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What's the cost of life insurance in 2025?
Life insurance is a type of personal protection insurance that pays out a lump sum to selected beneficiaries in the even that the policyholder passes away.
We looked at exclusive data to work out the median monthly price of policies and bring you latest insights on UK life insurance.
One of the interesting findings we’ve discovered from our data is that life insurance hasn’t been as affected by inflation over the past couple of years as some other insurance products, like car insurance or home insurance.
Our data found that since 2022 the median cost of a life insurance policy has increased by around £2 per month, keeping it comfortably affordable for most policyholders with a median price of below £22 per month.
Life insurance cost by region
Life insurance prices vary across the UK, and where you live could make a big difference. Londoners and those in the South East pay the most, while those in the North East pay less on average.
Pricing | Region | Price |
Most expensive | South East | £27.64^ |
London | £27.50^ | |
East | £24.93^ | |
Least expensive | North East | £20.43^ |
North West | £21.33^ | |
West Midlands | £21.87^ |
How does smoking impact the cost of life insurance?
Despite how affordable life insurance can be, we surveyed 2,000 UK adults and found that only 20%
When we asked people without life insurance why they didn’t have it, 46%
But only 18%
Certain details such as occupation and lifestyle will have some effect on the cost of a policy. However, one detail that absolutely does affect the cost of life insurance is smoking. Unhealthy habits like smoking will almost always increase the cost of your life insurance, as well as other insurance types like health insurance, critical illness cover, and income protection.
Life insurance providers don’t discriminate when it comes to nicotine, so vaping and other nicotine products can increase the cost of your policy just the same as cigarette smoking.
Smoker status | Median life insurance price |
|---|---|
Smoker | £25.94 |
Non-smoker | £22.90 |
Life insurance payout rates by provider
The top UK life insurance providers continue to have high payout rates, with some of the UK’s most well-known providers approving 95% or more of life insurance claims made in 2024.
As long as you are truthful when applying for your policy and update your provider on any changes to your health or lifestyle, your policy’s cover shouldn’t be affected.
Is it cheaper to get decreasing life insurance cover?
One of the benefits that decreasing term life insurance is known for is its cheaper premiums compared to some other types of life insurance, like level term life insurance.
This is because the cover of a decreasing term policy goes down over time. It’s the type of life insurance that is suited to cover a specific debt that the policyholder wants to pay off in the event of their passing, like a mortgage debt.
Interestingly, our data shows that the overall all median price that our customers are paying for a decreasing term life insurance policy is not that different from a level term policy.
Policy type | Median price per month |
|---|---|
Level term life insurance | £22.76 |
Decreasing term life insurance | £20.52 |
There are a number of reasons why this might be. Our experts suggest one explanation for this similarity in price is the level of cover people are choosing for each of the policy types.
However, despite decreasing term policies offering more cover for less from the start, that doesn’t necessarily mean policyholders are getting more for less.
As their cover goes down, policyholders are unlikely to have much of their payout left if they want to leave a monetary gift to their loved ones.
Level term policies, on the other hand, offer cover will stay the same for the entirety of the policy’s term. So, covering funeral costs and leaving gifts to family and loved ones is one of the reasons why level term life insurance tends to be the more popular choice among MoneySuperMarket customers, with around 66%
Our expert says…
With mortgage prices going up in recent years, customers wanting a life insurance policy to cover their mortgage debt will probably need to take out more cover than those that may want life insurance for other reasons, like covering funeral costs or leaving a gift to their loved ones.
This might be why decreasing policies, which are designed to cover decreasing debts and are typically cheaper than level term policies, have a similar median price according to our data
Alicia Hempsted Insurance Expert
Am I too old to get life insurance?
While it’s common knowledge that life insurance tends to go up in cost as you age, our latest data indicates that being older doesn’t mean you have to pay out the nose for a policy if you decide you want insurance later in life.
