Best Life Insurance UK [2026]

Beagle Street policy details:

Beagle Street offer term-based cover that will pay out if you pass away during the policy term.

You have the option of level term life insurance (where your cover amount stays the same throughout the policy term) or decreasing term life insurance (where your cover amount reduces throughout the policy term).

• Policies are available to UK residents aged 17 – 77
• Maximum sum assured up to £750,000
• Policy term can be between 5 – 40 years (policy must end before your 90^th birthday)
• Terminal illness cover is included at no extra cost (make an early claim if you’re diagnosed with a terminal illness and given 12 months or less to live)
• Policies can be taken out on a joint basis
• Prices start from £6 per month

What other policies do Beagle Street offer?

• Life insurance with critical illness cover (pays out if you’re diagnosed with a specific serious illness or if you pass away during the policy term)
• Additional critical illness cover (standalone policy)

What is Beagle Street’s pay out rate?

In 2024, Family Assurance Friendly Society (who own Beagle Street) paid out an impressive 99.8% of their protection claims.

How are Beagle Street rated?

Overall, Beagle Street are rated very well by independent review sites.

Defaqto rates Beagle Street life insurance as 5 stars, this is the highest possible rating on their site. Being rated as 5 stars shows that their life insurance is good quality.

They’re also highly rated on Fairer Finance, with an overall score of 92%. This score can be broken down into the following areas:

Royal London policy details:

Royal London life insurance can be purchased as part of their Personal Menu Plan. This Plan allows you to combine different policies to create a comprehensive cover option. You can take out all policies at once, or you can add extra cover at a later date.

The Personal Menu offers a great variety of options. You can choose for your cover amount to stay the same (level), decrease or increase and you can also choose whether your loved ones receive a lump sum payment or monthly payments to mimic an income.

This option is only available through a financial advisor.

• Cover is available to UK residents aged 18 – 87
• Unlimited maximum cover amount
• Policy term can be between 1 – 72 years (policy must end before your 89^h birthday)
• Terminal illness cover is included at no extra cost
• Policies can be taken out on a joint basis (joint cover can be arrange on both a first and second life basis)
• Policies can be taken out on a duel life basis (this means that two people are insured by separate policies)
• Prices start from £5 per month

What other policies do Royal London offer?

• Life insurance with critical illness cover
• Critical illness cover (standalone policy)
• Income protection
• Direct life cover (a simplified life insurance offering that can be purchased online directly through Royal London)
• Diabetes life cover (specialist cover for those with diabetes)
• Whole of life insurance

What is Royal London’s pay out rate?

Royal London boasts a high pay out rate. In 2024, they paid out 98.7% of all their protection claims.

While this pay out statistic isn’t specifically for their life insurance claims, it shows that they have a good track record of paying out for wide range of protection policies.

How are Royal London rated?

Royal London’s life insurance as part of their Personal Menu Plan is rated as 5 stars on Defato – the highest rating a policy can get.

Furthermore, on Fairer Finance, Royal London have an overall score of 85%. This shows that they handle claims and complaints well, providing a great experience for customers:

Tesco policy details:

Tesco’s life insurance is actually provided by Aviva. Options include level term life insurance for family protection and decreasing term life insurance to help protect a mortgage.

• Cover is available to UK residents aged 18 – 77
• Maximum sum assured up to £5,000,000
• Terminal illness cover included as standard
• Policy term can be between 5 – 50 years (policy must end before you turn 91)
• Can be taken out on a joint basis
• Policy premiums start from £5 per month

What other policies do Tesco offer?

Tesco currently only offer the term-based options mentioned above.

What is Tesco’s pay out rate?

Aviva, who provide life insurance for Tesco, paid out 98.8% of their life insurance claims in 2024.

How are Tesco rated?

Tesco’s life insurance is provided by Aviva, so it makes sense that the two are rated similarly – both achieving a 5 star rating from Defaqto and both are rated well on Fairer Finance.

On Fairer Finance, Tesco have an overall customer experience score of 83%. This score is made up of the following:

Scottish Widows policy details:

Scottish Widows Protect offers term-based cover, offering level, decreasing and increasing options.

Increasing life insurance helps to protect your pay out from inflation by increasing your cover amount each year in line with the Retail Prices Index (RPI).

• Cover is available to UK residents aged 18 – 79
• Maximum sum assured up to £18,000,000 (depending on your policy type)
• Terminal illness cover included as standard
• Policy term can be between 5 – 70 years (policy must end before you turn 90)
• Can be taken out on a joint basis
• Prices start from £5 per month

What other policies do Scottish Widows offer?

• Plan & Protect life cover (a simplified life insurance option that provides an instant decision)
• Life with critical illness cover
• Critical illness cover (standalone policy)
• Income protection

What is Scottish Widows’ pay out rate?

In 2024, 99.1% of life insurance claims were paid out. This is a high pay out rate and shows that nearly all claims were paid out.

When it comes to life insurance it’s natural for not all claims to be paid. This is often due to non-disclosure being found or a claim being made for an excluded reason.

How are Scottish Widows rated?

Scottish Widows Protect is rated 5 stars on Defaqto, the highest possible rating. This shows the policy is of high quality and offers good additional benefits.

On Fairer Finance they have an overall score of 75%. This score is made up of the following:

Zurich policy details:

Zurich life insurance is term-based. You can choose between level term (fixed pay out amount), decreasing term (ideal for helping to protect a mortgage) or increasing term (protect your pay out from inflation) options.

A payment will be made if you pass away during the policy term.

• Cover is available to UK residents aged 16 – 83
• Maximum sum assured up to £5,000,000
• Terminal illness cover included as standard
• Policy term can be between 1 – 50 years (policy must end before you turn 91)
• Can be taken out on a joint basis
• Prices start from £5 per month

What other policies do Zurich offer?

• Life insurance with critical illness cover
• Critical illness cover (standalone policy)
• Whole of life insurance (available through our advised team to those aged 18 and over).
• Income protection

What is Zurich’s pay out rate?

In 2024, Zurich paid out 99.8% of life insurance claims – totalling over £220 million. This is a very high pay out rate, signalling a great track record of paying out.

How are Zurich rated?

Zurich offer high quality life insurance which is reflected in their 5 star Defaqto rating.

On Fairer Finance they are ranked 20^th out of 21 insurers, achieving an overall rating of 71%. You can see the individual scores that make up this rating below: