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Key person insurance renewal

Key person insurance renewal: when the term ends

Key person insurance renewal keeps the business protected past the expiry date.

Term cover runs to that date and has no cash value at the end (Legal & General ↗).

Some cover can be renewed.

This guide covers what happens at expiry, renewing or applying again, and reviewing the amount.

Every claim here is our summary of a named external source, linked beside it. Sources change: check the wording at the link before you rely on it.

What happens at expiry ↓Review your cover →

01 · Key facts

Key person insurance renewal, the key facts

HMRC's condition for deducting key person premiums is a term policy with no other benefits (HMRC ↗), and the policies in this guide are term cover.

Each card below is from an insurer's own policy document or HMRC.

A fixed term
Cover runs from the policy start date until the expiry date (Legal & General ↗).
No cash value
No payout if you reach the end without a valid claim (Legal & General ↗).
Renewal option
With level cover, Aviva lets you renew your cover at the end of the policy term (Aviva ↗).
No new medical
Renewing needs no medical questions; the option is only available if Aviva accepted the policy at standard terms (Aviva ↗).
Not on every policy
Aviva's renewal option is not available with reviewable premiums or increasing cover (Aviva ↗).
The tax term
HMRC says the term should not run beyond the employee's usefulness to the company (HMRC ↗).

02 · At expiry

What happens when your policy expires?

On a level term policy, the cover simply stops.

Legal & General says its policies have no cash value and it will not pay out if you reach the end of the policy without a valid claim (Legal & General ↗).

Aviva says its Business Life Insurance Options policy has no cash-in value at any time (Aviva ↗).

A renewal option is the exception.

Aviva's policy summary says that, with level cover, you can renew your cover at the end of the policy term without answering any medical questions, if Aviva accepted the policy at standard terms (Aviva ↗).

Legal & General

Level term cover

Aviva

With a renewal option

At the end

Cover ends; no payout without a valid claim (Legal & General ↗)

Option to renew the cover at the end of the policy term (Aviva ↗)

Medical

A new policy is a new application

No medical questions to renew (Aviva ↗)

Premium

Guaranteed on life cover, unless increasing cover is chosen; reviewable is an option with critical illness (Legal & General ↗)

Guaranteed premiums only: not available with reviewable premiums (Aviva ↗)

Age limits

Oldest entry 77 for life cover, which must end by the 90th birthday (Legal & General ↗)

Life cover: entry at 18 to 64, ending before age 71. With critical illness: entry at 18 to 59, ending before 65 (Aviva ↗)

Cover type

Level or increasing (Legal & General ↗)

Level cover only; not with increasing cover (Aviva ↗)

Swipe to compare

Summarised from each insurer's policy document. Your own policy schedule is the authority for your cover.

03 · Renew or apply again

Should you renew or switch provider?

If your policy has a renewal option, the documents set the terms.

Aviva's policy summary says you can renew at the end of the policy term without answering any medical questions (Aviva ↗).

It does not say how long the renewed cover runs or how the premium is set then, so ask the insurer before the term ends.

Without one, continuing cover means a new policy, with your current insurer or another.

MoneyHelper says protection premiums depend on the product, the term, age, smoking, lifestyle, health and job (MoneyHelper ↗), so a new policy is priced on the person as they are at the time.

We do not recommend a provider.

An FCA-authorised adviser can compare the options for your business.

Check

Read the policy schedule

Find the expiry date, and whether the cover is level, increasing or renewable.

Renewable

Renew on the policy’s terms

With Aviva’s renewal option: renew at the end of the term with no medical questions. Ask how the new premium is set.

Not renewable

Apply for new cover

A new application, priced on the person’s age, health and job at the time.

Dates

Line the dates up

The old cover stops at its expiry date, so a gap opens if the new cover starts later.

04 · The amount

Reviewing your cover amount

The amount can change during the term, not only at the end.

Legal & General says you can apply to increase your cover at any time, and increase it for certain life events without further medical information (Legal & General ↗).

Aviva lets you increase or decrease the amount of cover, or remove optional benefits, once the policy has been in place for at least six months, and may ask for medical information (Aviva ↗).

