Life insurance for mortgage protection

Death – you’ll be covered if you die before the end of your policy⁽²⁾

Terminal illness – you’ll be covered if you’re expected to die within a year

Critical illness – if your policy includes Critical Illness Cover, you’ll be covered if you’re diagnosed with one of the critical illnesses specified by Legal & General

One-time payment – your cover amount will only be paid out once. On a joint policy, this will be when the first person dies or makes a valid claim. The remaining person will need to take out a new policy to stay covered.

Incorrect information – if you don't answer the Legal & General questions honestly and in full before your policy starts, they won't pay out

Suicide – if you die within the first year of the policy and your death is caused by suicide or intentional and serious self-injury, you won't be covered

Some critical illnesses – if you have Critical Illness Cover, Legal & General won’t pay out if you’re diagnosed with a critical illness that doesn’t meet their definition.

Make sure that you have your mortgage details, plus details of your other life or critical illness insurance policies

Have a look at the policy booklet (PDF, 414KB), the mortgage protection policy summary (PDF, 231KB) and the critical illness policy booklet (PDF, 225KB) for more information on how the policy works.

Choose how much cover you want and how long you want to be covered for. If you’re not sure about how much cover you need, our mortgage advisers can help

Life insurance policies have no cash value and Legal & General won’t pay out if you reach the end of the policy without making a valid claim

Legal & General won’t pay out if you’re diagnosed with a terminal illness that doesn’t meet their definition

If you get Critical Illness Cover, Legal & General won’t pay out if you’re diagnosed with a critical illness that doesn’t meet their definition

Legal & General might restrict some elements of cover based on your information. If they do, they’ll tell you what they’ve excluded in your policy schedule

If you stop paying, your cover will end 60 days after the first missed payment

If you select level term insurance, your monthly cost and amount of cover will remain the same during the length of your policy, unless you make any changes

If you select decreasing term life insurance, your monthly cost will remain the same, but the amount of cover reduces roughly in-line with the way a repayment mortgage decreases

You might be able to increase your cover amount without further reassessment or application. You can do this as many times as you need, but you can’t increase it by more than £200,000. You’ll also need to meet certain conditions and limits

If the policy is to help pay off a mortgage or is linked to any other financial product, make sure your amount of cover matches your outstanding balance. You’ll also need to update your policy if your finances change – it won’t happen automatically

You can cancel your policy any time. If you cancel within 30 days of starting your policy, Legal & General will return any payments you’ve made. If you cancel after 30 days, you won't get any payments back and future payments will stop from that point

You can find benefits, exclusions and other relevant information in the mortgage protection policy summary. (PDF, 231KB)

You need to be at least 18 to apply

You can’t be older than 74 to apply

You can’t be older than 67 to apply for Critical Illness Cover with your policy, or 64 if you’ve chosen a decreasing policy

You can get covered up to your 90th birthday, or your 75th birthday if you have Critical Illness Cover.

The minimum policy duration is 5 years. The maximum duration is 50 years. The policy must end before your 90th birthday, or your 75th birthday if Critical Illness Cover is included.

The maximum cover amount is £5 million.