Aviva Life Insurance
What are the benefits of insuring with Aviva?
Learn about Aviva, the UK’s largest life insurance provider, protecting over 15.5 million customers for more than 320 years and the benefits of insuring with Aviva.
Viva. It’s the Spanish and Italian meaning for “alive” or “long live.” And it’s why Aviva life insurance offers you protection for when that long life comes to a close.
But before that, Aviva provides a range of benefits along with a variety of their insurance policies to help prolong that life of yours as much as possible and ensure that you feel your most alive. Some of these policy benefits include:
- Access to their health and wellbeing smartphone app, Aviva DigiCare+
- Access to the Aviva Digital GP app and subsequent video consultations
- Discounts to gyms and fitness clubs via Get Active
- A cancer pledge, providing extensive care and additional cover for cancer treatment
- Support from their 24-hour stress counselling helpline
- In 2021, Aviva became the first major UK financial services company to target NetZero carbon emissions status by 2040
Because until the worst happens, Aviva helps to ensure that the best can. Insurance and reassurance.
A brief introduction to Aviva
The year is 1696. At Tom’s Coffee House in London, we can safely assume that a fella named Tom was there, coffee in hand, watching in wide-eyed wonderment as the Hand in Hand Fire Office was founded before him.
Created to help policy holders in the event of a fire, the embers of what we know today as Aviva began to spark.
In 1797 Aviva – known affectionately as Norwich Union or The Norwich Union Society for Insuring of Buildings, Goods, Merchandises and Effects from Loss by Fire until they rebranded in 2009 – evolved from a century of prior ancestors and began its journey into becoming the multinational insurance company it is today.
The UK’s largest life insurance provider, dominating 20% of the market, based in London and spread across Europe and Asia, Aviva is globally renowned for their protection capabilities, not only insuring the aftermath of life, but what occurs before then. Merging with Friends Life in 2015, they also became the leading pension provider in the UK. Nice work Aviva. *Aviva blushes.*
Aviva protects over 15.5 million people’s belongings and futures. They’ll tell you themselves that it’s because “we care about our customers”- and they have done for more than 320 years. Aviva has been protecting lives for many lifetimes.
What products does Aviva offer?
Aviva life insurance offers a wide range of life insurance services, some of which are listed below:
Life insurance- Level term life insurance – where your premiums and cover amount are fixed throughout
- Increasing/indexation insurance – where your cover amount increases in line with inflation increases, and your premiums increase, too
- Decreasing/mortgage insurance – where your cover amount decreases as your mortgage repayments decrease, but your premiums remain fixed
Aviva offers both single policies (just for you) and joint policies (two people). Get your quotes here.
Over 50s life coverCritical illness coverThis protection plan covers you should you become critically ill (Protect Line has collated some of the main conditions classed as critical illness by the ABI) during that term, and the pay-out can be used however you like. To cover medical treatment expenses, bills, childcare, you name it. Critical illness cover also covers your children should they become critically ill.
Group insuranceGroup insurance is a business insurance available to employers to cover their employees. Should something happen to them leaving them unable to work, these policies cover them to support their financial outgoings or their loved ones. There are three types available:
- Group life – a death in service insurance should an employee pass away
- Group income protection – if an employee becomes too ill or injured to work, up to 80% of their earnings are covered
- Group critical illness – a lump-sum provided to an employee or their child if they’ve been diagnosed with a critical illness
Health insurance (also known as private medical insurance)Various others beyond life cover*Note: Not all types of cover listed above are available through Protect Line. Our specialists will be able to give you the options available to you and compare these against the insurers on our panel.
If you already know that you want an Aviva policy (or policies, because you can have more than one!), then get your life insurance quotes here.
6 Benefits of insuring with Aviva
The value-added services that are accessible through a variety of policies enable you to live at your best in the present, whilst having the peace of mind that the future is also protected. Let’s take a look at these additional benefits:
1. Added protection with the Aviva DigiCare+ smartphone app
If you’ve taken out a new Aviva life insurance plan, critical illness cover or over 50’s non-med policy, then you’ll be given access to a range of health and wellbeing benefits with the DigiCare app, powered by Square Health.
Within this app you can find an array of clinicians, nutritionists, therapists – a whole host of experts to consult with and learn from all from within the rectangular expanse (not so square now, is it?) of your phone. All at no additional cost.
