Scottish Widows life insurance review
Scottish Widows has a pretty decent selection of term life, whole life and critical illness policies to choose from. We look at whether they're any good.

Scottish Widows was set up over 200 years ago to help keep families from being plunged into poverty. And in essence, that’s what it’s still doing. The brand came top for life insurance in our Finder Customer Satisfaction Awards 2023, with 82% of customers saying they’d recommend it, and a satisfaction score of 4.5 stars out of 5.
Life insurance is still a vital form of protection today and is designed to give your loved ones financial help should you pass away. It means they can focus on grieving rather than stressing about mortgage payments or living expenses.
In this review we analyse the different life insurance policies Scottish Widows offers – so you can work out if it’s the right provider for you and your family.
Scottish Widows was founded in the early 1800s by a group of Scotsmen to financially protect their wives, sisters and other female relatives.
These days it is part of the Lloyds Banking Group and has nearly 6 million customers, which it sells a wide range of pension and insurance products to.
Scottish Widows’ life insurance products pay out a lump sum if you die or are diagnosed with a terminal illness. Should you die, this injection of cash could really help your family out financially in their time of distress.
Scottish Widows offers 3 broad types of policies to protect your family in the event you die or develop a serious illness. We explore them below.
Depending on your situation you will have to decide whether you want level, increasing or decreasing cover.
Lifetime Cover is a type of whole life insurance, which means it will protect you until the day you die. So as long as you keep paying your premiums, it is guaranteed to pay out to your nearest and dearest.
And if you live beyond 90, your coverage will continue but you won’t have to pay any more in premiums. It’s worth bearing in mind that should you decide to take out a joint policy then Scottish Widows will pay out when the last person dies.
This means you’ll be covered not only in the event of your death, but also for critical illnesses such as a heart attack or stroke. Meanwhile your children will be covered for critical illness at no extra cost too.
So if you are left unable to work due to a serious condition or because you need to look after your sick child, this lump of cash could really help out financially.
Like all insurers, Scottish Widows will have a set of reasons it won’t pay out for. Check your policy document to confirm your potential exclusions, but here are some key ones:
Scottish Widows fared quite well in the 2024 Finder customer satisfaction survey, with 85% of its customers in the survey saying they’d recommend the brand to a friend.
Several said the service was friendly and prices were “fair”, although some customers had more mixed views.
One said: “They are reliable but sometimes take a while to respond to queries.”
Another commented: “A name change proved very difficult.”
On the reviews platform Trustpilot, Scottish Widows overall has an “average” rating of 3.5 out of 5, based on more than 1,900 reviews (last updated: March 2024).
You can claim by calling 0800 849 6089. You will need relevant information such as the policy number, the name of the person who died and the cause of death.
Finder scores, in blue, are based on our expert analysis. We also show reviews from users, where we've received more than 10, with a score in yellow. We gather more reviews from customers every year in Finder's customer satisfaction survey.
To find out more, read our full methodology.
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