Life insurance frequently asked questions

If you have a Life Insurance Plan with decreasing cover, the cover amount decreases over time, broadly in line with the repayment mortgage or long-term loan that you’re repaying. Your premiums stay the same during the term of the policy, unless you make changes to the cover. Decreasing cover usually costs less than level cover. 

The policy will pay out if you die, or are diagnosed with a terminal illness during the policy term that meets our definition. Once the payment is made, your policy will end, and no further claims will be paid. There's no cash-in value at any time and if premiums stop, your cover will end.

If you have a life insurance policy with increasing cover and your monthly payments may increase over time, to help. help protect your cover amount from the effects of inflation.

With our Life Insurance Plan with increasing cover, the level of cover increases annually in line with the Consumer Price Index (CPI), a recognised measure of inflation, and your premiums will also increase annually to reflect this. The maximum amount your cover can increase by is 10%, and your premiums could increase by a maximum of 15%. If you choose not to accept the increase, or if the CPI doesn't increase, your cover and premiums will stay the same. If premiums stop, the cover will end.

The policy pays out a lump sum if you die or are diagnosed with a terminal illness during the policy term that meets our definition. Once the payment is made, your policy will end, and no further claims will be paid. There's no cash-in value at any time and if premiums stop, your cover will end.

There's no right or wrong answer to this. It usually comes down to personal preference and individual circumstances. But generally speaking, people might take out life insurance when they reach a certain age or when specific life events happen - such as buying a house, getting married or having a baby - so their loved ones are financially protected should the worst happen. 

Your policy conditions and policy schedule documents will explain what you're covered for. These will have been sent to you when you first took out your policy. If your policy is available in MyAviva, you can log in or register and check your cover details there.

If you're not sure please contact us

Yes. You need to be aged between 18 and 77 to take out a Life Insurance Plan with us. You can take out a policy to cover you for any duration from one to 50 years, but your age when the policy expires must be younger than 91.

This depends on your age, the cover amount and the information you gave us about your health on your application. 

Most people who apply for our cover don’t need a medical. However, if you're applying for a large amount of cover, we might ask you to have a medical with either a nurse or a doctor.

We look at everyone’s application individually. If you're asked to have a medical, it’s so we can learn more while we assess your application. It doesn’t automatically mean your application won’t be accepted.

Yes, our Life Insurance Plan includes terminal illness benefit. This means we’ll pay out if you’re diagnosed with a terminal illness during the policy term that meets our policy definition. Once payment is made, your policy will end, and no further claims will be paid. There is no cash in value at any time.

Yes, you can. If your combined cover is for a high amount, we might need to do a more in-depth financial assessment to make sure we're insuring you for the right amount.

The main difference is that life insurance is a term policy, so it covers you for a specific amount of time, while over 50 life insurance is a whole of life policy, so it covers you for the rest of your life.

To take out our Over 50s Life Insurance you need to be aged between 50 and 80. Your premiums are fixed for life, and you won’t need a medical or health check. You can choose a cover amount to help pay for a funeral, or it can be used for other costs, or to leave a gift to your partner or family. Once you’ve had your policy for 30 years, or from the soonest policy anniversary after your 90th birthday, you’ll no longer pay anything, but your cover will continue. It can’t be taken out as a joint policy. It's a whole of life policy that pays out on death. There's no cash-in value at any time. If the premiums stop, the cover will end. The total amount you pay for cover will depend on how long you live for. You could pay in more than is paid out. The cover amount is fixed and  inflation can reduce its value over time. The full cover amount will only be paid after a specified initial period, which is one year.

With our Life Insurance Plan, you need to be aged between 18 and 77 to apply, and your cover stops at the end of the policy term. You can choose a cover amount and then select cover that either stays the same, increases to protect against the effects of inflation or decreases over time in line with a capital and interest repayment mortgage or loan. You can also take out a single or joint life insurance policy. Joint life policies pay out once only. The policy ends after the first person has passed away. If premiums stop, the cover will end. There's no cash-in value at any time. 

If you're unsure which one might be right for you, you can speak to a financial adviser. If you don’t have a financial adviser, you can find one at unbiased.co.uk. Please be aware that you may need to pay for this advice.

