Supermarkets are a place where you can buy financial products as well as your fruit and veg. In this article, we describe what types of life insurance can be bought through Sainsbury's bank paying particular attention to the quality and price so that you know if they are a good buy.
We'll also share a one-stop search that may help you find the best and cheapest life insurance for your personal circumstances and you can get up to £100 cashback too.
Who is Sainsbury’s Bank
Sainsbury's Bank was the first supermarket to set up a bank in the UK in 1997. It set out to offer financial products and services under its Sainsbury's banner including credit cards, loans, travel money as well as car, home, pet, travel all of which can be bought either online or over the telephone. Sainsbury's Bank is registered and authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) under registration number 837287.
Sainsbury's Bank sells life insurance, mortgage life insurance and over 50s life insurance which are all provided by Legal & General one of the leading life insurance companies in the UK.
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Types of life insurance you can buy through Sainsbury’s Bank
You can buy life insurance on a level, decreasing and on an over 50s basis with Sainsbury's bank. You can add critical illness cover to your life insurance to cover against any serious illness diagnoses too.
Sainsbury's life insurance options include:
- Level life insurance - a very simple life cover that will pay out a lump cash sum of money if you die within the term of the policy.
- Decreasing life insurance - this life cover pays out a lump cash sum if you die within the term but the amount that you are covered for steadily reduces each year so that it is reducing in line with your repayment mortgage balance and as such is only suited to covering a repayment mortgage.
- Over 50s life insurance - this life cover doesn't ask any health questions so you're guaranteed to be accepted as long as you qualify. It will pay out when you die whenever that happens so it covers you for the rest of your life but it is limited to a small amount of cover that is usually enough to pay for a funeral or leave a small gift behind after you die.
You can also buy Sainsbury's Illness and Injury Insurance which is a short-term income protection insurance paying you up to 60% of your gross income limited to £2,000 per month. The insurance pays you the monthly benefit for up to 12 months if you become incapacitated to work for more than 4 weeks. You can read more about this type of insurance and more comprehensive versions of it in our article, "A guide to Income protection insurance"
If you'd like to understand different types of life insurance in detail then you should read our article, "Types of life insurance explained".
How does Sainsbury's life insurance work?
Sainsbury's life insurance works according to the type of life insurance you choose. Essentially, each option pays a lump sum of money if you die - the Life insurance and Decreasing life insurance options pay out if you die within the years that you're covered but the Over 50s life insurance will pay out when you die regardless of when that happens.
Sainsbury's life insurance includes terminal illness benefit which lets you claim your death benefit early if you are diagnosed as terminally ill with less than 12 months to live. You can make a valid claim as long your consultant and Legal & General's chief medical officer confirm that your lifespan is likely to be less than 12 months.
You have the option to add critical illness cover to your life insurance which will pay a lump sum of money if you are diagnosed with a serious illness.
Sainsbury's life insurance summary
| Product name | Sainsbury's Life insurance |
| How it works | Pays the lump sum amount that you choose to cover if you die during the term |
| Premium | Monthly premium is fixed for the duration of your policy and will only change if you have chosen the increasing option |
| Minimum monthly premium | £5 per month |
| Minimum amount of cover | Amount that achieves £5 per month premium |
| Maximum amount of cover | £9,000,000 |
| Minimum term | 1 year |
| Maximum term | 50 years |
| Minimum age at entry | 18 years old |
| Maximum age at entry | 77 years old |
| Maximum age at expiry | 90 years old |
| Included as standard | Terminal illness benefit - early death benefit if you have less than 12 months to live
Accidental death benefit up to £300,000 for up to 90 days while your application is processed as long as you're under 55 years old Access to Legal & General Wellbeing Support Services - expert help and advice from qualified nurses |
| Optional extras | Critical illness cover - a lump sum payment if you are diagnosed with a serious illness that is listed in the policy terms
Increasing cover - increases the cover amount in line with inflation (Retail Price Index) each year and the monthly premium increases by 1.5 times RPI each year to reflect the extra cover |
| Excluded | Death caused by suicide |
Sainsbury's decreasing life insurance summary
| Product name | Sainsbury's Decreasing Life insurance |
| How it works | Pays the lump sum amount that you choose to cover if you die during the term |
| Premium | Monthly premium is fixed for the duration of your policy but lower than the premium for an equivalent level life insurance. |
| Minimum monthly premium | £5 per month |
| Minimum amount of cover | Amount that achieves £5 per month premium |
| Maximum amount of cover | £9,000,000 |
| Minimum term | 5 year |
| Maximum term | 50 years |
| Minimum age at entry | 18 years old |
| Maximum age at entry | 74 years old |
| Maximum age at expiry | 90 years old |
| Included as standard | Terminal illness benefit - early death benefit if you have less than 12 months to live
Accidental death benefit up to £300,000 for up to 90 days while your application is processed as long as you're under 55 years old Access to Legal & General Wellbeing Support Services - expert help and advice from qualified nurses |
| Optional extras | Critical illness cover - a lump sum payment if you are diagnosed with a serious illness that is listed in the policy terms |
| Excluded | Death caused by suicide |
Sainsbury's over 50s life insurance summary
| Product name | Sainsbury's Over 50s life insurance |
| How it works | Pays a lump sum of money when you die |
| Premium | Monthly premium is fixed for the duration of your policy and will only change if you have chosen the increasing option |
| Minimum monthly premium | £5 per month |
| Minimum amount of cover | Amount that achieves £5 per month premium |
| Maximum amount of cover | £10,000 |
| Minimum age at entry | 50 years old |
| Maximum age at entry | 80 years old |
| Included as standard | Terminal illness benefit - early death benefit if you have less than 12 months to live
Access to Care Concierge - a telephony service providing guidance for later life care options Access to Legal & General Wellbeing Support Services - expert help and advice from qualified nurses |
| Optional extras | Increasing cover - increases the cover amount in line with inflation (Retail Price Index) each year and the monthly premium increases by 1.5 times RPI each year to reflect the extra cover |
| Excluded | Death caused by suicide |
Sainsbury's critical illness insurance option
If you buy either level life insurance or decreasing life insurance you can add critical illness cover which will pay a lump sum if you are diagnosed with a serious illness. Sainsbury's critical illness cover is provided by Legal & General as your life insurance is also provided by this company.
The critical illness cover pays out the full amount that you're covered for if you are diagnosed with one of 37 different serious illnesses which include:
- Bacterial meningitis
- Benign brain tumour
- Blindness
- Cancer
- Cardiac arrest
- Heart attack
- Multiple sclerosis
- Paralysis of limb
- Parkinson’s disease
- Stroke
- Total and Permanent Disability
And there is a partial payment if you are diagnosed with:
- Carcinoma in situ of breast - requiring treatment
- Low-grade Prostate cancer - treated by surgery
Sainsbury's critical illness insurance additional benefits
- Accident hospitalisation benefit - £5,000 can be claimed if you spend more than 28 consecutive days in hospital after an accident (covers the adult who is insured as well as their children)
- Children’s critical illness cover - 50% of your cover amount up to £25,000 is paid if your child is diagnosed with a listed critical illness, excluding total and permanent disability (children must be aged between 30 days and 18 years old or up to 21 years old if they're in full-time education)
- Child funeral benefit - £4,000 can be claimed
- Childcare benefit - £1,000 per month can be claimed for children under the age of 5 years old if you claim critical illness benefit
- Family Accommodation Benefit - £100 for every night that your child spends in hospital can be claimed in the three months immediately following diagnosis of one of the critical illnesses covered up to a maximum of £1,000 overall.
How much does Sainsbury's life insurance cost?
The cost of Sainsbury's life insurance will depend on the following:
- Type of cover
- Amount of cover
- Term of cover
- Your age
- Your health
- Your lifestyle
- Whether you smoke
If you have a history of or currently suffer from any medical condition, do a dangerous job or partake in risky hobbies, you should speak to a life insurance expert to source the most favourable life insurance company for your needs. The standard cost of life insurance may not apply for you once you complete the application.
Below, we compare the cost of Sainsbury's life insurance with the cheapest equivalent life insurance that we could find from across the market.
