If you are looking to buy life insurance, it’s important to compare policies carefully. In this independent review, we take an in-depth look at Aviva life insurance, including the types of life cover available and typical costs, as well as any additional benefits. We also explain how to get £100 cashback* when you buy life insurance.
Who is Aviva?
Aviva’s earliest constituent, the Hand in Hand, was founded in London in 1696. The company was established as a mutual society and was once the world’s oldest existing fire insurance office. In 1706 the company’s life insurance business, the Amicable Society, was set up. This was acquired by the Norwich Union Life Insurance Society in 1866, while Commercial Union acquired the Hand in Hand Fire and Life Insurance Society in 1905.
In 1998, Commercial Union and General Accident merged to create CGU plc. Two years later, CGU and Norwich Union merged to become CGNU plc. On 1 July 2002, CGNU changed its name to Aviva plc while retaining brands such as Norwich Union (UK), Delta Lloyd (Netherlands), and Morley Fund Management.
Norwich Union was rebranded as Aviva in 2009 and a year later, Aviva was listed on the New York Stock Exchange. The company acquired life and pensions firm Friends Life in 2015.
Aviva is the largest UK insurance company providing life insurance to over 11 million customers. Aviva also provides a variety of different insurances including health insurance, car insurance, home insurance and many others. Aviva insurance provides its various insurance products to over 15 million customers.
Aviva won the ‘Risk and Resilience’ award at the British Insurance Awards in 2021 as well as 'The Best Protection Provider' awarded by Money Marketing in the same year. At the British Insurance Awards 2024, Aviva won five awards including 'General Insurer of the Decade' and gained the 'Keeping People Protected' award at the LifeSearch 2024 awards.
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Aviva Overview
The bullet points below provide an overview of Aviva’s life insurance policy.
- Policy types: Choose from level term, decreasing term, mortgage life insurance, increasing term, whole of life cover, over 50s cover, or family income benefit, as well as joint or single policies. Terminal Illness Cover is automatically included and Critical Illness cover can be added to a life insurance policy for an additional cost.
- Claims report: 2023 - Life insurance 99.3%, critical illness 91.6%, 2022 - Life insurance 99.4%, critical illness 93.5%, 2021 - Life insurance 99.4%, critical illness 92.4%, 2020 - Life insurance 99.3%, critical illness 92.7%, 2019 - Life insurance 98.6%, critical illness 93.1%.
- Additional benefits: Free life cover for up to 90 days if you are buying a property. Children’s critical illness cover is automatically included if you take out your own critical illness benefit policy.
- Up to £100 cashback: If you apply for a policy through LifeSearch* (simply click on the link and complete the short form), you will receive up to £100 cashback. We explain more below.
- Free parent life cover: 12 months of up to £15,000 worth of life insurance for each parent, per child under the age of 4, free of charge.
Up to £100 cashback on life insurance
Our partner LifeSearch will help you get the best and cheapest life insurance.
- Search the market and all the leading insurers
- Free advice with no obligation to purchase
- Up to £100 cashback for new customers
Aviva Policy Summary
The table below outlines the key facts and features for Aviva’s life insurance policy:
Aviva life insurance summary
| Type of cover | Life Insurance |
| Options | Level term, decreasing term, mortgage life insurance, increasing term, whole of life, over 50s cover, or family income benefit. |
| Policy Coverage | Single or joint life first event (pays out on first death). |
| Terminal Illness Cover included? | Terminal Illness Cover is automatically included and will pay out if you are diagnosed with a terminal illness and life expectancy is less than 12 months. |
| Can cover increase over time (indexation)? | If you add index-linked increasing cover, the amount of cover will increase each year in line with the Retail Prices Index (RPI), up to a maximum of 10%. Your monthly premiums will also go up at 1.5 times the rate of the RPI increase. |
| Waiver of Premium | Available as an add-on, this means you won’t have to pay your monthly premiums if you cannot work due to an accident or injury. |
| Minimum age at entry | 18 years old
50 years old for over 50s life insurance |
| Maximum age at entry | 89 years old
80 years old for over 50s life insurance |
| Policy Exclusions | Suicide in the first 12 months is not covered. Terminal Illness Cover will not pay out if the illness diagnosis does not meet the definition set out in the policy terms, or if you’re diagnosed with an illness and are expected to live longer than 12 months. |
The table below outlines the key facts and features of Aviva’s critical illness policy:
Aviva critical illness insurance summary
| Type of cover | Critical Illness |
| Can it be combined with life cover? | Critical illness cover can be added to a life insurance policy for an additional cost. |
| Premium type | Guaranteed or Reviewable. |
| Number of critical illnesses covered | 41 conditions that provide a full payment based on your chosen insured amount
11 conditions that provide a partial payment of up to the lower of £25,000 or 25% of the cover amount |
| Children’s critical illness cover included | Automatically included for children from the age of 30 days up to their 18th birthday, or 21st birthday if in full-time education.
Amount payable is 50% of the sum assured, up to a maximum of £25,000. |
| Minimum age at entry | 18 years old |
| Maximum age at entry | 64 years old |
| Policy exclusions | No payout will be given if you are diagnosed with a critical illness that does not meet the policy terms or if you die within 10 days of being diagnosed. |
Additional free benefits provided by Aviva
- Life insurance includes Terminal Illness Cover which will pay out a fixed lump sum of cash if you are diagnosed with an illness that is likely to cause death within 12 months.
- Up to 90 days’ free life insurance if you take out a policy to coincide with a house purchase. Cover starts when your application has been accepted and contracts have been exchanged.