The Aviva DigiCare+ app, offers access to a range of services to help you look after yourself. It can help detect, manage, and prevent physical and mental health problems. You'll have access to this service through an Aviva Life Insurance Plan, Critical Illness Plan or Over 50s Life Insurance. The services available are:

• Annual health check
• Access to a 24/7 Bupa Anytime Nurse HealthLine 
• Mental health consultations
• Bereavement support
• Nutritional support
• Second opinion service

Aviva DigiCare+ is a non-contractual benefit Aviva can change or withdraw at any time. To be eligible for these services, you must be a permanent resident of Great Britain, Northern Ireland, the Channel Islands or Isle of Man. Terms and conditions and the privacy policy can be found within the app. The app is provided by Square Health and the services are provided by Square Health and a handful of other carefully selected providers. Find out more about all these Aviva DigiCare+ services.

You can pay your premiums monthly by Direct Debit.

If you choose level or decreasing cover, your monthly payments are guaranteed to stay the same for the duration of your policy.

For decreasing life insurance, premiums are set at the start of the policy to consider the decreasing amount of cover you'll need during the policy term. Premiums for decreasing cover are often cheaper than other types of life insurance.

With level cover, if you choose to help protect your payments from the effects of inflation, so the lump sum won’t be worth less in the future, your monthly payments may rise. The maximum annual increase would be 15% to your premiums and 10% to your cover.

For level or decreasing cover, it's worth noting that if premiums stop, the cover will end. There is no cash-in value at any time.

If you’re feeling any financial pressure, we're here to support you and find a solution. You can explore options like permanently reducing your monthly payments by adjusting your cover or the duration of protection which could make things more manageable. 

We also offer a cost of living support scheme. This allows you to lower your payments for now, with the freedom to increase them again in 12-24 months without having to complete a new, full application. If you reduce your payments your cover will also go down.

It's worth keeping in mind that as the cost of cover is linked to your age and health, you may pay more for the equivalent total cover in the future if you decide to top your cover back up.

If your premiums stop, your cover will end.

If you don't pay your premiums, your policy will automatically end. There's no cash-in value at any time.

Yes. You have a 30-day cooling-off period from your policy start date, or from when you get your policy documents (whichever is later), to change your mind. If you want to cancel within this time, we'll refund any premiums you've paid. Remember, there’s no cash-in value at any time, and, if you cancel your policy, you won't be able to make a claim.

If you want to cancel the policy after the cooling-off period ends, your premiums won’t be refunded. If you're thinking about cancelling your policy, please contact us, or write to Aviva Life, Norwich BCC, PO Box 520, Norwich, NR1 3WG.

No. Our Life Insurance Plan has no cash-in value at any time.

You have a 30-day cooling off period from your policy start date, or from when you get your policy documents (whichever is later), to change your mind. If you want to cancel within this time, we'll refund any premiums you've paid. If you want to cancel the policy after the cooling-off period ends, your premiums won’t be refunded. If you cancel your policy, you won't be able to make a claim.

If your name has changed, please contact us. Dependent upon the circumstances, we may need to see evidence of the change in the form of an original or certified legal document.

If you've moved house, please contact us or write to Aviva Life, Norwich BCC, PO Box 520, Norwich, NR1 3WG. 

We can update your Direct Debit details over the phone. Please have your new details handy and and please contact us . You may also be able to do this online via MyAviva. Your new Direct Debit will be active within 14 days.

In most cases, yes, you can keep your cover in place - as long as you continue to pay your premium from a UK-based bank account. But, there might be times we can't continue to cover you as moving abroad may affect the ability to continue to benefit fully from the features of the policy, and we may need to change, reduce or remove any policy terms. If you're unsure about which cover is right for you, you can speak to a financial adviser. If you don’t have a financial adviser, you can find one at unbiased.co.uk. Please be aware that you may need to pay for this advice.

If you're thinking about living abroad and you'd like to find out how it may impact your cover, call the team on 0800 285 1098. Our opening hours are Monday to Friday, 8am - 6pm. For our joint protection, telephone calls may be recorded and /or monitored.

