Virgin Life Insurance Review 2025

When a loved one passes away, the emotions and the grief that result mean you shouldn’t have to worry about financial needs more than necessary.

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When a loved one passes away, the emotions and the grief that result mean you shouldn’t have to worry about financial needs more than necessary. Life insurance ensures that a certain amount of financial relief will be passed on to help alleviate financial burdens. If this is something you might be looking to obtain, Virgin Money offers life insurance products that could be right for you.

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Virgin Money is a financial services company that offers a variety of products to help people manage their money and financial security. Virgin Money’s expertise extends to savings, investments, mortgages, and pensions, and they also offer insurance products, including life insurance.

What types of life insurance does Virgin Money offer?

Virgin offers two primary types of life insurance with an add-on option for customers to choose:

Decreasing Term Cover

This cover means that the benefit the policyholder has chosen reduces in time. This results in cheaper premiums, but it also means that an initial insured sum, for example £250,000, will decrease to zero by the end of the policy period. Policyholders elect for this type of term when they are looking to cover a long-term loan that also reduces in time.

Level Term Cover

If your primary goal for life insurance is to provide financial support to your beneficiaries after your death, then level term cover might be suitable. Here the payout is fixed. Premiums are typically higher than for decreasing term cover, but the payout amount for beneficiaries remains constant throughout the policy term.

Additional Critical Illness Cover

This coverage provides a payout upon diagnosis of an illness or condition covered under the Virgin Money policy terms. You can add this on to either your Decreasing Term or Level Term insurance so that you are covered not just in the event of death or diagnosis of a terminal illness, but also if you get a serious medical condition you can recover from, such as cancer. For many policyholders, this additional coverage provides extra peace of mind.

Virgin Money Life Insurance Product Offerings

We compare plans from the leading life insurance providers

Name Age at Application Cover Range Terms Payout Trigger Joint Cover
Virgin Money Level Term Life Insurance 18-64 £40,000 – £750,000 5 to 40 years Death or terminal illness during cover period Yes, single payout
Virgin Money Decreasing Term life insurance 18-64 £40,000 – £750,000 5 to 40 years Death or terminal illness during cover period Yes, single payout
Virgin Money Critical Illness Cover Not specified Up to £750,000 (10-100% of life cover) 5 to 40 years Diagnosis of a covered illness No

Life Insurance Features

Virgin
  • Pays out a lump sum on death or on diagnosis of a terminal illness
  • Can choose between single or joint policyholders
  • Policy Types:
    • Level Term and Decreasing Term
    • Critical Illness Cover (optional add-on)

Additional Benefits

  • Childhood Critical Illness Cover is included as standard with Critical Illness Cover. If your child is diagnosed with a critical illness, the policy will provide a lump-sum payment (amount specified in policy documents).
  • Access to Virgin Money Lounges: exclusive spaces for Virgin Money customers and their guests to relax. Lounges offer complimentary refreshments, Wi-Fi, newspapers, magazines, TVs, and iPads.
  • Instant decision for over 70% of applicants, often without medical evidence.
  • Free standard will-writing service
  • Free ‘Loved Ones’ email service to assist beneficiaries with claims (available with online account signup)

Coverage Summary

Minimum Coverage Limits

  • £40,000

Maximum Coverage Limits

  • Level/Decreasing Life Cover: £750,000
  • Critical Illness Cover: Up to £750,000
    • Provides a cash sum upon diagnosis of a covered critical illness during the policy term
    • Can be combined with life insurance for coverage in case of death, terminal illness, or critical illness diagnosis during the policy term

Minimum and Maximum Ages/Policy Term

  • Minimum age 18, maximum age 64
  • Maximum policy term: 40 years or until age 79, whichever is sooner.

Defaqto Ratings for Virgin Money Life Insurance (2025)

Defaqto ratings are an independent assessment of financial products, helping consumers understand the quality of different offerings. A 5-star rating indicates an excellent product with a comprehensive range of features and benefits. These ratings are current as of March 7, 2025.

Virgin Money’s life insurance products have received a mix of Defaqto ratings. Their direct life assurance plan stands out with a top 5-star rating. This signifies a high-quality product in this category.

  • 5 Stars: Life assurance (direct)
  • 4 Stars: Critical illness (direct with life cover)
  • 3 Stars: Life assurance (decreasing), Life assurance (level term), Critical illness (decreasing), Critical illness (level term)

When comparing Virgin Money to major competitors, some differences emerge. Aviva and Legal & General, for example, frequently achieve 5-star ratings across a broader range of life insurance and critical illness products, including level and decreasing term options. Zurich also demonstrates strong performance with numerous 5-star ratings.

For consumers, these ratings suggest that Virgin Money offers a strong direct life assurance product. However, for decreasing and level term life insurance, and critical illness cover, while still rated as 3 or 4 stars, it’s worth comparing them against providers like Aviva, Legal & General, and Zurich, which consistently achieve the highest Defaqto ratings across various policy types. This comparison can help ensure you find the most comprehensive cover for your specific needs.

Why Might Virgin Not Payout?

  • Failure to provide accurate policyholder details given at time of application
  • Self inflicted injury or suicide within 12 months of the policy start date
  • Terminal illness diagnosed within the final 12 months of the policy term
  • For Critical Illness Cover, payout requires diagnosis of an illness listed in the policy document
  • Missing scheduled premium payments

Note: Policyholders must reside in England, Wales, Scotland, or Northern Ireland (excluding Isle of Man and Channel Islands).

Advantages

  • Flexible coverage options available, with different Term Covers (Level or Decreasing) to suit your needs
  • Also able to choose between single or joint coverage for a cost-effective way of protecting both yourself and your partner
  • Instantaneous decision upon application for most potential policyholders
  • Good extra features of coverage such as inclusive Child Critical Illness cover (upon take-up of Critical Illness cover for policyholder), a free will writing service, and a complimentary email service to help a policyholder’s beneficiaries upon making a claim
  • Access to Virgin Money Lounges across the UK to unwind at

Disadvantages

  • Maximum terms of either 40 years or until you reach 79 years old, whichever is sooner. Some insurers offer whole of life coverage
  • Maximum cover is £750,000, which for some is not enough to keep their family financially secure in the event of their death

Defaqto ratings

Type Plan name Rating
Critical illness (decreasing) Life Insurance With Critical Illness 3
Critical illness (level term) Life Insurance With Critical Illness 3
Life assurance (direct) Life Insurance 4
Life assurance (decreasing) Life Insurance 3
Life assurance (level term) Life Insurance 3