MetLife Active Lifestyle Cover

Active Lifestyle Cover is an optional extra you can bolt on to a MetLife protection plan. It pays a lump sum if you dislocate a joint, rupture a tendon, or tear a knee or ankle ligament. It is not a standalone policy: it sits alongside MetLife EverydayProtect or MetLife MultiProtect, and it can only be added when the main policy starts.

The cover is sold in units. One unit pays £1,000 for a dislocation, £1,000 for a complete (grade 3) knee or ankle ligament tear, £500 for a partial (grade 2) tear, and £1,000 for a tendon rupture of the Achilles, hamstring, bicep brachii, quadriceps or rotator cuff. Five units pay five times those amounts¹.

It is a narrow benefit, and the limits matter more than the headline amounts. In each policy year it pays for one dislocation and one tendon rupture or grade 3 or grade 2 ligament tear, dislocations count only where there is surgical intervention or manipulation in a hospital setting, fingers, thumbs and toes are excluded, children are not covered, and the benefit halves from your 70th birthday¹.

What it is and who it is for

Active Lifestyle Cover is extra cover for certain bodily injuries, from certain dislocations to full and partial tendon ruptures⁷. It is designed for people who want a payout for a specific, physical injury rather than for illness or time off work, and it is bought as an add-on rather than on its own.

MetLife describes it as an optional extra on its protection plans. EverydayProtect and MultiProtect are both described by the provider as protection plans that can be tailored to suit your needs, and Active Lifestyle Cover is one of the pieces you can choose when the plan is set up¹. The main plan does the heavy lifting: it pays out for the events set out in its own terms, and Active Lifestyle Cover adds a separate benefit for the injuries it names.

That makes it a poor fit for anyone who wants cover for a lost income, a serious illness or a death. Those are different products with different rules, and the site's guides to income protection and critical illness cover explain how they work. Active Lifestyle Cover is closer in shape to accident, injury and fracture cover: a fixed sum for a defined injury, paid once, with a cap on how often it can be claimed.

It also suits a particular buying moment. Because it can only be added at the start, it is a decision made when the main policy is taken out, not one that can be revisited later. Anyone who thinks they may want it has to decide at that point.

How it works

The cover is built from units. You choose between one and five units, and the more units you buy the higher the benefits will be¹. Each unit adds a fixed amount to each of the four injuries the cover pays for, so the benefit table scales in a straight line rather than varying by injury type.

The four benefits, at one unit, are:

Source: MetLife policy summaries and product pages, 2026¹

Two rules shape how those figures work in practice. The first is the annual limit. In each policy year the cover can pay a benefit for one dislocation and one tendon rupture or grade 3 or grade 2 ligament tear¹. The second is how the ligament and tendon benefits interact. MetLife pays 100% of the policy benefit for a complete (grade 3) ligament tear or a tendon rupture if no benefit has been paid for any ligament tear or tendon rupture in the same policy year, and 50% if a benefit has already been paid for a partial (grade 2) ligament tear only⁴. If benefit has previously been paid for a partial tear, a subsequent complete tear in the same year pays the same as a partial tear³.

Dislocations are narrower than the name suggests. They are only covered where either surgical intervention or manipulation occurs in a hospital setting³. A joint that is put back without either does not trigger a payout.

How the fees and charges work

Active Lifestyle Cover is charged per unit, per month, on top of whatever the main plan costs. The price rises with each unit you add, so the total depends on how many units you choose and what the main plan costs. MetLife's own site carries the current figures, and the amounts are set out in its policy documents³.

The important feature is what does not change. MetLife states that the cost of your cover for families won't change when you make a claim or as you get older⁵. A claim under Active Lifestyle Cover does not push the premium up, and reaching an age at which the benefit reduces does not change what you pay either. That is different from the way some insurance is priced, where a claim or a birthday can move the premium.

The benefit, however, does change with age. The amount payable is reduced by 50% from the policyholder's 70th birthday¹. MultiProtect can continue in force until your 75th birthday⁵. So a five-unit holder who would receive £5,000 for a dislocation at 69 would receive £2,500 for the same injury at 70.

There is no separate charge for claiming, and no excess is mentioned in the documents. The cost of the cover is the unit price multiplied by the number of units, added to the main plan's premium. Because the main plan's premium depends on the plan and the cover chosen, the total a person pays is the sum of the two, and only MetLife can quote it for a particular set of choices.

