Yes. We have arranged life insurance for people with Type 2 diabetes, including people using insulin. This page covers life insurance whether or not you use insulin; the price examples are for people with no complications disclosed. Background retinopathy is covered further down. Acceptance and the price offered depend on the insurer’s assessment of your application.
Figures come from our own applications and final terms recorded up to 11 September 2026; each example gives its latest terms month.
Our figures come from our own clients’ applications and are correct as at 11 September 2026.
Which insurers offer life insurance specifically for people with Type 2 diabetes?
Royal London Diabetes Life Cover is one example of a diabetes-specific product we have arranged for clients with Type 2 diabetes, with latest terms in July 2026.
A diabetes-specific policy is not the only route: our clients have also taken ordinary life insurance with Royal London and Scottish Widows, for example, as the prices below show.
Which UK insurer is best for type 2 diabetes life insurance?
These examples do not establish a single best insurer for everyone with Type 2 diabetes; the useful comparison is the cover and final price available for your own application.
For the price question specifically, see our findings on which insurer is cheapest for level life insurance with Type 2 diabetes.
Speak to a specialist
Not sure where you’d stand?
Tell us about your diabetes and we’ll check the insurers for you.
How much does decreasing life insurance cost with type 2 diabetes?
With Royal London, for example, clients in their forties with Type 2 diabetes and no complications disclosed typically paid around £13.10 a month for every £100,000 of decreasing cover (latest terms July 2026). Across all the insurers we place with, the same group typically paid around £15.88.
Decreasing cover is the type people usually choose to protect a repayment mortgage. The amount it would pay out goes down over the years, roughly in line with what is left on the mortgage, which is why it usually costs less than level cover. You choose the starting amount and the number of years, and the insurer sets a monthly price from your age and health. For £200,000 of cover, roughly double the figure.
These prices cover the terms our clients chose, typically 16 to 25 years; a longer term costs more. They are what our clients paid, not quotes, and your own age, health, amount and term will move the figure.
How much does level life insurance cost with type 2 diabetes?
Level life cover can leave money for family bills following your death. For example, our Royal London clients aged 40 to 49 with Type 2 diabetes and no complications disclosed typically paid £23.88 a month per £100,000, with latest terms in September 2026.
The table puts that price next to Scottish Widows and the figure across all the insurers we place with, all for the same group: clients aged 40 to 49 with Type 2 diabetes, no complications disclosed and level cover. Royal London and Scottish Widows came out very close; the all-insurer figure was higher, which is why we look across insurers rather than take the first price.
| Insurer | Who it is for | A month per £100,000 |
|---|---|---|
| Royal London | Type 2 diabetes, aged 40 to 49, no complications disclosed, level cover; latest terms September 2026 | £23.88 |
| Scottish Widows | Type 2 diabetes, aged 40 to 49, no complications disclosed, level cover; latest terms August 2026 | £24.43 |
| All insurers we place with | Type 2 diabetes, aged 40 to 49, no complications disclosed, level cover; latest terms September 2026 | £31.31 |
You choose the cover amount and number of years, and the insurer sets a monthly price from your age and health. We show what clients paid a month per £100,000 to make the examples easy to compare, for the terms they actually chose, typically 16 to 25 years; a longer term costs more.
These findings come from our review of over 1,100 applications and final terms. They are what our clients paid, not quotes for you: your own age, health, amount and term will move the figure.
Those are what our clients paid. Want your own price?
We check the insurers for your age, diabetes type and health, and explain what we find.
Does diabetic retinopathy affect life insurance applications?
Yes, but it does not automatically rule out cover: for example, we have arranged life insurance at The Exeter for people with Type 2 diabetes and background retinopathy (eye changes that have not needed treatment).
With latest terms in July 2026, these clients typically had a stated rating of +150%, meaning a health-related price increase to roughly two and a half times the insurer’s standard price, not a separate charge for retinopathy alone or a promise of future terms.
What can I do if my life insurance application is declined because of Type 2 diabetes?
