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Life insurance after heart attack, your options
Life insurance after a heart attack is possible: LV= says you are likely to find several providers who will sell you a policy, and that it generally considers an application after at least 12 months without further symptoms (LV= ↗).
The British Heart Foundation says insurers may charge more than usual or decline, depending on you and your condition (BHF ↗).
Here is what insurers look at and how to apply.
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.
Life insurance after a heart attack, the key facts
The points that matter most, each linked to the guide or law it comes from.
At a glance
- You are likely to find several providers who will sell you a policy, LV= says (LV= ↗)
- LV= generally considers an application once at least 12 months have passed with no further symptoms (LV= ↗)
- Whether you get a policy, and its price, depends on you and your condition (BHF ↗)
- Insurers look at the severity, your recovery and cardiac rehabilitation (Vitality ↗)
- Legal & General says it will not offer life insurance after a heart attack (Legal & General ↗)
- An insurer can't reject your claim if you took reasonable care to answer its questions honestly (MoneyHelper ↗)
ABI figure, all individual protection; check at the link: (ABI ↗)
Can you get life insurance after a heart attack?
It is possible: LV= says you can buy life insurance after a heart attack and are likely to find several providers who will sell you a policy (LV= ↗).
Insurers differ, though: Legal & General's guide says that after a heart attack you will not be able to get life insurance with it (Legal & General ↗).
Pick a source to read what it says.
What each source says
Decided case by case
The British Heart Foundation says buying life insurance can be difficult with a heart or circulatory condition: insurers may charge a higher premium than usual, or not sell you insurance at all (BHF ↗).
Whether you can get a policy, and how expensive it might be, depends on you and your condition (BHF ↗).
Considered after 12 months
LV= says it will generally consider an application once at least 12 months have passed with no further symptoms since the event, and that you may pay more in premiums (LV= ↗).
Not with this insurer
Legal & General's guide says that if you've had a heart attack, you will not be able to get life insurance with it (Legal & General ↗).
Possible, if you are upfront
Aviva says it's possible to get life insurance with a heart condition, but you must be upfront and honest about it; cover could be more expensive, but not always (Aviva ↗).
Summaries of each source. Insurers change their criteria; check at the links.
What insurers ask after a cardiac event
Vitality says the insurer will look at the severity of the heart attack, your recovery and ongoing cardiac rehabilitation (Vitality ↗).
Aviva says you may have to provide medical documentation, have a medical exam or give access to your doctor's records (Aviva ↗).
Pick an insurer to see the details it lists.
What insurers ask for
Vitality’s list
- Cardiac enzyme results and ejection fraction measurements (Vitality ↗)
- Details of any treatments or medications you are taking (Vitality ↗)
- Whether you have had recurring episodes (Vitality ↗)
LV=’s list
Aviva’s evidence
Each list is our summary of the linked page.
How to apply for life insurance after a heart attack
An insurer needs your consent to ask your GP for a report (Legal & General ↗), and you can ask to see it before it is sent (legislation.gov.uk ↗).
If your health changes between applying and being accepted, tell the insurer straight away (Vitality ↗).
Because insurers differ so much after a heart attack, MoneyHelper's advice to shop around, or use a specialist broker, matters here (MoneyHelper ↗).
Prepare
Gather your cardiac details
Dates, treatment, test results and your current medicines.
Timing
Ask about timing first
Some insurers want time to pass without further symptoms.
Help
Consider a specialist broker
Someone who can look across insurers for you.
Answer
Answer every question fully
Including procedures such as a stent or bypass.
Report
Agree to the GP report
You can ask to see it before it is sent.
Already have a policy? Keep it
MoneyHelper says that if you develop a health condition after taking out life insurance, you don't have to tell the insurer unless the policy asks you to, and warns against cancelling it, because you are unlikely to replace it on similar terms (MoneyHelper ↗).
What the sources say about cover you hold
- A life policy covers heart attacks: it pays your beneficiaries if the person insured passes away as a result (LV= ↗)
- You don't have to report a new condition unless the policy asks (MoneyHelper ↗)
- A policy called critical illness must cover heart attack to minimum definitions (ABI ↗)
Full answers protect your claim
MoneyHelper says an insurer can't reject your claim if you took reasonable care to answer its questions honestly (MoneyHelper ↗).
LV= says that if you hide something as serious as a heart attack from your insurer, your policy could become invalid (LV= ↗).
If your health changes between applying and being accepted, Vitality says to let the insurer know straight away (Vitality ↗).
If an answer turns out to be wrong
No remedy against a careful answer
The law asks you to take reasonable care not to make a misrepresentation to the insurer (legislation.gov.uk ↗). The insurer's remedies apply where the consumer breached that duty (legislation.gov.uk ↗).
