Provided, administered and underwritten by Aviva Life & Pensions UK Limited.
What is life insurance?
Life insurance helps give your family financial protection if you die or suffer from a critical illness while you have your policy.
With a policy, you can leave behind a lump sum to help those you love maintain their living standards and keep paying the bills.
You can use life insurance to cover one person (a single policy) or two people (a joint policy). But it’ll only pay out once, so once Aviva has paid a claim, the policy ends.
In most cases, you can get life insurance even if you have medical conditions. You’ll need to tell us about them when we ask. You might need to have a medical exam too but we’ll pay for this.
The price you pay depends on the level of cover you choose and your personal circumstances.
The benefits of our life insurance
Quick and simple cover
Get a quote online in minutes
Peace of mind
Life insurance from Aviva, the UK’s largest insurer
Claims you can count on
99.3% of Aviva life insurance claims were paid out in 2023 (source: Aviva)
Cashback offer
Getting a little back
New Santander Life insurance customers
Get £100 cashback when you take out a new life insurance policy.
New and existing Santander mortgage, Private Banking, Select, and Edge customers
Get £150 cashback when you take out a new life insurance policy.
We'll pay cashback once per customer. For qualifying joint life protection policies we’ll pay it to the first named policyholder. This offer can be withdrawn at any time. See full cashback terms and conditions (PDF - 66 KB)
When's the right time to get life insurance?
Life insurance doesn’t need to be expensive. The younger and healthier you are, the lower the cost of a life insurance policy will be. The golden rule is that if you have someone in your life who relies on your income, then you should think about having some form of life insurance. Here’s some examples of the most common life changes that make people think about taking out life insurance or reviewing their existing level of cover.
Types of life insurance
Mortgage life insurance
Designed to give you and your family peace of mind. It could help pay off your outstanding mortgage.
Family and lifestyle insurance
Protect your family and make them more financially secure by leaving a lump sum.
Over 50s Life Insurance
Provide your loved ones with a lump sum if you die, which could be used to help towards funeral costs.
Administered and underwritten by Aviva Life & Pensions UK Limited.
Life insurance, critical illness insurance and Over 50s Life Insurance have no cash-in value at any time, and exclusions and limitations will apply.
Inheritance tax and putting life policies in trust: what you need to know
Tax on life policies
In the UK, life insurance payouts are generally not subject to capital gains tax, or income tax.
However, they may be subject to inheritance tax, unless the policy is put into a suitable trust.
We’d recommend that you get independent financial advice. This is because your individual circumstances can affect your tax position.
Please remember that tax rules may change in the future.
Using a trust could prove tax-efficient
You can put your life insurance policy in trust. Doing this will:
- allow the proceeds to be paid to the intended beneficiaries
- minimise delays that might cause financial difficulties
- make sure the proceeds do not form part of the estate for inheritance tax purposes.
If you're unsure on whether you should put your policy in trust you should seek specialist legal advice. Tax rules may change in the future.
See our forms below for more information
Aviva Guide to Protection Trust
Aviva Survivor Trust Form
Aviva Discretionary Gift Trust Form
How does life insurance work?
Life insurance can pay out a lump sum to your dependants when you die to help with financial support. The level of cover you buy will determine how much Aviva pay out. You'll pay for your cover each month. Critical illness insurance will pay out while you’re alive if you develop certain illnesses covered by the policy.
When you work out how long you want your life insurance policy to run for, it’s important to think about why you’re taking it out in the first place. Most people will take out a policy to cover a large financial commitment such as a mortgage, or to provide money for their family. So, whatever your reason is, the policy should reflect this. You need to think about how long your children will need financial support when your mortgage ends or when your partner may retire. If you’re considering an Over 50s product, your cover will continue for the rest of your life.
If you and your partner both want cover, you can take out a joint policy. You’ll only need to pay one regular monthly premium. Just so you’re aware, the policy only pays out once and won’t provide cover for the second person after the first person dies.
Another option would be to think about taking out separate policies. This means that if Aviva pay out for one person their policy will end, but the second person’s will continue.
Existing customers in financial difficulty
If you have a Santander life insurance policy underwritten by Aviva and you're experiencing short-term financial difficulty, you might be able to get help with your monthly payments. Please get in touch with Aviva on 0800 141 3430. Lines are open 8am-6pm, Monday to Friday.
Other types of insurance we offer
Home insurance
Landlord insurance
We're pleased to introduce you to AXA, who offer landlord insurance that you can tailor to meet your needs. AXA isn’t part of the Santander group.
Car insurance
Have peace of mind when you’re on the road. This includes cover for hybrid vehicles.
Santander will be paid commission from Aviva for any life or critical illness insurance that you purchase and this commission will be included in your premium. Santander also receives an annual amount from Aviva towards marketing activities, which can be used from time to time for promotional offers such as cashback, vouchers or discounts. If you came from a third-party website and you take out a life policy, Santander will make a payment to the website you found us on.