Life Insurance Cost UK by Age Group

Life insurance. It’s one of those financial cornerstones we know is important, but often push to the bottom of the to-do list. A common question that holds people back is simple: "How much does it actually cost?" The answer, perhaps unsurprisingly, is that it depends heavily on your age.

The great news is that for most people, particularly when they are younger, securing robust financial protection for their loved ones is far more affordable than they imagine. The golden rule of life insurance is that the younger and healthier you are, the cheaper your cover will be.

This comprehensive guide from WeCovr breaks down the typical costs of life insurance in the UK by decade. We'll explore why age is such a critical factor, what you can expect to pay in your 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, and beyond, and provide actionable tips to help you secure the best possible price for the cover your family needs.

WeCovr’s price guide for life cover in your 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s and beyond

To give you a clear, at-a-glance idea of how age impacts life insurance premiums, we've compiled a table of illustrative monthly costs. These figures are examples for a non-smoker in good health seeking £250,000 of level term life insurance over a 25-year term.

Level term insurance means the payout amount remains the same throughout the policy's duration, making it ideal for covering an interest-only mortgage or providing a lump sum for your family.

Disclaimer: These premiums are illustrative estimates as of early 2025 and are for informational purposes only. Your actual quote will depend on your individual circumstances, including your specific age, health, lifestyle, smoker status, the amount of cover, and the policy term you choose.

As you can see, the difference is stark. A 25-year-old could secure a quarter of a million pounds of cover for their family for less than the price of a few coffees a month. A 55-year-old seeking the same cover will pay substantially more, as the risk to the insurer is statistically much higher.

Let's delve deeper into each decade and explore the nuances of getting covered.

Why Does Age Affect Life Insurance Premiums?

Insurers are in the business of risk assessment. When you apply for life insurance, they use a process called underwriting to calculate the probability of having to pay out a claim during your policy's term. Age is the single most significant factor in this calculation.

Here’s the simple logic behind it:

• Mortality Risk: Younger individuals have a much lower statistical probability of passing away than older individuals. According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), a 30-year-old man has a far greater chance of living for another 30 years than a 60-year-old man. Insurers use this actuarial data to price policies. The lower the risk of a claim, the lower the premium.
• Health and Lifestyle: As we age, the likelihood of developing chronic health conditions such as high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, or heart disease increases. These conditions raise your risk profile in the eyes of an insurer, leading to higher premiums. A 25-year-old is typically in peak health with a clean medical slate, making them a very low-risk applicant.
• Length of Cover (Term): A younger person can lock in a low rate for a long term (e.g., 35 years to cover a mortgage until it's paid off). For an insurer, covering a 25-year-old until they are 60 is less risky than covering a 50-year-old until they are 85.

Essentially, by taking out life insurance when you are young, you are locking in a premium that reflects your low-risk status at that point in time, and you benefit from that low rate for the entire duration of the policy.

Life Insurance in Your 20s: The Best Time to Start

For many people in their 20s, life insurance feels like something for "later." With rent, student loans, and building a career, it’s easy to postpone. However, this is unequivocally the most cost-effective decade to put protection in place.

Key Motivations in Your 20s:

• Buying your first home: A mortgage is the largest debt most of us will ever take on. Life insurance ensures your partner or family wouldn't have to face losing the home if the worst were to happen.
• Getting married or entering a civil partnership: You now have a financial partner who may depend on your income.
• Starting a family: Even if children are a few years away, you can lock in a low rate now in anticipation.
• Protecting your parents: If your parents co-signed a loan or a mortgage, a policy can protect them from being liable for your debts.

Example Costs for a 20-Something

Let's look at some typical scenarios for a non-smoker in good health.

Real-Life Example: The First Home Chloe and Liam, both 28, have just bought their first flat with a £250,000 mortgage. They are both healthy non-smokers. They take out a joint decreasing term life insurance policy for £250,000 over 30 years. This type of policy is designed to cover a repayment mortgage, as the cover amount reduces over time, in line with their outstanding loan. Their premium comes to just £12 per month. For the price of a takeaway, they have secured their home, ensuring that if one of them were to pass away, the other would not have to worry about the mortgage.

Life Insurance in Your 30s: The Decade of Dependants

Your 30s are often a period of significant growth and responsibility. Careers are advancing, incomes are rising, and families are growing. This is the decade where the need for life insurance becomes undeniable for most people.

