Britain's top life insurer, as voted for by you!

Find out which life insurer has swept the boards in our lovemoney.com life cover readers' poll.

Earlier this year, we surveyed you, our lovemoney.com readers, to find out which life insurers are the cream of the crop.

We carried out the survey because we know that, while most of you want cheap premiums, we're also aware that there’s more to a decent plan than low cost. The lovemoney.com awards were designed to reveal which insurers you have found, in your experience, offer something extra. So only readers who had existing life insurance policies were asked to take part. And interestingly, the results were totally unanimous - with one insurer coming out top in every single category.

Here’s what 970 of you had to say:

Our first award highlights the insurers which you think offer Value for Money. So, who shone through in this category?

Best life insurer: Value for money

You told us LV= offered what you considered to be genuine value for money rather than simply offering the cheapest premiums, with Scottish Widows and Aviva in second and third place.

Our second life insurance award looked at customer service. Arguably this is no less important than the price you actually pay for your policy. After all, you’ll regret paying bargain basement premiums to an insurer which is incapable of resolving customer queries, making amendments to your policy or processing claims in a timely manner. Here are your winner and runners up in the Customer Service category. 

Best life insurer: Customer service

Once again LV= has come out top with readers based on their positive experiences with the insurer. This time, Prudential and Scottish Widows made it into second and third place.

Finally, you voted for the Most Loved Life Insurer which reveals the overall winner:

Most loved life insurer

LV= has come up trumps again with readers voting their life insurance proposition into the top spot. But what is it about this insurer which has enabled it to sweep the boards in the lovemoney.com readers’ poll?

It's true LV= offers competitive policies with life insurance starting from just £5 a month. That said, don’t forget price isn’t everything as we have already seen. In any case, the premium you actually pay depends on a variety of factors such as your age, gender and medical history. But if you’re young and healthy, you can expect to be offered a bargain price for your cover. That’s because LV= Life Insurance is specifically designed for people who don’t smoke or drink a lot, and have a clean bill of health.

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This type of policy is beneficial to both the insurer and the policyholder. Healthy people are less likely to claim which naturally reduces risk for the insurer. But on the other hand, people with healthier lifestyles are rewarded with cheaper premiums.

I should point out here that you can still apply for an LV= life policy even if you’re a smoker or you have health problems, but you may have to pay higher premiums or be declined cover.

Cut your premiums

LV= isn’t the only insurer to target healthy policyholders with competitive life cover. Prudential’s PruProtect Plan, for example, offers all policyholders access to its Vitality programme which encourages you to live well, thereby reducing the risk of making a claim.

Vitality offers a range of discounts and rewards on gyms, health screening and fitness. What’s more, if you build up enough Vitality points you may even enjoy a premium reduction and still get exactly the same level of cover.

I’m young and healthy: why do I need life insurance?

If you’re still in your twenties, I wouldn’t be too surprised to hear you haven’t given life insurance much thought yet. But this is exactly the right time to apply. We have already seen that insurers are keen to offer highly competitive protection to those who look after their health. Get in while you’re young and fit and you could enjoy a very keenly priced plan for many years to come.

(That's assuming, of course, that you need life insurance in the first place - ie there are people in your life whom you care about, who rely on you financially. For example, if you have children and/or a joint mortgage, life insurance is very important to have, even when you're young.)

Bear in mind that the older you are, the more likely you are to make a claim within the policy term you have chosen. This can hike up your premiums far higher than a young and healthy person would pay for exactly the same amount of cover.

Recent question on this topic

• bsajp3 asks:

  I don't have a partner or any dependents, but I do have a mortgage. Do I need life insurance? What would happen to my debt should the worst happen?

  • 
    SoftwareBear answered "If you don't want to leave your property to anybody ... then you don't really need life..."
  • 
    TheWelshman answered "Hi bsajp3 Thanks for your question! SoftwareBear has some good points here. If you are single..."
  • Read more answers

Remember that premiums for most life insurance policies are guaranteed to stay the same throughout the policy (assuming you don’t change the policy in any way). So that means the low fixed premium you have managed to secure today will always stay the same even if your health deteriorates in the future.

Of course, key life events such as buying property, getting married and starting a family will change your protection needs over time. Make sure you choose a policy in your twenties that can be easily adapted throughout your life until the end of the term.

This is crucial for one simple reason: Let’s say you want to apply for more cover because you have started a family, but your health has suffered since you took the policy out. You could find your premiums increase dramatically as a result if your insurer takes your health and medical history into account each time you need extra protection. In a worst case scenario you could even be rejected for a top-up altogether.

But not all insurers work in this way. Some will allow you to take out more cover and your new premium will only take into account your age at the time. In technical terms this is known as Guaranteed Insurability Options. Find out more about this essential feature in How to keep the costs down for extra life cover.

Finally, bear in mind that life insurance isn't the only type of insurance you should consider purchasing while you are young and fit, to protect your loved ones should your health deteriorate. It's also well worth considering whether you need income protection insurance (which protects your income if you become unable to work through illness or disability) and critical illness (which pays out if you get a critical illness). Read three essential ways to protect your family to find out more.

Compare life insurance quotes at lovemoney.com

More: Three essential ways to protect your family | Life insurance now cheapest in eight years