Aviva Life Insurance Review

• Global brand & largest insurer in the UK
• Multiple types of life cover options
• Flexibility to add critcical illness into the plan

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About Aviva

Aviva is the UK’s largest insurance company and one of the biggest in Europe with a history going back over 300 years. The company has over 31 million customers worldwide, of which approximately 16 million are in the UK.

They offer a wide portfolio of products covering insurance, investments, retirement and healthcare.

The Aviva brand was launched in 2002, and it represents the merger of previous household-name major insurers such as Norwich Union, Commercial Union and General Accident.

In 2015, Aviva acquired Friends Life. Friends Life was a merger of Friends Provident, AXA Sun Life holdings and BUPA health insurance.

For your peace of mind Aviva is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

The Aviva Life Insurance options

Decreasing Cover

This offers life cover over a specified term, which is typically linked to an outstanding debt that is also decreasing over time. A classic example is the standard repayment mortgage where your outstanding debt diminishes year-by-year.

While your premiums remain the same over the whole term, the amount the policy would pay out to clear your debt would reduce in line with the balance outstanding on the debt itself.

Increasing Cover

As your family’s debts and living expenses typically increase year by year, at least in line with inflation, the amount they might need to survive on today might be insufficient in say 10 years’ time.

 This type of life policy has an increasing level of cover which increments each year in line with the consumer prices index.  Your premiums will increase each year to reflect this.

Over 50s life insurance

Offering a lump sum whole-of-life cover, you decide how much cover you need (but these amounts will be in the lower £10,000-£15,000 region compared to traditional insurance plans).

Your premiums are calculated from this figure. Knowing that there will be a lump sum to help cover your funeral expenses, for example, or clear some of your debts, can provide welcome peace of mind.

Over 50 life insurance has guaranteed acceptance, even if you have been refused life insurance elsewhere, with no need for a medical declaration.

Critical Illness Cover

This is an option to add to the main life plans.

Again offering increasing and decreasing plan options, you are free to use the lump sum provided by this type of cover as you think best – to pay off a loan for example or to cover additional expenses which may arise from your illness. Your children are also covered by this policy option should they be diagnosed with a specified illness.

Critical illness cover only covers conditions specified within the policy.

Trust Services

This is an option to add to the main life plans

Having life insurance in Trust means that you give someone control of the sums insured in the event of your death – someone who is not a beneficiary as such.

This is perhaps best illustrated in situations where surviving children might be too young to handle the sum insured and will need the assistance of trustees until they reach adulthood.

In some situations, there may be tax advantages to this arrangement but specialist advice will be required on this aspect and your individual financial position would need to be analysed.

All Aviva’s policies of this type offer lump-sum payments. Please note that these are NOT savings products and they have no cash-in value at any time.

Reasons why you may consider Aviva life insurance

There are a number of attractions with these plans which might make Aviva life insurance quotes interesting:

• their very visible and familiar Aviva life insurance brand may provide additional confidence;
• their life insurance propositions are simple and easily understood;
• the incorporation of partners/spouses when added to the cover (except over 50s life assurance);
• plans can be purchased at maximum ages ranging from 80-89 years for life insurance and over 50s cover or 64 years in the case of critical illness cover;
• one-stop shopping – no need to purchase individual critical illness and over 50s cover from separate companies;
• a couple with joint life policies can select variable cover levels for each partner, adding a degree of flexibility;
• children are covered for up to 50% of the main benefit (to a stipulated maximum level of £25,000) under “Children’s Critical Illness Cover”;
• the waiver of premium uses an “Own Occupation” definition of incapacity, should you be in full-time employment at the point you apply;
• Aviva share their claims pay-out rates, which are consistently high. For example, in 2016 they paid out in 98.9% of life insurance claim cases;
• Aviva’s standard life insurance critical illness cover covers 37 full payment critical illnesses. It also provides for 2 partial payment additional critical illnesses and 6 surgical treatments;
• in addition to critical illness cover, Aviva propose cover for “Additional Critical Illnesses”. Critical Illnesses defined as “additional” are those that entitle you to a partial pay-out of either 25% of your main benefit or £25,000. If you make a claim against your additional critical illness protection, this does not affect your ability to claim under normal critical illness or life insurance provisions;
• life insurance policies purchased bring with them, subject to conditions, additional services under their “Support Plus” scheme. This provides you with access to their “Second Opinion” service as provided by “Best Doctors”, a counselling and carer support service, and the “Bupa Anytime HealthLine”;
• 12 month terminal Illness cover is automatically included in Aviva’s life Insurance;
• life insurance in Trust options;
• Free 1-year cover for each parent with a child under 4 (to a cover level of £15,000)
• discounts available on other Aviva products.