Review: LV= Life Insurance
By David Woodfield 
Summary
LV=, officially known as Liverpool Victoria, is the largest friendly society in the UK and provides life insurance and critical illness cover, along with other general insurance policies.
You can get a life insurance quote on LV's website.
LV= began as Liverpool Victoria in 1843 and now offers a wide range of insurance products and retirement solutions.
You can compare LV= life quotes with other companies offering life assurance on specialist comparison site www.activequote.com.
Overview of LV= life insurance
LV= life insurance can provide a lump sum payout to you family and dependents in the event of your death. You can also include critical illness cover in the same policy.
It is designed to help with a loss of income by helping with mortgage repayments and cost of living.
You must be between 17 and 69 years old to buy LV life insurance and you must be a permanent UK resident.
The amount available varies depending on your age at the start of your policy - up to £500,000 if you are 55 years or under, £300,000 if you are aged 56 to 65, and £200,000 if you are 66 years or older.
LV has a separate over 50 life insurance plan. It offers a guaranteed lump sum that will be paid out within 48 hours. You can get an over 50s life insurance quote here, prices start from £7 a month.
LV has recently added a feature to its over 50s policies called Doctor Services, which is available via an app powered by Square Health.
It gives people remote access to three expert medical services:
- Remote GP Speak to a doctor to by video or phone consultation (up to 5 times a year). Diagnosis, referral to a specialist and administering of advice for treatment for everyday illnesses
- Second Opinion Check a diagnosis and get advice on the treatment options available with a UK medical specialist by video or face-to-face consultation
- Prescription Services Get a private prescription without the need to see local GP. Simple way to get medication
For joint life insurance policies, the benefit limit is restricted to the eldest person on the policy. Your policy has to be at least five years long but cannot last more than 45 years. The policy must end before you reach 85 years old.
You can choose a decreasing or level term policy with LV= life insurance depending on your circumstances.
A level term policy with LV= has a fixed amount of cover for the entirety of the life cover plan. The lump sum will not keep up with inflation.
With a decreasing policy the cover will go down every month and while the premium is fixed it is usually much lower than a term policy.
LV= paid 97% of their life insurance claims and 91% of all critical illness claims in 2015.
By comparing life assurance policies on www.activequote.com you can receive free advice from FCA-authorised advisors who can assist you find the right policy for you.
Can I add critical illness cover with LV= life insurance?
As with the majority of life insurance policies, you can add critical illness cover with LV=.
Combined with life insurance, critical illness cover will pay out on death or diagnosis relating to one of 64 pre-defined illnesses. You can select different amounts to be paid in the event of a claim, for example, you may insure your life for £100,000 but only insure yourself for £25,000 in the case of a critical illness.
LV= provides critical illness cover for children until their 21st birthday at no extra cost. All conditions are covered apart from total permanent disability and diabetes mellitus type 1. Critical illness claims will only be successful if you survive for at least 14 days after being diagnosed.
Who is eligible for LV= life insurance?
The maximum age for cover is 79 years old and you must be a permanent UK resident. As part of your application, you may need to give your doctor’s details and declare your medical history. It is important to be as truthful as possible as any inaccuracies could result in a claim being rejected.
What happens in the event of a terminal illness?
If you are diagnosed with a terminal illness you can make a claim on your life insurance policy. However, the amount you are entitled to will be reduced by 3% of the original lump sum. You will not be eligible to make a claim for terminal illness if there is less than 12 months on your life insurance policy.
Once you have successfully claimed for a terminal illness your life insurance policy will end.
If you have critical illness cover it may pay out the full amount of cover you have with that plan.
How much does LV= insurance cost?
LV= life policies start from £5 a month but will vary in cost depending on how much you wish to cover, your policy length and your personal details.
LV's over 50s life insurance starts from £7 a month.
Your age and whether you smoke can impact the cost of your premiums. However, once your policy starts your premiums do not change until your cover ends.
You can get a quote for LV's life cover here.
What do LV= customer reviews say?
LV= life insurance has an 8.9 rating out of 10 from over 540 customer reviews according to independent site Reevoo.
What do LV= reviews from the experts say?
LV=’s Flexible Protection Plan decreasing life insurance has a five-star rating from the independent reviewer of financial products Defaqto. The level term version of the same plan has four stars and its LV= Life Insurance product has three stars.
Independent review site Fairer Finance ranked LV= 13th out 21 life insurance providers in June 2017. This ranking is based on scores for claims, complaints and transparency.
LV= has won a number of awards, including the 2016 Moneywise Most Trusted Life Insurer prize.
This article was independently written by Bought By Many. We were not paid to write it, but we may receive commission for sales that result from you clicking on a link to one of our partners.
