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Life insurance guides
Understand cover types, costs and insurers, from buying a policy to making a claim.
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What is life insurance, and do I need it?
How cover works, how much you need, how long for, and what it won’t pay for.
Which type of cover suits me?
Level term, whole of life, mortgage, joint, family income benefit and critical illness cover.
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Which life insurer is best for me?
Our 2026 ratings, our review of each insurer, and the free extras they include.
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What will I pay, and how do I buy well?
Average prices from our own research, how premiums work, and tips before you buy or change a policy.
Can I get cover with a health condition?
Cancer, diabetes, mental health, smoking, BMI and more, and how insurers decide.
What cover suits my age and family?
Guides for over 50s, mums, single parents and anyone going through a divorce.
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What happens when a policy pays out?
How long a claim takes, trusts, beneficiaries, tax and tracing a lost policy.
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How life insurers and prices compare in 2026
We rated over 30 insurers and analysed more than 5,700 life insurance quotes ourselves.
2026 life insurance ratings
Royal London tops our 2026 life insurance ratings
We score each insurer on its policy features, customer service and claims payout record.
Royal London5.094.97%: 5.0 out of 5 stars, score 94.97%. Read our review
Aviva5.092.18%: 5.0 out of 5 stars, score 92.18%. Read our review
Vitality5.092.06%: 5.0 out of 5 stars, score 92.06%. Read our review
Scottish Widows5.091.93%: 5.0 out of 5 stars, score 91.93%. Read our review
LV=5.090.17%: 5.0 out of 5 stars, score 90.17%. See our ratings
Source: our Best life insurance companies guide, updated 6 Oct 2026. How we rate insurers
See the full insurer rankings2026 price research
What level term cover costs each month, by age
Based on £150,000 of level term cover over 25 years.
Source: myTribe Life Insurance Pricing Survey 2026, over 5,700 quotes.
See the full cost guideWhat if illness stops you working?
Income protection pays part of your income while you can’t work. Our guides, our 2026 ratings and what cover costs.
2026 income protection ratings
LV= tops our 2026 income protection ratings
We assessed 22 policies from 17 providers. These five earned our top rating.
- LV=5.0 out of 5 stars
- Aviva5.0 out of 5 stars
- The Exeter5.0 out of 5 stars
- Royal London5.0 out of 5 stars
- Cirencester Friendly5.0 out of 5 stars
Source: our Best income protection insurance guide, updated 29 Sep 2026. How we rate income protection
See the full provider ratingsEvery life insurance guide, A to Z
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