
Legal & General life insurance review
10 min
Award-winning life insurance provider Legal & General were…
Royal London offers a range of flexible life insurance policies to suit a variety of needs.
But do they offer the right policy for you and your family?
In this review, we explore the details of Royal London life insurance to help you answer these questions, looking closely at the features and benefits they provide.
Please note, Royal London life insurance is not available through Reassured. However, we can compare quotes from other major insurers, which could help you to save money on your premiums
Our award-winning service has helped more than 1 million families find affordable protection since 2009. Get in touch to see if we can find you your perfect policy at a great price.
So, is Royal London a good life insurance company? Continue reading to find out all you need to know…
Royal London is a mutual insurance society company that’s authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
They offer personal protection and pension products, as well as savings and investment solutions, to customers in the UK.
Since forming in 1861, Royal London has acquired multiple businesses over the years, including protection brands Bright Grey and Scottish Provident.
They are now the largest mutual company in the UK, holding more than 8.7 million life and pension policies valued at £147 billion[2].
At the time of writing this article (10/05/23), Royal London has been rated above 4 stars overall by their customers across all review sites.
The table below shows their star ratings based on all Royal London products, including life insurance:
Review platform | Star rating (out of 5) | No. of reviews |
---|---|---|
|
4.1 | 1,382 |
![]() | 4.7 | 7,444 |
![]() | 4.0 | 17 |
So, is Royal London life insurance good according to the experts?
The table below shows the Defaqto star rating for each life insurance product.
Defaqto provides star ratings for financial products and services based on expert analysis:
Product | Star rating (out of 5) |
---|---|
Direct term life insurance |
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Advised term life insurance |
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Diabetes life cover |
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Whole of life insurance |
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Royal London has also been ranked 18th out of 25 insurers by expert ratings provider, Fairer Finance.
This is based on having an overall customer experience score of 73%, which is based on their claims, complaints performance and transparency scores.
The insurer has also been awarded several accolades, including:
At Reassured, our customer service has been ‘Excellent’ on Trustpilot from more than 70,000 customer reviews.
Life insurance can help to provide financial protection for your loved ones should you pass away during the policy term.
Royal London offers various policy types, with different cover options, for you to choose from depending on what you want to protect.
Royal London provides two term life insurance options. This is a type of policy that pays out a cash lump sum to your loved ones if you passed away during a set term.
It’s designed to help cover mortgage repayments, household bills and/or family living costs.
At Reassured, we can help compare quotes for level term or decreasing term life insurance from alternative leading insurers.
Prices start from just 20p-a-day through us, so get in touch today.
Due to the high number of diabetics in the UK, some insurers have made it easier for those suffering with type 1 or type 2 diabetes to get life insurance, including Royal London.
They offer a specialised life insurance policy designed for applicants with diabetes, with a tailored application form and fewer health questions than a standard policy.
People with diabetes can often find it difficult to obtain affordable life insurance due to the higher risk that they pose to insurers.
If you have type 1 or type 2 diabetes, you could take out a Royal London diabetes life insurance policy to protect your loved ones, however you may find cheaper options elsewhere.
The best way to find the lowest available price is to compare quotes from multiple insurers.
For example, at Reassured, we can compare quotes from major insurers as well as smaller specialists, allowing us to help you find the best deal they can offer.
We also have a specialist impaired risk team who have a good track record of finding suitable life cover for applicants with pre-existing medical conditions, including diabetes.
Royal London whole of life insurance, also known as Royal London life assurance, provides you with lifetime cover and guarantees to pay out when you pass away.
It can be used to help your loved ones with paying for your funeral or covering inheritance tax.
Whole of life insurance is also available through Reassured from just 27p-a-day ± .
Our free comparison service can help you find quotes for whole of life insurance from other top UK insurers.
Make the most of our award-winning service by getting in touch.
Royal London offers a range of optional cover options which you can choose to include with your policy for an additional cost.