2. Access to Aviva’s digital GP for employees with private health insurance
Another app powered by Square Health is Aviva’s digital GP – available only to those who are covered by a private medical insurance policy.
It seems like everybody is a part-time gold miner these days, except that the gold we’re sifting for is a little facetime with a doctor. We’re panning for them and pining for them, with how rare they seem to be lately. Doctors are rushed off their feet being the life-saving healers they are, so it’s no wonder a lot of employee downtime is spent desperately trying to get in touch with GPs and having to wait weeks for an appointment.
This is why Aviva is offering access to GP video consultations and repeat NHS prescriptions delivered for free, all at the tap of a finger. You could be talking to them within the very same week, no torturous hold music involved!
A pocket-sized GP – that’s just what the doctor ordered.
3. Aviva is encouraging you to get active with various gym discounts
Aviva is offering discounts to health and fitness clubs to those with relevant insurance policies. Eligibility for this benefit depends on the Aviva life policy or other type of Aviva product you’ve purchased. The “wellbeing” section policy wording will let you know if you’re able to access this.
Many of these gyms extend these discounts to family members of the policy holder, meaning that you and your loved ones can benefit from it in a variety of ways. We don’t know who Jim is, but apparently, he’s great for your health and lots of people are always swinging by his – so why not join them?
4. Extensive cancer support and additional cover with Aviva
Cancer can feel like the loneliest thing in the world. A war waged on the battleground of your own body – you’re already paying a physical toll. Paying for additional health costs to cover treatments is the poisoned cherry on top. Which is where Aviva steps in.
Aviva provides extra support to those with private health insurance in the form of a dedicated oncology team, “from diagnosis and cancer treatment, to aftercare and monitoring.” If you decide to utilise the NHS rather than pay for private treatment, then you could claim up to £100 for each day of treatment, with no limit.
But their extensive support extends beyond just the initial stages of treatment – Aviva offers unlimited monitoring cover and up to five years of ongoing medical care. Aviva ensures that you never have to fight this battle alone.
This isn’t available for life insurance or critical illness policies. However, with certain other Aviva products, you might qualify for access to this benefit. Details regarding eligibility can be found within your policy documents.
5. Access to the 24-hour Aviva stress counselling helpline
Available to those with private health insurance, Aviva, in partnership with Care first – a company committed to providing businesses with wellbeing support to every single one of their employees – offers access to a 24-hour helpline for those who need support and guidance in dealing with whatever might be dampening their daily lives.
There are no limits to the number of times this service can be used, because there are no limits to the spectrum of human emotion. We feel what we feel when we feel it. If that’s overwhelming anxiety at 4am on a rainy Tuesday, then the helpline is here to help.
6. Aviva’s 2040 Net Zero carbon emission status
Achieving a net zero carbon emission status is perhaps not a direct nor immediate benefit. But much like the act of taking out life insurance and paying monthly knowing that the money is going elsewhere, to a greater cause, somewhere further down the line – the same applies here.
Thinking back to the origins of Aviva, the Great Fire of London in 1666 spawned the modern property insurance industry that we know of today. In 1696, the Hand in Hand Fire and Insurance Company began, which later became Aviva, in aid of protecting against such disasters. In July of 2022, when wildfires broke out across the UK, Aviva realised once again that it’s one thing to speak out about the changes we need to make in order to protect our planet – but it’s another thing entirely to stand out.
So that’s what they did. They took action and strode out into this ever-heating world and began making a change, by:
- Investing £7.6 billion in green assets by the end of 2021
- Stopping underwriting for companies in which more than 5% of their revenues came from coal or other unconventional fossil fuels by the end of 2022
- Planning to cut their carbon intensity by 25% by the end of 2025 and their current intention is to aim for 100% renewability for all their office spaces
There are a multitude of other ways that Aviva have, are and will continue to effect and inspire change in the name of acquiring net zero carbon emissions. Aviva are doing their part in preventing the overheating of planet Earth. You could say that they’re literally playing it cool.
If any of the above Aviva life insurance additional benefits have left you thinking about taking out a policy of your own, get your quotes here.
Case studies answering the question: how does Aviva help?**
Aviva doesn’t go the extra mile because that’s where the wage slip is – but because that’s where protected families live.