- If you separate from a partner, the separation benefit allows you to split a joint policy into two single policies without having to answer any extra medical questions.
- Accelerated surgery benefit is included with life and critical illness cover and pays out in advance if you are put on an NHS waiting list for one of six eligible surgeries.
- Children’s critical illness cover is automatically included if you take out your own policy. The amount payable is 50% of the cover amount, up to a maximum of £25,000. Children’s hospital benefit is also included, and you’ll receive £5,000 if the child dies.
Optional benefits provided by Aviva
- Waiver of Premium is available for an additional cost. This means you won’t have to pay your premiums if you are unable to work due to an accident or injury. You can choose a deferred period of one, three or six months.
- Conversion option allows you to convert a term life insurance policy to a whole of life policy without answering any additional medical questions.
- Increasing cover where the amount that you are insured for increases in line with the consumer price index (CPI) to stop the value from being eroded due to inflation. While the benefit amount will increase each year in line with CPI, the monthly cost will increase by 1.5 times CPI each year to pay for this.
- Fracture cover pays a lump sum of up to £6,000 if you suffer from one of 18 specified fractures.
- Option to add global treatment cover which provides access to second medical opinions and overseas medical treatment.
- Extra Care cover can be added to life and critical illness cover. This provides an additional £50,000 cash lump sum if you are diagnosed with a condition that results in severe and permanent symptoms.
- Total permanent disability cover can be added to life and critical illness cover for an additional cost.
- You can also upgrade your critical illness policy or your children’s critical illness policy to cover a wider range of conditions.
How much does Aviva insurance cost?
To give you an idea of how much you could pay each month with an Aviva life insurance policy, the tables below show premiums for £250,000 of level term life insurance over a 20-year term.
We’ve looked at costs for both a non-smoker and a smoker in various age groups and compared premiums to the cheapest and most expensive in the market.
Aviva life insurance price comparison - £250,000 over 20 years (Non-Smoker)
| Age | Aviva monthly premium | Cheapest monthly premium | Most expensive monthly premium |
| 25 | £5.85 | £5.85 | £7.94 |
| 35 | £13.04 | £10.26 | £12.22 |
| 45 | £28.14 | £23.50 | £28.55 |
All prices are correct as of 24th September 2024 and assume that the applicant has no adverse health or lifestyle risks
Aviva life insurance price comparison - £250,000 over 20 years (Smoker)
| Age | Aviva monthly premium | Cheapest monthly premium | Most expensive monthly premium |
| 25 | £11.26 | £9.40 | £11.58 |
| 35 | £22.92 | £19.16 | £23.48 |
| 45 | £66.09 | £51.33 | £70.55 |
All prices are correct as of 24th September 2024 and assume that the applicant has no adverse health or lifestyle risks
It’s important to use the above figures as a guideline only. How much you, as an individual, pay for life insurance will depend on a number of factors, including:
- Your age
- Whether you smoke
- Your health
- Your occupation
- The level of cover you choose
- The term of your policy.
It’s a good idea to speak to an independent insurance specialist before taking out a policy to ensure you find the right cover at the best price. Below we explain how you can also qualify for up to £100 cashback if you decide to take out a life insurance policy.
Aviva life insurance reviews
Trustpilot reviews rate Aviva insurance as 'Great' with 4.1 out of 5 stars derived from over 38,000 reviews. Aviva's Life Insurance+ and Life Insurance+ upgraded products are rated with 5 stars by Defaqto while the Aviva Life Insurance Plan is rated 3 stars and Aviva Simple Life Insurance is rated 2 stars.
Best way to buy Aviva life insurance
If you’re looking to buy a life insurance policy with Aviva, it’s worth first speaking to an independent insurance specialist such as LifeSearch*. They can access quotes from all major insurance companies to ensure you are getting the best deal, and match you with the insurance provider who will view your application more favourably.
Independent insurance specialists can advise you on the amount and type of cover you need, and help you to complete your application forms. They can also provide support should you want to put your policy into trust or make a claim in the future. Simply fill in this short form* to get a quote. There is no obligation to take things further, but if you choose to take out an insurance policy you will qualify for up to £100 cashback.
Aviva life insurance summary
- Established in 2000, the company can trace its history back to 1696.
- In 2023, Aviva paid out 99.3% of life insurance claims and 91.6% of critical illness claims.
- Life insurance automatically includes Terminal Illness Cover, while Critical Illness cover can be added for an additional cost.
- House purchase cover is included which provides free life cover from when your application is accepted for up to 90 days.
- Free parent life insurance of up to £15,000 is available for each parent per child under the age of 4 years old for up to 12 months.
- Separation benefit allows you to split a joint policy into single policies if you separate from a partner.
- If you take out critical illness cover, Aviva offers children’s critical illness cover automatically. Accelerated surgery cover is also included which will pay out early if you are put on an NHS waiting list.
- Aviva life insurance may not be the cheapest option for you as the amount you pay will depend on a number of different factors. It, therefore, pays to shop around and compare policies carefully to ensure you get the right cover at the right price.
- If you buy life insurance through LifeSearch*, you will receive up to £100 cashback. Click on the link and complete the short form to be called back at a time that suits you.
If a link has an * beside it this means that it is an affiliated link. If you go via the link, Money to the Masses may receive a small fee which helps keep Money to the Masses free to use. The following link can be used if you do not wish to help Money to the Masses and do not wish to qualify for the cashback referred to in the article - LifeSearch