Optional extra | Description |
---|---|
Serious illness benefit | Provides up to £350,000 of cover for you and your children if you’re diagnosed with one of six specified illnesses and survive 30 days after diagnosis. Only available with Royal London level term direct life insurance |
Critical illness cover | Pays out a cash lump sum if you’re diagnosed with a specified critical illness or permanent disability. Only available with policies arranged through a financial advisor |
Income protection | Covers a proportion of your income and will pay out in monthly payments if you’re unable to work due to illness or injury. Only available with policies arranged through a financial advisor |
Waiver of premium (sickness) | If you opt for waiver of premium, and you become too ill or injured to work or you’re diagnosed with a specified terminal illness, you could have a break from paying your premiums. Only available with policies arranged through a financial advisor |
Critical illness cover and income protection can also be taken out as standalone policies with Royal London. We explain these in more detail below.
Furthermore, Royal London policies can come with free benefits and cover options. These don’t affect the cover you take out but can be used if you require them:
Optional extra | Description |
---|---|
Helping Hand wellbeing support service | Provides access to free early care medical services. Only available with policies arranged through a financial advisor |
Terminal illness cover | Allows you to make an early claim on your life insurance if you’re diagnosed with a terminal illness and expected to pass away within 12 months |
Separation benefit | If you take out a joint policy, and you and your partner separate later on, then you’ll be able to split the policy into two separate single policies |
Increase cover option | Allows you to increase your cover amount if your circumstances change without providing new medical information. This will also increase the cost of your monthly premium |
The cost of Royal London life insurance depends on your personal circumstances and the type of policy you wish to take out.
Royal London advertises their pricing as follows:
For all policy types, your premiums will be calculated based on your age, health, medical history, smoking status and occupation.
The cover amount, term length and whether you choose a level, decreasing or increasing cover amount will also determine the cost.
For diabetes life cover, your premiums will be calculated based on all the factors mentioned above as well as your HbA1c blood test result.
Royal London haven’t provided a starting price for whole of life insurance. This tends to be the most expensive type of cover due to the guaranteed pay out.
While we can’t provide quotes for Royal London life insurance, Reassured can help provide quotes from alternative insurers, with pricing starting from just £5 a month † .
Like with most UK life insurance providers, Royal London offers the option to write most of their policies in trust.
Writing your life insurance in trust involves naming a person you trust (trustee) to manage your pay out once you have passed away.
After you have passed away your trustee will be responsible for distributing your pay out as per your wishes.
Yes, you can take out any Royal London life insurance policy on a joint or ‘dual’ basis.
Joint life cover
This type of policy covers two lives simultaneously. It involves only one application form, one contract and one monthly premium.
Joint life cover will only pay out once upon the first death. For this reason, it’s usually cheaper than having two separate policies with two potential pay outs.
Dual life over
This type of policy also covers two lives simultaneously, but they have separate cover under the same policy.
This means that if there’s a claim for one person, the surviving person will still be covered.
Joint life insurance is available through Reassured from other providers. Contact our team today to find out if this could be the right solution to suit your needs.
To make a claim with Royal London you will need to have the following information to hand:
Whoever is making the claim will also need to provide contact details so they can be notified if any other information is required.
In some cases Royal London will send a claims form which will need to be completed and sent back to them.
You’ll need to head to the ‘Make a claim’ section of their website to find the relevant contact details for the policy you’re claiming for.
In 2021, Royal London paid out 99.5% of all protection claims to more than 84,000 families[4].
This means that it’s highly likely that a claim will be successful if the worst were to happen.
Royal London, like other insurers, will not pay out if:
As well as life insurance, Royal London also provides critical illness cover.
This type of policy pays out a cash lump sum or monthly income if you become critically ill or permanently disabled during a set term.
If a claim is made, the money can be used to help to cover your financial commitments or be used towards medical costs until you’re able to start earning again.
Royal London also offers a life or critical illness cover option. This has many of the same features as the policy described above, however, it also provides life cover.
A type of policy that will only pay out once, either if you pass away or are diagnosed with a critical or terminal illness, or total permanent disability, during a set term.
Reassured can provide free quotes for life insurance combined with critical illness cover from alternative insurers, with premiums starting from just 33p-a-day º .
Contact our friendly team or visit our critical illness cover guide to learn more about the critical illness cover we can offer.
A Royal London income protection policy provides you with monthly pay outs if you’re unable to earn an income due to illness, injury or terminal illness.