Who can apply and how to apply

Active Lifestyle Cover is not sold on its own. It is added to a MetLife EverydayProtect or MultiProtect plan, and the application is the application for that plan. There is no separate form for the add-on.

The timing rule is the one that catches people out. Active Lifestyle Cover can only be added at the start of the policy, and if it is removed it cannot be added again⁶. EverydayProtect's terms put it the same way: it can be included from the policy start date but cannot be added later, and once removed it cannot be added again⁶.

There is a second rule for anyone who cancels and comes back. If a policy with Active Lifestyle Cover is cancelled or terminated for any reason, and a new policy is bought, the benefit is not covered on the new policy for 12 months from the date it was cancelled⁴. The same 12-month exclusion applies whether the policy was cancelled by the customer or terminated for another reason.

Children are not covered under Active Lifestyle Cover³. MetLife sells separate child cover for accidents and illnesses, and the site's guide to children's critical illness and child cover explains how that market works.

Because the cover is added to a protection plan, the usual application process applies: the plan is arranged through an adviser or directly, and the insurer's questions about health and circumstances are answered as part of that. The site's guide to applying for cover sets out how medical questions and underwriting work.

How your money is protected

The protection here is the insurer's own solvency and the compensation scheme behind it, not a pot of money set aside. MetLife, as an insurer, is covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme in respect of long term insurance business, which includes life assurance and pensions⁸. MetLife Europe d.a.c. is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and subject to regulation by the Financial Conduct Authority in the UK, with limited regulation by the Prudential Regulation Authority⁹.

That matters if the insurer fails. The site's guide to whether life insurance is protected if the insurer fails explains how the scheme works for protection policies. The FSCS is the backstop, not the first line: the cover depends first on MetLife meeting its obligations, and the scheme steps in if it cannot.

The other protection is the one built into the product. The benefit amounts are fixed in the policy documents rather than linked to investment performance, so what is paid does not rise or fall with markets. The trade-off is that the amounts do not keep pace with inflation either: a £1,000 dislocation benefit is worth less in real terms the further away the claim is.

There is also a limit on how much the cover will pay in total, because of the annual cap. One dislocation and one tendon rupture or grade 3 or grade 2 ligament tear per policy year is the ceiling, however many injuries occur¹. Someone who dislocates a shoulder in January and ruptures a tendon in June is covered for both; someone who dislocates two joints in the same year is covered for one.

Problems, complaints and getting help

MetLife publishes its own complaints figures, and they are worth reading before buying. For 1 January to 30 June 2026, in the insurance and pure protection product grouping for MetLife Europe D.A.C, UK Branch, MetLife records 1,047 complaints opened, 1,042 closed, 2.13 complaints per 1,000 policies in force, 55.3% upheld, and delays and timescales as the main cause of complaints opened¹⁰. The complaints data covers life and critical illness, income protection, individual and group pensions, annuities, investments and equity release¹⁰.

For context on the wider market, the Financial Ombudsman Service recorded 175 complaints about critical illness cover in Q1 2026/27, of which 7% were upheld¹¹. That is a different product and a different measure, but it gives a sense of the volumes the ombudsman sees in protection.

If something goes wrong, the route is to complain to MetLife first. If the outcome is not acceptable, the complaint can go to the Financial Ombudsman Service, which is free and independent. The site's guide to claiming on critical illness cover or income protection covers how claims and disputes work in this market.

MetLife also offers support for customers in difficulty. It states that if you are experiencing financial difficulties, or are having trouble paying your premiums or pension contributions, it may be able to help by reducing monthly outgoings¹². For people with speech or hearing difficulties, Text Relay is available on all support services by dialling 18001 followed by the phone number¹².

Free, impartial help is available elsewhere. MoneyHelper offers guidance on money and debt, and the Scottish Government's Cost of Living Support page points to advice on debt, money, bills and benefits¹³. Citizens Advice covers advice and support with work, debt and money, family, housing, law, immigration, benefits and health¹⁴. StepChange's urgent money matters page covers crisis loans, food banks, support with energy bills, advice on mortgage and rent arrears, and guides on dealing with bailiffs and CCJs¹⁵. Disability Rights UK publishes a guide to claiming Personal Independence Payment covering the rules, the scoring system, the activities and descriptors, filling out the claim form, keeping a diary, the assessment with a healthcare professional, and what to do if you are not happy with the decision¹⁶. Advice NI's guide to meeting your debt adviser covers helping to complete forms, complaint procedures or applications on your behalf¹⁷.