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Aviva Life Insurance Review
When you request a life insurance quote from WeCovr, our insurance experts will check, amongst others, Aviva insurance policies for you. They will help you decide if Aviva would be suitable for your particular circumstances. Below is some background information on Aviva life insurance for your reference.
Aviva history
Aviva can trace its history back to the Hand in Hand Fire & Life Insurance Society founded in London in 1696. The modern Aviva was created by a merger of two insurers in the UK called Norwich Union and CGU plc (itself created by the merger of 1998 of Commercial Union and General Accident) as CGNU in February 2000.
In July 2002, the merged company was rebranded as Aviva plc, an invented palindrome derived from "viva", the Latin for 'alive'.
Aviva is listed on the London Stock Exchange and as of 2026 has a market capitalisation of roughly £18–20bn (Aviva(uk.finance.yahoo.com)), up from the £13bn figure previously reported here. BlackRock, Inc. is currently the largest shareholder, with a stake of around 8.7% of voting rights per recent filings (previously reported here as 5.8%).
Aviva highlights
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Following its 2025 acquisition of Direct Line, Aviva now employs around 39,900 people worldwide, roughly 58% of them in the UK. Aviva's international footprint has narrowed since 2021 (it divested most non-UK/Ireland/Canada business), so it now serves closer to 25 million customers overall rather than the 33 million previously cited here.
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Aviva remains one of the largest UK insurance groups; FY2025 group balance-sheet assets were around £395bn with £454bn of assets under management (Source(aviva.com)) — figures should be checked against Aviva's latest annual report as these change year to year.
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Aviva's financial strength rating from S&P is AA-; this should be re-verified against Aviva's current published credit ratings page rather than the April 2020 rating cited previously (Aviva's credit ratings(aviva.com)).
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Aviva UK has won a number of insurance awards over the years, including PMI-related awards such as Moneyfacts PMI Provider of the Year (2026) and Insurance Times General Insurer of the Year (2025); specific award names and years should be checked against Aviva's current press releases rather than relying on older claims (Source(connect.avivab2b.co.uk)).
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Aviva's Trustpilot review rating is currently around 4.3 ("Great") from roughly 57,000+ customer reviews in the UK (Source(uk.trustpilot.com)) — materially higher than the 1.7/1,904 figure and "relatively bad" characterisation previously shown here, which appears to have been based on a different, unrelated Aviva product listing.
Aviva Life Insurance highlights
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In 2019, Aviva individual protection policies paid out £982m to more than 26,500 UK customers and their families, with just 3.7% of all claims received being declined. The insurer paid more than £582m to the families of life insurance customers who died or were diagnosed with a terminal illness that year. A total of 16,363 life and terminal illness claims were paid, representing 98.6% of claims received. These are 2019 figures; more recent published figures (2025) show Aviva paying out around £860m to 40,000+ families with 98.7% of claims paid — generally a stronger performance than the 2019 numbers above, so readers should treat the 2019 stats as historical rather than current.
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A further £353m was paid out in 2019 on policies where either the customer or one of their children had been diagnosed with a critical illness, or where the customer met the definition for total permanent disability. A total of 4,957 claims, or 93.1%, were accepted that year.
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Aviva offers its policyholders access to its health and wellbeing service providing support, counselling and online tools, as well as a second medical opinion service, a counselling and carer support service, and the Bupa Anytime HealthLine.
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Aviva life insurance is a complex product available via advisers such as those at WeCovr. It may not necessarily be the cheapest option so to ensure that you get a strong fit for your needs at the right price, it’s important to shop around and compare deals carefully.
Aviva policies
As with many other providers, shen people choose personal protection insurance from Aviva, they have several types of policies to choose from: level term, decreasing term, increasing term, whole of life, or family income benefit.
Level cover means that the value of your plan stays the same over time. It will only change if something happens such as you make a claim or change your cover.
Indexed cover means that the value of your plan will increase each year to align with inflation and rises to the cost of living.
Decreasing cover means that the value of your plan decreases over time. This may align with decreases to your mortgage amount as you continue to pay it off.
Additional covers and options Aviva offers include:
Aviva Life insurance includes a number of free benefits such as:
- Aviva DigiCare+ helps you prevent, detect, and manage common health and wellbeing concerns directly from your smartphone
- Terminal illness cover which will pay out if you are diagnosed with an illness that is likely to cause death within 12 months
- House purchase cover meaning up to 90 days’ free life insurance if you take out a policy to coincide with a house purchase
- Easy separation benefit allows you to split a joint policy into two single policies without having to answer any extra medical questions in case you separate from your partner
- 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 plus other children's payouts.
Optional benefits provided by Aviva include, amongst others:
- Waiver of Premium available for an additional cost and means Aviva will pay your premium for you in case you're unable to work due to illness or injury
- Conversion option lets you to convert your level term policy to a whole of life policy without answering any further medical questions.
- Fracture cover pays up to £6,000 if you suffer from one of 18 specified fractures, up to one claim per year.
- Global treatment cover which provides access to second medical opinions and overseas medical treatment.
Minimum age when buying the policy is 18 years, while maximum ages are up to 77 years old for Aviva life insurance with a maximum payout of up to £5,000,000.
Aviva review services ratings
Aviva has a 5-star score from Defaqto. The Fairer Finance figures below (68% overall, ranked 18th of 24) were last verified some years ago and could not be corroborated against Fairer Finance's current site during this review — more recent sourcing suggests Aviva life insurance holds Fairer Finance Gold Ribbon status with a materially higher score, so this table should be re-verified directly with Fairer Finance before being treated as current:
| Criterion | Score |
|---|---|
| Claims | 76.00% |
| Complaints | 83.2% |
| Transparency | 44.1% |
| Overall | 68% |
A net promoter score of 26 was previously reported here for Aviva; this could not be independently corroborated against a current source, so it should be treated as unverified rather than a reliable current figure.
Contact details
Aviva Life & Pensions UK Limited<br/> Registered Office: Aviva, Wellington Row, York, YO90 1WR.<br/> Phone 0800 953 1777, if outside the UK call +44 203 761 1200.<br/> Phone lines open between 9.00am and 5.00pm Mon – Fri.<br/> Website: https://www.aviva.co.uk/insurance/life-products/life-insurance/<br/>
Before taking any practical steps, it is always recommended to consult your own financial adviser who will be able to look into your specific situation and assist in making those decisions.
Our FCA-authorised and experienced insurance experts can guide you in a friendly and free phone consultation as to what life insurance plans can be most suitable to your particular circumstances and life planning.
<div style="font-weight: bold;"> To check how Aviva Life Insurance plans compare against other life insurance companies active in the UK, one can apply for a free, no-obligation consultation from experienced FCA-authorised life insurance experts by filling in a quick 30-second form available here. </div>Aviva highlights
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Following its 2025 acquisition of Direct Line, Aviva now employs around 39,900 people worldwide, roughly 58% of them in the UK. Aviva's international footprint has narrowed since 2021 (it divested most non-UK/Ireland/Canada business), so it now serves closer to 25 million customers overall rather than the 33 million previously cited here.
-
Aviva remains one of the largest UK insurance groups; FY2025 group balance-sheet assets were around £395bn with £454bn of assets under management (Source(aviva.com)) — figures should be checked against Aviva's latest annual report as these change year to year.
-
Aviva's financial strength rating from S&P is AA-; this should be re-verified against Aviva's current published credit ratings page rather than the April 2020 rating cited previously (Aviva's credit ratings(aviva.com)).
-
Aviva UK has won a number of insurance awards over the years, including PMI-related awards such as Moneyfacts PMI Provider of the Year (2026) and Insurance Times General Insurer of the Year (2025); specific award names and years should be checked against Aviva's current press releases rather than relying on older claims (Source(connect.avivab2b.co.uk)).
-
Aviva's Trustpilot review rating is currently around 4.3 ("Great") from roughly 57,000+ customer reviews in the UK (Source(uk.trustpilot.com)) — materially higher than the 1.7/1,904 figure and "relatively bad" characterisation previously shown here, which appears to have been based on a different, unrelated Aviva product listing.
Aviva Life Insurance highlights
-
In 2019, Aviva individual protection policies paid out £982m to more than 26,500 UK customers and their families, with just 3.7% of all claims received being declined. The insurer paid more than £582m to the families of life insurance customers who died or were diagnosed with a terminal illness that year. A total of 16,363 life and terminal illness claims were paid, representing 98.6% of claims received. These are 2019 figures; more recent published figures (2025) show Aviva paying out around £860m to 40,000+ families with 98.7% of claims paid — generally a stronger performance than the 2019 numbers above, so readers should treat the 2019 stats as historical rather than current.
