Life insurance cost by age

Rough monthly prices for level term life insurance in the UK, worked out from prices insurers publish. Enter your age and the cover you want, or find your age in the table below.

Based on Aviva prices correct on 2 February 2026 · Checked against 19 other published examples

Monthly cost by age

Estimated monthly price for level term cover lasting 20 years, for a non-smoker in good health. Smokers can expect to pay about twice as much.

Age	£100,000	£200,000	£300,000	£500,000
20	£5	£5	£5.10	£6.80
25	£5	£5.50	£7	£10
30	£5	£7.60	£10	£15
35	£6.70	£11	£16	£25
40	£10	£18	£26	£43
45	£16	£29	£43	£70
50	£28	£55	£82	£136
55	£50	£99	£148	£245
60	£85	£171	£256	£427
65	£141	£283	£424	£707

Our estimates from Aviva's published prices (2 February 2026). Real prices vary by about 25% either way, and more for health reasons. We show £5 as the lowest price because insurers usually have a minimum premium around that level.

Prices insurers have published

Examples UK insurers and banks give on their own websites, with our estimate for the same person next to each. 14 of 19 are within about 30% of our figure.

Insurer	Age	Smoker	Cover	Term	Published price	Our estimate	Date
Assura Protect¹²	35	Not stated	£200,000	20 years	£10	£11	26 May 2023
Legal & General³⁴⁵	30	Non-smoker	£563,838	25 years	£25	£22	13 March 2026
Legal & General³⁶⁵	40	Non-smoker	£214,688	25 years	£25	£23	13 March 2026
Legal & General³⁷⁵	50	Non-smoker	£75,521	25 years	£25	£28	13 March 2026
Post Office⁸⁹	21	Non-smoker	£120,000	21 years	From £5	£5	Not dated
Post Office¹⁰¹¹	31	Non-smoker	£100,000	21 years	From £7.54	£5.40	Not dated
Post Office¹⁰¹¹	41	Non-smoker	£100,000	21 years	From £15.51	£11	Not dated
Post Office¹⁰¹¹	51	Non-smoker	£100,000	21 years	From £37.88	£33	Not dated
Post Office¹⁰¹¹	61	Non-smoker	£100,000	21 years	From £93.09	£99	Not dated
Royal Bank of Scotland¹²¹³¹⁴¹⁵	18–30	Non-smoker	£173,731	37 years	£16	£8.30	January–September 2025
Royal Bank of Scotland¹⁶¹³¹⁴¹⁵	31–40	Non-smoker	£191,157	30 years	£20	£19	January–September 2025
Royal Bank of Scotland¹⁷¹³¹⁴¹⁵	41–50	Non-smoker	£129,819	24 years	£26	£28	January–September 2025
Royal Bank of Scotland¹⁸¹³¹⁴¹⁵	51–60	Non-smoker	£71,817	19 years	£31	£38	January–September 2025
Tesco Insurance¹⁹	35	Non-smoker	£150,000	25 years	From £11.22	£12	Not dated
Tesco Insurance¹⁹²⁰	35	Smoker	£150,000	25 years	£21.18	£22	Not dated
Vitality²¹²²	30	Non-smoker	£1,196,632	25 years	£25	£44	Not dated
Vitality²¹²³	40	Non-smoker	£530,665	25 years	£25	£55	Not dated
Vitality²¹²⁴	50	Non-smoker	£157,216	25 years	£25	£58	Not dated
Vitality²¹²⁵	60	Non-smoker	£49,133	25 years	£25	£54	Not dated

Monthly premiums for level term life cover for one person (Legal & General, Royal Bank of Scotland, Tesco and Vitality don't say whether the cover is level). Royal Bank of Scotland's figures are averages across an age band. Listed alphabetically, not ranked.

What £5 and £10 a month buys

These are the prices our estimates are built on: level term cover from Aviva for a non-smoker with no medical conditions, correct on 2 February 2026.

Age	Term	Cover for £5 a month	Cover for £10 a month
30	20 years	£98,704	£289,847
35	20 years	£63,621	£173,440
40	15 years	£48,288	£123,428
45	15 years	£31,699	£81,616
50	10 years	£23,483	£59,917
55	10 years	£15,467	£34,029
60	10 years	£7,844	£18,089
65	10 years	£5,837	£11,689
70	10 years	£3,532	£7,068

How we estimate the price

Each row above gives two prices for the same person, so we can split a premium into a small fixed charge and a cost for each pound of cover:

rate per £1 of cover = £5 ÷ (cover for £10 − cover for £5) fixed charge = £5 − rate × cover for £5 monthly price = fixed charge + rate × your cover

The rate rises steeply with age. We link it to the age you'd be halfway through the term, because that's roughly the average risk the insurer covers, and fill in the ages between the published rows. For smokers we multiply the rate by 2. Then we show a range 25% either side, because prices differ between insurers.