It depends on what the insurer would have done
If it would not have offered cover at all, it may cancel the policy and refuse all claims, but must return the premiums (legislation.gov.uk ↗).
If it would have offered different terms, such as an exclusion, the policy can be treated as if it had those terms. If it would have charged more, it may reduce a claim in proportion (legislation.gov.uk ↗).
The policy can be cancelled
The insurer may avoid the contract and refuse all claims, and need not return the premiums, except where it would be unfair to keep them (legislation.gov.uk ↗).
Our summary of the Consumer Insurance (Disclosure and Representations) Act 2012, section 2 and Schedule 1. Read the Act at the links; it is the authority.
Specialist brokers and charity help
The British Heart Foundation says it cannot guarantee that an insurer will offer cover to everyone, and that insurers have their own requirements (BHF ↗).
MoneyHelper says it is important to shop around, because criteria and approaches can vary significantly between insurers, and that a specialist broker can research the market for you (MoneyHelper ↗).
If you think an insurer's risk assessment isn't based on a reliable or relevant source of information, MoneyHelper says you can challenge it under the Equality Act (MoneyHelper ↗).
Complain to the insurer first.
We do not recommend brokers or insurers.
Before you buy, the FCA tells consumers to check the firm on its Firm Checker (FCA ↗).
- Charity guidance
British Heart Foundation
Its guide to life insurance with a heart or circulatory condition (BHF ↗).
Open British Heart Foundation ↗ - Free guidance
MoneyHelper
Its guide to buying insurance if you're ill or disabled covers disclosure, brokers and your rights (MoneyHelper ↗).
Open MoneyHelper ↗ - Brokers
Find a specialist broker
MoneyHelper points to the British Insurance Brokers' Association website to find a specialist broker (MoneyHelper ↗).
Open Find a specialist broker ↗ - Complaints
Financial Ombudsman Service
After the insurer's final response, or eight weeks, you can take a complaint to the ombudsman (MoneyHelper ↗).
Open Financial Ombudsman Service ↗
Run a business? Key person cover asks too
If your company insures you as a key person, the company applies, owns the plan and pays for it, and any payout goes to the business (Royal London ↗) (Legal & General ↗).
You are the person insured, so your heart history is part of the application: Legal & General's adviser guide says the key person gives their own personal and medical details (Legal & General ↗).
If Aviva can't decide on a case straight away, it gives free life cover while it looks into it (Aviva ↗).
The business must also be able to show it would lose profits in your absence (Legal & General ↗).
Applicant
The company applies
The business owns the policy and pays for it. You are the person insured.
Your answers
You answer the health questions
The same care applies as for a personal policy: answer every question fully.
Underwriting
The insurer assesses the case
It may ask for more evidence before it decides, as with any application.
Sizing
The cover is sized on the business
How much cover the business can take is based on what it would lose.
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.
- British Heart Foundation: life insurance with a heart or circulatory condition ↗Why it can be harder, and how each case is decided
- LV=: life insurance after a heart attack ↗When it generally considers an application, and what it asks
- Legal & General: life insurance and heart conditions ↗Its position after a heart attack, and cost
- Aviva: life insurance with a heart condition ↗What it asks, cost, and medical evidence
- Vitality: life insurance with a heart condition ↗What insurers look at after a heart attack
- Aviva: life insurance with a pre-existing condition ↗What counts, and the possible outcomes of an application
- Legal & General: how insurers obtain your medical information ↗Consent, GP reports and medical examinations
- Access to Medical Reports Act 1988, section 4 ↗Your right to see a GP report before it is sent
- MoneyHelper: buying insurance if you’re ill or disabled ↗Disclosure, specialist brokers, shopping around and the Equality Act
- MoneyHelper: if your insurance claim is rejected ↗Reasonable care, and complaints to the Financial Ombudsman
- Consumer Insurance (Disclosure and Representations) Act 2012, section 2 ↗The consumer’s duty of reasonable care
- Consumer Insurance (Disclosure and Representations) Act 2012, Schedule 1 ↗What an insurer may do after a careless, deliberate or reckless misrepresentation
- Legal & General: Key Person Protection technical guide ↗The key person completes the medical details and signs as the life insured
- ABI: protection claims paid in 2024 ↗Share of claims paid, and why claims were declined
- ABI Guide to Minimum Standards for Critical Illness Cover ↗Heart attack as a core critical illness condition
- Royal London: key person protection ↗The company applies and owns the plan
- Legal & General: key person insurance ↗Owned and paid for by the business, and the loss of profits it must show
- Aviva for advisers: business life insurance options ↗Free life cover while it looks into a case
- FCA: check a firm ↗Use the Firm Checker before buying insurance
Life insurance after a heart attack, answered
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.