Take Mr W, for example. A personal and real-life account between Aviva and one of their policy holders (where much of the below has been quoted from their site) showcasing how deeply Aviva’s impact resounds.
Needing four months off due to multiple sclerosis, Mr W claimed on his critical illness policy – but the legal process was delaying the payout. The inevitable worries set in. What about the bills? The expenses of everyday life? Concerns started to mount, but none quite as bothersome as knowing that his son’s 2nd birthday was approaching that very Thursday, and he could not afford to get him a thing.
Fortunately, he contacted Aviva’s own Joshua Elson, a big part of the claims team and, for the length of that phone call, a bigger part of Mr W’s life.
Mr W explained his worries, and Joshua alleviated them.
“So I said, what does your son like?” Joshua explains in the Aviva article.
Joshua contacted the Simply Thank You website – a gift giving portal – and managed to find building bricks and an animal shaped wagon for Mr W’s animal-loving son, and they were delivered straight to his door in time for his boy’s birthday.
Joshua adds, “I think he was speechless.”
Later, when the claim was paid out, Mr W received £14,000 to put towards the future. But before then, on that present day, Joshua went the extra mile to deliver actual presents to Mr W’s son and make his whole birthday.
“Thank you again for doing what you do and keep doing it as it does make a difference.” Mr W could not have been more grateful.
Aviva has been doing it since the very beginning.
**Note: All views expressed in the case studies are opinions and not intended to be financial advice or recommendations from Protect Line
Why does AIG offer extra benefits with life insurance policies?
“The fastest transport was a horse drawn carriage, the fastest means of communication was by hand-written letter delivered by a courier on horseback, and business was transacted in coffee houses by men in powdered wigs. But in the modern world of driverless cars, mobile phones, and zoom meetings the fundamentals of insurance remain the same.
Aviva exists today to support and protect our customers in the face of an uncertain future, just as the founders of the Hand in Hand established a company to protect their members from loss after fires.”
– Aviva Group Archive.
Is Aviva life insurance any good?
Though Protect Line is an impartial brokerage, meaning we’re non-advisory, we will always provide you with all the facts you might need to make an informed decision. With that in mind, beyond the financial security provided to your loved ones, and the peace of mind for yourself, Aviva also possesses the following traits:
- MyAviva offers a secure online account, accessible 24/7, because life happens at night, too
- Aviva is signed up to The Protection Distributors Group’ (PDG) Claim Charter, reinforcing dedication to delivering the highest standards throughout the claim experience
- Aviva sponsors the Aviva Stadium (what a coincidence! They already have the same name!) in Dublin, home to the Irish national football and rugby teams. Previously they have also sponsored Norwich City Football Club (this really is a great perk if you’re a supporter of either of those teams)
- For life insurance, Aviva paid out 99.4% of all claims in 2022, resulting in Aviva paying out £683.6 million in life insurance claims
- For critical illness cover, Aviva paid out 93.5% of all claims in 2022, amounting to £334 million in pay outs for critical illness
Aviva life insurance is here to insure your life, and the benefits that come Hand in Hand with them are here to ensure your life is a good one.
Life is hard. Death is harder. Aviva is here to help with both.
References:
- Aviva UK market share: https://www.aviva.com/about-us/how-we-are-organised/
- About Aviva: https://www.aviva.co.uk/services/about-our-business/about-us/
- Hand in Hand Fire Office policy header image, 1779: https://www.aviva.com/about-us/our-heritage/timeline/
- All Aviva products: https://www.aviva.co.uk/all-products/
- Aviva cancer pledge: https://www.aviva.co.uk/health/health-products/health-insurance/cancer-pledge/
- Care first: https://www.care-first.co.uk/about-us
- Great Fire of London, 1666: https://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/discover/how-great-fire-london-created-insurance
- Aviva Net Zero changes: https://www.aviva.co.uk/business/business-perspectives/featured-articles-hub/transitioning-to-net-zero/
- Aviva Mr W case study: https://www.aviva.com/about-us/customer-stories/simply-thank-you-for-my-sons-birthday-gifts/
- Extract from cover of company history image and quote, 1891: https://avivaarchive.medium.com/hand-in-hand-325th-anniversary-7cb4c2950f2e
- Aviva claims data: https://static.aviva.io/content/dam/document-library/adviser/individualprotection/pt151147-2020_individual_protection_claims_report.pdf