Sainsbury's level life insurance price comparison - £250,000 over 20 years
| Age | Sainsbury's life insurance monthly premium | Cheapest premium we could find |
| 25 | £6.61 | £6.00 |
| 35 | £12.10 | £10.50 |
| 45 | £26.40 | £22.58 |
| 55 | £69.77 | £60.02 |
All prices assume the applicant is a non-smoker in good health
Sainsbury's Over 50s life insurance cover comparison - £20 per month premium
| Age | Sainsbury's Over 50s cover amount | Best amount of cover we could find |
| 50 | £6,422 | £7,760 |
| 60 | £4,381 | £5,929 |
| 70 | £2,894 | £3,282 |
| 80 | £1,073 | £1,494 |
All prices assume the applicant is a non-smoker in good health
Sainsbury's life insurance premiums are not the cheapest that we could find for any of the types of life insurance that it offers. All of the cheaper alternative policies that we found offered either the same or better cover. Legal & General, which is the company that provides the life insurance that Sainsbury's distributes, was cheaper in some cases than buying the equivalent cover with Sainsbury's.
Sainsbury's life insurance reviews
Sainsbury’s bank is rated 4.0 stars out of a possible 5.0 stars on independent review site Trustpilot, based on over 12,000 reviews. It is worth noting that this covers all of its banking services and products and is not limited to life insurance.
Defaqto rate Sainsbury's bank Level term assurance and Mortgage protection life insurance 5 stars which indicates that the products are of expert quality.
Sainsbury's life insurance nectar points offer
If you buy your life insurance with Sainsbury's, you'll potentially receive up to £110 worth of Nectar points once you have paid 5 months of premiums. As long as you provide your Nectar card number when you apply, Sainsbury's will award the points subject to the value of your life insurance premium. You will also receive a discount if you share your Nectar card number when buying Sainsbury's life insurance (subject to a minimum premium of £5).
Nectar points for Sainsbury's life insurance
| Your monthly life insurance premium | Nectar points | Potential value |
| £5 - £8.49 | 10,000 | £50 |
| £8.50 - £20.00 | 16,000 | £80 |
| Over £20.00 | 22,000 | £110 |
You'll receive your points within 60 days after you've paid 5 months of premiums
Sainsbury's life insurance pros and cons
Pros
- Brand attraction of Legal & General
- Ease of application online
- Bonus Nectar points
Cons
- Not the most competitive price for life insurance
- May not be the cheapest option if you have health issues, a dangerous job or partake in risky hobbies
- Fewer types of life insurance to choose from than with a specialist life insurance broker*
Alternative ways to buy life insurance
Although Sainsbury's bank offers a reasonable choice of life insurance products, they are limited. If you want to buy a simple life insurance policy that will pay a lump sum if you die, there may be better products available that give policyholders access to services such as virtual GP appointments, mental health support and even discounts for health and wellbeing services like gyms, health checks and so on. While Sainsbury's life insurance comes with Wellbeing Support Services, it is missing some of the extra benefits provided by other insurance companies.
It is difficult to compare Sainsbury's life insurance premiums with others as you can't obtain a Sainsbury's life insurance price alongside other providers' prices to compare.
In almost all cases, it is best to buy your life insurance through a broker or adviser who is able to search the whole market for the best products and prices. These will usually include Legal & General's direct price even if they don't include Sainsbury's life insurance.
A specialist life insurance broker will do more than search the market, they will offer guidance that helps you with choosing how much life cover you need, how long you need it for and which insurance companies will suit your personal circumstances. At Money to the Masses we have tried and tested a life insurance specialist company where you can receive bespoke advice that is tailored to what you need and how much you want to spend.
One of the key frustrations that people face when buying life insurance is how complex the application process can be but you can avoid this process by speaking with an expert. They know how to navigate the underwriting process, liaising with the insurance company on your behalf ensuring your application is processed efficiently.
If you speak to the specialist broker* and do buy the life insurance they recommend, you can get up to £100 cashback as a Money to the Masses reader.
Summary
Sainsbury's Bank offers level term, decreasing term and Over 50s life insurance. It is provided and underwritten by Legal & General.
There is an attractive offer of bonus Nectar points when you buy your life insurance with Sainsbury's Bank. However, the value of the Nectar points may be outweighed by the extra cost you may have to pay over the years compared with cheaper, equivalent or improved alternatives.
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. This 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