-
A further £353m was paid out in 2019 on policies where either the customer or one of their children had been diagnosed with a critical illness, or where the customer met the definition for total permanent disability. A total of 4,957 claims, or 93.1%, were accepted that year.
-
Aviva offers its policyholders access to its health and wellbeing service providing support, counselling and online tools, as well as a second medical opinion service, a counselling and carer support service, and the Bupa Anytime HealthLine.
-
Aviva life insurance is a complex product available via advisers such as those at WeCovr. It may not necessarily be the cheapest option so to ensure that you get a strong fit for your needs at the right price, it’s important to shop around and compare deals carefully.
Aviva policies
As with many other providers, when people choose personal protection insurance from Aviva, they have several types of policies to choose from: level term, decreasing term, increasing term, whole of life, or family income benefit.
Level cover means that the value of your plan stays the same over time. It will only change if something happens such as you make a claim or change your cover.
Indexed cover means that the value of your plan will increase each year to align with inflation and rises to the cost of living.
Decreasing cover means that the value of your plan decreases over time. This may align with decreases to your mortgage amount as you continue to pay it off.
Additional covers and options Aviva offers include:
- Aviva DigiCare+: helps you prevent, detect, and manage common health and wellbeing concerns directly from your smartphone
- Terminal illness cover: which will pay out if you are diagnosed with an illness that is likely to cause death within 12 months
- House purchase cover: meaning up to 90 days’ free life insurance if you take out a policy to coincide with a house purchase
- Easy separation benefit: allows you to split a joint policy into two single policies without having to answer any extra medical questions in case you separate from your partner
- 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 plus other children's payouts.
Optional benefits provided by Aviva include, amongst others:
- Waiver of Premium: available for an additional cost and means Aviva will pay your premium for you in case you're unable to work due to illness or injury
- Conversion option: lets you to convert your level term policy to a whole of life policy without answering any further medical questions.
- Fracture cover: pays up to £6,000 if you suffer from one of 18 specified fractures, up to one claim per year.
- Global treatment cover: which provides access to second medical opinions and overseas medical treatment.
Minimum age when buying the policy is 18 years, while maximum ages are up to 77 years old for Aviva life insurance with a maximum payout of up to £5,000,000.
Aviva review services ratings
Aviva has a 5-star score from Defaqto. The Fairer Finance figures below (68% overall, ranked 18th of 24) were last verified some years ago and could not be corroborated against Fairer Finance's current site during this review — more recent sourcing suggests Aviva life insurance holds Fairer Finance Gold Ribbon status with a materially higher score, so this table should be re-verified directly with Fairer Finance before being treated as current:
| Criterion | Score |
|---|---|
| Claims | 76.00% |
| Complaints | 83.2% |
| Transparency | 44.1% |
| Overall | 68% |
A net promoter score of 26 was previously reported here for Aviva; this could not be independently corroborated against a current source, so it should be treated as unverified rather than a reliable current figure.
Contact details
Aviva Life & Pensions UK Limited<br/> Registered Office: Aviva, Wellington Row, York, YO90 1WR.<br/> Phone 0800 953 1777, if outside the UK call +44 203 761 1200.<br/> Phone lines open between 9.00am and 5.00pm Mon – Fri.<br/> Website: Aviva Life Insurance(aviva.co.uk)<br/>
Before taking any practical steps, it is always recommended to consult your own financial adviser who will be able to look into your specific situation and assist in making those decisions.
Our FCA-authorised and experienced insurance experts can guide you in a friendly and free phone consultation as to what life insurance plans can be most suitable for your particular circumstances and life planning.
<div style="font-weight: bold;"> To check how Aviva Life Insurance plans compare against other life insurance companies active in the UK, one can apply for a free, no-obligation consultation from experienced FCA-authorised life insurance experts by filling in a quick 30-second form available [here](https://wecovr.com/life-insurance-quote). </div>Before making any decisions, it's recommended to consult with a financial adviser to assess your specific situation and requirements.
One of the most effective ways to protect family's finances
One of the best gifts one can make tax-free to one's loved ones, a financial legacy to help them cope
Many UK families still don't realise that life, income protection and critical illness insurance is one of the most effective and efficient ways to protect their family's finances
Benefits offered by income protection, life and critical illness insurance
Life insurance, income protection and critical illness insurance are indispensable for every family because a child loses a parent every 22 minutes in the UK, while every single day tragically 60 people suffer major injuries on the UK roads. Some people become unable to work because of sickness or disability.Life insurance cover pays out a lump sum to your family, loved ones or whomever you choose to get the money. This can be used to secure the financial future of your loved ones meaning they would not have to struggle financially in the event of your death.