The model reproduces Aviva's own prices to within a few pence. Against the other published examples it's usually within about 30%. The biggest gap is Vitality, whose examples buy around twice as much cover as our estimate suggests. We can only estimate for ages 18 to 75, and for cover that ends by age 90.

What pushes the price up or down

Age. The price rises every year you wait. For £100,000 over 20 years our estimate goes from £5 a month at 30 to £28 at 50.
Smoking and vaping. Roughly double. After 12 months without nicotine you can usually apply as a non-smoker.
Term. Cover that runs to 70 costs more than cover that stops at 60. Match the term to your mortgage or until your children are independent.
Type of cover. Decreasing cover is cheapest. Adding critical illness cover roughly doubles it: the Post Office's example is £7.54 a month for £100,000 of life cover at 31, or £16.33 with £30,000 of critical illness cover added.
Health. Weight, blood pressure, diabetes, past cancer and family history can add a loading or lead to a decline.
Job and hobbies. Working at height, offshore or with heavy machinery, and sports like climbing or motor racing, can raise the price.

Ways to pay less

Buy sooner. With guaranteed premiums the price you get now stays fixed for the whole term.
Only buy the cover you need. Our life insurance calculator works it out from your mortgage and income.
Use decreasing cover for a repayment mortgage. It falls with the mortgage balance and costs less than level cover.
Compare several insurers. The same person can be offered quite different prices, especially with a health condition.

Questions people ask

What is the average cost of life insurance in the UK?

There isn't one useful average, because age changes the price so much. From the prices insurers publish, a healthy non-smoker in their 30s can get £100,000 to £200,000 of level cover over 20 to 25 years for roughly £5 to £15 a month. In your 50s the same cover is several times that. Use the table on this page to find your age.

How much is £100,000 of life insurance a month?

For a non-smoker over 20 years our estimate is about £5 a month at 30, £10 at 40 and £28 at 50. The Post Office publishes similar figures: from £7.54 a month at 31 and £15.51 at 41 for £100,000 over 21 years.

Why does life insurance cost so much more as you get older?

The price follows the chance of dying during the term, and that chance roughly doubles every 8 to 10 years through middle age. A longer term also runs into older ages, which is why 30 years of cover costs more than 20.

How much more do smokers pay?

Often about twice as much. Tesco's published example is £11.22 a month for a 35-year-old non-smoker and £21.18 for a smoker, for the same £150,000 over 25 years. Insurers usually count you as a smoker if you've used tobacco or nicotine replacement, including vapes, in the last 12 months.

Is decreasing cover cheaper?

Yes. Because the payout falls over the term, the insurer takes less risk. Assura Protect's comparison shows £10 a month buying £200,000 of level cover or £350,000 of decreasing cover for a 35-year-old over 20 years. See our decreasing life insurance calculator.

What else changes the price?

Your weight, blood pressure and cholesterol, your medical and family history, your job and dangerous hobbies, and extras such as critical illness cover or waiver of premium. Guaranteed premiums stay the same for the whole term. Reviewable premiums start lower but can go up.

Are these prices quotes?

No. They are estimates based on prices insurers have published. To get a real price you need to apply and answer health and lifestyle questions. The price you're offered can be higher or lower than our estimate.