The monthly pay outs can help you to cover financial commitments such as mortgage repayments, rent, utility bills, childcare and family living costs.
If you’re considering income protection, Reassured Advice can help you to compare quotes from Royal London as well as all other UK providers, to find you the best available deal.
Read our comprehensive income protection guide to learn more about this type of policy and how we could help you to save you money.
Income protection insurance through Reassured Advice starts from just 20p-a-day ‡ .
You can only purchase a life insurance policy directly from Royal London or via a financial advisor.
This means we can’t provide Royal London life insurance quotes at Reassured.
However, we can compare multiple quotes from other leading insurers, which could help you save money on your perfect policy.
Reassured has helped to protect over 1,000,000 families across the UK and our award-winning service is completely fee-free to use.
We also help you fill in the application form and explain any industry jargon that you may not understand.
Get in touch today and get your free, no-obligation quotes within minutes.
Is Royal London over 50s life insurance still available?
Royal London no longer sells over 50s life insurance, however, if you’re a UK resident aged 50 - 85 then you’ll be eligible for an over 50s plan from an alternative provider through Reassured.
Over 50s plan key features:
Compare over 50 life insurance quotes through Reassured to find our best available deal.
What is the maximum age for Royal London life insurance?
The maximum age for Royal London life insurance varies between each policy.
The below shows the age limits for life insurance arranged through Royal London. This also includes age limits for critical illness cover and income protection.
Can you cash in a Royal London life insurance?
No. Royal London life insurance has no cash-in value. If you cancel your policy or the policy expires, you won’t get any money back.
Can you still claim a Royal London life insurance free gift?
Yes, you could be eligible for a Royal London free gift if you took out one of their over 50s life insurance policies between 01/01/2022 and 01/07/2022.
In order to claim your free gift you will need to have made at least 8 monthly payments and told Royal London which gift you’d like to receive.
Reassured has a 2023 life insurance with free gift guide which details all the current free gift offers currently available from UK insurers.
What is Royal London mortgage protection?
Royal London mortgage protection is also known as decreasing term life insurance.
It’s designed to help your loved ones pay off the mortgage if you pass away while the policy is active.
The cover amount and policy length can mirror your outstanding mortgage balance and mortgage term.
With Royal London, if you choose to take out decreasing term life insurance to cover your repayment mortgage, your cover amount will reduce over the policy term in line with a mortgage that has an interest rate of 7%.
If you take out a decreasing term policy through a financial advisor, then you could opt for their mortgage repayment guarantee.
This guarantees that your cover amount will pay off your outstanding mortgage if you pass away during the policy term.
How long does Royal London take to pay out?
As soon as Royal London have all the correct documents and the claim has been verified, they will begin to make payment.
Payments usually clear within 3 - 5 working days and will be sent via BACS transfer.
How do I contact Royal London life insurance?
Depending on the type of query you have and which product you’ve taken out, there are various ways to contact Royal London.
The main contact number for their customer service team is 0345 602 1885 (lines are open 08:00 to 18:00, Monday to Friday, excluding bank holidays).
Alternatively, you can get in touch by post or via their online contact form.
For all Royal London life insurance contact details, head to the ‘Contact Us’ page on their website.
How to cancel Royal London life insurance?
If you’re looking to cancel your policy, then you may be able to do this by using one of the contact methods mentioned above found on the ‘Contact Us’ page.
Alternatively, you may be able to cancel your policy by logging into your account and using the online service on their website.
It’s important to bear in mind that if you choose to cancel your life insurance, then any payment you’ve made will be lost and you won’t receive anything back.
It also means that if you decide that you need cover again in the future, it will be more expensive to take out due to your older age.
[1] https://www.royallondon.com/insurance/life-insurance/term/
[2] https://www.royallondon.com/about-us/how-we-are-run/our-history/
[3] https://www.finder.com/uk/mortgage-statistics
[4] https://www.nimblefins.co.uk/average-uk-household-budget
[5] https://www.daynurseries.co.uk/advice/childcare-costs-how-much-do-you-pay-in-the-uk/
[6] https://www.sunlife.co.uk/funeral-costs/
[7] https://www.royallondon.com/insurance/our-claims-experience/
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