If it's a critical illness cover, the payout happens sooner - upon diagnosis of a serious illness, disability or medical condition, easing the financial hardship such an event inevitably brings.
Income protection insurance can be very important for anyone who relies on a pay check to cover their living costs, but it's especially important if you’re self-employed or own a small business, where your employment and income is a bit less stable. It pays a regular income if you can't work because of sickness or disability and continues until you return to paid work or you retire.
In a world where 1 in 4 of us would struggle financially after just four weeks without work, the stark reality hits hard – a mere 7% of UK adults possess the vital shield of income protection. The urgency of safeguarding our financial well-being has never been more palpable.
Let's face it – relying on savings isn't a solution for everyone. Almost 25% of people have no savings at all, and a whopping 50% have £1,000 or less tucked away. Even more concerning, 51% of Brits – that's a huge 27 million people – wouldn't last more than one month living off their savings. That's a 10% increase from 2022.
And don't even think about state benefits being a safety net. The maximum you can expect from statutory sick pay is a mere £109.40 per week for up to 28 weeks. Not exactly a financial lifeline, right?
Now, let's tackle a common objection: "But I have critical illness insurance. I don't need income protection too." Here's the deal – the two policies apply to very different situations. In a nutshell:
- Critical illness insurance pays a single lump sum if you're diagnosed with or undergo surgery for a specified potentially life-threatening illness. It's great for handling big one-off expenses or debts.
- Income protection, on the other hand, pays a percentage of your salary as a regular payment if you can't work due to illness or injury. It's the superhero that tackles those relentless monthly bills.
Types of life insurance policies
Common reasons for getting a life insurance policy are to:✅ Leave behind an amount of money to keep your family comfortable
✅ Protect the family home and pay off the mortgage in full or in part
✅ Pay for funeral costs
Starting from as little as a couple of pounds per week, you can do all that with a Life Policy.
Level Term Life Insurance
One of the simplest forms of life insurance, level term life insurance works by selecting a length of time for which you would want to be covered and then deciding how much you would like your loved ones to receive should the worst happen. Should your life insurance policy pay out to your family, it would be in a lump sum amount that can be used in whatever way the beneficiary may wish.
Decreasing Term Life Insurance
Decreasing term life insurance works in the same way as level term, except the lump sum payment amount upon death decreases with time. The common use for decreasing term life cover is to protect against mortgage repayment as the lump sum decreases along with the principal of the mortgage itself.
Increasing Term Life Insurance
Increasing term life insurance aims to pay out a cash sum growing each year if the worst happens while covered by the policy. With increasing term life cover amount insured increases annually by a fixed amount for the length of the policy. This can protect your policy's value against inflation, which could be advantageous if you’re looking to maintain your loved ones’ living standards, continue paying off your mortgage in line with its repayment schedule and cover your children’s education fees.
Whole of Life Insurance
Whereas term life insurance policies only pay out if you pass away during their term, whole of life insurance pays out to your beneficiaries whenever this should happen. The most common uses for whole life insurance are to cover the costs of a funeral or as a vehicle for your family's inheritance tax planning.
Family Income Benefit
Family income benefit is a somewhat lesser-known product in the family of life insurance products. Paying out a set amount every month of year to your beneficiaries, it is the most cost-effective way of maintaining your family's living standards to an age where you'd expect them to be able to support themselves financially. The most common use would be for a family with children who are not working yet so are unable to take care of themselves financially.
Relevant Life Insurance
Relevant Life Insurance is a tax-efficient policy for a director or single employee. A simple level term life insurance product, it is placed in a specific trust to ensure its tax efficiency. The premiums are tax deductible and any benefit payable should a claim arise is also paid out tax free, which makes it an attractive product for entrepreneurs and their businesses.
What do I need to get a life insurance quote?
To get a life insurance quote, you'll just need to tell us:
- your name
- date of birth
- whether you are a smoker or use nicotine substitutes
- who do you want to protect
- and your preferred contact details
The options our advisers provide will also address extras you might want to consider, such as critical illness or income protection cover
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WeCovr is an insurance specialist for people valuing their peace of mind and a great service.👍 WeCovr will help you get your private medical insurance, life insurance, critical illness insurance and others in no time thanks to our wonderful super-friendly experts ready to assist you every step of the way.
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