You may have more children, a larger mortgage on a family home, and your lifestyle is now dependent on a higher joint income. The financial impact of losing one partner's salary would be devastating. While premiums are higher than in your 20s, they are still incredibly affordable.

Key Motivations in Your 30s:

• Protecting your children: The primary goal is to ensure your children are provided for, covering everything from daily living costs and childcare to future university fees.
• Covering a larger mortgage: You may have moved up the property ladder to a family home.
• Replacing your income: A lump sum can give your surviving partner the breathing room to grieve without immediate financial pressure.
• Business owners/Self-employed: This is often the decade you go it alone. Protecting your income and your business becomes paramount.

Example Costs for a 30-Something

Health remains a key factor, but cover is still excellent value.

Real-Life Example: The Freelancer Ben is a 36-year-old self-employed web developer, married with two young children. His income is vital to the family. He realises that if he were unable to work due to serious illness or passed away, his family's financial stability would collapse.

Working with an expert adviser at WeCovr, he puts a comprehensive plan in place:

1. Level Term Life Insurance: £450,000 of cover until his youngest child is 25. This provides a lump sum to clear the mortgage and create an investment fund for his wife.
2. Income Protection: A policy that would pay him a monthly income of £2,500 if he couldn't work due to sickness or injury, kicking in after a 3-month deferral period.

His combined protection plan gives him complete peace of mind, knowing his family and his income are secure.

Life Insurance in Your 40s: Protecting Your Prime

In your 40s, you are often at the peak of your earning potential. Your mortgage may be smaller, but your financial responsibilities haven't necessarily decreased. You might be supporting children through their teenage years, thinking about university costs, and also beginning to consider your own parents' potential care needs.

Premiums in this decade take a more noticeable jump. Any health issues that have emerged will now have a more significant impact on the price. If you don't have cover already, now is the time to act before costs rise further. If you do have cover, this is an excellent decade to review it to ensure it still meets your needs.

Key Motivations in Your 40s:

• Ensuring children can finish their education: Covering potential university fees and living costs is a major driver.
• Clearing remaining debts: Wiping the slate clean of the mortgage, car loans, and credit cards for your family.
• Business Protection: For company directors, this is a key time to consider products like Key Person Insurance (to protect the business from the financial impact of losing a vital employee) or Relevant Life Cover (a tax-efficient way for a company to provide life insurance for an employee/director).
• Critical Illness Cover: The statistical risk of illnesses like cancer, heart attack, and stroke increases in your 40s, making Critical Illness Cover an invaluable addition to a life policy.

Example Costs for a 40-Something

The importance of good health becomes even more apparent in the pricing.

Real-Life Example: The Company Director Anjali, 47, is a director of a small but successful marketing agency. She has a life insurance policy to protect her family, but she hadn't considered her business. If she were to pass away, her business partner would struggle to buy her shares from her estate, potentially forcing a sale of the company.

She explores Business Protection and sets up a Shareholder Protection policy, funded by the business. This provides a lump sum to the remaining directors, allowing them to purchase her shares from her beneficiaries, ensuring business continuity and providing a fair value for her family.

Life Insurance in Your 50s and Beyond: Legacy and Later-Life Planning

By your 50s and 60s, your financial landscape has likely changed again. The children may have left home and become financially independent, and your mortgage might be fully paid off. The need for a large lump sum to cover debt and dependency may have diminished.

However, new needs emerge. The focus often shifts from income replacement to:

• Leaving a guaranteed inheritance: A legacy for your children or grandchildren.
• Covering funeral costs: The average cost of a funeral in the UK is now over £4,000, and a policy can prevent your family from having to find this sum at a difficult time.
• Inheritance Tax (IHT) Planning: If the value of your estate (property, savings, investments) is above the IHT threshold (£325,000 per person), your beneficiaries could face a 40% tax bill. A life insurance policy can provide the funds to pay this bill.

Term insurance becomes significantly more expensive, and insurers may limit the term length. This is where Whole of Life insurance becomes a key consideration.

Understanding Whole of Life Insurance

Whole of Life insurance is exactly what it sounds like: a policy that covers you for your entire life and guarantees to pay out a lump sum when you die, whenever that may be.