Don’t panic, and don’t take one insurer’s no as the final answer. Being declined is common with diabetes, and every insurer treats it differently, so a no from one insurer is very often not the end of the road.
I have been giving financial advice for over 12 years, and every single day we have people coming to us because they have been declined somewhere else first. In my experience it is rare for an insurer to decline someone for Type 2 diabetes on its own.
The decline usually comes from one of the follow-up questions about your diabetes: a complication you said yes to, an HbA1c reading the insurer sees as too high, or diabetes combined with a high BMI (your weight measured against your height). HbA1c is the blood test that shows your average blood sugar over the last two to three months.
The first thing we do is find out which it was. Then we look for an insurer whose questions and view of diabetes suit your situation, so your next application is a considered one rather than another try at random. The insurer still makes the final decision, so we cannot promise a yes.
If you were applying to protect a mortgage, our page on being declined for decreasing life insurance with Type 2 diabetes goes through that situation in more detail.
A second opinion
Been declined, or quoted more than you expected?
One insurer’s no isn’t every insurer’s no. We’ll look at who else might say yes.
What should you have ready for a Type 2 diabetes life insurance discussion?
These details help most, so have them ready if you can. It is fine if you do not know one of them yet, and do mention any other health conditions you have been diagnosed with.
- Whether you use insulin.
- When you were diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes.
- Your most recent HbA1c result and when it was taken.
- The date of your last diabetes review.
- Whether you have had any diabetes complications, for example changes in your eyes, or tingling or numbness in your hands or feet.
Want us to check life insurance options for your Type 2 diabetes?
More Than Diabetes can discuss your diabetes and wider health, understand what you want the cover for, and research relevant insurers available to us. We are a specialist protection insurance broker, not an insurer.
Speak to our advisers about your circumstances. We will explain the realistic options we find and help with an application; the insurer makes the final decision on acceptance and price.
Talk to a diabetes insurance specialist
Tell us about your diabetes and what the cover is for. We’ll check the insurers available to us, compare the realistic options and help with the application. The insurer makes the final decision; we make sure you go to the right one.
Questions people ask next
What HbA1c reading will life insurers accept?
In our experience, most insurers will consider you while your HbA1c is under 97 mmol/mol (about 11% on the older percentage scale). Between 97 and 107 the choice narrows to a couple of specialist routes: Royal London Diabetes Life Cover and The Exeter, for example, have accepted readings in that band. Above 107 the traditional insurers are usually closed for now, and a guaranteed acceptance plan is the realistic option. One high reading is not the end of it: if you have a new test due within the next month or so, it is often worth waiting for that result before you apply. Insurers take the reading as a percentage or in mmol/mol, so give whichever your surgery uses.
Does taking metformin make a difference to life insurance?
Not on its own. The application asks whether you take insulin, not which tablets you take: Royal London and Guardian, for example, ask it as a plain yes or no. When we talk about Type 2 clients not on insulin, that group includes people managing with diet or with tablets such as metformin. What the insurer then looks at is your HbA1c reading, when you were diagnosed and whether you have any complications, not the name on the tablet box.
Do I have to tell the insurer I have diabetes?
Yes, always. Every application we see asks whether you have diabetes, usually in its first few health questions, and answering accurately is part of the deal: insurers can check your medical records when a claim is made, and cover bought on wrong answers may not pay out when your family needs it. Telling them is not the same as being turned down. Straightforward, well-controlled Type 2 diabetes often goes through on the same call, and the application takes about 15 minutes. One more thing people worry about: some insurers also ask whether you have been declined for life insurance before, but most do not, and Royal London Diabetes Life Cover does not ask it at all.
Where these figures come from
We reviewed over 1,100 applications and the final prices and cover insurers offered. Each price example shows what clients paid a month per £100,000 of cover, with their insurer, age band, diabetes type, any complications reported and the latest month those terms were offered.
These are historical outcomes for More Than Diabetes clients, not UK-wide statistics, personal quotes or a ranking of insurers.
Our own figures are correct as at 11 September 2026. Insurer positions can change. We regularly review them and check the current position again before we apply.
