If you’ve just bought a house or started a family, you’ll want to ensure your loved ones are protected in the event of your death.
Direct Line offers flexible life insurance options, as well as discounts for existing Direct Line customers. Find out how it works and if it’s right for you below.
Direct Line is a British insurance company that was founded in 1984. It was the country’s first direct car insurance provider and now offers policies for home, pet, travel and life insurance.
Direct Line life insurance is underwritten by AIG and has received a 5-star rating from Defaqto. Existing Direct Line customers can get up to a 7% discount on life insurance, and you can receive a £10,000 advance payment if your claim has been accepted but you are waiting on the full payment.
What types of life insurance does Direct Line offer?
Direct Line offers life insurance under both single and joint policies, as well as cover designed specifically for over 50s. Along with these basic policies, customers can also get the optional Critical 3 illness cover. This covers you in the event you have a heart attack or stroke, or are diagnosed with cancer.
With Direct Line’s life insurance, you also have the choice between level term or decreasing term cover.
This is a type of term life insurance that keeps the size of your payment and monthly payments the same throughout the length of your policy. You choose how long you would like to be covered for and will receive the sum insured amount if the policy holder dies within that period.
Level term insurance offers certainty in the ongoing cost of your insurance, as well as in the amount you’ll receive.
Unlike level term cover, decreasing term insurance means that your insurance premiums will get smaller over time, as will the size of the payout you receive if the policy holder dies.
Decreasing term insurance is often used by those looking to cover the outstanding cost of their mortgage, as the policy reduces over time in life with you continuing to pay off your house.
This is a specialised policy for customers who are over 50 years old. Once you’ve taken out a policy, you won’t have to take part in any further medical assessments and will be insured for the rest of your life.
Your family will then receive an agreed amount in the event of your death, provided you’ve had the policy for at least two years. They will also receive a payout if you stop paying your insurance, as long as you’ve made more than half of the total payments in your policy.
You can also choose to add optional critical illness cover to your Direct Line life insurance. This will cover you if you are diagnosed with cancer, or experience a heart attack or stroke. You will need to survive for at least two weeks in order to make a claim and the Critical 3 cover will end once your claim has been approved.
Direct Line life insurance has a 5-star rating from Defaqto
Optional critical illness cover
Single and joint policies available
Over 50s insurance will still cover you even if you stop making payments
Drawbacks of Direct Line life insurance
Does not offer whole-of-life insurance
Critical illness cover ends once you make a claim
Direct Line life insurance exclusions
Exclusions will vary based on the specific type of policy you take out, but you will generally not be covered in the following instances:
You did not provide accurate, complete and true information as part of your application
You fail to make a payment within 30 days of its due date
You are not covered for certain cancers under Critical 3 cover
Direct Line life insurance customer reviews
Scottish Widows fared fairly well in the 2024 Finder customer satisfaction survey, with 83% of its customers in the survey saying they’d recommend the brand to a friend. Several cited getting value for money others said service was good.
One said: “It…is a reasonable monthly price compared to what my loved ones will get paid if I pass away.”
On the reviews platform Trustpilot, Direct Line overall has a “great” rating of 3.8 out of 5, based on more than 18,000 reviews (last updated: March 2024).
What’s the claims process for Direct Line’s life insurance?
You can make a claim by calling Direct Line, with specific lines for over 50 and critical illness claims. When making a claim, you will need to provide the name and policy number, your contact details and the death certificate or details of illness.
Frequently asked questions
While Direct Line offers life insurance from £5 per month, the actual cost of your premium will vary based on the type and length of your policy, your age and general health, as well as the amount you want to be insured for.
Yes, you can generally make changes to the terms and cover level of your Direct Line life insurance policy.
Life insurance is currently not subject to income or capital gains tax in the UK. However, this may change in the future.
If you fail to make a payment after 30 days, your cover will be stopped and you will need to renew your policy. However, customers with an over 50s policy may still be paid out after they stop making payments, provided they have made at least 50% of the total payments on their policy.
Life insurance ratings
★★★★★ — Excellent
★★★★★ — Good
★★★★★ — Average
★★★★★ — Subpar
★★★★★ — Poor
Finder scores, in blue, are based on our expert analysis. We also show reviews from users, where we've received more than 10, with a score in yellow. We gather more reviews from customers every year in Finder's customer satisfaction survey.
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Tom Stelzer is a writer for Finder specialising in personal finance, including loans and credit, as well as small business and business loans. He has previously worked as a freelance writer covering entertainment, culture and football for publications like FourFourTwo and Man of Many. He has a Master of Media Arts and Production and Bachelor of Communications in Journalism from the University of Technology Sydney. See full bio
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