When choosing the same level of cover, policy prices will generally go up as you age.
For example, someone in their 20s that wants to take out £200,000 worth of life insurance could be paying under £15 a month for a policy. However, someone over 50 taking out a life insurance policy with the same cover might be paying £40 a month.
But when we look at the overall median price of all the life insurance policies sold through MoneySuperMarket, age doesn’t always have much of an effect on what people pay.
Policyholder age | Median price for £200,000 of life cover |
|---|---|
20-29 | £14.70^ |
30-39 | £21.46^ |
40-49 | £29.18^ |
50-59 | £40.65^ |
60-69 | £78.73^ |
Policyholder age | Median Price |
|---|---|
20-29 | £13.45^ |
30-39 | £21.27^ |
40-49 | £28.77^ |
50-59 | £31.95^ |
60-69 | £31.98^ |
According to our survey data, a staggering 46%^
of respondents aged 55+ have never gotten a quote for life insurance.
One of the reasons why older policyholders are managing to get life insurance for a similar price to younger policyholders is the amount of cover their choosing.
Policyholders over 50 are taking out practically half the amount of cover compared to policyholders in their twenties and thirties.
Policyholder age | Median cover amount |
|---|---|
20-29 | £200000 |
30-39 | £201343 |
40-49 | £200000 |
50-59 | £109000 |
60-69 | £50000 |
But it makes sense that as you get older you probably are going to need a lot less cover.
Older policyholders are less likely to have to worry about the cost of supporting their children, and according to ONS more than half (59%) of people between 60 and 69 years old live in a home that own outright, which increases to 75% and 76% for UK adults in their 70s and 80s. So, it’s fair to assume that mortgage debt is less likely to be a concern for older life insurance holders.
Our expert says…
Our latest findings should be a big confidence boost for anyone thinking their age will get in the way of buying a policy. When you choose the right policy options and shop around, it’s very possible for someone in their forties, fifties, or even sixties to find an affordable life insurance policy that covers what you need.
Kara Gammell Life insurance expert
Is critical illness cover worth the cost?
Unfortunately, adding critical illness cover to a life insurance policy will increase the cost.
However, that doesn’t mean this extra cover isn’t worth it. Critical illness cover does what a standard life insurance policy can’t – support you and your family if your life is changed by a serious health condition.
The three core conditions covered by all critical illness policies are:
-
-
Stroke
Stroke is one of the UK’s leading causes of disability. 1 in 4 strokes happen to people of working age. 1 in 3 in this group will have to give up their jobs
-
Heart attack
Research by the British Heart Foundation found that up to a third of people they studied within a nine year period that had experienced a heart attack later developed heart failure or kidney failure
How can I get cheaper life insurance?
When it comes to life insurance price, there are some things we unfortunately can’t control. Your health and medical history can be a big factor that you can’t change. But there are a few things that you can do to find a life insurance policy for a good price.
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Choose the right cover
Rather than go for the largest amount you can, take some time to think about what you want your life insurance to cover and calculate an amount that’s right for you and your budget.
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Choose the right policy type
When you know the reason why you want life insurance, you’ll know which options are right for you.
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Compare online
Shopping around for your life insurance policy and comparing quotes can help you find the best deal for your cover.
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Life insurance guides and tools
Reviewed on 11 Dec 2025
Data based on the average price of level term life insurance sold through MoneySuperMarket in 2025.
Based on the life insurance policies sold through MoneySuperMarket between August 2025 and October 2025 where the cover type was level.
Based on the life insurance policies sold through MoneySuperMarket between August 2025 and October 2025 where the cover type was decreasing.
All consumer polling figures unless otherwise stated are from a poll of 2,000 adults carried out on behalf of MoneySuperMarket by YouGov in September 2024.
Based on the life insurance policies sold through MoneySuperMarket between August 2025 and October 2025 where the user was aged between 20-29.
