AIG Life

AIG Life was a UK protection insurer that sold life insurance, critical illness cover and income protection, both directly and through partners such as building societies and employee benefit schemes. It is now part of Aviva and trades as Aviva Protection UK. If you hold an AIG Life policy, it has not been cancelled: Aviva states that policies from AIG Life or Aviva Protection UK continue, and that Aviva is the point of contact for them¹.

The practical change for most policyholders is who administers the policy and where you go with questions or claims. Aviva handles claims for former AIG Life policies through a dedicated team, separate from its other protection claims, and the route depends on the type of policy and cover you hold². These policies also cannot be viewed on MyAviva, Aviva's main online account service, so day-to-day contact is by phone and through Aviva's protection contact routes rather than the app¹.

What AIG Life sold

AIG Life's core products were the three main types of protection insurance: life insurance, critical illness cover and income protection⁶. Life insurance pays a lump sum or regular amount when the person insured dies; critical illness cover pays out on diagnosis of a specified serious illness, and can be added to a life insurance policy or bought separately⁷; income protection replaces part of your income if illness or injury stops you working⁶.

AIG Life sold these in two ways. Individual protection policies were sold to consumers, often through intermediaries: Yorkshire Building Society, for example, states that it chose to work with AIG Life to provide life insurance products to its customers, including a combined product known as "Critical 3 with Life Insurance"⁴. Group policies were sold through employers and membership schemes, covering groups of lives under one arrangement. NFU Mutual life cover and protection policies bought between 1 August 2016 and 9 November 2025 are administered by Aviva Protection UK, formerly AIG⁸.

AIG Life also underwrote policies sold under other brands' names. This is common in protection insurance: the brand you bought from is not always the insurer that carries the risk. If you are unsure who underwrites your policy, the policy document names the insurer. More on how these product types work generally is in our guide to protection insurance.

Who AIG Life cover was designed for

Protection insurance of the kind AIG Life sold is designed for people whose death or serious illness would leave others financially exposed: for example, a mortgage that one income could not carry alone, or dependants who rely on an earner. Joint life policies, tailored for couples, pay out on the first partner's death to support the surviving spouse or family⁹.

AIG Life policies were also sold to people with pre-existing medical conditions, a market where terms vary widely between insurers. Independent guidance notes that people with pre-existing conditions can still access level term, decreasing term, increasing term or whole-of-life cover, though insurers assess each application individually¹⁰. Insurers use several sources to assess risk: your application form, questions about your lifestyle, your medical history, a doctor's report, and historical data and research¹¹. They will also check your answers with your GP⁹.

An important protection for anyone with a health condition: independent guidance states that if you are diagnosed with cancer after taking out a policy, the policy cannot be cancelled as long as you made full and honest disclosures on your application and continue paying the premiums¹⁰. The insurer cannot reopen your health history because you became ill.

How premiums on AIG Life policies work

Premiums on individual protection policies are priced on the individual. Independent guidance is that premiums are based on your age, the medical information you and your doctor provide, plus your lifestyle¹². That is why two people of the same age with the same cover amount can pay different amounts.

How the premium behaves over time depends on the type. Income protection premiums come in three broad forms: guaranteed premiums that stay fixed, reviewable premiums that are usually reviewed every five years, and age-costed premiums where payments start low but get higher as you get older. Which type your AIG Life policy uses is set out in your policy document. As a general rule from Aviva's own life insurance terms, payments stay the same for the length of the policy unless you make a change to it¹³.

You can hold more than one policy. Independent guidance confirms you can have more than one life insurance policy, with the same company or with different providers, and you can hold a joint policy and a single policy at the same time¹². The constraints are practical: you must be able to afford the combined premiums, and where policies are arranged with the same provider you must not exceed the provider's maximum cover amount¹⁴.

AIG Life is now part of Aviva: what changes for policyholders

AIG Life has been renamed Aviva Protection UK, and its existing book of policies is administered within Aviva³. For policyholders this is an administrative change rather than a change to your cover: Aviva states that customers with a policy from AIG Life or Aviva Protection UK are directed to contact Aviva about it⁴.