It varies, but once we’ve discussed the claim, we can usually estimate timescales. Once we've agreed to pay the claim and have everything we need, we’ll aim to pay out within five working days. The process may be quicker if you consider placing your policy in a Trust. We will pay the claim proceeds to the trustees (provided there is at least one surviving trustee), so we won’t need to wait for personal representatives to be appointed to administer your estate.

Yes. You could put your life insurance policy in a trust, such as our Aviva Trust, and name who you'd like to benefit from receiving the money if a claim is successful. We will pay the claim proceeds to the trustees (provided there is at least one surviving trustee), so we won’t need to wait for personal representatives to be appointed to administer your estate.

Payments may not be counted as part of your estate, so may not be liable for Inheritance Tax. Tax treatment depends on your circumstances, and bear in mind that tax laws may change in the future. Setting up a trust has legal and financial implications, so you should speak with a financial adviser and/or tax specialist. If you don't have a financial adviser, you can find out at unbiased.co.uk. Please be aware that you may need to pay for this advice.

If your policy is not held under trust, you could include instructions about who receives any proceeds from your policy when you make a will, but this may not provide the same protection against Inheritance Tax.

If a loved one held a life insurance policy with us and has died, find out how to let us know and how to start a claim. We’ll guide you through the claims process step-by-step and you can ask us any questions you have along the way.

For further support we've pulled together a helping you through bereavement guide.

Yes. We need to see the original death certificate and can’t accept a copy. We may also need to see original copies of the document proving your legal entitlement to deal with the estate (eg grant of representation). We'll return these to you as soon as we can. See our claims process.

You may get an interim death certificate if the death gets referred to a coroner and an inquest is opened. We can accept this, but we'll usually need to ask the coroner to give us some more information before we can start to assess the claim. You may need to wait until the inquest is complete before we can assess the death claim.

If your life insurance policy is in a Trust, we may be able to pay the claim quicker than if your policy isn’t in a trust, provided there is at least one surviving trustee. It could also help keep the payout outside the scope of Inheritance Tax. If you're considering a trust, talk to a financial adviser. Bear in mind that tax rules may change in the future. If you don’t have a financial adviser, you can find one at unbiased.co.uk. Please be aware that you may need to pay for this advice.

You can apply for a grant of representation yourself or pay a solicitor or probate specialist to do it for you. In Scotland, you’ll need a certificate of confirmation, which you can apply for at the local Sheriff Court.

If you receive a life insurance payout, you won't need to pay capital gains tax, or income tax - but you might need to pay inheritance tax, unless the money is placed in a trust.

No. There's no cash-in value at any time. At the end of your life insurance policy term you stop making payments and your cover ends.

It depends on the type of life insurance cover you have.

If you have critical illness cover that’s independent of your life insurance, your life cover will continue for both of you if you carry on paying your premiums. If your partner also has critical illness cover, this will also continue, regardless of your claim.

If you have integrated critical illness and life insurance cover, life cover will end for both of you as soon as your claim’s been paid – unless we pay out for children’s benefit or additional critical illness cover, in which case, your cover will continue.

Check your policy documents or contact us if you’re not sure about what your policy covers.

Currently we allow cover to continue where a customer relocates temporarily or permanently to a different country within the EU/EEA during the term of their policy. However, there may be some restrictions on changing your existing policies.

In all EU territories, there’ll be restrictions on increasing the level and length of your cover. In addition, you won’t be able to renew policies or receive any further cover.

Customers residing in France will not be able to change their level of cover or premiums paid at all.  For customers with reviewable premiums this may mean that cover needs to be cancelled. We’ll write to you if this impacts you.

You should take independent financial advice if you’re unsure about what to do.

If you have an Aviva Life Insurance policy, you can get in touch with us using a qualified BSL interpreter for free as part of our partnership with online video interpreting service SignLive. Find out more about how to use the SignLive service.

We're hoping to extend our Signlive partnership to all our customers and for all queries soon. But in the meantime, if you don't meet the criteria to use Signlive, there are other ways to contact us, including using one of our on line forms or LiveChat. You may also be able to to resolve your query by logging into your MyAviva account. For all the ways to get in touch with us, see our contact us page.