Based on the life insurance policies sold through MoneySuperMarket between August 2025 and October 2025 where the user was aged between 30-39.
Based on the life insurance policies sold through MoneySuperMarket between August 2025 and October 2025 where the user was aged between 40-49.
Based on the life insurance policies sold through MoneySuperMarket between August 2025 and October 2025 where the user was aged between 50-59.
Based on the life insurance policies sold through MoneySuperMarket between August 2025 and October 2025 where the user was aged between 60-69.
Based on the life insurance policies sold through MoneySuperMarket in the year 2022.
Based on the life insurance policies sold through MoneySuperMarket in the year 2023.
Based on the life insurance policies sold through MoneySuperMarket in the year 2024.
Data based on the median price of life insurance sold through MoneySuperMarket in 2025.
All consumer polling figures unless otherwise stated are from a poll of 2,000 adults carried out on behalf of MoneySuperMarket by YouGov in September 2024.
All consumer polling figures unless otherwise stated are from a poll of 2,000 adults carried out on behalf of MoneySuperMarket by YouGov in September 2024.
All consumer polling figures unless otherwise stated are from a poll of 2,000 adults carried out on behalf of MoneySuperMarket by YouGov in September 2024.
All consumer polling figures unless otherwise stated are from a poll of 2,000 adults carried out on behalf of MoneySuperMarket by YouGov in September 2024.
Based on the life insurance policies sold through MoneySuperMarket between August 2025 and October 2025 where the policyholder has used nicotine in last 5 years.
Based on the life insurance policies sold through MoneySuperMarket between August 2025 and October 2025 where the policyholder has not used nicotine in last 5 years.
Data based on the median price of life insurance sold through MoneySuperMarket for level cover in 2025.
Data based on the median price of life insurance sold through MoneySuperMarket for decreasing cover in 2025.
Data based on the median price of life insurance sold through MoneySuperMarket for life insurance and critical illness cover in November 2025.
Data based on the median price of life insurance sold through MoneySuperMarket for life insurance only in November 2025.
Based on the life insurance policies sold through MoneySuperMarket between August 2025 and October 2025 where the user was aged between 20-29 with £200k of life cover.
Based on the life insurance policies sold through MoneySuperMarket between August 2025 and October 2025 where the user was aged between 30-39 with £200k of life cover.
Based on the life insurance policies sold through MoneySuperMarket between August 2025 and October 2025 where the user was aged between 40-49 with £200k of life cover.
Based on the life insurance policies sold through MoneySuperMarket between August 2025 and October 2025 where the user was aged between 50-59 with £200k of life cover.
Based on the life insurance policies sold through MoneySuperMarket between August 2025 and October 2025 where the user was aged between 60-69 with £200k of life cover.
Based on the life insurance policies sold through MoneySuperMarket between August 2025 and October 2025 where the user was aged between 20-29.
Based on the life insurance policies sold through MoneySuperMarket between August 2025 and October 2025 where the user was aged between 30-39.
Based on the life insurance policies sold through MoneySuperMarket between August 2025 and October 2025 where the user was aged between 40-49.
Based on the life insurance policies sold through MoneySuperMarket between August 2025 and October 2025 where the user was aged between 50-59.
Based on the life insurance policies sold through MoneySuperMarket between August 2025 and October 2025 where the user was aged between 60-69.
Based on the life insurance policies sold through MoneySuperMarket between August 2025 and October 2025 for the South East region.
Based on the life insurance policies sold through MoneySuperMarket between August 2025 and October 2025 for the London region.
Based on the life insurance policies sold through MoneySuperMarket between August 2025 and October 2025 for the East of England region.
Based on the life insurance policies sold through MoneySuperMarket between August 2025 and October 2025 for the North East region.
Based on the life insurance policies sold through MoneySuperMarket between August 2025 and October 2025 for the North West region.
Based on the life insurance policies sold through MoneySuperMarket between August 2025 and October 2025 for the West Midlands region.