Aviva business protection review
Aviva is one of the UK’s largest and longest-established insurers, founded in 1696 and now serving 25.2 million customers across the UK, Ireland and Canada. It offers a full business protection range for limited companies, LLPs, partnerships and sole traders, and paid 98.7% of individual life insurance claims in 2025. This is our independent review of what that means for company directors.
Who is Aviva?
Aviva offers a full business protection range: relevant life insurance as a potentially tax-efficient alternative to personal cover, plus key person, shareholder and business loan protection, and group life, income protection and critical illness schemes. Cover can be life only or life with critical illness, and the range is available to limited companies, LLPs, partnerships and sole traders. Tax treatment depends on individual circumstances and may change.
The scale behind it is significant. In 2025 Aviva paid £1.99 billion across 61,632 individual and group protection claims, and it describes itself as the UK’s only diversified insurer, with almost 22 million UK customers. Eligible personal policies, such as Life Insurance+, Critical Illness+ and Income Protection+, include the DigiCare+ wellbeing app at no extra cost, though relevant life insurance isn’t eligible.
What business protection products does Aviva offer?
Aviva covers the full spread of protection, from company-paid cover for directors, to personal policies, to group schemes for a whole team. Filter the range or swipe through the cards.
Relevant Life
Potentially tax-efficient death-in-service cover paid by the company for one employee or salaried director, written in trust. Life only, or life with employee significant illness cover.
Relevant Life guides →Key Person Insurance
Helps protect the business against the financial impact of losing a key employee. Life, or life with critical illness.
Key Person guides →Business Loan Protection
Helps the business repay an outstanding loan if a key person dies. Life, or life with critical illness.
Business Loan guides →Shareholder Protection
Helps remaining shareholders buy a deceased shareholder’s shares, alongside a suitable agreement.
Shareholder guides →Life Insurance
Pays a lump sum (or monthly income) to loved ones if the insured dies or is diagnosed with a terminal illness during the policy term.
Caspian Insurance →Whole of Life
Life cover with no fixed end date, designed to pay out whenever the insured dies, subject to terms.
Caspian Insurance →Critical Illness
Pays a lump sum on diagnosis of a covered condition, subject to the policy terms.
Caspian Insurance →Income Protection
Pays a regular benefit if the insured cannot work due to illness or injury, subject to the policy terms.
Caspian Insurance →Group Life
Employer-paid life cover for employees, as a registered or excepted scheme.
Group Life guides →Group Income Protection
Employer-paid income protection for employees, with rehabilitation support.
Ask an adviser →Group Critical Illness
Employer-paid lump sum cover for employees diagnosed with a covered condition.
Ask an adviser →How reliable is Aviva at paying claims?
Aviva paid 98.7% of individual life insurance claims in 2025, a figure that combines life insurance, terminal illness, over 50s and whole of life claims. It paid 90.7% of critical illness claims across critical illness, children’s benefit and total permanent disability cover.
Across individual and group protection combined, Aviva accepted 96.9% of all claims received in 2025. On the group side, around 3,130 group life claims were paid, totalling more than £474 million, with an average payment speed of under three days.
A strong claims record is reassuring context, not a guarantee. Every claim is assessed against the policy terms, and the most common reason claims are declined across the industry is inaccurate health or lifestyle information given at application.
How do independent ratings score Aviva?
No single score tells the whole story, so we pull together the main independent measures and state what each one actually covers.
61,000+ reviews, covering the whole Aviva group rather than business protection alone.
Read Aviva’s Trustpilot reviews →5 Star rated across seven protection products: level and decreasing term life, level, decreasing and standalone critical illness, income protection, and whole of life. Defaqto rates product features rather than service quality.
View Defaqto’s ratings →Life insurance customer experience score, awarded a gold ribbon.
See Aviva on Fairer Finance →Based on 112 Aviva life insurance reviews as at October 2025, so a much smaller sample than Trustpilot.
Read the Smart Money People reviews →Aviva key facts
Ages and terms by product
What is Aviva DigiCare+?
Aviva’s eligible personal protection policies, including Life Insurance+, Critical Illness+, Income Protection+ and Whole of Life Insurance+, come with the DigiCare+ app at no extra cost. Relevant life insurance isn’t eligible under Aviva’s eligibility rules, though a separate DigiCare+ Workplace app supports group schemes. It’s a wide-ranging package spanning ten services, from GP access to legal support, and more than 670,000 people have registered for DigiCare+ and DigiCare+ Workplace since 2020, including 172,800 in 2025 alone.