A few practical points follow from the change:

• Your policy terms continue. Nothing in the rename requires you to accept new terms, answer new medical questions or take out replacement cover.
• MyAviva does not show these policies. Aviva states that policies issued by Aviva Protection UK or AIG Life cannot be viewed on MyAviva¹.
• New business is written under Aviva names. New protection policies are sold as Aviva products, such as Aviva Life Insurance+ and Critical Illness+, generally through a financial adviser⁵. The AIG Life brand no longer sells new UK policies.
• Partner schemes have moved across. NFU Mutual now partners with Aviva for its life cover and protection policies, and policies bought after 9 November 2025 are administered within Aviva¹⁵.

If you were thinking of replacing an AIG Life policy with new cover, independent guidance is blunt: never cancel an old policy until the new policy is in place¹².

Making a claim on an AIG Life policy

Claims on former AIG Life policies are handled by a different Aviva team from other Aviva protection claims, and the right route depends on the type of policy and cover². Aviva's policy number formats show which team you need: individual protection policies have a number starting with P followed by nine digits, PAX Life policies start with 45 followed by nine numbers, group life assurance numbers start with LG followed by six numbers, group critical illness with GC, and group income protection with HG².

For a life insurance claim, the general process is the same across insurers: tell the insurance provider that the policyholder has passed away, provide the death certificate and policy information, and fill out any forms the insurer needs¹⁶. If the policy was arranged through the person's employer, contact the employer to find out whether they had life insurance and how to make a claim¹⁷. Aviva also accepts online life claims notifications through its website⁸.

Independent guidance on protection claims sets out what to expect: there is usually a time limit to make a claim, so it is best to start as soon as you can. The insurer may ask for a letter from your doctor, a form, or a medical examination, and most policies need you to keep paying the monthly premiums while the claim is assessed.

Managing an existing AIG Life policy through Aviva

Because former AIG Life policies cannot be viewed on MyAviva¹, managing one is done through Aviva's protection contact routes. Aviva publishes contact information for protection customers on its website¹⁷, and its help pages cover life insurance policy servicing generally¹⁸.

Changes are still possible on an existing policy. Aviva states that you may be able to tweak an existing policy to reduce the amount of cover, change how long the cover lasts, or remove someone from the policy¹⁹. On joint policies after divorce or separation, Aviva states that depending on the policy type you may be able to split it, with each person taking out a new policy without answering new medical questions¹⁹.

If you move abroad, cover on Aviva life policies can usually continue as long as you keep paying the premium from a UK-based bank account, though Aviva warns the policy terms may be changed, reduced or removed; cover can also continue for customers relocating within the EU or EEA, with restrictions on increasing, renewing or extending cover²⁰. Check with Aviva before you move rather than after.

Complaints and where to get help

Complaints or feedback about an Aviva Protection UK policy, formerly AIG Life, should be made directly to Aviva Protection³. AIG also retains a Compliance Helpline for reporting potential misconduct or illegal acts, such as alleged fraud, unlawful acts, failures to comply with legal obligations, or risks to health and safety, open to individuals including employees, customers, business partners and service providers³.

If Aviva cannot resolve your complaint, you can take it to the Financial Ombudsman Service, the free independent body that settles disputes between consumers and financial firms. More on your rights when things go wrong is in our guide to consumer protection. Free, impartial help with money questions is also available from MoneyHelper.

How AIG Life policyholders are protected

Insurance policies are contracts, and the insurer cannot cancel a policy on a whim because your health changes after it started, provided you were honest on your application and keep paying the premiums¹⁰. The law also limits what an insurer can do with information you did not disclose. Under the Consumer Insurance (Disclosure and Representations) Act, consumers must take reasonable care not to misrepresent, and insurers cannot avoid a policy for a careless misrepresentation unless it was deliberate or reckless. One edge is worth knowing: a parliamentary research briefing notes that policyholders are not protected by the Act for mid-term information disclosures, so insurers may reject a claim even where the policyholder took reasonable care²¹. Mid-term changes, such as a new job, a change of health or a move of address, fall outside the Act's protection.

Life insurance payouts are normally free of income tax and capital gains tax for beneficiaries, though they can in some circumstances affect inheritance tax; our tax guide covers the rules. If a claim is refused, the Financial Ombudsman Service can review whether the insurer handled it fairly.