It's important to understand the modern form of these policies:

• Pure Protection: Today in the UK, the vast majority of whole of life policies are pure protection plans with no investment element or cash-in value. If you stop paying your premiums, the cover simply stops.
• Simplicity and Affordability: These modern plans are transparent, more affordable than older investment-linked versions, and perfectly suited for straightforward goals like covering an IHT bill or leaving a fixed legacy. At WeCovr, we focus on comparing these simple, guaranteed protection plans from across the market to find the right solution for you.
• Older Policy Types: Some older policies, often called investment-linked or with-profits plans, were designed to build a cash value. A portion of the premium was invested, but these were complex, expensive, and performance-dependent. This type of policy is now far less common for new clients.

Example Costs for Your 50s+

Real-Life Example: Inheritance Tax Planning Robert and Susan, both 62, own their home outright, valued at £700,000, and have savings and investments worth £400,000. Their total estate of £1.1 million is well over their combined IHT allowance. They calculate a potential IHT bill of around £160,000. To avoid their children having to sell the family home to pay the tax, they take out a joint, second-death Whole of Life policy for £160,000. The policy is placed 'in trust', meaning the payout goes directly to their beneficiaries outside of their estate, ready to pay the tax bill promptly.

What Other Factors Influence Life Insurance Costs?

While age is the primary driver, several other factors are crucial in the underwriting process.

• Smoking & Vaping: This is the big one. Insurers view smokers as a much higher risk. Premiums can easily be double that of a non-smoker. Most insurers classify you as a non-smoker only after you have been completely nicotine-free (including vaping and patches) for at least 12 months.
• Health & Medical History: Your personal medical history, including your BMI, blood pressure, cholesterol levels, and any pre-existing conditions like diabetes or a history of cancer, will be assessed.
• Family Medical History: A history of hereditary conditions (e.g., heart disease, certain cancers) in your immediate family before a certain age (usually 60 or 65) can also affect your premium.
• Occupation: A desk-based job carries minimal risk. However, if you work in a high-risk profession (e.g., scaffolder, deep-sea diver, member of the armed forces), your premiums will be higher. For tradespeople in risky jobs, a specific Personal Sick Pay policy can be a vital form of income protection.
• Hobbies: Participating in hazardous hobbies like mountaineering, motorsports, or aviation can lead to a 'loading' on your premium or an exclusion for that specific activity.
• Cover Amount & Term: The larger the lump sum you want and the longer you want the cover to last, the higher the monthly cost.

How to Get the Best Value on Your Life Insurance

Securing the right cover isn't just about finding the cheapest price; it's about finding the best value. Here are our expert tips:

1. Be Honest: Always provide full and accurate information on your application form. Failing to disclose a health condition or that you smoke could invalidate your policy, meaning your family would receive nothing when they need it most. Insurers paid out on 97.6% of all protection claims in 2023, according to the Association of British Insurers (ABI), but non-disclosure is a key reason for the small number of rejections.
2. Improve Your Health: Making positive lifestyle changes can have a real impact on your premiums. Quitting smoking is the single most effective way to cut your costs. Improving your diet and exercise regime to lower your BMI or blood pressure can also lead to better rates. As part of our commitment to our clients' wellbeing, WeCovr provides complimentary access to our AI-powered calorie tracking app, CalorieHero, to support you on your health journey.
3. Choose the Right Policy: Don't pay for what you don't need. If your main goal is to cover a repayment mortgage, a cheaper decreasing term policy is perfect. If you need to provide for your family, level term is better.
4. Place Your Policy in Trust: This is a simple legal arrangement, usually free to set up by the insurer, that puts your policy outside of your estate. It has two huge benefits: the payout is not liable for Inheritance Tax, and it bypasses the lengthy probate process, getting the money to your loved ones in weeks rather than months.
5. Use an Expert Broker: This is the most important tip of all. An independent broker like WeCovr works for you, not the insurer. We compare plans from all the major UK insurers to find you the best deal. Crucially, we understand the nuances of each insurer's underwriting criteria. For example, if you have a specific health condition, we know which insurer is likely to offer you the most favourable terms. Our advice is expert, impartial, and comes at no extra cost to you.

The message is clear: the cost of life insurance is a moving target, and it only moves in one direction as you get older. By understanding the factors at play and acting at the right time, you can secure robust, affordable protection that grants you and your family invaluable peace of mind.