in trust, and they can use it to pay off the mortgage.
No. You can take out one joint policy or two single policies. A joint policy is usually cheaper, but it only pays out on the first death; two single policies pay out on each death.
Nothing changes by itself, because the policy is separate from the mortgage. Legal & General, for example, says its policy pays out on a valid claim during the term whether or not you still have the mortgage. But if you change your mortgage or your mortgage rate goes up, decreasing cover might not be enough to pay it off in full. Check your cover against the new balance, rate and term, and ask your insurer whether you can increase it.
Each insurer sets its own. Legal & General’s Decreasing Life Insurance, for example, can be bought up to age 74, and the policy must end before age 90.
It can help your family get the money sooner. A policy in trust isn’t counted as part of your estate and can be paid outside probate and Inheritance Tax, and Legal & General says it could pay out within a couple of weeks of the death certificate being issued. But if you’ve assigned the policy to your mortgage lender as security, Aviva says it can’t be put in trust. See life insurance in trust.
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This page is for general information only and should not be considered financial advice. The right cover depends on your personal circumstances.
Sources
The facts on this page come from these sources.
- GOV.UK: IHTM20088 - Life Policies: definitions: 'mortgage protection policies' and 'mortgage indemnity guarantees' (opens in a new tab); IPTM8080 - Combined policies: family income cover and mortgage protection cover: ICTA88/SCH15/PARA9 (opens in a new tab); IPTM6105 - Sickness disability and unemployment insurance: types of policies (opens in a new tab); Joint property ownership (opens in a new tab) · gov.uk, accessed 26 September 2026.
- MoneyHelper: What is life insurance? (opens in a new tab); Managing your finances after your partner dies (opens in a new tab); Interest-only and repayment mortgages explained (opens in a new tab); What is critical illness cover? (opens in a new tab); What is income protection insurance? (opens in a new tab) · moneyhelper.org.uk, accessed 26 September 2026.
- Nationwide Building Society: Mortgage life insurance (opens in a new tab) · nationwide.co.uk, accessed 26 September 2026.
- Citizens Advice: Buying a home (opens in a new tab); How to deal with mortgage debts (opens in a new tab); Illness insurance (opens in a new tab); Dealing with the financial affairs of someone who has died (opens in a new tab) · citizensadvice.org.uk, accessed 26 September 2026.
- Association of British Insurers: Term insurance (opens in a new tab); Income protection (opens in a new tab) · abi.org.uk, accessed 26 September 2026.
- Financial Conduct Authority: ICOBS 7.1 The right to cancel (opens in a new tab); PPI complaints (opens in a new tab) · handbook.fca.org.uk, fca.org.uk, accessed 26 September 2026.
- Aviva: Aviva Trust (writing a life insurance policy in trust) (opens in a new tab) · aviva.co.uk, accessed 26 September 2026.
- Legal & General: Putting life insurance in trust (guide) (opens in a new tab) · legalandgeneral.com, accessed 26 September 2026.
- Insurer documents: Aviva, Barclays, Beagle Street, Best Insurance, Halifax, Legal & General, Lloyds Bank, Nationwide, Royal London, Santander, Vitality, Zurich. Each insurer’s policy documents, claims figures and announcements are listed in our review of that insurer.
Guides in this topic
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Do you need life insurance for a mortgage?
Whether a UK mortgage needs life insurance, when lenders ask for it and how to choose cover.
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Life insurance vs mortgage protection
What mortgage life insurance, level life cover and mortgage payment protection each pay, and how each fits your mortgage.
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Mortgage payment protection insurance
How MPPI works, what it leaves out, how it compares with income protection and what to check before you buy.
Related pages
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Decreasing term life insurance
The payout falls over the term, often in line with a mortgage.
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Level term life insurance
The payout stays the same for the whole term.
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Joint life insurance
One policy for two people, compared with two single policies.
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Life insurance in trust
How a trust works and how it can affect the payout.
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Critical illness cover
A lump sum on diagnosis of a serious illness your policy covers.
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Income protection
A monthly payment if you can’t work due to accident or illness.