Its business change benefit lets you take out more cover for an increase in the value of a key person without answering further medical questions, on a new policy for an additional premium (Aviva ↗).

The amount should still match the loss.

Legal & General bases key person cover on the loss of profits (Legal & General ↗) or on a loan to be repaid (Legal & General ↗), and Royal London says total life cover should not be more than the greater of 10 times salary package or five times average net profit (Royal London ↗).

Key person insurance calculator →Compare cover options →

Legal & General

Aviva

More cover

Apply at any time; some life events need no new medical information (Legal & General ↗)

After six months; or, for a rise in a key person's value, the business change benefit without further medical questions (Aviva ↗)

Less cover

Other changes may need a new policy (Legal & General ↗)

Decrease the amount of cover after six months (Aviva ↗)

Longer or shorter

Other changes may need a new policy (Legal & General ↗)

The policy summary does not mention changing the term

Swipe to compare

05 · Planning

Tips for a smooth renewal

Each point comes from a policy document or HMRC.

The rest depends on your policy schedule and your business.

How to cancel key person insurance →Key person insurance tax →

Diary the date
Cover runs until the expiry date and no longer (Legal & General ↗).
Reviewable premiums
Legal & General reviews them every five years; health is not a factor at the review (Legal & General ↗).
Keep paying
Cover ends 60 days after the first missed premium at Legal & General (Legal & General ↗).
Renewable needs early entry
Aviva takes life cover up to age 77 (Aviva ↗), but only up to 64 for life cover with the renewal option, and 59 for life and critical illness cover with it (Aviva ↗).
Match the term
For a deduction, the term should not outlast the person's usefulness to the company (HMRC ↗).

06 · Sources

Check it for yourself

Every claim on this page is our summary of one of the documents listed here.

We last checked them against the live sources on 28 September 2026.

The documents are the authority, not this page.

Insurers and HMRC update them, so validate any figure or condition at its link before you rely on it.

Questions

Key person insurance renewal, answered

Not as a rule.

Legal & General’s policy summary says you are covered from the start date until the expiry date, the policy has no cash value, and it will not pay out if you reach the end without a valid claim.

Some policies have a renewal option: Aviva’s Business Life Insurance Options policy summary says that with level cover you can renew at the end of the policy term without answering any medical questions.

Check your own policy schedule. Legal & General policy summary ↗

The documents we read do not say.

Aviva’s policy summary says its renewal option is not available with reviewable premiums, and that life cover premiums stay the same throughout the policy unless you make a change, but it does not say how the premium is set when you renew.

Ask the insurer before the term ends.

MoneyHelper lists age among the things protection premiums depend on, and a new policy with any insurer is priced on the person’s circumstances when you apply. Aviva policy summary ↗

None of the documents we read sets a timetable.

Work back from the expiry date in your policy schedule: Legal & General covers you until that date and pays nothing at the end without a valid claim.

If you will need a new policy rather than a renewal, it is a new application, so leave time for the insurer to assess it before the old cover ends. Legal & General policy summary ↗

With a renewal option, yes.

Aviva’s policy summary says you can renew your cover at the end of the policy term without answering any medical questions.

The option comes with level cover only, not with reviewable premiums or increasing cover, and only if Aviva accepted the policy at standard terms.

Legal & General lets you increase cover for certain life events without further medical information. Aviva policy summary ↗

Beta · information only

Renewing? Check the amount first.

The business may have changed since the policy started. The calculator works through the earnings, profit and loan methods UK insurers publish.

01Earnings, profit and loan methods

02Insurers’ published multiples, with sources

03No email, no quote, no sales call

Information, not advice

We are not an insurer, broker or regulated adviser, and we do not give quotes or recommend a policy. For regulated advice, use an adviser authorised by the FCA.

Open the calculator →

Takes you to the key person insurance calculator.

Not financial advice. This page is general information. Before buying insurance, the FCA tells consumers to check the firm on its Firm Checker (FCA ↗). For free guidance, see MoneyHelper.