Sources

Show all 25 sources

Assura's homepage comparison shows £10.00 a month for its single level term life cover, against £11.92, £9.54 and £12.16 from three unnamed national insurers. Assura Protect: Homepage – Dividend Life overview and 'Dividend Life Compared' premium table, checked 24 September 2026
The level term prices in Assura's comparison are for a 35-year-old, £200,000 cover over 20 years with no medical loadings, collected on 26 May 2023. Assura Protect: Homepage – Dividend Life overview and 'Dividend Life Compared' premium table, checked 24 September 2026
L&G's life insurance examples are for non-smokers in good health paying £25 a month for a 25-year policy. Legal & General: Life Insurance (level term) product page, checked 25 September 2026
In L&G's example, £25 a month for 25 years buys a 30-year-old £563,838 of life cover. Legal & General: Life Insurance (level term) product page, checked 25 September 2026
L&G took its life insurance price examples from its website on 13 March 2026. Legal & General: Life Insurance (level term) product page, checked 25 September 2026
In L&G's example, £25 a month for 25 years buys a 40-year-old £214,688 of life cover. Legal & General: Life Insurance (level term) product page, checked 25 September 2026
In L&G's example, £25 a month for 25 years buys a 50-year-old £75,521 of life cover. Legal & General: Life Insurance (level term) product page, checked 25 September 2026
Post Office Life Insurance premiums start from £5 a month for a £120,000 payout. Post Office: Post Office Life Insurance product page (level, decreasing and increasing term; eligibility, extras, underwriter), checked 25 September 2026
The £5 starting price is for a healthy 21-year-old non-smoker buying £120,000 level cover over 21 years. Post Office: Post Office Life Insurance product page (level, decreasing and increasing term; eligibility, extras, underwriter), checked 25 September 2026
Post Office's example monthly prices for £100,000 of level cover are from £7.54 (age 31), £15.51 (41), £37.88 (51) and £93.09 (61). Post Office: Post Office Life Insurance product page (level, decreasing and increasing term; eligibility, extras, underwriter), checked 25 September 2026
The life insurance example prices are for healthy non-smokers with no medical conditions, on a 21-year level term. Post Office: Post Office Life Insurance product page (level, decreasing and increasing term; eligibility, extras, underwriter), checked 25 September 2026
Royal Bank of Scotland's illustrative average pricing table (historic Aviva data) shows, for life-only cover at ages 18-30, an average premium of £16 a month, an average term of 37 years and £173,731 as the cover one might get for that average premium. Royal Bank of Scotland: Royal Bank of Scotland Life Insurance page (Life Insurance, Guaranteed Over 50s, gift card offer, Aviva DigiCare+), checked 25 September 2026
The average pricing figures are based on historic Aviva data for single-policy, non-smoker, non-related customers and are for general information only. Royal Bank of Scotland: Royal Bank of Scotland Life Insurance page (Life Insurance, Guaranteed Over 50s, gift card offer, Aviva DigiCare+), checked 25 September 2026
The average pricing table uses January-September 2025 figures. Royal Bank of Scotland: Royal Bank of Scotland Life Insurance page (Life Insurance, Guaranteed Over 50s, gift card offer, Aviva DigiCare+), checked 25 September 2026
Royal Bank of Scotland labels the average pricing table as illustrative quotes only, not a quote or recommendation. Royal Bank of Scotland: Royal Bank of Scotland Life Insurance page (Life Insurance, Guaranteed Over 50s, gift card offer, Aviva DigiCare+), checked 25 September 2026
In the same table, ages 31-40 show an average premium of £20 a month, an average term of 30 years and £191,157 as the cover one might get for that premium. Royal Bank of Scotland: Royal Bank of Scotland Life Insurance page (Life Insurance, Guaranteed Over 50s, gift card offer, Aviva DigiCare+), checked 25 September 2026
In the same table, ages 41-50 show an average premium of £26 a month, an average term of 24 years and £129,819 as the cover one might get for that premium. Royal Bank of Scotland: Royal Bank of Scotland Life Insurance page (Life Insurance, Guaranteed Over 50s, gift card offer, Aviva DigiCare+), checked 25 September 2026
In the same table, ages 51-60 show an average premium of £31 a month, an average term of 19 years and £71,817 as the cover one might get for that premium. Royal Bank of Scotland: Royal Bank of Scotland Life Insurance page (Life Insurance, Guaranteed Over 50s, gift card offer, Aviva DigiCare+), checked 25 September 2026
Tesco's example: a 35-year-old buying £150,000 of life insurance for 25 years would pay from £11.22 a month as a non-smoker, or £21.18 a month as a smoker. Tesco Insurance: Life insurance for smokers (Tesco Insurance guide, incl. example premiums), checked 25 September 2026
Tesco's smoker price example is based on Aviva life insurance figures from July 2024. Tesco Insurance: Life insurance for smokers (Tesco Insurance guide, incl. example premiums), checked 25 September 2026
Vitality publishes examples of the life cover £25 a month could buy over 25 years for a non-smoker in good health, based on typical plans its members chose in 2025. Vitality: Life insurance product page, checked 25 September 2026
In Vitality's examples, £25 a month over 25 years could buy £1,196,632 of life cover for someone starting cover at age 30. Vitality: Life insurance product page, checked 25 September 2026
In Vitality's examples, £25 a month over 25 years could buy £530,665 of life cover for someone starting cover at age 40. Vitality: Life insurance product page, checked 25 September 2026
In Vitality's examples, £25 a month over 25 years could buy £157,216 of life cover for someone starting cover at age 50. Vitality: Life insurance product page, checked 25 September 2026
In Vitality's examples, £25 a month over 25 years could buy £49,133 of life cover for someone starting cover at age 60. Vitality: Life insurance product page, checked 25 September 2026

Other calculators

Life insurance calculatorHow much cover your family would need, and a rough monthly cost. Over 50s life insurance calculatorWhat a fixed monthly premium adds up to, and when it passes the payout. Decreasing life insurance calculatorHow mortgage life cover falls each year, next to your mortgage balance. Whole of life insurance calculatorCover for an inheritance tax bill, and what the premiums add up to. Income protection calculatorThe monthly benefit you could insure, and how long sick pay and savings last.