Wellbeing extras are non-contractual benefits Aviva can change or withdraw. Eligibility and residency conditions may apply, and some elements carry a charge. They shouldn’t be the main reason for taking out a policy.
Who might Aviva suit?
There’s no single best insurer, only the best fit for your business. Here’s how Aviva tends to stack up.
Aviva may appeal if you
- Want wellbeing support built in, with DigiCare+ included on eligible personal policies at no extra cost
- Want one insurer able to cover both director policies and group schemes for your team
- Value a long track record and a published claims history, with 98.7% of life claims paid in 2025
Worth comparing others if you
- Need a dedicated executive income protection product, which some insurers offer as a separate plan
- Are buying mainly on price, since premiums vary by provider and your circumstances
- Need cover beyond the maximum ages on a specific product, such as relevant life cover ending by age 75
An adviser can check your demands and needs across the whole panel before you decide anything.
Let our advisers compare Aviva for you
IGotCover is a trading name of Caspian Assured, an FCA-authorised broker. We arrange business protection from a selected panel of leading UK insurers, including Aviva. Tell us about your business and our advisers will compare quotes across the panel for you. No jargon, no pressure, just the right cover.
Aviva business protection FAQs
Aviva scores strongly on independent measures. It paid 98.7% of life insurance claims in 2025, holds 5 Star Defaqto ratings across seven protection products, and has a 4.3/5 Trustpilot rating from more than 61,000 reviews across the group. Whether it’s right for your business depends on your circumstances, so it’s worth having an adviser compare quotes across several insurers before deciding.
Yes. Aviva offers relevant life insurance for salaried directors and employees, paid for by the company and written in trust. It can be life only, with entry ages 18 to 73, or life with employee significant illness cover, with entry ages 18 to 64. Any tax efficiency depends on individual circumstances and may change.
In 2025 Aviva paid 98.7% of individual life insurance claims and 90.7% of critical illness claims. Across individual and group protection combined it paid £1.99 billion over 61,632 claims and accepted 96.9% of all claims received. A published claims record is useful context, but every claim is assessed against the policy terms.
DigiCare+ is a wellbeing app included with eligible Aviva personal protection policies at no extra cost, such as Life Insurance+, Critical Illness+, Income Protection+ and Whole of Life Insurance+; relevant life insurance isn’t eligible. It spans video GP appointments, mental health, nutrition and personal training sessions, second medical opinions, a 24/7 nurse line, legal services such as will writing, bereavement counselling, and an annual health check that carries a £39.95 charge. Global Treatment, which gives access to international care, is an optional add-on at £3 a month. These extras are non-contractual, so Aviva can change or withdraw them, and they shouldn’t be the main reason for choosing a policy.
Yes. Aviva is one of the insurers on our panel. IGotCover is a trading name of Caspian Assured, an FCA-authorised broker: we arrange the cover and the insurer provides it. We compare products from a selected panel of providers rather than the whole market, and our advisers can help you weigh Aviva against the alternatives.
Aviva traces its history to 1696, 330 years ago. The modern group formed in 2000 when Norwich Union merged with CGU, taking the Aviva name in 2002. Today it serves 25.2 million customers across the UK, Ireland and Canada.
Important information
- This page is information only and not personal advice. Whether a product or provider is right for you depends on your circumstances. Speak to one of our advisers to find out what suits your business.
- IGotCover is a trading name of Caspian Assured, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA reference [FRN]). We arrange cover; the insurer provides it. We compare products from a selected panel of providers, not the whole market.
- Cover is subject to the provider’s terms, underwriting, medical history and acceptance, and to a successful claim. Policies carry exclusions and conditions. Relevant Life Insurance is written in trust and has no cash-in value.
- Tax treatment depends on individual circumstances and may change, and any tax efficiency is not guaranteed.
- Provider figures, claims rates and independent ratings are taken from provider and third-party sources and were correct at the time of writing. Ratings measure different things: a Trustpilot score may cover a provider’s whole group rather than one product, and Defaqto rates product features rather than service, so check the basis of each.
- Wellbeing extras are non-contractual benefits the provider can change or withdraw, may have eligibility or residency conditions, and some elements (such as a health check) may carry a charge. They should not be the main reason for taking out a policy.
